OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The seasons may have changed - from regular to post - but the Ravens’ less-than-ideal quarterback situation remains the same. Lamar Jackson is still not on the practice field and head coach John Harbaugh is not offering any details on his status.
"No updates at this time," he said on Wednesday following practice.
The star QB missed his 16th consecutive practice since spraining his knee on Dec. 4. He has also missed the past five games as well. WMAR-2 Sports Reporter Shawn Stepner asked Harbaugh about how comfortable the team would be playing Jackson in Sunday's wild card playoff game in Cincinnati if he was able to go at less than 100 percent.
"Of course, yeah. As long as he’s safe, and healthy and can play – it’s for any player, it’s not really just any particular player. Any player goes out there, and if he’s healthy, and safe and he’s not going to do any damage to an injury, any player plays and does what he can to the level that he can in that situation," said Harbaugh.
But the likelihood of Lamar playing at the most important time of the year is not promising. Calais Campbell knows that is not optimal.
"When Lamar is on the field we’re at our best and when he is not we are not as good a team as we could be with him on," said the Ravens defensive end. "It would be great to have him if we can. If we don’t then we’ll have to make do."
"Obviously Lamar is one of one. But you look at the other two guys, [Tyler] Snoop [Huntley] and Anthony Brown, there is so much trust in both of them," added tight end Mark Andrews.
Backup QB Tyler 'Snoop' Huntley was limited in practice Wednesday with shoulder and wrist injuries. He did not throw a single pass during the portion open to media viewing. There are two more practices for Lamar to possibly hop on the practice field. But if history is any indicator, he is on track to miss Sunday’s contest, severely hindering Baltimore’s chances at an upset.
As much as Jackson changes who the Ravens are on offense is as much as Roquan Smith has changed how successful they are on defense since coming over in a Halloween trade with the Bears.
The Ravens rewarded him for that, signing the inside linebacker to a five-year contract worth a reported $100 million. Smith is now the highest paid player at his position in NFL history.
"Being here with the guys and seeing how the guys work here, it felt like it was more a part of my pedigree, and it was something that aligned with me," he said. "Just being here, it’s amazing, and man, I can’t really even put it into words, but I’m just so excited to be here and just keep working and bring championships here."
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
