The Baltimore Ravens opted not to drag out Lamar Jackson’s medical situation through the weekend.
After head coach Jesse Mitner said on Friday the team was willing to take any decision with Jackson down to the wire if need be, and Jackson signaled how “very, very painful” the high ankle sprain was, the two-time MVP’s status ended up clarified well before kickoff. Baltimore ruled him out Saturday afternoon, making the messaging about this being a day-to-day injury for three weeks seem even more baffling.
Where twice before they ruled out Jackson on Friday, this time the team and player took it until Saturday. It was the same result, despite very different practice weeks,Jackson spoke about the severity of the injury and its limitations on him as anything but a daily complication, while Ravens head coach Jesse Minter has stuck with that messaging, which probably hasn't served the player, the team or its fans well.
Jackson was always quite likely to miss at least two games with the injury as we originally reported and in fact he will miss at least three including Sunday's key divisional game with the Bengals. While Minter has been calling Jackson “day-to-day” for three weeks the reality couldn’t be further from the truth as even after three limited practice sessions Jackson was not cleared for Week 7 after suffering the injury at the end of the first half in Week 4.
At this point it’s fair to expect that Jackson will have to practice fully a time or two in order for he and the Ravens to be comfortable with his return. Minter reiterated through the week that any final decision would include all parties being aligned that it was the right time for Jackson to return. Jackson is also the rarest of truly elite quarterback who has no future guarantees on his contract beyond this season and he has as much leverage as any NFL player ever has for 2027 with an $85M cap hit, a no-trade clause and a no-franchise tag clause. Which makes any injury with him the focus of increased attention.
“Again, between Lamar, our staff and us, it's going to be a decision based on him, how he feels and how effective [we] feel like it could be,” Minter said Friday after practice.
On Friday Jackson explained what it would take to be able to help the team enough to play:
“I don't feel like I have to be 100%,” Jackson said. “If I can just be out there and tolerate the pain in my ankle, that's it. If I can just go out there and feel the pain a little bit, I can play. But I'm restricted and I can't do what I do, I'm not helping. If I can just go out there and just be a statue and be hit, that's not helping my team at all.”
Jackson also said on Friday: "I started feeling better, like I said, Sunday. Monday (entering Week 7). We came out and tried to run a little bit. I did better than I did the week prior, because I couldn't run at all the week prior. It was just crazy. It was hurting bad.."
Back To Snoop
Veteran Snoop Huntley gets the start instead. Huntley is a significantly limited passer, the entire scope of the passing game falters with him out and rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle better do a significantly better job of leaning into the screen game and multiplicity in the run game with Jackson out. He also better design more runs for Huntley, who can still move, and dabble with more RPOs.
The Bengals have a lethal interior pass rush led by offseason acquisition Dexter Lawrence – they are the best fourth-quarter pass rush in the NFL by a mile – and the Ravens are starting new center Cam Jurgens, who was struggling mightily for the Eagles at guard, and will field their fifth offensive line in seven weeks.
Doyle also better find ways to get role players into bigger roles with the potential for yards after the catch (especially two of these potential contributors). Jackson has an 11-2 record against the Bengals (7-2 against Joe Burrow) and has run for 837 yards against them, the most any QB has amassed against any team in the history of the NFL.
Baltimore’s offense was a mess for three quarters against Atlanta with Huntley at the helm and for the final nine drives against the Browns, which produced no points.
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