It’s pretty obvious that Lamar Jackson is not right

There’s no explosiveness but there are five wins in a row to stack up for the Baltimore Ravens and a piece of first place on Thanksgiving is certainly more than acceptable. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the health of Lamar Jackson after a less-than-impressive win over the New York Jets and the lack of rest with the Cincinnati Bengals waiting after the turkey.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ recent win over the New York Jets and the health of Lamar Jackson. Nestor shared his personal experience of getting a colonoscopy and praised the GBMC team. Luke highlighted the Ravens’ defensive performance, noting six straight games with fewer than 20 points allowed. However, concerns were raised about Lamar’s apparent lack of explosiveness and multiple injuries. The offense struggled, averaging 2.9 yards per carry. Upcoming games against the Bengals and Steelers were seen as critical for the Ravens’ playoff hopes, with Lamar’s health being a key factor.

Health Update and Thanksgiving Reflections

• Nestor Aparicio shares his experience of getting a colonoscopy, mentioning the removal of a precancerous polyp and feeling better.
• Nestor humorously compares the Ravens game to a colonoscopy, with Luke Jones joining in the joke.
• Nestor discusses his upcoming events, including the Maryland crab cake tour and Raven scratch offs.
• Nestor reflects on his colonoscopy experience, mentioning the drink was not as bad as expected and the support from the GBMC team.

Ravens Game Recap and Fan Reactions

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Ravens’ win over the Jets, with Nestor expressing his relief and happiness.
• Nestor mentions the positive feedback from fans and the support from the GBMC team.
• Nestor reflects on the Ravens’ performance, noting the excitement from new players like Draymond Jones.
• Luke highlights the defensive performance, noting the team’s six straight games with fewer than 20 points allowed.

Concerns About Lamar Jackson’s Health

• Luke discusses the concerns about Lamar Jackson’s health, mentioning his recent injuries and lack of explosiveness.
• Nestor and Luke agree that Lamar’s speed and ability to avoid sacks are key to his game.
• Luke notes the impact of Lamar’s health on the offense, mentioning the lack of practice and the challenges faced by the offensive line.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of Lamar’s health for the team’s playoff aspirations and the upcoming games against the Bengals and Steelers.

Offensive Line and Special Teams Performance

• Luke praises the performance of the special teams, particularly Jordan Stout’s punting.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges faced by the offensive line, noting the struggles in short-yardage situations.
• Luke mentions the impact of injuries on the offensive line and the need for better performance.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the importance of the upcoming games and the need for the offense to improve.

Defensive Performance and Upcoming Games

• Luke highlights the defensive performance, noting the improvement over the first five games of the season.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the upcoming games against the Bengals and Steelers, with Luke expressing concerns about Lamar’s health.
• Nestor mentions the importance of winning the next five games to secure a playoff spot.
• Luke notes the challenges posed by the Bengals’ defense and the need for the offense to step up.

Final Thoughts and Thanksgiving Plans

• Nestor and Luke reflect on the Ravens’ performance and the importance of winning the next games.
• Nestor shares his plans for Thanksgiving, including the Maryland crab cake tour and the Turkey Trot.
• Nestor thanks the GBMC team for their support and encourages listeners to get colonoscopies.
• Nestor and Luke conclude the segment, wishing listeners a happy Thanksgiving and expressing their excitement for the upcoming football games.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Lamar Jackson, health concerns, Ravens offense, defensive performance, Thanksgiving week, colonoscopy, Maryland crab cake tour, Baltimore positive, playoff aspirations, injury report, practice issues, offensive line, special teams, Joe Burrow, Kyle Hamilton.

8

SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Hey, welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 to Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive we, as a football city, are above 500 so it is a happy Thanksgiving week here. I hope everybody travels safely and does all the good things they need to be doing. I did all the good things I needed to be doing last week, my thanks to my GBMC team doctor is scary, and Jane and Greg and all these nice people that I came encountered with on Friday, because I’m of that age to get a colonoscopy. So Men’s Health, women’s health, health in general. I’m yelling about it out there because I had a precancerous polyp removed. I’m safe, I’m sound, I’m better, I’m back on the air. I’m ready for Thursday night football. I’m ready for four football games on Thursday, if they’ll give me College. Luke Jones is here. Luke was also with us on Friday as part of my colonoscopy. He did not realize this that Luke First off, Happy Thanksgiving to you. Your family. Everything good. Yeah,

Luke Jones  01:01

thank you. And this is where I get in. The joke about the Ravens game on Sunday, feeling like a colonoscopy, watching that thing, right? Too soon, I don’t know, right?

Nestor Aparicio  01:11

8

I enjoyed my colonoscopy more than I enjoyed the game on Sunday.

Luke Jones  01:16

You one up to me there. I

Nestor Aparicio  01:17

feel more cleansed. I feel more clear on how my situation than I am on the Raven situation. So I got to tell you this before we get before we get started. We’re going to go through the game. Luke’s here. He’s Baltimore, Luke. We all know that, by the way, Maryland crab cake tour is back, and live I have Raven scratch offs. We’re going to go back to deepest squalies on the 11th of December. So I’m set for that. We’re going to be in a new place over in halethorpe called honeys. I’m setting that up, getting some dates together, and we’re going to be at fadeleys, and we’re going to do going to do like our real Christmas show at Costas and Dundalk, and I’m working on Gina shock and John Allen and a whole bunch of my Dundalk boom bus to come down there eat some crabs and some crab cakes for Christmas. Crabs for Christmas. All right, so Friday I had my colonoscopy, went in, did all the things you do. By the way, the drink wasn’t nearly as bad as people tell me it is. I somehow had some strawberry banana thing. I mean, it wasn’t like an icy delight, you know, Snowball, but it wasn’t. It was like an energy drink. It wasn’t like horrible. I was expecting this, one of the worst things I’ve ever milky, chalky. I was expecting awful. I was expecting, like, the world’s worst Maalox. And it wasn’t like that. It was fine. So the experience fine. We all know what it is. You talk about all that. So I went, did my thing. They, you know, put me out. I’m cranky. We’re nurses. God, I’m gonna take the GBMC crew a whole bunch of Cocos crabcakes, because I got to be nice to them. So I get done. I’m light sensitive, I’m nauseous, I’m everything you’d be during a colonoscopy. DR is scary comes in, who’s been on the show. He talked to me. He was way more chipper than I was at one point. Then he realized that I was not that I wasn’t the guy on the radio anymore. I was the guy in the stirrups. And when it all ended, I’m laying there. I’m waking up foggy. My wife’s holding my hand. Nurses are talking to me. I can’t see anything because I told my wife I don’t want any light, because you’re one of those little guys that cover my face. Light will make me throw up. So I’m in the dark, and a guy says, Hey, Nestor, my name is Greg. I’ve been your nurse all day. I just want to let you know I love you and Luke, you guys are the best on football and baseball. So there. So there you have it all right? So I woke up to, dude, I love your show, but really, Luke, he’s the one I really like. So how are you, man, how is how was Sunday at the at the stadium? I I don’t know what to say, because the people who hate me, who don’t listen to the show, and I don’t know that they’re even relevant, and there’s so many of them that hate me, all 10 of my listeners hate me. Apparently, they think that we were down on the team when they were one in five. I’m the one that said they would win the division when they were one in five. So I can go back to all of that. So I’m not doing any revisionist boo, ja history here. We’re not shocked that they started to win games. I think we’re still shocked at the fact that they’re winning games and they don’t look like a good football team. And I’ll just leave it at that and let you go after it. Yeah, and, and

Luke Jones  04:09

I don’t know if I’d even say they don’t look like a good football team, because if that’s the standard, like, Who exactly is

8

Nestor Aparicio  04:16

a good football team, six and five football team, right? Yeah.

Luke Jones  04:19

So, you know, goods are obviously good is a very relative term when we’re talking about this. But in terms of being what they’ve been in previous regular seasons, in terms of thinking about making a deep January run, in terms of finally breaking through and getting to a Super Bowl and winning a Super Bowl, yeah, they’ve got a heck of a lot of work to do there. I think what was interesting to me, and I wrote about this at Baltimore positive.com and it just speaks to where the perception is about this football team right now, there were two individuals who spoke within five minutes of each other in the post game locker room. One was Draymond Jones, who’s still not counting guys on the practice squad or anything like that. The newest Raven, he just left a really bad team. So he knows that, yes, and he’s thrilled, right? And he pointed out in the post game that, since I’ve arrived, I was kind of wondering, like, Why were these guys losing games? Why were there so many slip ups? This defense has played really well, and the defense has played really well, right? I mean, this is their sixth straight game where they’ve allowed fewer than 20 points, and he’s never been to the playoffs in his career, and he’s in year seven. I mean, he’s been around for at least a minute, so he’s excited. Clearly, there’s excitement when you’ve won five in a row. And to your point, not that either one of us were completely burying these guys. I’m not going to say I was. I wasn’t low on them at one in five, because one in five is one in five. I was low on the on them at the moment, but I you and I constantly were looking at the path for them to get back into this position. And if you had told me they were going to be six and five, or even if they had dropped a game and they were five and six at the at this point in time, I would have fully bought into that. So there’s the acknowledgement of that and how the defense played on Sunday the special teams, I mean, Jordan stout with an incredible day punting the football. So there was plenty to like, and there is plenty to like when you’ve won five in a row, and you’re back to six and five and you’re in first place in a division that has one other good slash, okay team in the Pittsburgh Steelers, right? Again, however you want to describe it is relative, but they’re six and five as well. On the flip side, a couple minutes after Draymond Jones spoke, we spoke to the longest tenured player on the team, Ronnie Stanley, who’s in year 10. And while he expressed appreciation for how the defense played and how the special teams played and the fact that they’re winning, he was the one who spoke the hard truth and said, Look, Lamar and I. And he was asked kind of about lamar’s comments, and Lamar expressed frustration. Derrick Henry expressed frustration. He said, Look, we understand, if we want to be a Super Bowl team, our offense needs to be way better than what we were. We are right now. And I think that’s where you look at this thing and say, Okay, you go to Cleveland, you play a Browns defense that you know, say what you want about the offense or the quarterback situation. That’s a good defense. And miles Garrett, with more sacks on Sunday, having a historic season. So it’s one thing to have that kind of a game, but Let’s call a spade a spade here, the New York Jets are woeful. Their defense was in the bottom 10 in points allowed, and if you look at DBO a and all these different efficiency metrics, and oh yeah, they traded sauce, Gardner and Quinn and Williams earlier this month, so to have three points at halftime, to have your low

Nestor Aparicio  07:37

against basically a preseason team kind of, sort of, sort of, maybe not that

Luke Jones  07:41

8

bad, but not far off, right? Again, this isn’t, let’s we have to call this what it is. The Jets are a really bad football team, and for your top

Nestor Aparicio  07:49

five bad team in the league, and I don’t even know, you know who, you’d make a case for four teams worse, yeah,

Luke Jones  07:55

you know, there’s somewhere in that neighborhood, right?

Nestor Aparicio  07:58

And they’re starting their backup quarterback who is 36 years old, right? Like, by the way,

8

Luke Jones  08:03

is better than Justin fields. So you know that that part of it moves me a little bit less, but, and for me, it goes beyond that. And we’ll talk about plenty of other elements of this football game. And there were positives, as I mentioned, and there were other individuals you can talk about, but Lamar Jackson’s not right. I mean, we need to acknowledge that we’ve been talking about that we’re seeing it on the injury report, he didn’t look right. And that’s you look at these two games back to back. When was the last time Lamar Jackson had back to back games that looked like this? I mean, you probably have to go back to, I don’t know, maybe 2022 2021 but it’s not even so much that. Oh, okay, he had an off day throwing the football, and he did, but he’s not taking off and running. And even when he does, it’s not looking very explosive. And that’s where you look at this thing. And when you’re trying to figure out what the ravens are going to be come December, you know, come Thursday night, with a quick turnaround right playing the Bengals, who had the worst defense in the league. But if you don’t do a whole lot against the Jets, the way that their offense was on Sunday, it’s kind of an all bets are off situation in terms of, I’m not really sure what to expect, and I’m not sure when and if Lamar is going to get healthy for the remainder of this season, and what’s he going to look like come week 16, and what’s he going to look like come January? They’re not going to have a first round bye, you know, if we are fully buying into them being a playoff team and winning the division. And I’m fine with that, but in terms of projecting out more than that. Man, I’ve got to see a lot more from how Lamar looked on Sunday and how this offense continues to look so well.

Nestor Aparicio  09:48

10 days off for him, they got to get through Thursday night. You got to win, right? 10 days off,

Luke Jones  09:53

it is. But that’s like the that’s the last chance, right? That’s the last chance for them to have any kind of meaningful expense. Ended rest. And we’re not talking about a full blown bye week. We’re talking about a long weekend, right? I mean, that’s what we’re talking about here. So, so that’s where you look at, well, you’re talking

Nestor Aparicio  10:07

8

about him not having to walk out to the practice field for five days in a row, which is, you know, that’s significant. I again, they’ve been lying. They lie about everything. So I don’t, I, I can’t project upon what his injury is. I’m, I’m like, a hockey guy now, lower body injury, you know,

Luke Jones  10:23

and I think, but I think that’s what it is, right? Look, and I’m with you on that. I’m not, I’m not sitting here saying that. I’m subscribing to the injury report being gospel. But he had a hamstring injury that he missed three weeks. He’s come back. He had a knee issue flat two weeks ago, and this past week, he had an ankle issue. You could see both of his ankles were taped up. He said his ankle felt was solid over the course of Sunday’s game, but the eyeball test says it all. I mean, that’s just doesn’t look like Lamar out there. I mean, Tyrod Taylor was out there running around more effectively in terms of scrambling and getting away from guys than Lamar Jackson, and I don’t say that. I’m not saying that to be like over the top critical of Lamar. I’m just, I’m just saying what my eyes are telling me, right? Well,

Nestor Aparicio  11:09

his speed is his special skill. It’s not his passing ability. It’s not his ability to redo. He’s fine at all of that. He’s a professional quarterback, good and all that. He’s good at all that, yeah, but his special skill, the thing that makes him different is his ability to, well, I mean, he did avoid a sack at one point, which, I mean, he’s got an ungodly ability to not fall down. And this goes back to him being 11 years old on the playground, right? Like he’s just really hard to tackle for whatever that means, whatever that

Luke Jones  11:36

means. And let me, let me be clear when I’m saying this, I’m not saying he looks like 40 year old Joe Flacco out there either, right? It’s, it’s still relative, but he’s not showing the explosiveness and the normal burst that he has the willingness to take off. I mean, there, there were two or three different examples, at least, of times where it looked like he could take off and run for 15 or 20 yards would do that? Yeah, exactly. And, and it’s not even so much that we’ve talked about the natural progression for him, that the last couple years, he’s become much more of a scrambler, extending the play to throw down field. But, well,

8

Nestor Aparicio  12:16

wheels at 30 are different than wheels at 20 anyway, and he’s getting there and he’s getting shred on his tire now because he’s been banged around. So there is a point for me where I don’t look at him as being a kid anymore, right?

Luke Jones  12:28

Because he’s not, but he’s 28 I mean, he’s not 34

Nestor Aparicio  12:32

but you take away just a fraction of that super speed he has, and he’s just, he’s just mortal, and he’s banging as a runner, right? And look

Luke Jones  12:43

8

as a runner. I’ll hear that part of it to a point, but I don’t think anyone’s watching him right now, thinking he’s healthy, right? I mean, I just, and on top of that, just, he hasn’t been very good throwing the football the last two weeks, right? Well, that’s about planting your legs too. I mean, well, yeah, it’s that. It’s that. It’s trusting your protection or not trusting your protection. It’s your clock being off, your timing being off. Rashad Bateman being out of the lineup. So you have some different personnel groupings that you might be using the normal right? So he’s not practicing on Wednesday. He’s not practice. Justice Hill missed the previous week in Cleveland, who obviously is a big part of what they do with Blitz pickup. Would you

Nestor Aparicio  13:20

say he hasn’t practiced enough? Is there a part? I mean, are you where you look at the last month and a half and say it’s a timing game, it’s a passing game, it’s a complex game, like, when you’re not out there practicing and you’re you’re hurt enough that you can’t go to work on Wednesday, it tells me, how about how you feel on Monday and Tuesday, right? And it probably tells me about how you feel on Thursday and Friday and Saturday leading up to Sunday, that and then you get out there Sunday, and all of us look at it, and we see this world class, best we’ve ever seen, athlete who is just a little off, and a little off is your singer, and you’re a little off, you’re at a key, you know what I mean, like? And I don’t, I think the practice part of this kind of went away back in September. We’re now in December, you know. Now it’s just getting through. Let’s get by. Let’s get by. We’re playing a crappy team. Let’s get by. Let’s hand the ball off. Let’s where’s Mark Andrews, let’s get by. Let’s get by, you know. And getting by is what they’re doing, because they’re winning. They won five in a row by getting by, and that’s kind of what you want. I mean, if I were sitting with my feet up on arbol’s desk, like I used to back when we were friends, before he was reading the biblical passages, passages, he the special skill that he has is speed. He is their best runner. He’s their best play. When you take all of that away, they become an ordinary team slogging around against the really bad jets team trying to get first downs, trying to figure out how to get first

Luke Jones  14:49

downs, literally, yeah, and look, going back to what you said about the practice, is that I don’t think that’s all of it, but it’s certainly, it’s certainly part of the equation. It has to be, right. I mean, if it. Weren’t, and then you wouldn’t practice all week, and it just be like Madden and like guys just chill, and then they roll, roll the ball out on Sunday, and they play, right? But

Nestor Aparicio  15:07

if he’s out there gimping on Sunday, he’s out there practicing on Thursday and Friday, and probably doesn’t feel any better, yeah, and probably doesn’t look any better, or can plant any better, probably just wants to get the hell off the field on Thursday and Friday, because he knows he has to play on Sunday. I mean,

8

Luke Jones  15:22

and that’s, and that’s where we go back to the other issues that plagued this offense, right? The offensive line, they’ve, they continue to struggle in short yardage. I mean, even Derek Henry, it was another fourth and goal touchdown that they had to score, right? I mean, nothing is easy for this offense right now. And you know how much of that is coaching, how much is the offensive line. How much of that is Lamar Jackson not being 100% and and not being peak MVP caliber Lamar here of late, right? I mean, it’s yes to all of that, right? It’s never just one thing. And let me be clear, my criticism here of how the offense has looked, it’s, it’s not all in Lamar Jackson, but he’s, a he’s the most important part of this, and that’s where you do look at this thing and look what you said is right. I am not at all. This is not me suggesting that I wanted to see Lamar run 17 times on Sunday. I understand he’s at a different place in his career. I understand Todd Monckton and the Ravens coaching staff wants him to be at a different place in his career as it pertains to that. But my point is trying to Geek ahead to not even so much Thursday night, because the Bengals, you know, is Joe burrow going to play? Is it going to be rusty? That Bengals defense? I mean, if you can’t score some points against them and look better against them than you did Sunday, then, boy. I mean, like, Every game’s a question mark, then moving forward, because that defense is as bad as it gets in the NFL, our old buddy Aaron shots, and you know, in terms of DVO, a they’re, they’re a team that’s on the short list of the worst defenses of all time right now. So that speaks to where they are. But beyond that, when you’re talking about two games with Pittsburgh, going to Cincinnati, New England, coming to Baltimore as the number one seed in the AFC at the moment, going to Green Bay in week 17, and obviously a trip to Western Pennsylvania and week 18. That’s where you look at this thing and say, okay, Lamar has had tough back to back games. He will get the mini buy out on the back end of the Thursday night game, but there’s no more rest after that. I mean, they’re, they’re only let me, let me stop myself there, if they can continue to win, and they can play at a high enough level where they get in the position where, and maybe they could do it because, I mean, the Steelers lost again on Sunday, Aaron rod Rogers with the wrist. I mean, we’re going to see how he does. I mean, he’s going to be back on the field sooner than later with that. But how’s it going to go? How’s their team going to play? So maybe the path is that the Ravens can be in a position where they can wrest Lamar week 18. Who knows? Right? I mean, I’m projecting way out in the same way we were trying to project out what this team was going to be when they were one and five, right? I mean, it’s looking ahead you, and I can do that. We’re not playing on Sunday or Thursday for that matter, so, but that’s where I look at this thing and say, if we’re giving the Ravens the proper credit to win five in a row, albeit against the schedule where we were predicting wins, right? These are games they should have won if they were going to be healthy and back to being a more complete roster with most of your guys, other than namdi, Mata, BK, to your point, you’re not shocked by this. They deserve their credit. They’re in the playoff field at the moment. But that also doesn’t mean we lower the big picture standard, right? I mean, is the idea that, Oh, they just get to the playoffs and then nothing else matters after that. No, if we’re going to hold this team to the high standard that they’ve earned for themselves over the last six, seven years, we’re now thinking in terms of all right, big picture like Ronnie Stanley was talking about in the post game. And that’s where I ask, are we going to see a healthier version of Lamar Jackson? Can this offensive line get any better? Right? I mean, Emory Jones, you know, we’ve talked about him. He was active for the first time on Sunday, didn’t play, but maybe that’s the next step in him, potentially replacing Voorhees or Daniel fall Lele. So, you know, we’re trying to project out how this team can get better and continue to get better. And they’ve gotten better. The defense is way better than it was the first five games of the season, even if, yeah, it’s Tyrod Taylor and Dylan Gabriel and JJ McCarthy, right? I mean, not not facing a murderer’s row of quarterbacks that you’re gonna the kind that you’re gonna see in January, certainly, but it’s gotten better. There’s no doubt about that. But if we’re looking at this offense, man, I need to see a healthier version of Lamar, right? I need to see a version of Lamar that that looks much more like himself. And no, that doesn’t mean he has to run 12 or 13 times, but man, if he doesn’t have the ability to do that, come next month, when the schedule is going to pick up, and then certainly come Jan. Weary man, it really puts much more of a ceiling on this offense. There’s no question about that. And you know, that’s more pressure on the defense, and that’s and that’s the part that’s difficult to shake from Sunday, right? I mean, they won. Their defense played very well. Jordan stout was incredible, right? I mean, my goodness, there are more post game questions in terms of praise for the punter than there was the starting quarterback in this offense that’s been at times, historically great the last few years. You know, it speaks to what kind of game it was. But if I’m really looking at this in terms of, Okay, what’s next, and projecting out what this team can be three straight AFC North games now, and knowing what their schedule is in December, and then, hey, if they do make the playoffs and they do win the division, what’s that going to look like? You know, if, if it’s Kansas City coming to Baltimore in the wild card round, or Buffalo coming to Baltimore in the wild card round, what’s that going to look like, right? So that’s where I just look at Sunday and and for me, that’s, that’s, that’s the part that’s tough to shake right? All the positives, I don’t want to be Debbie downer here. They’ve won five in a row, and they are in first place, and they do deserve credit for that, but I just don’t know how you can look at how Lamar Jackson looked on Sunday and and not have some real concerns about that. And you know I mean an off day throwing the ball in Cleveland, tough, tough against the browns. Who really know this ravens offense? And you know, we’ve talked about Jim Schwartz, and you know his familiarity, and what the ravens, or what they did to the Ravens back in week two, that was one thing, but to then look like that again against the Jets team, that it’s just not good. That was, that was eye opening to me. It’s not panic by any means, but certainly concerning for me as I’m trying to move forward now looking at this team in a different light, because they are in the playoff field. And I’m not going to just say, Oh, well, you know, you win the division and, well, that’s, that’s good enough, right? You know, no, this team has higher, higher standards than that, and bigger goals than that, and what they did on Sunday wasn’t good enough if we’re talking in terms of wanting to be able to fulfill that. And again, it begins with the health of number eight.

Nestor Aparicio  22:12

I give it to hardball, at least, for trying to go into the end zone at the end of the game and push the spread. You know, you know, 13 and a half. It did not make a lot of people laugh here, if they were betting on the Ravens. Luke Jones is here. He’s Baltimore, Luke. It’s all presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I have Raven scratch offs to give away. We’re going to be setting some new standards in December. We’re going to be back at Deep Pasquale is on the 11th down in Canton. I’m looking forward to that. I’m going to bring some my Italian mobsters over there to have some fun, get cringey and all my boys together, maybe eat some Bianco pizza before it’s all over with on our Maryland crab cake. We’re also our friends at GBMC for setting me square and letting me know that I am, at least for now, cancer free. And I’m very appreciative. My colonoscopy was last month. If you haven’t done anything for your 2026 planning, plan a colonoscopy if you’re if you’re of the now, Luke tells me he’s not 45 yet, so he’s like, waiting on it. My kid was here last night. He’s like 41 so he’s like, on the cusp. So for everybody out there, do what I did and find out that that you’re healthier on Thanksgiving, your family will love you for it. Lamar and one of the pregame shows is like, should they rest him if he’s if he’s not right? Should you know, what point do you give him some down to? I don’t know where all of that is. I saw his frustration in the post game in a general sense. I don’t know what can be done other than giving him off on Wednesday, which they’ve done, they’re not going to practice this week, right? Like they go right back into the frying pan on Thursday night. This is an important week. I mean, they can’t let this get away against Cincinnati, right? Like, I mean, Cincinnati still dangerous, as I see it now, that being said, T Higgins hit his head late in the game. I can’t imagine he’s going to play on Thursday. So there are some things that, aside from their awful defense, just in a general sense that getting through Thursday night, this is a little trench. It’s national TV. They’re going to have turducken, you know, all that stuff’s going to be out on Thursday. This is, this is a little bit of a dangerous game. And as much as we talk about the jets and Lamar, Lamar, hey, they’re going to get back on play again tomorrow night,

Luke Jones  24:19

no question. And, I mean, the jet, or the Jets, the Bengals, have plenty of questions, obviously, right? I mean, we’re talking about a team that’s three and eight, an awful defense.

Nestor Aparicio  24:30

8

Joe burrow, I assume coach might be in trouble there too, right? Yeah, sure.

Luke Jones  24:34

I mean, it’s the Bengals, so you never really know, right? When you consider ownership there, and you know, not wanting to pay, sorry, yeah, not wanting to pay coaches to go away and all that. But

Nestor Aparicio  24:47

Marvin, don’t want that gig anymore. 17 years is enough.

Luke Jones  24:52

He’d want Joe burrow. But, I mean that defense, I don’t know. Not so much, but, but yeah, assuming Joe burrow is going to play, but what? He going to look like, right? I mean, we’re talking about Lamar who missed three weeks with or three games with a hamstring, right? He missed a month with a hamstring. Is that toe? It’s one thing to talk about you’re feeling good in a controlled environment like practice, but is that toe going to be, you know, he’s not Lamar Jackson taking off and running, but still needs to be able to move within the pocket and set it, you know, move his feet, reset his feet, avoid the rush. That’s a Bengals offensive line that I think has played better over the last month and a half than it played earlier in the season, but still far from a great group. So they have plenty of questions. And you know, all things being equal, I’m picking the ravens to win Thursday night, right? But Jamar Chase is going to be coming back on on the heels of his suspension for spitting on Jalen Ramsey. And I wanted to give that a little bit of oxygen, because I think you and I were very critical of Jalen Ramsey at the time, in real time, not knowing just just how obvious it was that Chase spit on him. And you know, that does change things a little bit when you’re talking about how someone’s going to react to that, but he’s going to be motivated to put on a show we’re going to see about Kyle Hamilton. We know he hurt his ankle late in the game. John Harbaugh said it’s not a serious injury, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be ready to play in three days, right? So if you don’t have Hamilton out there, that certainly changes the dynamic of what your defense looks like so but they need to win. And you said it with Lamar. I mean, I think they’re doing reasonably speaking. They’re doing everything they can right now, while acknowledging you need them to be out there, right? I mean, Lamar, at less than 100% is still better than Tyler Huntley. And I know, God bless snoop. He played well in that bears game. And boy, that’s a that’s a win that continues. Got a commercial. Do you know that? Oh, I talked to him in the locker room about it. Yeah, it’s a commercial for a certain non sponsor of ours, you know, National Insurance Company. But, yeah, he’s got a backup. The whole premise of the commercial, which is clever, because I actually remember it compared to how many athlete pitches where you can never even remember what they’re pitching. He’s got he’s got it. And I asked him about it in the locker room a couple weeks ago, and he flashed a big smile. He’s like, you like that. My agent set it up for me. I said, good for you, man. I mean, you’re talking about someone tomorrow doesn’t have a commercial. Does he mean? He’s had some, but not that, none that I can think of right now, but, but no, to go back to it that bears game, which the funny thing is, they’re five post buy games. You know, they’re five wins. I mean, that bears game is the most impressive of those five, and that’s the one Lamar didn’t Lamar didn’t play, right? I mean, so. But that being said, I’ll still take my chances with the less than 100% Lamar Jackson than Tyler Huntley over the long haul, right? But, but you look at it, they’re giving them Wednesdays off. I mean, he’s got to practice some, right? And, and that’s also for the sake of the rest of the offense too. I mean, this offensive line, well, that’s

8

Nestor Aparicio  27:57

what I mean. If you expect it to look disjointed, it’s because they don’t have maximal effort in regard to practicing. And they haven’t been good dude. They haven’t been good since buffalo first half. Let’s, I mean, let’s, seriously, they haven’t been good all year where, like, it’s been like an offense that looks like a playoff offense, it looks like a Lamar offense that looks like all the pieces are together. They have not at all, and they’re not practicing the way they should be practicing, and he can’t do what you want him and need him to do on game day. So for it to look disjointed and oh, by the way, they win every week. They’ve won five in a row. I’m not here giving them style points at this point, especially after they were one and five and they were horrible against good teams and they were banged up against good teams and didn’t have their best players. And we’ll get to Kyle Hamilton in a minute. I mean, that’s a whole other issue the other side of the ball, you know, in regard to how good the defense, where the ceiling is for that. Because unlike the browns, who have this great defense and this terrible offense, at least they have one half of the field that they can say that’s going really well. We’re talking about the punter here today after beating the worst team on Earth. So you know, I still go back to the fact that my eyeball test says, can they be a buzz saw in January? Yes. Can they get to January, yes. Can they stink throughout December and half stink in January and still win a game or two and find themselves in the right kind of dogfight in an AFC Divisional Round or a champ? Yes. So for all the haters out there that think I’ve buried them, I’m not burying them for a couple of reasons. Luke here, they are pedigree. They have. They’ve drafted great football players. They’ve been a good team the last five years because of the base of these football players, but believing that Ronnie Stanley, Lamar Jackson, Derek, Henry, roquan Smith, Marlon, Humphrey, who’s famous for punch. You have footballs which saved the game. I mean, we didn’t like the game the way it was. Jet score, touchdown there. We probably like it less right now, even if they win it. But I’m not seeing any elite play anywhere I other than Kyle Hamilton. I look at the team and zay flowers when he can get the ball. Win a punter, punter, week at least, right? Yeah, but, like, I look at this and say, Why are bad teams bad? Well, they don’t have enough good players. If they had sauce, Gardner and Quinn and Williams just did, they probably would have won, right? Like, I like, or they would have had a better chance, better. They would have better football players on the field to make impact plays the way Marlon Humphrey did. Marlon Humphrey made an impact play at the goal line. It didn’t have anything to do with coverage or him being a cornerback. It had to do with his pickpocketing ability. And it worked, but it worked after the jets took the ball 90 yards down the field, put the ball in the in the four yard line. So I look at this and say, there’s problems everywhere, above and beyond lamar’s Health, lamars practice the out of sync offense because of that. If you’re not practicing and you’re not well and you’re not out there on Wednesday, don’t expect the passes to look sharp on Sunday. And if lamar’s situation during the week was like my situation an hour before my colonoscopy on Friday, which is, I don’t feel good, I don’t feel good, I don’t feel good, I don’t feel right. I can’t do that. I there things I know I’m capable of doing, and we know what Lamar is. Frustration with himself is when he can’t perform. We’ve seen that he’s harder on himself, and not a good way. I mean, in an off season way, where I would get him a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and sit him down and say, We need to fix you when things go wrong, because that’s a Tony Robbins thing for me, for him, and things are going to go wrong because He’s incapable of doing what he wants and knows that he can do. And he’s not the only one that goes for Ronnie Stanley. That goes for a lot of the guys that are banged up, that can’t do what they used to do, or what they want to do, or what they can do on their best day, you need to make sure their best day comes January 10, right like at this point, and that they can win games win ugly. Have us say, on Monday, well, they don’t look great, but they’re winning, because it really does come down to winning. I mean, there are no style points. They’re six and five. They’re in a good position. They’re really in a good position for the position they’re in. They really are. They

Luke Jones  32:28

are. But as I wrote at Baltimore positive.com they’re still not where they need to be, right in terms of understanding this isn’t just about making the playoffs. This is about wanting to be in a position where you’re trending and ascending, and they’re they’re doing that on defense, right? I mean, to your point, look, is Marlon Humphrey having an All Pro season? No, is roquan Smith having his best season. He certainly played better of late, right? And obviously he missed some time with a hamstring injury. So you can go down the list individual by individual and poke some holes in it, but their defense is in a really good place right now. You can only play the quarterback that’s that’s sent out there in front of you every week. So how does that translate against Josh Allen and Patrick mahomes and I don’t know Drake May who? Well, we’re going to see him in December, right? We’re going to see what the what the kid looks like, because he’s been one of the best quarterbacks in football statistically this year. So I do feel much better about the defense, but I don’t know if that means the defense is elite, great, really good or good, because it has been Tyrod Taylor and chedor Sanders and Dylan Gabriel and JJ McCarthy, who looks like he could be on the verge of being benched, right? I mean, go down the tua, who was not in a good place, and that dolphins offense that was in a bad place at that point in time. And hey, but they held the bears to 16 points. And Caleb Williams is, you know, not, not a top five quarterback, but he’s certainly ascending, I would say, I think that’s fair. So that side of the ball, I feel really good. They’re special teams. Jordan stout was phenomenal. Tyler loop had the big kick in Cleveland the week before, right? I mean that it’s looking as good as it can look with him, right? With him being unproven. So with guys in that name cook and Tucker, man, you said it, though, when you talk about this offense right now, other than zay flowers, what do they do? Well, right now, I mean, they’re back to not being able to run the ball on Sunday against the Jets, and it’s not the Jets don’t have a horrible run defense, but the way they ran the ball in Cleveland, that was one of the few positives you took away from how the offense played. Where you said, you know that Browns run defense is really tough, but we found some running room for Derrick Henry, and obviously had the big play with Mark Andrews at the end, even if that was a gadget play, even taking that out of the equation, they ran the ball. Enough to say, hey, that was a step in the right direction. They average, what, 2.9 yards per carry on Sunday, right? So they’re not running the ball the way that you’d like to be able to run it right now, especially with lamar’s situation and his health. You’d love to be able to run the ball in a more conventional way to really, you know, and they’re doing that, but you’re not seeing the productivity and the efficiency that you need to see in that way. But, you know, in terms of just how this offense has looked, you know, for a few weeks now. I mean, even go back to the Miami game, how choppy that first half was, right? I mean, where their offense was not good in that game, you know, the Minnesota game, they didn’t have a touchdown in the first half. So you’re looking at this now, and you know, it’s just, it’s not a very good offense right now. It just isn’t. And I’m not saying that to suggest that it can’t get better, but when the health of your franchise quarterback, who is such an extraordinarily special player is called into question, and it’s leg injuries. You know, it’s not like, oh, you know, he fell on his elbow, his non throwing elbow, or something like that. That’s where you look at this and say, you know, is there going to be a path to getting him healthy? You know, you’re going to have the this this coming weekend after the Thanksgiving game, that will help. But he’s having new ailments every week, right? I mean, it was, you know, coming off the hamstring, and he had a month for that, so you felt pretty good about his health at that point. But then when it’s a knee, and now it’s an ankle, and he’s not looking his

Nestor Aparicio  36:41

normal self over the course of 60 What did he say in the post game? Because I you know, in a general sense,

Luke Jones  36:47

8

he was so he was asked how his ankle felt. He said, You know, the quote was, it was pretty solid. He denied injuries being a factor in the offensive struggles collectively. And look, Lamar is not going to make an excuse, right? I mean, players aren’t going to do that, but I thought what was telling here was his answer when he was asked whether he’s truly felt fully healthy at any point since returning from the week three hamstring so that’s including that Miami game after he practiced the previous week, the injury report fiasco on Saturday, all of that his his answer was, I can’t call it, but I’m out there, so I feel like I should still be able to do what I do. I mean that that seems like a pretty telling statement of someone saying I’m not healthy. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  37:34

if you don’t feel good on Sunday, I would think Thursday, you’re not going to

Luke Jones  37:37

feel better. And that’s the thing, right? And that’s not, you know, it’s not to be an alarmist that he won’t be out there Thursday night. But what going to look like? And okay, hold your bets, gentlemen, that’s what I would say. And look, I mean, they’re winning games with Lamar being less than 100% and the Bengals stink. I mean, now the Bengals offense, if Joe burrow is sharp in his first action in over two months you expect to play? I think so. I mean, and part of it is also Flacco, the Mojo is gone. I mean, the last couple of weeks, it’s not looking good for him. I think that shoulder is an issue for him, I really do. But unless, unless they, as an organization, just have a complete about face and say, No, we’re three and eight. We’re shutting them down, which I think you’re going to have a lot of pushback from burrow himself for saying, Look, I’ve worked my butt off the last two months to get back to this point. I want to play even if it’s just to ruin the ravens, right, to spoil the Ravens if we can hand them at least one loss in the next three weeks. So I think he’s going to be out there. I don’t know that 100% I mean, I don’t know if anyone in Cincinnati knows it 100% I mean, you got to see how he feels. But he practiced fully a couple days last week, so you would think, as long as he didn’t have a setback that that’s a sign that he was going to play for this Thursday game, if not against New England on Sunday. So you know, we’re going to see on that front. But, you know, I just when is Lamar going to heal up enough to being what he needs to be, right? And that’s not saying these are major injuries he’s dealing with, but it’s enough. And when you’re a quarterback who is the centripetal force of this offense, right? I mean the the straw that stirs the drink in everything they try to do, whether he takes off and run on any given play or it’s just the threat of him doing that when he’s looking the way he’s looking right now, teams start to catch on very quickly. And you made a great point five or 10 minutes ago when you talked about just being a little bit off in the NFL. That’s a lot, right? I mean that the margin between the very best teams at the top and. And the Jets and the Browns of the NFL. It’s not as dramatic as we’d all like to think, yes, like, there when there’s a lack of an absence of a franchise quarterback, yeah, that that, that’s cold water in your face in terms of the distinction there, but in terms of, like, the athletes, in terms of the talent. I mean, even the worst teams in the league have talent. You know, they’re, they’re not devoid of good football players, relative to, like thinking, you know, college to Pro. Why go

Nestor Aparicio  40:28

back to saying you take away the special ability if you, if you take one inch off of any of these guys, they become like everybody else. They’re not elite anymore. They just back up and become one of the rest of the guys. You know what I mean, like, if Lamar can’t move, he’s no better than Joe Flacco can’t moving right? Like it’s just, and if Lamar is going to get caught and get injured more because he can’t move, and do what he 99% of his life has been able to do, which is get away from guys, that becomes even more dangerous. I think, well, I mean, it’s

8

Luke Jones  41:01

just you’re accustomed to playing a certain way, right? And that’s what one reason I had. I had so much praise for him in that Minnesota game. I mean, go look at his numbers in that game. That he did not have good numbers in that game, but I thought that was such a mature veteran kind of performance, because he knew that the Vikings were blitzing the daylights out of him. He knew that there was a lot of pressure. He played a lot of effective quick game, got the ball away. And that’s not to say that, like he’s not doing that these last two weeks, like, like he’s not trying to do that, but I thought that was a performance that matched, really matched, what they needed in that Vikings game, whereas it just felt like he’s just playing struggled the last two weeks right, where it’s just, you know, not looking the same throw on the ball, his timings all and

Nestor Aparicio  41:47

to your point, good things, they were playing the browns and the Jets and not the Rams, and you ever right? And they’re

Luke Jones  41:54

not. And, you know, the optimist would say, well, they’re not going to be playing playoff teams every week, like even in December, when the schedule does get tougher, you’re get tougher, you’re still playing the Bengals. We all agree, regardless of who wins this division, I don’t think anyone at all views the Steelers as a top tier team, but the threat, yeah, but the Ravens aren’t playing like a top tier team. And by the way, these are the pills or those chiefs. That’s right, that’s a Steelers defense that, while it’s not a peak Steelers defense by any stretch of the imagination, that’s another team that knows how to play the ravens and knows how to play Lamar Jackson, at least hypothetically, what you’re supposed to do. So, you know those matchups, they’re not slam dunks, they’re not sure things right? I mean, nothing is right now.

Nestor Aparicio  42:42

8

Games get tougher now, yeah, short, rest home game, feel good, Bengals, Joe burrow, Joe Flacco, doesn’t matter. The games are tougher now. They’ve gotten through the teams that are the bad teams. Now they’re playing teams that know them, division games, double, double. I mean, really, all the Steelers games are like two games for them and New England and Green Bay. I mean, they’re gonna have to play better football than they’ve played the last four weeks to win the next five games, right?

Luke Jones  43:12

Yeah. And I would even say, Oh, I’ll even give you Cincinnati, right? I mean, the Bengals are three and eight. Their defense is horrible. Who knows what Joe burrow is going to look like. So, but, but even take those games, okay? So that’s two, and I’ll even give you, Oh, all right, they’ll win in Cincinnati. They’ll find a way, right? So that’s two. You still have four other games. You have five losses. As much as they’ve won five in a row, they’re still six and five in the collective, right, in the, in the, you know, the aggregate, where you’re looking at the big picture. So they still have a lot of work to do here. And those other four games, you know, two against Pittsburgh, New England and going to Green Bay, week 17, you know, the last, next to last game of the season. I mean, they’ve got to play better. There’s no doubt about that. And they can. Their defense is playing so much better than they did over the first five weeks. Their special teams are doing some special things for them, as long as the punt returner has, you know, as long as La Jonte Wester isn’t putting another ball on the turf like he did in Cleveland. So they have a lot going for them. And you know, I don’t want this to sound like an over the top negative segment, but I am concerned about how Lamar Jackson looks right now, and I am concerned about this offense that, let’s face it, to your point, I’d even go back to, okay, I’ll give them the first half or the first three quarters of the Detroit game, even offensively, you know, they still scored 30 points in that game. But, man, it’s been a while since this ravens offense has been cooking the way that we know that it’s been able to in the past, and, oh, the way we think it’s going to need to in change. Yeah. And that’s where you look at this and say, well, is the offensive line going to get any better, and is Lamar going to get healthier? I don’t know that right now. And that’s where it’s tough, because you don’t have a scenario where. Or you have a first round by and an extra week, I mean, again, if they can continue to win, and maybe if Pittsburgh falls apart to the point where maybe there’s a scenario where you can rest Lamar and a couple other starters in week 18, if you’ve wrapped up the division, then great. Then, then the calculus is a little bit different in that way. But, man, there’s, there’s a lot of football to play between now and that scenarios. So they’ve got to be better. They were good enough on Sunday collectively, but they have to be better.

Nestor Aparicio  45:27

He’s Luke Jones. He’s Baltimore, Luke. We got plenty of football. We haven’t talked defense at all. We have turkey in the oven. We have pumpkin pie, maybe some mince meat pie, if you’re lucky, apple pie, if your mom loves you. It’s a great Thanksgiving week around here. The ravens are back into first place, or at least a part there of and the Orioles are still making deals too. So we got a little bit of that going on as well. Maryland crab cake tours out on the road, presented by the Maryland lottery. We’ll have Raven scratch offs to give away. We’re going to be at deepest squalies. I’m going to be doing a show for the first time at honeys in althorp. Looking forward to that. I’ve had some folks reach out to me there, and we’ll be back down at fadeleys for the holidays and over Costas and Dundalk, where I haven’t been since they opened the new Timonium location. So they’re all mad at me, and Dundalk will welcome me back over there. So I’m looking forward to that, and a short week here with football and the turkey trot with our friends at the Y on Thursday, I’ll be at Towson, so come on out and say hello to me and everybody else. 1000s of people do the turkey trot on Thanksgiving Day. I am now a turkey Trotter. I’m Nestor. He’s Luke. We’re W, N, S T, stay with us. We’re Baltimore, positive. You.