The Baltimore Ravens announced last week that the plan is for Joe Flacco to return in time to start the regular season.

The injured starting quarterback just won't return this week.

Flacco will remain sidelined this week as the Ravens prepare for their third preseason game, coach John Harbaugh announced after Baltimore's 31-7 preseason victory Thursday in Miami. He has yet to practice in training camp because of a back injury.

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"We have a time frame with that," Harbaugh said Thursday night. "I don't think that time frame is this week yet. So we will stick with the plan on that. I think it's a straightforward date that the doctors and the back specialists have given us. So we're going to stick with that."

Under that timetable, the earliest Flacco would practice is Aug. 27, which would give him two weeks to get ready for the regular-season opener in Cincinnati, set for Sept. 10. The Ravens, though, haven't announced definitively when Flacco will come back.

At the start of training camp, doctors told Flacco and the Ravens that he would need about a week of rest for his back issue to subside. The 32-year-old now will miss at least four weeks of practice.

According to the team last week, Flacco was re-examined and his progress from a back issue "is good." The Ravens ruled out Flacco from the rest of the preseason at that point.

Flacco has been one of the most durable quarterbacks in the NFL. He has started every game in eight of his nine seasons.

There has been increasing drama over Baltimore's quarterback position. Backup quarterback Ryan Mallett has struggled in training camp and the preseason.

In his only comments about the injury, Flacco said July 28 he was unsure when he would return to practice.

"Hopefully not too long, but at the same time, it is kind of a waiting game," Flacco said. "It is just one of those things where you have to be patient and not let your competitive nature get the best of you. I am talking about everybody -- myself and, really, everybody."