Ravens Activate S Ar’Darius Washington, OLB Tavius Robinson to 53-Man Roster
The Ravens are getting some defensive reinforcements for the closing stretch of the regular season. Baltimore is activating veteran safety Ar’Darius Washington from the reserve/physically unable to perform list and third-year pass rusher Tavius Robinson from injured reserve. Both players held starting roles before being placed on their respective injured lists. 
It was seven months ago, to the day, that Washington suffered an Achilles tear that was expected to hold him out for the entirety of the 2025 NFL season. A former undrafted free agent out of TCU, Washington started out as a strong special teamer and a role player on defense. When Baltimore’s defense was struggling throughout defensive coordinator Zach Orr‘s first season, the team jettisoned veterans Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson and placed Washington as a starter next to star Kyle Hamilton.
With Washington and Hamilton manning the defensive outfield, the Ravens defense rebounded, becoming one of the league’s strongest in the back half of the season. Shortly after suffering the offseason injury, Washington made a late-season return the target of his recovery. By arriving with four weeks left in the regular season, he’s more than met that goal. In Washington’s shorter-than-expected absence, the Ravens have become accustomed to fielding a three-safety defense. At any one time, the team will usually have rookie first-rounder Malaki Starks and trade acquisition Alohi Gilman in the secondary as the versatile, All-Pro Hamilton roams to places of greatest need.
With so many assets in the secondary, the Ravens may slow-play Washington’s return to the field. Alternatively, they may attempt to utilize him in a similar role to Hamilton. In the past, they’ve moved Washington back and forth between nickel and safety, so he holds a versatility of his own that the team could easily utilize out of their talent-rich safeties room.
Robinson has missed the last eight weeks after suffering a broken foot. Logging two sacks in his first six games of the season, Robinson led the team in that statistic before landing on IR. The Ravens have attempted to make improvements to their pass rush this season, giving Robinson a starting job across from Kyle Van Noy, drafting Mike Green in the second round, and making two trades that saw Odafe Oweh sent to Los Angeles (in exchange for Gilman) and Dre’Mont Jones arrive in Baltimore.
It hasn’t amounted to much, considering the Ravens currently rank 30th in the league with only 19 sacks this season. They’ll hope that adding Robinson back to the fold will help in that regard. The Ravens have been working with 51 players on their active roster since placing running back Justice Hill and defensive tackle Taven Bryan on IR in late-November, so no corresponding moves were needed to activate Washington and Robinson.
Ravens Designate OLB Tavius Robinson, S Ar’Darius Washington To Return
The Ravens designated outside linebacker Tavius Robinson (injured reserve) and safety Ar’Darius Washington (non-football injury list) to return to practice on Tuesday.
Robinson broke his foot in Week 6 and was placed on IR shortly after. Washington suffered a torn Achilles during offseason training and has been on the non-football injury list since the start of training camp. The two defenders could provide a late-season boost to a Ravens defense that has turned things around after a rough start to the season.
Robinson, 26, started the first six games of the season and saw a substantial increase in playing time after Kyle Van Noy went down in Week 2. The Ravens were hoping the 2023 fourth-round pick would take a third-year leap after a promising campaign last season, but it has not quite materliazed. Robinson made a few highlight plays, including a strip-sack of then-Browns quarterback Joe Flacco in Week 2, but like the rest of Baltimore’s edge rushers, he struggled to make a consistent impact.
Robinson’s return will nonetheless give the Ravens another option off the edge. After trading Odafe Oweh in October, they have relied on 2022 second-rounder David Ojabo and veteran Carl Lawson to fill the back end of their outside linebacker rotation. Ojabo has not performed well, while Lawson held up but did not excel in his 2025 debut as a practice squad elevation in Week 13.
Washington tore his Achilles in May with the hope of returning late in the regular season. His return to practice puts him on track to hit that goal. His 21-day practice window will expire at the beginning of Week 17, by which time he must be activated or revert to season-ending IR.
The severity of Washington’s injury may require a lengthy ramp-up period, and the Ravens can ease him into action even after he’s activated. The team currently has three safeties playing nearly full-time, so Washington will not fill an immediate need. Instead, he will provide another versatile option with the ability to line up as a free safety and in the slot.
Ravens’ Ar’Darius Washington, Tavius Robinson Nearing Return
A May Achilles tear threatened to end Ar’Darius Washington‘s 2025 season well before it began. The Ravens defensive back has continued to make progress in his recovery, though, and another step could be coming soon.
When speaking to the media on Monday, head coach John Harbaugh said (via The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec) there is a “good chance” Washington will take part in practice this week. The 26-year-old landed on the reserve/PUP list during roster cutdowns, and he has remained there ever since.
Washington has aimed to play late in the season, and the latest update on his situation noted a return to practice was a distinct possibility. Provided the former UDFA can indeed suit up at some point in 2025, he will provide the Ravens with another option in the secondary. Washington emerged as a starter at the end of last season, notching 64 tackles, two interceptions and eight pass deflections.
Returnee Kyle Hamilton, first-round rookie Malaki Starks and trade acquisition Alohi Gilman are in place as safety contributors right now (although since Gilman’s arrival Baltimore has used Hamilton closer to the line of scrimmage). If he is activated, Washington would provide the Ravens with a special teams presence capable of rotating in at safety as well as slot corner. As a pending free agent, Washington seeing any game time down the stretch would provide a boost to his market value.
Harbaugh also said third-year edge rusher Tavius Robinson is a candidate to return to practice in the coming days. The 26-year-old has been on IR since suffering a broken foot, an injury which led to the first missed game action of his career. Once Robinson is activated, he will be expected to return to a starting defensive role and in doing so provide the Ravens with a much-needed boost along the edge.
In other injury news, Harbaugh said running back Justice Hill – who landed on IR just before the Ravens’ Thanksgiving game – will be recovering from his neck injury over the next three to four weeks (h/t Zrebiec). A return in time for the postseason could be in store as a result. Meanwhile, undrafted rookie linebacker Chandler Martin recently suffered an ACL tear, so he will undergo season-ending surgery soon. Martin made three appearance on special teams in 2025.
Ravens Activate Rookie OL Emery Jones
While returns to practice for quarterback Lamar Jackson and linebacker Roquan Smith garnered much of the attention in Baltimore today, Wednesday also saw the Ravens put in a transaction that could benefit the team’s attempts to turn this season around in another way. Today Baltimore activated rookie offensive lineman Emery Jones from the reserve/non-football injury list, on the very last day of his 21-day practice window, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. 
The third-round pick out of LSU was placed on the list due to shoulder surgery that he underwent when he was still a draft prospect just a week separated from the NFL Scouting Combine. The Ravens selected him near the end of Day 2 partially aware of the time it would take him to return and potentially contribute. Originally, Jones was expected to return sometime around training camp, but as it became clear that a regular season deadline was going to be a stretch to make, Baltimore opted to wait until he could be fully healthy and ended up using all four required weeks from opening the year on the NFI list plus the entirety of his three-week practice window before activating him.
Early hopes concerning Jones’ use on the offensive line were that he may be able to step into the swing tackle role left vacant by the exit of Patrick Mekari or that he would compete for one of the starting guard spots. Despite projecting as an interior lineman as a left tackle in high school, Jones played solely at right tackle for the Tigers and saw projections at guard once again in the draft. Upon Jones’ return to practice, head coach John Harbaugh claimed they would be working him at both tackle and guard.
If Jones could step in as a swing tackle, it would provide a younger, cheaper option to current backup tackle Joe Noteboom, who has struggled filling in for Ronnie Stanley at times this year. What could really impact the Ravens would be if Jones can displace one of the team’s starting guards, Daniel Faalele or Andrew Vorhees. Faalele is a physical specimen on the interior — listed at 6-foot-8, 370 pounds — but has struggled to find consistent play as a starter. Vorhees was a projected second- or third-rounder whose draft stock fell when he tore his ACL during drills at the combine. He’s earned a starting role in his third year in Baltimore but has commonly been grouped with Faalele as weak spots on the line.
It may be too soon to expect Jones to displace any of Noteboom, Faalele, or Vorhees from their current roles just yet, but at this point, he’s finally healthy and has three weeks of practice under his belt. Activating Jones puts him on the 53-man roster, and to open up a spot for him, the Ravens placed third-year pass rusher Tavius Robinson on injured reserve, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Another third-year player in a new starting role, Robinson recently broke his foot and will now join Adisa Isaac, Nnamdi Madubuike, and Broderick Washington as front-seven defenders on IR.
Ravens OLB Tavius Robinson To Miss Extended Time
The Ravens’ pass rush group was thinned out by last week’s decision to trade away Odafe Oweh. The unit will be shorthanded to a even larger extent moving forward.
Head coach John Harbaugh announced on Monday (video link) that Tavius Robinson suffered a broken foot in Week 6. As a result, the third-year outside linebacker is facing an absence of six to eight weeks. This will mark the first missed time of Robinson’s career.
The 26-year-old Canadian handled a part-time defensive workload as a rookie, but he took on a much larger role last season. After starting seven games in 2024, Robinson worked as a first-team presence each game this year and handled a 65% snap share prior to going down. That workload was set to remain high through the remainder of the campaign, especially with Oweh no longer in the picture.
Instead, the Ravens will be forced to move forward with an EDGE group led by veteran Kyle Van Noy. Baltimore also has David Ojabo and second-round rookie Mike Green in place as candidates to take on an increased role with Robinson sidelined. Second-year pass rusher Adisa Isaac is still in the team’s plans for 2025 after being designated for return from IR during roster cutdowns.
When speaking about Isaac on Monday (video link), Harbaugh said a return in mid-to-late November is expected. Isaac – who missed most of his rookie campaign through injury – sustained ligament damage in his elbow during the 2025 preseason. He continues to rehab the ailment, and a depth role should be in store upon return given the lack of available pass rushers for Baltimore at the moment.
Robinson totaled 13 pressures in 2024 and was well on his way to increasing that figure this season with five through his first six games. Given the former fourth-rounder’s ability to move inside in certain situations, his absence will be acutely felt on a Baltimore defense which ranks at or near the bottom of the league in several categories. After the Ravens acquired two new safeties last week, it will be interesting to see if a pass rush addition is targeted in the wake of today’s news.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/6/23
A couple teams have carried on the business of signing members of their draft class through the weekend. Here are the latest rookies to ink their four-year deals:
Baltimore Ravens
- LB Trenton Simpson (third round, Clemson)
- OLB Tavius Robinson (fourth round, Ole Miss)
New York Giants
- DT Jordon Riley (seventh round, Oregon)