If Marlon Humphrey’s torn pectoral tendon was feared to be the Ravens’ breaking point last week, the sight of Lamar Jackson being carted to the locker room felt like it could be the end in Cleveland.
Depending on its severity, it’s the kind of injury that transforms excitement about meaningful games into feelings of resignation about a lost season.
We’ll learn more in the coming days with Jackson leaving after the opening snap of the second quarter in Sunday’s 24-22 loss to Cleveland. Injured when Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah lunged at the quarterback’s feet on a rollout throw to Mark Andrews, Jackson briefly tried to walk off the lower right leg injury before going back to the ground, limping to the sideline roughly a minute later, and riding to the locker room soon thereafter.
Trailing 24-6 at intermission, the Ravens declared Jackson out for the remainder of the contest as the second half commenced with no further update coming until the postgame press conference.
“Lamar has an ankle sprain. We’ll look at it more tomorrow and see where we’re at,” said head coach John Harbaugh, who was asked if Jackson needed further testing on his right ankle. “We’ll see how it responds tomorrow.”
As they’ve done all year despite an extraordinary list of injuries to key players, the Ravens continued to fight, scoring 19 unanswered points and still having a chance to win after recovering an onside kick — the first they’d gotten in 20 years — with 1:15 to play. Despite two critical fumbles that impacted the scoreboard, Tyler Huntley played admirably in place of Jackson, orchestrating two fourth-quarter touchdown drives and further solidifying his standing as a valuable backup to one of the game’s most dynamic quarterbacks. But his fourth-and-6 pass to Rashod Bateman failed to move the chains with 56 seconds to go, turning the ball — and the game — over to the Browns.
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These teams told us plenty about themselves on Sunday with undermanned Baltimore continuing to fight and Cleveland doing plenty to help keep a team ravaged by injuries — defensive end Calais Campbell (thigh) also exited in the first quarter — in the ballgame. To be clear, there are no moral victories in the NFL with the Ravens losing their second straight game to fall to 1-3 in the division. But they could thank San Francisco for handing Cincinnati its second consecutive home defeat to preserve the Ravens’ grip on first place in the AFC North, a division looking more mediocre by the week.
Yes, the Ravens are still holding on despite Sunday’s defeat and have put on a clinic in football resiliency, but that’s not the same as keeping yourself in position to do anything memorable in January, a goal that continues taking hits by the week. Even before Jackson and Campbell left Sunday’s game in the first half, Baltimore deactivated fullback Patrick Ricard, right tackle Patrick Mekari, and tight end Nick Boyle, absences critical for both the ground game and pass protection.
The truth is it’s been a long time since the Ravens looked the part of a serious contender, holding a 3-4 mark since their impressive 34-6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Sunday was the first time they’ve cracked 20 points in over a month, which was a credit to the poise shown by Huntley after his costly turnovers and a reflection of how much Jackson and this offense have struggled.
“Tyler showed a lot of grit. It felt like the whole team did that,” Harbaugh said. “That’s who we are, and that’s why we have a chance to still win the championship — the AFC North — and hopefully go on from there. That’s what we’ll be fighting to do in the next four weeks.”
But the factor that’s kept anyone from counting out the decimated Ravens this season has been the presence of Jackson and knowing what they’re capable of doing when he’s playing his best football. It’s why Baltimore will keep its fingers crossed that the former league MVP can return much sooner than later with games remaining against Green Bay, Cincinnati, the Los Angeles Rams, and Pittsburgh.
Of all the injuries that have stunted what we thought the Ravens might be at the start of training camp, only one really closes the book on 2021. And while Huntley has done a better impression than anyone could have anticipated, a healthy Jackson getting back on track is the only real hope down the stretch. The odds of that happening seemingly took a substantial hit when he was carted to the locker room on Sunday.
Everything else we saw was about moral victories and a resolve the Ravens have shown all season.
“That’s our brother. I’ve been through a lot with him,” tight end Mark Andrews said. “Obviously, just praying for him. Hope he’s going to be alright and he’s going to be healthy, and we’ll see what happens.”
