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Major Takeaways
Lamar Jackson is listed as questionable for Sunday against Cincinnati.
He confirmed on Friday that the injury is a high ankle sprain.
Baltimore may wait until Sunday morning to name its starting quarterback.
Tyler Huntley starts a third straight game if Jackson cannot go.
Jackson says playing hurt last season taught him a hard lesson.
A Sunday Decision at Even Odds in Baltimore
Baltimore wakes up on Saturday with its season holding its breath.
The Ravens sit at 4 and 2 in a crowded AFC North race.
The Cincinnati Bengals visit on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Cincinnati arrives at 3 and 2 after its bye week.
Lamar Jackson remains listed as questionable for the game.
His chances of playing were put at even odds on Saturday.
Jackson took most of the first team reps in practice on Friday.
He moved well in that session, the best sign of his week.
Saturday brings a walkthrough and one more test for the ankle.
A final call may not come until Sunday morning.
Head coach Jesse Minter said the team will take its time.
“I think it’s in that phase where we’ll certainly go as long as it needs to take,” Minter said.
Baltimore is hopeful this week, and hopeful is not certain.
Jackson Confirms a High Ankle Sprain at Last
Jackson finally put a name to the injury on Friday.
He confirmed that team medical staff diagnosed a high ankle sprain.
Conflicting talk about the diagnosis had swirled all week long.
Jackson brushed that talk aside and stood by his own staff.
The injury happened on October 4 against the Tennessee Titans.
A diving defender fell on his left ankle as he planted his foot.
It happened late in the first half of that Baltimore win.
“It was very, very, very, very, very painful,” Jackson said.
He has taken treatment every day since the injury occurred.
He iced the ankle again and again through the past two weeks.
The swelling is now behind him, he said on Friday.
Pain still greets him when he runs and plants the foot.
He could not run at all last week, by his own account.
He felt a corner turn on Sunday while the team played in Cleveland.
He ran a little on Sunday and again on Monday.
Limited work followed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week.
It was his first week of practice since the injury.
He still walked with a visible limp after practice on Friday.
The Lesson Lamar Jackson Learned the Hard Way
Jackson missed three games early last season with a hamstring injury.
He then played through other injuries for the rest of that year.
He was never quite himself, and he admits that now.
“I feel like that was dumb a little bit because I was still hurting,” Jackson said.
“I’m trying to help my team win, but I’m not to my full capability or not even close to it.”
That memory is shaping every choice he makes this week.
He says he does not need to feel perfect to play Sunday.
He needs to move the way he moves, or he stays off the field.
“Just trying to move how I move,” he said. “If I can’t do that, I can’t help my team.”
“If I can just go out there and feel the pain a little bit, I can play,” Jackson said.
“But if I’m restricted and I can’t do what I do, I’m not helping nobody.”
“If I can just go out there and just be a statue and get hit, that’s not helping my team at all.”
A limited Jackson invites hits he normally escapes with ease.
His legs are not a bonus to his game. They are the game.
Baltimore Without Jackson Is a Different Offense
The numbers show how steep the drop has been this month.
Baltimore scored 116 points in 14 quarters with Jackson this season.
Those quarters produced 14 offensive touchdowns for the Ravens.
In 10 quarters with Huntley, Baltimore has scored 40 points.
Those quarters produced just four touchdowns for the offense.
Huntley led a comeback win in Atlanta in his first start.
Baltimore won that game 30 to 23 in overtime on the road.
His second start brought a 13 to 10 loss in Cleveland.
Baltimore scored on its first two drives that afternoon in Cleveland.
The Ravens then went scoreless for the rest of the game.
Huntley completed 19 of 31 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown.
He can run this offense with poise and with toughness.
He cannot bend a defense the way Jackson bends one.
Read more in our Football coverage as the weekend unfolds across the league.
Cincinnati Has Seen This Movie Many Times
No opponent knows the Jackson problem quite like Cincinnati does.
Since Jackson became the starter in the 2018 season, Baltimore owns this matchup.
The Ravens stand 11 and 2 against the Bengals with Jackson starting.
He has thrown 24 touchdown passes against Cincinnati in that span.
He has thrown only six interceptions against them as well.
Without Jackson, Baltimore stands 0 and 3 against Cincinnati.
That count includes a playoff meeting between the two teams.
Those three losses came by an average margin of 12 points.
Cincinnati must prepare for two very different game plans this weekend.
One plan chases the most electric runner at the position.
The other plan faces a steady backup who knows the system.
“One thing I’ll say about Lamar is that he’s super competitive and he wants to play,” Minter said.
“It’s going to be a decision based on how he feels and how effective he feels like he can be and how we feel like it looks.”
Our look at the Steelers and Saints taking the NFL to Paris shows how big this Sunday is.
Why This Choice Matters for Black Quarterbacks
Black quarterbacks have long faced a cruel and familiar bargain.
Play hurt and earn praise for toughness, or sit and face questions.
Jackson has heard the second part of that bargain all month.
Speculation about his injury has followed him at every step.
Teammate Marlon Humphrey called that speculation slander on Thursday.
“It’s been that way,” Jackson said. “No matter what Lamar’s doing, it’s going to be something said, so it is what it is.”
Jackson built his name by outrunning every limit placed on him.
Two MVP awards later, his legs remain central to how he wins.
Protecting those legs is not weakness. It is career wisdom.
Young Black quarterbacks across the country are watching this week.
They are learning that health can come before the hero moment.
That lesson may outlast whatever happens on Sunday afternoon.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday in Baltimore.
By then, the walkthrough and the warmups will have spoken.
Either Jackson runs out with the first team, or Huntley takes the ball.
Baltimore will know its answer at the last possible moment.
Follow the weekend in our Sports section as the story lands.
