OTL: Madubuike to Return by Week 3 or 4?

Welcome back, Ravens Flock. Believe it or not, we are less than a week from real NFL Football and just nine days away from Ravens Football returning.

It has been a long summer, and the hype has been building for the squad, so today we talk about the introduction of permanent team captains for the first time in forever, the potential return of Madubuike, and, to end it off, a cool quote about Doyle that Lamar said.

First, let’s talk about the Captains because this is cool and another thing to show just how different things are under Minter.

Our 2026 captains and leadership teampic.twitter.com/ABwCLJsT5a

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 3, 2026

While John Harbaugh instead had game captains as a way to, I guess, give everyone a chance to be in that role, it is cool to see that the team now has real captains, and it was nice to see these players were also voted on by the players.

While this is definitely the least important thing that will translate on the field that we talk about today, this is the kind of stuff that goes a long way in changing cultures, and Jessie has clearly done that.

Good job, Jessie.

Now, for me, the biggest news of the day has to do with Nnamdi Madubuike:

Jesse Minter said that Nnamdi Madubuike has started to take part in team segments of practice. But he’s still calling his status “day to day.”

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 3, 2026

Now I understand some people are going to take this news the wrong way and be negative about it because Jesse basically said he won’t be ready by Week 1, but considering the alternative, this is amazing news. We don’t have to explain how Madubuike changes the defense when he is on the field, but we need a healthy and ready-to-go Mads, not a broken one. So yeah, this may be a two-week-or-more absence, but the Ravens not putting him on IR was also telling about what they think the timeline is: by about Week three or four, he is going to be back.

Getting a great Madubuike back in within the first month is much more important than rushing him back for Week 1.

It is great to see him take another step forward in recovery from an awful situation.

Now, to finish this off, let’s get to what Lamar had to say about his new OC.

Lamar Jackson on new Ravens offense, via @kpatra:

“It’s everything you need in an offense, play action, dropbacks, run game, everything you want in an offensive system … I can’t call it until we’re on the field but inside of practice and what I’ve been seeing on film, I don’t… pic.twitter.com/7EjDteYiK4

— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) September 3, 2026

That’s the good stuff, baby. No, this isn’t fluff from Lamar; he actually does believe this 100%. I have thought that with how camp has gone, the offense would get off to a slower start and be behind the defense. However, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, because you know who else that happened with? Mike Macdonald, and we don’t have to explain any further. To see Lamar be giddy and having fun again has been such a blessing this camp season, and as we wind down from camp to the regular season, this coaching staff is a home run.

If the front office wanted change, they sure got it, because the vibe has been different for a while now, and that is going to impact how many wins we have on the field this year.

The post OTL: Madubuike to Return by Week 3 or 4? appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/09/04/out-to-lunch/week-4-madubuike/