Ravens’ Madubuike ruled out for Kansas City game; Harbaugh ‘concerned’ about injury

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens will again be without defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike when they face Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City this weekend.

Madubuike was out Monday night with a neck injury, and the Ravens lost 38-30 to a Detroit team that rushed for 224 yards.

Now coach John Harbaugh has wasted no time ruling the 27-year-old lineman out for this weekend as well — and everything about the ailment sounds ominous.

“I would say I am concerned about it, but I’m not really in a position to comment on it right now — haven’t been given the OK to comment on it at this point,” Harbaugh said. “He’s not going to play this week, I can tell you that. We’re going to have to see going forward, when they know what they need to know.”

Madubuike is in the second year of a four-year contract extension. He’s had 30 sacks in five-plus seasons, and his absence against the Lions — along with Kyle Van Noy’s hamstring injury — left Baltimore with a very limited pass rush. The Ravens had a 57-game sack streak snapped.

If Madubuike’s injury keeps him out long term, Baltimore (1-2) may be in a position where it needs to trade for help on the interior defensive line. The Ravens signed defensive tackles Taven Bryan and Josh Tupou to the practice squad Wednesday. Bryan started six games for Indianapolis last season. Tupou played three games for the Ravens in 2024.

Baltimore had a walk-through type of practice Wednesday, then released participation estimates. In addition to Madubuike, defensive tackles Travis Jones (knee) and Broderick Washington (ankle) were listed as not participating. None of that is encouraging after the Ravens allowed the third-most yards rushing in franchise history and most in a game since 2017.

“We’ll be OK. We’ll be fine. There’s a lot of real simple things that we didn’t do very well at times,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll have the same play, really against the same defense two different times. One time it’s no gain because we’re pretty much exactly where we’re supposed to be. And another time, we’re not where we’re supposed to be.”

Detroit’s offensive line can be a tough matchup for anyone, and at the beginning of the game, the Lions set the tone with impeccable pass protection that gave Jared Goff plenty of time to throw. As the game wore on, the running game became more of a factor.

“I think part of it’s just trying to do too much sometimes,” Harbaugh said. “Sometimes you try to do more than our job, and that’s not really required.”

Detroit had an 18-play, 98-yard scoring drive that took 10:48 off the clock in the first half. The Ravens rebounded from that, and the game was tied at 21 when Baltimore pinned the Lions back on their 4 late in the third quarter.

What followed was another TD drive that went almost the entire length of the field, although this one didn’t take nearly as long.

The key play was a run by David Montgomery on second-and-10 that went for 72 yards to the Baltimore 13.

“Playing with a little more, just calmness and belief in the whole structure and the 10 guys around you. Then also tackling in the back end,” Harbaugh said. “Those runs, they shouldn’t go to what they did. Those runs should be tackled 8, 10 yards if they break through the line.”

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