The Baltimore Ravens will be without standout left tackle Ronnie Stanley for the remainder of the season due to an ankle injury. Stanley has missed five of the Ravens' six games this year and will undergo surgery to repair the injury, .
It marks the second consecutive season that an ankle injury has ended Stanley's season; he made six starts in 2020, and played just in the season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders this year. He has been placed on injured reserve.
"This is not what I wanted or expected when coming into the season," Stanley said. "Throughout the last year, I did everything I could to be 100% healthy so I could be out there playing for our team and city. As a competitor, I have a mindset of sacrificing my body for my brothers and my team to reach our goals. At this point in time, my ankle isn't where it should be."
Stanley signed a five-year contract extension worth $98.75 million shortly before his 2020 ankle injury. An All-Pro in 2019, the former Notre Dame star was a first-round draft pick (sixth overall) by the Ravens in 2016.
Having traded right tackle Orlando Brown to the Kansas City Chiefs in the offseason in exchange for four draft picks, the Ravens had figured on free-agent signee Alejandro Villanueva playing right tackle this season. Since Stanley's injury, however, Villanueva has flipped to the left side, and the versatile Patrick Mekari has played right tackle.
"I couldn't be more pleased with him -- run blocking, pass protection -- [and] his versatility, obviously, but he's locked in at right tackle, and I couldn't ask for a better player there right now," Harbaugh said Sunday of Mekari.
