Baltimore Ravens rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins made the most of his preseason debut, but unfortunately, it ended far earlier than he would’ve liked.
The first-round pick from Clemson quickly got to work, breaking up three pieces on the first drive alone, including a swat on fourth down. He then continued to play well throughout the game, until the third quarter when he went to the medical tent favoring his right shoulder. A few minutes later, the team announced that Wiggins would miss the rest of the game with a shoulder injury.
After the game, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh did not have any updates on Wiggins’ status, nor that of any other players who left Friday’s game.
Luckily, it seems that Wiggins avoided a majjor injury, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.
“The Ravens are confident that rookie CB Nate Wiggins, who hurt his shoulder Friday night, avoided a really significant injury,” Zrebiec writes on X. “Wiggins could miss some practice time but Ravens still optimistic for Week 1.”
If Wiggins is not ready to start the regular season, then the Ravens could be in a tough spot of cornerback. Veteran Arthur Maulet, who performed well in the No. 3 cornerback role last season, is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery before the season and could be out until October. Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens should hold the fort down well enough, but considering the former’s injury history, one of them going down could prove disastrous.
Woth how Wiggins performed on Friday, him being available to start the regular season would be a huge boost to the secondary.
“I’m very happy to see that,” Harbaugh said after the game. “I think they kind of went at [Nate Wiggins] a bit, which was good to see, and heck yes. When you’re a corner – a corner of his caliber – he wants that, so I think he was excited about that. He came up and made that hit later, so he played a good game.”