Ravens’ John Harbaugh explains why Rashod Bateman received a cortisone shot in his injured foot

The Baltimore Ravens are taking a slow-and-steady approach with how they are dealing with Rashod Bateman. The wideout is working his way back from a Lisfranc foot injury that cut his 2022 season short. While he was reportedly limited throughout OTAs, Bateman opted for a cortisone shot that has him sidelined for mandatory minicamp, head coach John Harbaugh told reporters Tuesday. 

Harbaugh noted that the team decided to allow him to keep rehabbing with the main focus being ready to go for training camp. Leading up to Day 2 of Baltimore’s minicamp, the head coach dove further into that decision for Bateman to get the shot, telling CBS Sports NFL Insider Josina Anderson it was to help with the healing process after the screws were removed from his foot. 

“Each injury is different,” Harbaugh told Anderson. “Lisfranc, per se, is a different injury. The screws come in, it heals, and then the screws come out and sometimes you have to deal with the screw coming out and how that heals. That was really the issue with him. It’s just the matter of putting some cortisone in there and helping that healing process when the screw came out, so it’s not a structural issue at all. It is an issue of just comfort and making sure it’s right for training camp.”  

Bateman suited up in just six games for Baltimore last season before going down with the foot ailment. Injuries have been a part of Bateman’s story thus far in the NFL after the Ravens selected him in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Minnesota. He was limited to 12 games as a rookie after starting the year on IR due to a groin injury. When he has been on the field, Bateman has flashed his potential, including a 108-yard performance in Week 2 against Miami last season. 

Once Bateman returns to full strength, he will look to be a sizable piece in the Ravens revamped offense under new OC Todd Monken that is expected to throw the football more often. The club also bolstered the receiver room around Bateman, bringing in Odell Beckham Jr. in free agency and drafting Zay Flowers in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. That change up in the offense, along with more receivers to garner the attention of opposing secondaries, should free up Bateman and make Baltimore’s overall passing attack a force to be reckoned with so long has he can stay on the field.