The Ravens will return to their first full practice since a disastrous Thanksgiving night defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals on Wednesday. Whether quarterback Lamar Jackson will be there remains to be seen.
Each of the past three weeks, Jackson has missed a day amid a series of injuries and said that the routine could be his new normal. Of course, there’s also the chance he could practice all week following a mini-bye and a few extra days off, especially given how he looked physically the last time he took the field.
When coach John Harbaugh was asked on Monday if Jackson’s schedule would include a day off, however, he was noncommittal.
“He’s gonna practice as much as he can and prepare as well as he can,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what he’s gonna do. He always has.”
What Jackson hasn’t done is be mired in a three-game slump that is in most meaningful ways the worst of his otherwise exceptional and spectacular career. Over the past three contests, Jackson has not thrown a touchdown pass. In his past five, he has completed fewer than 60% of his passes. Both are firsts for the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player.
Jackson’s 6.6 yards per attempt this season are also down two yards from 2024, when he led the league, while his quarterback rating of 57.9, per ESPN, ranks 14th and is on pace to be his lowest since 2021.
The plunge prompted one Pittsburgh radio host, Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan, to propound that Jackson is “at the very least a little overrated.” The missive — which came during the Bengals’ bullying of Baltimore — was perhaps not surprising with the Steelers next up. Still, it irked Jackson enough that he responded the following day on X, writing, “Sayless,” with a laughing emoji.
There hasn’t been any humor since the Ravens’ embarrassing 32-14 loss to the Bengals in which they turned the ball over five times, including three in the first half, their most in the first 30 minutes of a game since 2007.
Cincinnati came into the critical AFC North showdown with the worst defense in the NFL, both in total yards and passing yards allowed per game. Yet Jackson completed just 17 of 32 pass attempts for 246 yards, was intercepted once, fumbled twice inside his own 20-yard line and sacked three times.
“I do think you’re gonna have an off day sometimes,” Harbaugh said of Jackson’s inaccuracy. “That’s not something you take lightly. Listen, Lamar doesn’t take it lightly more than anybody and no player on this team takes it lightly.”
Baltimore was also just 3-for-10 on third down and running back Derrick Henry ran for 60 yards but got a meager 10 carries, the latter Harbaugh explained by 2-minute situations at the end of the first half and late in the game that prevented more running plays from occurring.
Inconsistency and inefficiency have afflicted the Ravens’ offense all season, though.
Some of it could be explained away by a rash of injuries, which have included Jackson missing three games because of a Week 4 hamstring injury. That was also followed by knee, ankle and toe issues.
Then there’s the offensive line. Guards Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele have been below average and against the Bengals that led to a rotation, with third-round rookie Emery Jones Jr. stepping in for Vorhees.
Pre-snap adjustments and getting into the correct play against the right defense have also played a part, Harbaugh said.
“I think we do at times,” he said Monday when asked if they have been getting into the right play. “At times we don’t.
“What we wanna do is chase being on the same page, being together, being connected. We wanna chase that in everything we do, communication-wise and efficiency. And then the defense throws a lot of stuff at you, you’ve gotta adjust to movement, you’ve gotta adjust to disguises. … We didn’t do a good job of that Thursday night so no I’m not happy about it.”
Harbaugh also said the Ravens can’t “live” in the past and they have to “move on and come out swinging the next time.”
That will be imperative this week. Both Baltimore and Pittsburgh are 6-6 atop the division and will meet Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
Jackson, who was at a loss for words last week when asked why his accuracy hasn’t been to the level that he expects, will need to be better than he was the last time he took the field. How can he be?
“You go back to work, and you get in there and you practice and you study it, and you work together to be as precise as you can,” Harbaugh said. “It was not a precise offensive performance in any way. There was nothing precise about it. It was imprecise in every way, and we all know that.”
Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.
