OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Another day, another practice with no Lamar Jackson in sight. The Ravens star quarterback missed his 17th consecutive practice on Thursday as his team gets ready for its wild card playoff matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jackson is dealing with the sprained knee he hurt on Dec. 4 and is in line to miss a sixth consecutive game.
He tweeted about the injury on Thursday.
remains unstable. I’m still in good spirits, as I continue with treatments on the road to recovery. I wish I could be out there with my guys more than anything but I can’t give a 100% of myself to my guys and fans I’m still hopeful we still have a chance. 💜💜
— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) January 12, 2023
There was reason for slight optimism on Thursday. Tyler Huntley was on the field and throwing passes, which is something he did not do on Wednesday. The backup QB is dealing with shoulder and wrist injuries.
"He looked good. He is progressing. It’s day to day but making progress," said offensive coordinator Greg Roman regarding Huntley.
As for Jackson:
"He’s just working hard, rehabbing," said Roman. "We’re really focused in on the guys that are in this game plan and whatnot. His full effort, motivation right now is to get himself back to full strength."
If the Ravens want any chance at winning this game on Sunday they know their defense must lead the way and hold Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and that dangerous Cincy offense in check.
And that Baltimore defensive unit may very well have won the first mental battle with the Bengals. After that intense regular season finale a handful of Cincinnati players accused the Ravens of playing dirty and playing outside the rules. Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith was right in the middle of it. He bumped star wideout Ja’Marr Chase after a whistle in the third quarter.
"Dude, he did that on purpose," said Chase. "It’s alright. We got something for that. He was the only one trying to do messy stuff. They don’t know how physical I can be back. So, I’ll just show them next game. Know what I’m saying?"
"See you Sunday," responding Smith to reporters when told of the Bengals' issues.
"If there’s smoke, there’s smoke. We’re not running from anybody, if you feel like people were doing stuff dirty. You weren’t at the same time? You can look at film from the past from what they were doing and stuff, too," said Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen. "So, at the end of the day, whoever has beef with each other, they have beef with each other. At the end of the day, we’re going out there to play a football game. We’re not trying to do anything extra, but we have a job to do."
With their season on the line on Sunday night.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
