Report: Ravens May Wait Until Thursday to Fly to Pittsburgh

If you’re traveling out of Pittsburgh International Airport on Thursday morning for the holiday, be on the look out for some purple-clad visitors.

The Baltimore Ravens are considering taking the unusual step of flying in the day of the game in response to their continued COVID-19 issues.

The Ravens have placed four players on the COVID-19 reserve list this week, including running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram, who have confirmed positive cases. Nose tackle Brandon Williams and linebacker Pernell McPhee will also miss the game.

There is significant risk that the team may still have positive cases that have not yet popped up in a positive test at this point, and as a result, the team is considering waiting until Thursday to make the trip to Pittsburgh in advance of the 8:20 p.m. kickoff Thanksgiving night, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

“They could actually fly day of game to let the situation calm down, to get more information, to get more contact tracing, to just get everything you’d need to know about who possibly could be at risk here,” Rapoport said Wednesday morning. “The game, as of right now, is still on.’

From @GMFB: The #Ravens may fly out day-of-game thanks to COVID-19 issues. pic.twitter.com/wOnk0zQlEp

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 25, 2020

NFL teams typically fly in the evening before their games and then fly back immediately after the game, but given the late start time and the short flight from Baltimore (about 50 minutes on average), flying out on Thursday is a tenable adjustment to the usual protocols.