Lamar Jackson practiced all three days this week, and that alone gives the Ravens a real chance to get their quarterback back for Sunday’s divisional game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
But Baltimore’s Week 7 picture is bigger than Jackson’s ankle. The Ravens are also down two defensive starters, with safety Jaylinn Hawkins and outside linebacker Tavius Robinson ruled out, leaving the team to sort through a quarterback decision while another part of the roster thins out around him.
Jackson is listed as questionable for the matchup, and his own update sounded cautiously optimistic. “It’s headed in the right direction,” he said Friday, after noting that the swelling in his ankle has gone down a lot.
He also said the issue is less about a perfect recovery than about whether he can function through the pain when he runs. Jackson said he doesn’t need to be 100% to play against the Bengals, but that it becomes a pain-tolerance question once he starts moving.
That is the central issue for Baltimore. Jackson has missed the past two games because of the ankle injury he suffered on Oct. 4, and he confirmed this week that he is dealing with a high ankle sprain, the kind of injury that usually comes with a multi-week absence. Even so, Friday’s practice was another step in the right direction, and he said he got a “pretty good amount of work in” after being limited Wednesday and Thursday.
The Ravens have already seen what life looks like without him. Tyler Huntley is the fallback if Jackson cannot go, and Baltimore’s offense has had mixed results with him under center. Huntley helped the Ravens rally to a comeback win in Atlanta, but the next week in Cleveland the offense stalled after scoring 10 points on its first two drives and then going scoreless the rest of the game.
Jackson’s return would change the shape of the offense immediately, but it would not solve the rest of the availability report. Robinson’s absence is especially notable because he leads the Ravens with 3.5 sacks, and he had not practiced all week before being ruled out. He had 1.5 sacks over the last two games before the injury, a stretch that suggested he was starting to settle into a bigger role.
That leaves Baltimore trying to replace production on both sides of the ball in the same week. Jackson’s status will draw the most attention, as it should, but the Ravens are also trying to absorb the loss of a pass rusher who had been trending up and a safety who won’t be available either.
There is also a longer view to Robinson’s injury. His season-ending pectoral issue removes him from the rest of the year, not just Sunday’s game, and that makes Baltimore’s defensive depth part of the conversation beyond the Bengals matchup.
Jackson’s own comments this week showed how much his thinking has shifted since last season. He described his decision to play through multiple injuries then as “dumb, a little bit,” a blunt acknowledgment from a quarterback who has already spent enough time on the sideline this month. Last year, he averaged a career-low 5.2 rushing attempts and 26.8 rushing yards per game; this season, that number has climbed to 36.0 rushing yards per game.
That matters because Jackson’s game is built around movement, and Baltimore knows it. The question for Sunday is not simply whether he is active, but whether he can do enough of what makes him dangerous without aggravating the ankle.
For now, the Ravens have one encouraging sign and several unresolved ones. Jackson practiced all week and said he is moving in the right direction. Hawkins and Robinson are out. Huntley is waiting behind him. And with the Bengals coming to Baltimore for a divisional game, the Ravens are still balancing the possibility of getting their quarterback back against the reality that the rest of the injury report is not nearly as clean.