Ioane Is Out, and the Offensive Line Baltimore Rebuilt Is Already Missing Pieces

Rookie guard Olaivavega Ioane will miss time with an MCL sprain suffered in Sunday's blowout loss to Cincinnati, the Ravens confirmed Monday. He won't play against Buffalo in Week 8. For a team that spent the offseason explicitly rebuilding its interior line, losing a starter this early is exactly the kind of setback the blueprint wasn't designed to absorb.

The timing is bad in a specific way. Lamar Jackson is coming off three missed games with a high ankle sprain, and whatever his status looks like Sunday, he's returning behind a reshuffled front. The whole point of the offseason line work was to give Jackson cleaner pockets and open running lanes for Derrick Henry — who has been the offense's one reliable engine, with 579 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns through seven games. Disrupting the interior now, against a Buffalo defense that made roster moves this week specifically to prepare for this game, is not a small thing.

The depth chart at guard doesn't offer much comfort. John Simpson is listed behind Ioane, and the broader OL group — Cam Jurgens, Andrew Vorhees, Roger Rosengarten — has logged minimal meaningful snaps this season. Someone will fill the spot. Whether they can hold it against the Bills is a different question.

Baltimore is 4-3, half a game from the wild card, and the margin for error has been gone for two weeks now. This is one more thing they have to figure out before Sunday.