Geoff JohnsonThe Ravens open the season as NFL Champions on September 5th against the Denver Broncos, but they found out this Saturday they won’t have tight end Dennis Pitta at their disposal for the start of the year.
“Dennis has a dislocated hip. We’ll have to take a look at that and see exactly what it is,” coach John Harbaugh said after practice. “It’s a serious injury. He is going to be out for a while. He will not be in the Denver game, and we’ll just have to play it from there to see how long it goes.”
The injury happened when Pitta crashed with safety James Ihedigbo in the end zone after going for a pass from Joe Flacco.
Pitta caught 61 passes for 669 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and was considered to have a breakthrough year in 2013 after a great postseason with the Ravens.
Baltimore is an 8.5 dog for week one against Denver. Pitta’s injury can only inflate that number.
“Obviously, he was a very, very productive guy for us,” Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell said of Pitta. “He made a lot of big plays last year. We’ll see what happens. But somebody is going to have to step up. We do have some capable guys all across the flanks. We do have some weapons. We’re just going to have to have some guys make some plays for us.”
The Ravens are listed 2/1 to win the AFC North; only the Steelers have better odds to win the division.
