Raven Country

Ravens Star Unlikely to Play vs. Chargers

The Baltimore Ravens will be without one of their top defenders against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Jon Alfano

Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Roquan Smith (0) reacts to a stop on third down in the first quarter of the NFL game at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024.
Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Roquan Smith (0) reacts to a stop on third down in the first quarter of the NFL game at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The news the Baltimore Ravens fans were bracing for all week is now all but official.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, star linebacker Roquan Smith will not play in Monday night's game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Smith suffered a hamstring injury in last week's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and was listed as questionable after not practicing all week. This will be Smith's first time missing a game due to injury in more than two seasons as a Raven.

Smith, 27, is among the NFL's leading tacklers with 110 on the season. He's also been a first-team All-Pro selection in each of the past two seasons.

The Ravens would obviously have loved to have Smith available, but considering they're traditionally very careful with hamstring injuries, it's not surprising to see him miss Monday's game.

Of course, the challenge now becomes replacing a player of Smith's caliber, which will take a complete group effort.

"I think it'll just be by committee. Not one person is going to replace Roquan," defensive coordinator Zach Orr said Friday. "Roquan's an every-down linebacker [and] a top linebacker in this league [and] All-Pro for a reason. Not one guy's going to replace him. We like our guys that we have in the room – they're here for a reason, and somebody [has] to step up. They got to step up, and we got to step up collectively as a defense, and that linebacker room [has] to step up collectively as a group."

At linebacker, expect Trenton Simpson, Malik Harrison and Chris Board to see a lot of action in the middle. Simpson is already a starter, while Harrison and Board are traditionally rotational players.

Smith also wears the green dot as the one who relays Orr's play calls to his teammates, a responsibility star safety Kyle Hamilton will take on in Smith's absence.

The Ravens and Chargers kick off from SoFi Stadium at 8:15 p.m. ET.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

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