BOTAFOGO, Brazil -- Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike appears set to return more than a year after his last NFL game.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection was a full participant at the Ravens' Friday afternoon practice in Botafogo and was given no designation on the game's final injury report, paving the way for him to play Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys at Maracanã Stadium. It will be his first game since Week 2 last year, after which concerns about a neck injury surfaced.
The Ravens, however, will not have starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who didn't practice all week because of a toe injury. He has been ruled out. Second-year pro Carson Vinson is expected to start in Stanley's place.
Wide receiver Zay Flowers' status is also uncertain because of a hamstring injury that sidelined him for last Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints. Flowers got some work in Friday in what amounted to a walk-through practice for the Ravens and he's listed as "questionable."
Asked about the status of Flowers, Stanley and Madubuike following Friday's practice, Ravens coach Jesse Minter said, "A lot of the other guys have a real opportunity to maybe help us in the game. So I'm excited about that."
Another Raven set to make his 2026 debut is second-year inside linebacker Teddye Buchanan. A 13-game starter last year before sustaining a significant knee injury in December, Buchanan was a full participant at practice all week and like Madubuike, has no injury designation.
Madubuike's return would be a huge boost for a defense that has struggled to replace him and generate interior pressure in his absence. Madubuike had 25 total sacks from 2022 to 2024 and was regarded as one of the league's most disruptive interior defensive linemen before his injury.
It seems likely that the 28-year-old will be on a relatively strict pitch count and be used more situationally for the first couple of weeks. Travis Jones, Calais Campbell and Broderick Washington have been starting inside.
Still, just him being on the field is a significant development for the Ravens, because there have been times over the past year when Madubuike's NFL future has been in question. Madubuike, a third-round pick in 2020, said that he never doubted that he would play again, but there was certainly concern from Baltimore's end.
Madubuike first reported an issue with his neck in the hours following the Ravens' 41-17 home victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 14 last year. Madubuike had a sack in the game, giving him two in two games to start the 2025 season. He didn't play the rest of the season and both the player and the team declined to address the severity of the injury.
It wasn't until April, when Madubuike had surgery on his neck, that a return to the field seemed probable. He was on the field for the first day of training camp in July, but Madubuike's ramp-up was slow. He did only conditioning and individual work for most of camp. Yet, the Ravens kept him on the active 53-man roster rather than putting him on injured reserve, because they felt he needed to practice and they expected him to return no later than Week 4 of the regular season.
It appears Madubuike will reward that faith.
"It has been one unique journey," Madubuike told reporters after Thursday's practice at the team's training facility. "I'm so happy just to be out there with the guys in practice. When the time is right, I will be out there in the game -- playing with the guys and dominating and doing what we do."
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
