Pro Football Rumors
After limping heavily out of a four-game losing streak, the Ravens got very healthy during their bye week. While four expected contributors on the defensive front remain out on injured reserve, the only player in Baltimore with an injury designation heading into the weekend in quarterback Lamar Jackson, and that designation of “questionable” could not be any more appropriate.
After getting a few injured players back two weeks ago, it was expected that the two they didn’t — Jackson and linebacker Roquan Smith — would be able to return after the bye. On Wednesday, Jackson returned to practice for the first time since injuring his hamstring in late-September, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. ESPN’s Jamison Hensley added that Jackson was a limited participant that day, taking reps behind usual backup Cooper Rush and practice squad quarterback Tyler Huntley.
After another limited practice yesterday, head coach John Harbaugh told the media that Jackson was able to be a full participant today. Despite the full practice also appearing on the team’s injury report, the “questionable” status remained. There was one move the team made today that may hint towards the team’s expectations.
First reported by Zrebiec, the Ravens promoted Huntley from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. We saw something similar happen in San Francisco as the 49ers dealt with an injury to starter Brock Purdy. They had been calling up quarterback Adrian Martinez as a standard gameday practice squad elevation each week to back up the usual backup quarterback Mac Jones.
There was speculation that Purdy may be healthy enough to serve as the team’s third emergency quarterback, but they had yet to decide. A fairly rule was recently implemented making it so that a team can have three quarterbacks suit up for a football instead of the previously permitted two. A game in San Franscisco had required an already injured passer to return to the field of play after his backup also got hurt.
The new rule made it so that teams could have a third quarterback suited up to avoid such situations, but it required that the third QB be on the team’s 53-man roster. So, earlier this year, the NFL world waited to see if Martinez would be simply elevated or signed to the active roster. San Francisco ended up just elevating him that week, ensuring that Purdy would be inactive for that game.
So Huntley’s promotion tells us something about the team’s expectations. If Baltimore knew Jackson wasn’t going to be able to play, they could’ve just used Huntley’s third elevation without sacrificing a spot on the 53-man roster. Bringing him onto the active roster, though, indicates that all three quarterbacks will be able to suit up on Sunday.
There’s still a chance Jackson is made inactive for the game or get ruled out eventually, but the Ravens have set it up for Jackson to start, with Huntley and Rush being available as backups. In fact, Harbaugh also told the media that Huntley has...
