Lamar Jackson Still Day-to-Day, Could Return to Practice Wednesday as Ravens Prep for Bengals

The Baltimore Ravens still do not know whether Lamar Jackson will play Sunday against Cincinnati, and on Monday their head coach was not pretending otherwise. Jesse Minter said Jackson, who suffered a left high-ankle sprain on October 4 against the Tennessee Titans, has made progress in his recovery but remains “day-to-day,” according to the team’s official site, BaltimoreRavens.com. “I’d still put it in kind of the day-to-day thing,” Minter said during his Monday press conference. “We’ll know a lot more on Wednesday, I would say.” Asked whether Jackson would be back on the practice field when the Ravens return to work Wednesday, Minter kept the door open without walking through it: “Potentially, but we’ll see how it goes.”

There was, at least, a direction to the news. ESPN’s Jamison Hensley reported, via Heavy, that when Minter was asked the simplest version of the question — has the ankle improved? — the coach’s answer was one word: “Yes.” That is not a return date, and Minter was careful not to offer one. But for a team that has played two straight games without its franchise quarterback, “improved” plus a possible Wednesday practice appearance is a materially better Monday update than the ones Baltimore has been giving. RotoWire’s summary of the situation landed in the same place: Jackson could return to practice this week, with Wednesday shaping up as the first real checkpoint.

Two games without him, and the split shows the strain

Jackson has now missed two games, and the Ravens have lived both versions of life without him. They won the first in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons, then lost the second on Sunday, 13-10, to the Cleveland Browns — a division game that tightened everything in the AFC North. Tyler Huntley started both games in Jackson’s place, and against Cleveland, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, he finished 19-of-31 passing for 165 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, while taking three sacks. Those are respectable caretaker numbers. They are also a clear picture of what changes when Jackson sits: the offense shrinks, the margin for error shrinks with it, and a 13-10 rock fight against Cleveland becomes a loss instead of a win a healthier Baltimore team would expect to close out.

The difference is easiest to see in Jackson’s own numbers from the four games he did play. According to Bleacher Report, Jackson completed 70.8 percent of his passes for 967 yards with six touchdowns against one interception before the injury, and added 144 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. No backup in the league replicates that combination of efficiency and rushing threat, and Huntley — a capable, experienced stand-in who knows the offense — is not being asked to. He is being asked to keep the season upright until the starter’s ankle allows something more, which is exactly what a 1-1 split, including an overtime win, represents.

Sunday is not just any return date

The timing matters because of who is coming to Baltimore. The Ravens are 4-2, the Cincinnati Bengals are 3-2, and the two are part of a three-way tie atop the AFC North, according to the team site’s preview of the matchup. Cincinnati visits on Sunday in Week 7, which means the first-place picture in the division will look different by Sunday night either way. A Jackson return would restore Baltimore’s full offense for the biggest game of its season so far. Another Huntley start would ask the Ravens’ defense and running game to win a division game at something well below full strength for a third straight week.

That is why Wednesday carries so much weight. Wednesday is the Ravens’ first practice day of the week and the first day Jackson can show, rather than describe, where the ankle is. A full or even limited practice appearance would not guarantee he plays Sunday — high-ankle sprains are notoriously about what a player can do on the ankle the day after he tests it — but it would move the conversation from hope to planning. A third straight Wednesday absence would point the other way, toward at least one more week of Huntley and a Bengals game plan built accordingly.

The rest of Baltimore’s injury picture is improving

Jackson was not the only update Minter gave Monday, and the others leaned positive. Center Cam Jurgens is progressing through the concussion protocol, according to The Baltimore Banner, and the team site reported Minter said Jurgens’ recovery “come a long way over the weekend,” with a real opportunity for him to clear the final steps of the protocol early this week. Jurgens has been sidelined for two games since arriving in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, and his return would let rookie Vega Ioane move back to his natural position at right guard after three starts at center, the team site noted. Minter also expressed optimism about wide receiver Rashod Bateman, who left Sunday’s game with a shoulder issue, and said outside linebacker Trey Hendrickson got through the game well after returning from a two-game absence, according to BaltimoreRavens.com.

Put together, Monday’s picture is of a 4-2 team getting healthier everywhere except at the one position where health matters most. The Ravens can plan around a center. They cannot plan around not knowing their quarterback. Wednesday’s practice report is the next piece of information, and by Minter’s own framing, it is the one that will tell Baltimore — and Cincinnati — a lot more.