Ravens' Nate Wiggins Out vs. Raiders with Neck Injury After Car Crash
September 13, 2024
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins has missed practice time this week leading up to Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders because of a neck injury, and head coach John Harbaugh provided more details Friday.
"Nate was in a car accident a couple days ago," Harbaugh told reporters. "They were kind of working through it. Looks like he's not going to be able to make it to the game, so he'll be out for the game. He's fine, he's healthy, he's fine, but not going to be able to play."
Baltimore selected Wiggins out of Clemson with the No. 30 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft, and he played 17 defensive snaps in the first game of his career against the Kansas City Chiefs.
While the Ravens lost the game, the rookie allowed just one yard in coverage and received an impressive overall grade from Pro Football Focus:
He figured to potentially see even more time against the Raiders given his solid debut and the reality that Las Vegas likely wouldn't be as challenging as a matchup with the two-time reigning Super Bowl champions, but he will be sidelined because of the injury.
"Nate's going to be fine," defensive coordinator Zach Orr told reporters Thursday. "Nate's going to play a lot of football for us. He's going to play a lot of great football for us. I think [he's going to] just continue to come in and continue to work, and he played well in the [Kansas City] game as well. The better he plays, the more he's going to be out there."
The silver lining is Harbaugh's comments suggest Wiggins likely won't miss too much time.
The Ravens might need him for the following three games against presumed playoff contenders in the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, so making sure he is ready to go and not rushing back could be a priority.
In the meantime, look for the AFC North team to rely even more on Marlon Humphrey, Brandon Stephens and Jalyn Armour-Davis at cornerback.
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