Jacksonville Jaguars

The Ravens confirmed what Tom Zbikowski suggested Saturday by listing the starting strong safety as doubtful for Monday night's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Coach John Harbaugh said Zbikowski - who has been dogged by symptoms stemming from the concussion he sustained in the Ravens' 17-point win against the New York Jets on Oct. 2 - still has not been cleared for contact. Zbikowski practiced on a limited basis for the second time this week, but he was kept out of all contact drills.

Blaine Gabbert probably already figured that he would face a lot of heat when the rookie quarterback leads the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Ravens Monday night. But Gabbert's evening might be foretold depending on the availability of offensive tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton. Monroe, the left tackle, sat out Jacksonville's 17-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers with a shoulder injury. Britton, the right tackle, also missed Sunday's contest due to a recurring back ailment.

Ravens cornerback Chris Carr, who has been troubled by a balky left hamstring, said he intends to play against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night. “It's feeling pretty good. So I'm preparing like I'm going to play on Monday,” he said before the team's practice Friday. “But if I don't feel like I'm going to be 100 percent, then I'm not going to go. But if I'm going to go and if I'm up for this game, then I'm going to be ready. There's going to be no 90 percent anymore.

For Ray Rice who stands at 5 feet, 8 inches, there aren't too many running backs in the NFL that he has a height advantage on. On Monday night, the Ravens running back will get a chance to enjoy that advantage when he meets 5-7 Maurice Jones-Drew and the rest of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rice, who spoke Thursday, said he and Jones-Drew are friends who spent time together at the 2009 Pro Bowl and at the 2008 NFL draft. “It's more like when we see each other, we know that off the field, it's a mutual respect, good buddies.

I think we've all heard and said plenty about the challenge that Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew will pose for the Ravens this week, but it's just impossible to ignore this gem from Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano during his weekly talk with the media. "You put on the tape, and this guy is like a rolling ball of butcher knives," Pagano said. "He's scary. He runs over linebackers, he knocks guys out, he puts people to sleep. We got to do a great job as always of setting the edge and not giving him the outside.

From 1999 to 2001, inside linebacker Ray Lewis and linebackers coach Jack Del Rio worked in tandem, eventually assisting the Ravens to their first and only Super Bowl title in 2000. On Monday night, the duo will meet again but on opposing sidelines - Lewis playing his 16 th season for the Ravens and Del Rio in his ninth year as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Jack was always just a true man's man, a true professional, and I think it truly comes from his experience of playing in the game himself,” Lewis said Wednesday.

Seven days from now, the Ravens will meet the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night before a national television audience. The Ravens have not played host to a Monday night game since Dec. 3, 2007 when the New England Patriots escaped M&T Bank Stadium with a 27-24 win. Since then, the Ravens have participated in five Monday night contests, and all have taken place on the road. Asked to comment on the disparity, coach John Harbaugh - who is dealing with questions about his brother Jim's controversial post-game handshake with Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz Sunday - responded with a quip of his own. “Aren't we in enough controversy with the family right now to be involved in that?

As has been documented, Joe Flacco ranks 31 st in the NFL in completion percentage with a 49.3 success rate, and the Ravens' signal caller is just one of four quarterbacks with at least two starts who has completed less than half of his passes. (Sam Bradford of the St. Louis Rams, Blaine Gabbert of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Kerry Collins of the Indianapolis Colts are the others.) But if Flacco is supposed to be concerned about his off-target passes, he's not airing those worries, especially after he was asked during his weekly briefing with the media Wednesday on how he could improve his completion percentage.

A pair of starters in cornerback Antonio Cromartie and center Nick Mangold won't practice Wednesday, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan said Wednesday. Cromartie sustained a bruised lung and ribs in the team's 34-24 loss to the Oakland Raiders Sunday, and his availability for Sunday night's contest against the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium is up in the air. “It's day-to-day,” Ryan said during a conference call with Baltimore media Wednesday morning. “We'll see how he is. We know he's improving.

For nine seasons, Matt Hasselbeck was synonymous with the Seattle Seahawks and the NFC West. But for at least one year (2001), Hasselbeck was the starting quarterback for the Seahawks when they resided in the AFC West and faced the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers on a regular basis. Hasselbeck -- who now plays for the Tennessee Titans, who welcome the Ravens to LP Field Sunday -- said he's beginning to reacquaint himself to life in the AFC. "I'm not that familiar with the personnel in the AFC," Hasselback said Wednesday during a conference call with Baltimore media.