James Hurst learned in his first three seasons with the Ravens that he needs to be prepared for everything. As a reserve offensive tackle, he understood that at any moment, he could be summoned from the sideline and asked to block one of the league’s top pass rushers.

For him, change has been the norm, so the transition he is now making — moving from right tackle to left guard — isn’t all that daunting.

“I’ve had three seasons so far and I definitely haven’t had a boring one,” Hurst said after the Ravens practice Saturday morning at M&T Bank Stadium. “I feel like I’ve been all over the place — spot duty, start a few games in a row here or there. It’s definitely been a ride that’s unusual with twists and turns and this is just another one. Lucky I have some experience moving around. It’s another chance, but it’s a chance to go start and be reliable.”

Hurst, 25, has spent the first two weeks of training camp as the Ravens’ starting right tackle. He learned late last week that he’d have stiff competition for that job as the Ravens signed veteran Austin Howard, who got a three-year, $15.025 million deal, money befitting a starting tackle.

Just when it appeared that Hurst would again have to accept a reserve role, starting left guard Alex Lewis was pronounced out for the season with a torn labrum in his shoulder. Hurst played left guard with the first team throughout Saturday’s practice and the team views him as the top internal option to replace Lewis.

“I just think he is a versatile player. That is one of the things about James,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He is very smart. He has the kind of athletic ability to play inside or outside; he can really move his feet. He wants to do it, and he’s excited about it, so let’s roll.”

Hurst called the assignment “a vote of confidence,” and said it’s up to him to prove the coaching staff is making the right decision. He has started 16 games over three seasons in his Ravens career, but they’ve all been at either left or right tackle. He did gain some experience playing guard last preseason.

As Hurst worked at left guard for the first time in camp, Howard manned the starting right tackle spot. He practiced for the first time since signing with the team Aug. 4. The Ravens held him out of practice for a few days to allow him to get some work in with the conditioning staff.

“I’ve been itching to get back out here. It was a great day today, a great day to get back out there and be with the team and just step on the field. So it was a good day,” Howard said.

Humphrey happy to practice: Missing practices is one thing, but sitting out of the Ravens’ preseason opener against the Washington Redskins on Thursday night was especially grating for first-round cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

“I was really eager,” Humphrey said after Saturday’s session at M&T Bank Stadium, his first practice after being absent in five straight. “Not playing in that game, I hated not playing in it. But I was faithful in the training staff with them sitting me out and the plan we had to come back this Saturday and practice.”

The 6-foot, 197-pound Humphrey had not practiced since Aug. 2 when he was limited to individual drills for unspecified reasons. But he and Sheldon Price, who had missed seven consecutive sessions for undisclosed reasons, were back as the next cornerbacks after starters Jimmy Smith and Brandon Carr.

Nothing ‘routine’ about Tucker’s 59-yarder: After tying an NFL record with 10 successful field goals from at least 50 yards out last season, kicker Justin Tucker opened the 2017 preseason by nailing a 59-yarder as time expired in the first half in Thursday night’s 23-3 victory over the Washington Redskins in the preseason opener for both teams at M&T Bank Stadium.

While it appears that Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history with a career field-goal percentage of 89.8 (168-for-187) — just slightly ahead of the Dallas Cowboys’ Dan Bailey (89.5 percent on 171-for-191) — is already in midseason form, he cautioned against taking his long-distance field goal for granted.

“I don’t think any kick is routine or ho-hum,” he said. “I think every single kick where we happen to play presents a variety of challenges. It’s about compartmentalizing that one kick, that 1.3 seconds into smaller, simpler pieces using the data that you gathered in pregame war-ups based on the field conditions and the weather conditions. ‘How do I need to hit this ball to make it go through the uprights?’?”

End zone: Harbaugh declined to describe the team’s decision to hold out quarterback Joe Flacco from the remaining three preseason games because of a back injury as precautionary. … Harbaugh said the coaches were as surprised as anyone else by news of rookie wide receiver Tim White’s thumb injury that will prevent him from playing this season. “All of a sudden, we got a deal, and his thumb’s hurting, and he got an MRI, and he had some ligament tears in there. It’s just one of those things you’ve got to get fixed.” … Three former Ravens in center Mike Flynn, wide receiver-return specialist Jacoby Jones and cornerback Chris McAlister attended practice.

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