Ravens’ Harbaugh says Ray Rice shoulder injury is nothing serious

Aug 16, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) heads into the locker room in the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 16, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) heads into the locker room in the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /
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In Saturday night’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice left early with a shoulder injury. Rice had x-rays on his shoulder and it came back negative, good news for the Ravens and the back.

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“It shouldn’t be anything too serious,” coach John Harbaugh said, via ESPN.

Rice has had a tumultuous offseason and likely wouldn’t have garnered much sympathy from NFL fans around the league if he was injured. Though he would’ve missed the first two games of the season regardless because of his two-game suspension for allegedly hitting his fiancee in an Atlantic City casino.

Rice had just two carries for 21 yards before leaving the game. Bernard Pierce, who started with the first-team, had 55 yards on seven carries. Backup Lorenzo Taliaferro had 59 yards on 16 carries.

Since Rice will be unavailable for the first two games of the season, his workload will change for the third preseason game, usually considered a dress rehersal for the regular season.

“John has talked about that, but we’re still early in camp [and we’ll] keep going, but I’m sure it’s something John will address as we get to next week,” offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak said, via ESPN. “Obviously, there comes a point where somebody else is probably going to have to work as a starter as we move forward. But you still have to get Ray ready to play, because come Week 3, he’s going to bounce right back in there. It’s a tough dynamic, and Coach will work us through it. He’ll tell us what he wants us to do.”