OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Wednesday brought the much-anticipated return of Lamar Jackson to the practice field for the first time since he injured his ankle in Cleveland 2 1/2 weeks ago.
Whether the Ravens were encouraged by what they saw was another story as the star quarterback was a limited participant ahead of Sunday’s must-win clash with the Los Angeles Rams. In the portion of practice open to reporters, Jackson didn’t move around very much and had a noticeable limp while walking and jogging. The 24-year-old hurt his right ankle in the first half of the Dec. 12 loss to the Browns, leading to Tyler Huntley starting against Green Bay and Josh Johnson playing at Cincinnati when Huntley tested positive for COVID-19 the day before the game.
The revamped return-to-play protocols make it likely that Huntley will be activated in plenty of time to be ready for Sunday. Based on how Jackson looked Wednesday, the second-year backup might be the Ravens’ best option against the Rams, but the coaching staff will have a few more days to make a decision.
“We’ll go through the week and see how we progress. I’m really hopeful,” said head coach John Harbaugh about Jackson’s Week 17 availability prior to Wednesday’s practice. “I told you, like I said last week, I’m hopeful for all of our quarterbacks, of course, starting with Lamar. He’s our starting quarterback. He’s our guy, and I really want to see him out there on Sunday. I know the fans do, and I know that most of all, Lamar does.
“He’s going to do everything he can to be out there. You can’t make a promise because we don’t know. We don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring. It’s not for us to know, so I’m hopeful. Tyler will be ready to go. He’ll be back here. He should be back in here tomorrow.”
The Ravens’ COVID-19 situation continued to improve Wednesday with outside linebackers Tyus Bowser and Justin Houston, inside linebackers Chris Board and Kristian Welch, safety Geno Stone, practice-squad offensive tackle David Sharpe, and quarterback Chris Streveler all being activated. Bowser was activated just a day after being placed on the list.
Huntley, tight end Josh Oliver, defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, and practice-squad defensive backs Tony Jefferson and Kevin Toliver were the only Ravens players remaining on the COVID-19 list as of Wednesday evening. All should have a chance to be cleared ahead of Sunday’s game, but there are no guarantees with the timing of symptoms and recovery, of course.
“It’s going to feel good to have more guys out there compared to the previous two weeks,” said safety Chuck Clark, who missed the Green Bay game after testing positive and was activated from the COVID list only two days before the Bengals game. “It’s going to feel good for sure to have our dogs. I was just walking from the locker room coming down here now and hearing guys yelling, and that’s a little bit of the energy that we’ve been missing these past two weeks with different personalities, different energy, and different spirits. Just hearing that, I feel like we’re going to be fired up, ready to go this week.”
Even with the return of Jackson and others from the COVID-19 list, Baltimore was still missing eight players from Wednesday’s practice because of injury or illness. That list included cornerback Anthony Averett (ribs/chest), Pro Bowl return specialist and wide receiver Devin Duvernay (ankle), Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard (knee), rookie outside linebacker Odafe Oweh (foot), and veteran defensive back and special-teams captain Anthony Levine (knee). Sidelined for the last three games, Ricard was working out on a side field as the media viewing portion of practice concluded.
As anticipated, offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James was not activated from the non-football injury list at the conclusion of his 21-day practice window, meaning he will not play this season. The Ravens signed James to a two-year contract in June with the focus being on 2022 after he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the spring.
“My position on it was he’ll do the best he can and really make the determination for himself,” Harbaugh said. “You’re talking about an Achilles. That’s something that the player has to decide really if he feels like he’s ready to go. There hasn’t been any talk along those lines. As a coach, we’re not preparing for him to be back.”
The Rams conducted a walk-through on Wednesday, making their report an estimation.
Below is Wednesday’s full injury report:
BALTIMORE
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: CB Anthony Averett (ribs/chest), WR Devin Duvernay (ankle), LB Malik Harrison (illness), OLB Justin Houston (non-injury), DB Anthony Levine (knee), OLB Odafe Oweh (foot), OL Tyre Phillips (knee), G Ben Powers (foot), FB Patrick Ricard (knee), CB Tavon Young (non-injury), G Kevin Zeitler (non-injury)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: OLB Tyus Bowser (personal), QB Lamar Jackson (ankle)
LOS ANGELES
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: DL Aaron Donald (non-injury), DL Greg Gaines (hand), OLB Chris Garrett (illness), CB Jalen Ramsey (non-injury), S Taylor Rapp (shoulder)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: OL Brian Allen (knee), WR Ben Skowronek (shoulder)
