The tweaked hamstring of Lamar Jackson and short rope of a 1-3 start

The purple sky isn’t falling but it sure feels that way after a 37-20 drubbing at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. The Baltimore Ravens have begun the season in a huge hole and are now littered with injuries across both sides of the ball. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss all that ails the men of John Harbaugh and the sputtering offense and ravaged defense.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ 1-3 start, focusing on Lamar Jackson’s hamstring injury and the team’s offensive struggles. They highlighted the impact of injuries, including key defensive players like Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins, and the need for a healthy offensive line. Despite a strong start against Kansas City, the offense faltered, with issues like delay of games and poor protection. The conversation also touched on the potential for Cooper Rush to step in if Jackson can’t play, emphasizing the urgency of winning the next two games to avoid a disastrous season.

• [ ] Evaluate the team’s defensive injuries and determine the best game plan to compete against the Texans.
• [ ] Monitor Lamar Jackson’s hamstring injury status throughout the week and determine if he can play against the Texans.
• [ ] Develop an offensive game plan that can be effective with Cooper Rush at quarterback if Lamar is unable to play.

Lamar Jackson’s Injury and Offensive Struggles

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the recent loss to the Chiefs and the impact of injuries on the team.
• Nestor mentions the importance of winning games and getting healthy, despite the early season setbacks.
• Speaker 1 emphasizes the need to focus on the task at hand and block out external criticism.
• The conversation highlights the disjointed performance of the offense in the Kansas City game, including delay of games and bad throws by Lamar Jackson.

Lamar Jackson’s Performance and Offensive Line Issues

• Nestor Aparicio and Speaker 1 discuss Lamar Jackson’s performance, noting his increased running due to poor protection.
• Speaker 1 mentions the impact of Ronnie Stanley’s injury on the offensive line and the team’s success on first down.
• The conversation touches on the importance of Lamar Jackson’s ability to play from the pocket and the need for better protection.
• Speaker 1 highlights the issues with the offensive line, including snap problems and delay of games.

Defensive Struggles and Injuries

• Speaker 1 discusses the defensive struggles, noting the lack of stops and the impact of injuries on the team’s performance.
• The conversation highlights the importance of having a healthy defense to support the offense.
• Speaker 1 mentions the need for the offense to carry a heavier load due to the defensive injuries.
• The discussion includes the potential return of key defensive players like Travis Jones and the impact of the bye week on the team’s recovery.

Lamar Jackson’s Hamstring Injury and Its Implications

• Nestor Aparicio and Speaker 1 discuss the severity of Lamar Jackson’s hamstring injury and its potential impact on the team.
• Speaker 1 emphasizes the importance of Lamar’s health for the team’s success and the need to balance urgency with caution.
• The conversation includes the possibility of Cooper Rush stepping in as the starting quarterback if Lamar is unable to play.
• Speaker 1 mentions the importance of the bye week for the team’s recovery and the need to manage injuries effectively.

Cooper Rush as the Potential Starter

• Nestor Aparicio and Speaker 1 discuss the potential for Cooper Rush to step in as the starting quarterback if Lamar Jackson is unable to play.
• Speaker 1 highlights the importance of having a capable backup quarterback and the need to adjust the game plan accordingly.
• The conversation includes the potential impact of Cooper Rush’s performance on the team’s overall success.
• Speaker 1 mentions the importance of having a solid game plan and utilizing the team’s remaining healthy talent.

The Importance of the Bye Week

• Nestor Aparicio and Speaker 1 discuss the significance of the bye week for the team’s recovery and preparation.
• Speaker 1 emphasizes the need to use the bye week to rest and recover key players, including Lamar Jackson.
• The conversation includes the potential for players to return to full strength by the time the bye week ends.
• Speaker 1 highlights the importance of managing injuries effectively to ensure the team’s long-term success.

The Urgent Need for Wins

• Nestor Aparicio and Speaker 1 discuss the urgency of winning games to avoid a disastrous season.
• Speaker 1 emphasizes the importance of winning at least one of the next two games to maintain hope for the season.
• The conversation includes the potential impact of the team’s performance on fan morale and expectations.
• Speaker 1 mentions the need to balance the urgency of winning with the importance of managing injuries effectively.

The Impact of Injuries on Team Morale

• Nestor Aparicio and Speaker 1 discuss the impact of injuries on team morale and the need to stay positive.
• Speaker 1 emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and focusing on the team’s strengths.
• The conversation includes the potential for injuries to create doubt and negativity within the team.
• Speaker 1 highlights the need for the coaching staff to keep the team motivated and focused on their goals.

The Role of the Coaching Staff

• Nestor Aparicio and Speaker 1 discuss the role of the coaching staff in managing injuries and maintaining team morale.
• Speaker 1 emphasizes the importance of the coaching staff in providing support and guidance to the players.
• The conversation includes the potential for the coaching staff to make adjustments to the game plan based on injuries.
• Speaker 1 highlights the need for the coaching staff to stay flexible and adaptable to the team’s changing needs.

The Importance of Health and Safety

• Nestor Aparicio and Speaker 1 discuss the importance of health and safety in managing injuries and ensuring long-term success.
• Speaker 1 emphasizes the need to prioritize the health and safety of the players to avoid further injuries.
• The conversation includes the potential for injuries to have long-term impacts on the team’s performance.
• Speaker 1 highlights the importance of taking a cautious approach to managing injuries to ensure the team’s overall success.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Lamar Jackson injury, offensive sputtering, Kansas City game, defensive injuries, Cooper Rush, Ronnie Stanley, hamstring strain, bye week, Houston Texans, injury report, offensive line, Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews, playoff chances, team morale.

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SPEAKERS

Speaker 1, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T am 1570 tassel, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, doing one in three Purple therapy here in the aftermath of a really a bad beat down. You know, I opined during the game like I don’t. You know, remember anything Billy Cundiff and Lee Evans the loss to Peyton, big losses, but not games where the injuries pile up in a game of this magnitude, this time in the season after the Orioles sort of ended their season at about the quarter pole. We’re at the quarter pole here, and it’s problematic. We’re going to try to put it together. We’re going to have some crab cakes that may soothe my soul down at fade leaves on Wednesday. I’ll have some scratch offs in the Maryland lottery. I’ll have the Raven scratch offs. Can’t say it’s been a lucky batch or an unlucky batch. I know it’s been an unlucky start to the season, and Luke Jones will be out in Owings Mills all week long, getting ready for the Houston Texans and trying to pick up the pieces of a crazy loss and a week where the infirmary reports going to be important, and the only thing that really matters is one in three at this point.

Speaker 1  01:13

Luke, yeah, they got to find a way to win a football game. They’ve got to get healthy, and they’ve got to find a way to win a football game when you’re going through something like this, and I mentioned it in our previous segment, and we’ll continue to talk about it over the course of the week, or however long this stretch goes, where they’re losing football games, right? I mean, it’s still very early. There’s still 13 games to go, which is an eternity, right? I mean, there Kansas City lost three out of four going into like Thanksgiving into December two years ago, and they won the Super Bowl seven weeks later, right? So I think it’s important to recognize that at the same time, when you’re in it and when you’re this team that has the expectations that they had coming into the season, this team that has had so much regular season success. I think it’s tough to kind of fight the like, what’s going on here, right? I mean, the obvious are the injuries, right? And they have to get healthy. I mean, what happened to them over the course of the Kansas City game? And it’s not like they had all these injuries for the Buffalo game, or, you know, even Detroit. They were without natabique and they were without van Noy, but you know, the way it piled up. I mean, the truth is, when you’re missing that many guys from your defense, and you’re playing a really good opponent, not gonna win many of those games. I mean, you’re just not so. But that said, there’s still much, so much other, so much more meat on the bone in terms of things that you just don’t like right now, but it for them internally, you really do just have to try to compartmentalize and focus on the task at hand this week. You can’t, you can’t go from one and three to six and three next Sunday, right? I mean, you win by 50 points, you’re still only going to be two and three, right? I mean, you have to view it through the lens of focusing on right now. You have to block out what fans are saying and what guys like you and me are saying right now, because there’s not a whole lot good obviously, to to say that’s the captain obvious statement. But you just have to get back to like, playing the way you’re capable of playing. I mean, even with the injuries. Let’s not act like that was a, I mean, that was, you know, I’ve seen some people say gutless. That was just very Oh. I mean, like I said. I mean, I, you know, I harped a whole lot on their their first drive of the third quarter, but, you know, they after that opening touchdown drive. I mean, their offense was disjointed. I mean, delay of games. Lamar throws a bad pick. You know, he’s an intentional grounding. The protection wasn’t good. I still don’t know what they were trying to do in terms of running the ball, right? I mean, like, it was just bad across the board. I mean, yeah, you can find an individual performer here or there doing some nice things. I’m not going to say every single player on the entire roster was horrible, but the collective, like all three phases, they were bad. I mean, that was just bad. Well, let’s start

Nestor Aparicio  04:08

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with Lamar. Let’s work our way down as we because talking about the plays in the game, especially once the third quarter came and they’re out there playing with a an August, you know, preseason squad. You’re getting a scorecard. We’re trying to figure out who else in the game and who’s this Martin guy, and you know, just so Lamar and the supporting cast around him, and what needs to be done to make Lamar successful, above and beyond. Lamar another year older, whether he’s as fast as he used to be, certainly smarter than he used to be in regard to reading defenses, and more capable than he’s ever been of throwing the football. But all that being said, he ran a little bit more he had to. Sometimes it feels like he’s running for his life. How the Ronnie Stanley thing factors in? And then I’ll. Go back to the success level on first down, and how that changes everything they’re trying to do, and making my pocket passer and getting him sacked, that the fact that he has been sacked as much as he has through four games, is stunning.

Speaker 1  05:17

It is. And as we talked about in the aftermath of the Detroit game. I think there were multiple layers to that. I don’t think it was solely the offensive line. I think there were a couple instances where Lamar, frankly, held the ball too long. I think there were some times where I think just three snap stuff, which is on Lamar, or, you know, Linder bomb, whatever, where you kind of looked at some of what they were doing in that passing game against Detroit where, you know, they only had two or three guys out on routes, you know. I mean, you know, if you’re keeping six or seven in the block, but then Detroit’s only rushing four. I mean, like, do the math, like those numbers aren’t going to add up the way you want them to. So it’s absolutely been a problem. But to bring it back to Kansas City, specifically, you know, they have a good opening drive, you know, they had, they got Mark Andrews involved right away, you know, couple early completions for him, a couple early completions for Lamar Derek Henry, had a 14 yard run. You know, the first, that first drive was great. I mean, that felt really good. I mean, they had the big third and two conversion, just Justice Hill, where they a little bit of a change up there. You know, they, ran an early screen to Derrick Henry. So you know, some of what we were talking about in terms of, you know, when’s Derrick Henry on the field? When is Justice Hill coming onto the field and passing situations and Henry comes off. You do have to throw some change ups in there right now. We’re not trying to be predictable. Yeah, exactly. And I thought they did a good job of that last year, you know. And you know, you kind of look at Derrick Henry, not that he caught a ton of passes last year, but it was enough. It was enough to just keep the opposition thinking. So I think they did some of that on that first drive, but then you kind of see it just kind of went, went downhill. I mean, they haven’t. They put together another nice drive where, I mean, I guess what, they got the the unnecessary roughness penalty from cook so that that put them in in Kansas City territory. And then they bring a blitz, and Lamar makes an ill advised 5050, ball kind of throw, and it gets picked off. And then from there, it just kind of snowballed, right? And, you know, they started having free snap issues with, you know, like either lining up incorrectly. I mean, there are a couple, what? They had two delay of games and a three play period. I mean, I don’t care if you’re in Kansas City, that can’t happen, that can’t happen with a two time MVP quarterback. And I’m not saying it’s all Lamar, whatever about the operation, wherever the breakdown was there, whether it was Lamar, whether it was the play coming in late, whether it was yes to multiple portions of that. Like, you can’t have that. So then, you know, you have a grounding. And you know, then it’s, I mean, it’s just it’s snowballed, and meanwhile, your defense isn’t getting any stops. They they held them to a field goal the first couple drives, and then after that, the floodgates just completely open. So you just see that this thing’s snowballing. And from that point, I mean, their offense just, you know, they, they got the late field goal going into half which, which felt like it was a nice little shot in the arm. Not that all was well, but little bit of a six point swing there. Butker misses a long field goal and, and Tyler loops able, you know, they make a couple plays to get in field goal range. And you’re thinking, okay, as bad as the first half felt it’s a 10 point game, right? I mean, that’s hardly insurmountable. They’ve, they’ve come back. You know, despite what the narrative was six years ago on Lamar Jackson led offense, they’ve, they’ve come back in games before we’ve seen it. But again, that’s where I go to, that first drive of the second half, where it felt like they were establishing the run and kind of getting into what they do best, you know, where it’s some Derrick Henry, it’s some Lamar Jackson running, and then you can start, you know, with some play action. And, you know, it just, it was kind of over at that point, right when, when they they try to throw 1/3 and three inside the red zone and get sacked, and then they settle for a field goal. It was over for all intents and purposes. It was over. And then Lamar gets hurt late in the third quarter. And I mean, it’s just, it’s bad. It’s just really bad. I mean, I sound very like I’m repeating myself here, but, you know, it’s kind of confounding how bad it was. And I get it. Ronnie Stanley, leaving the game is not ideal. I get that. But, my goodness, they played the better part of like, three and a half seasons without him, right? I mean, they it

Nestor Aparicio  09:30

doesn’t feel like they’re doing things well. You mean scheming, well, preparing well, alignment, assignment, technique. They’re not winning battles at the line of scrimmage, right? When Lamar is holding the ball, padding it, and getting sacked or running for his life, it means that guys are covered. It means guys aren’t getting open. That’s really what it means.

Speaker 1  09:50

And really, I mean, we saw that happen as the second half went on in Detroit, even though, like you look at lamar’s final stats and and let me be clear, I didn’t think Lamar played up. Bad football game against Detroit by any stretch of the imagination. Look at the numbers. He made some great throws, but I think what you what concerned me about that second half was, Yes, him being sacked, but also him starting to look in a way that I haven’t seen him look in a few years. And that’s really doubting his protection, even at times when the protection wasn’t bad, and there are plenty of times it was bad, but you started to see Lamar footwork get sloppy, and you know, he’s holding the ball too long or forced it. Didn’t force it too many times. Didn’t have that many incompletions last week, but I just felt like it was first drive aside, a big time carryover from what we saw last week. And yes, it absolutely does not help when Ronnie Stanley’s missing from from the field, right? I mean, Joseph no boom is in the same way that Patrick McCary wasn’t a healthy Ronnie Stanley. No, boom certainly not a healthy Stanley. But I can’t put it all on that, right? I mean, they still had plenty of talent, and most the rest of their offense pretty much intact other than that at that point. Then obviously, you know, Lamar leaves the game, and you know, you have Cooper rush doing whatever the heck he was doing on that fourth down play, which, again, didn’t matter, but it’s kind of like you’re a veteran backup. Like, what was that? But, I mean, it’s, again, I’ll go back to my point where, yeah, they’ve scored a lot of points so far this year, but it’s just been this really up and down where, when it’s been great, it’s been great, but they’ve had some stretches here where it’s been bad, and, you know, they haven’t been able to sustain drives in the way that you think of not as much of a Todd monk and thing, because that was way more of a Greg Roman thing. But certainly, when you had Derrick Henry run for 1900 yards last year, you were able to sustain drives and pound the rock and and control the clock a little bit more, which feels like the way you’re going to have to play, in the sense of not that you just need to score points. I mean, and look, if the opposition is going to let you score on three plays, like, you have to score on three plays, right? You’re not going to, like, just deliberately play four yards at a time, right? I’m not, not suggesting that, but you want to be able to play in a way that you can run the ball and you can move the chains and you can sustain and you can have a, a five, a, six, a, seven minute drive that results in a touchdown, because you need to be efficient inside the red zone. But then that also does keep your defense off the field, and it keeps guys who are playing more now that aren’t accustomed or were or they weren’t planning on playing as much as they are. I mean, look at someone like John Jenkins, who goes into the year as you know, their fifth defensive line, you know, fourth or fifth defensive lineman, and now you know he’s kind of the most trustworthy guy up front, you know, for that defensive line. You know, at least on Sunday, when Travis Jones was out, and obviously Matt abika and Broderick Washington on IR now for three more games after this at a minimum. So you do have a lot of that going on. So that’s where you’d like to think, one your offense can just carry the heavier part of the weight, just because it is this explosive offense that has all this talent and has one of the very best quarterbacks on the planet, if not the best, over the last couple years. And they just, they weren’t able to do that on Sunday. I mean, after the opening drive. I mean, it was very just not good. I mean, it just wasn’t well. You got

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Nestor Aparicio  13:29

to drive your assets right. And if your assets are the big bad, Derek, Henry and speedy, tricky, hard to bring down, Lamar are part of this, while zay flowers is zigging, and Bateman is zagging, and Andrews is sitting behind a safety somewhere, in front of a safety somewhere, and all the blockers are blocking, and we can continue to go back to the fact that Lamar is getting a rest because the offensive line isn’t good Enough. In totality, been very good. Ronnie Stanley now problematic, and then throw Lamar on top of that. So let’s go back to Lamar. Luke Jones is here. He is in on the GBMC hotline. I want to give a shout out to my friends a curio wellness as well, and foreign daughter for making this 27th anniversary happen, getting me out on the road eating more than just crab cakes, eating more food. I have to figure out some cool stuff too during the holidays, maybe do some eggnog tasting contest or something like that, some pumpkin pie eating or apple cider donut eating. But I’m getting skinny. My Planet Fitness friends are making that happen for me, but I am with curio wellness. It’s all out now. We’re down to number one. Number one. I’m not going to give it away. Go to Baltimore. Positive fight over number one is but we’ve been counting down with our friends of curious so Luke lamarr’s injury. Let’s go back to number one. Let’s start at the top. We haven’t gotten to the defense yet. We haven’t gotten to the kicking game and hardball and just in general, injuries. We’ll get to all of that. But Lamar is. Injury and hamstring and whatever speculation will be to speculate this week, because I don’t know that they’re just going to stand them up right on Wednesday and run them around on practice, because that’s tends to not be the way John does things. But there is a level of craziness that happens when you’re one and three, yeah, no matter what, even if you’re the Jets, even if you’re the browns, you want in three or one and three, nobody expects to be one in three. Nobody wants to be one in three. Even the teams that sort of deep down know they stink when they’re one in three. They don’t want to believe it. They want to believe Joe flacker is going to go out next week and they’re going to win a game again and and this league proves that that’s possible. Look at the Giants right this week, right? So anything’s possible, but I don’t know what’s possible with Cooper rush. I know it’s, it’s not a Super Bowl,

Speaker 1  15:53

well, and I mean obviously, and I don’t think we there’s any reason to think that this is a long, long term injury for Lamar Jackson, right? I mean, we’ve seen, we’ve seen individuals have hamstring tears, you know, off the bone, they’re carted off, they’re gone. You know, Dak Prescott was a perfect example of that, not, not long, what last year, I guess it was.

Nestor Aparicio  16:17

Well, he doesn’t need to be that injured. Did not be as effective as he needs to be this week, sure, right? But, but that’s, you know, that’s where it is tricky with someone who

Speaker 1  16:29

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absolutely can play from the pocket exponentially better than he did as a rookie or his first couple years, but at the same time, can’t protect himself. He can’t get away, he can’t run. It’s one thing to talk about. If it’s a little sore, it’s another thing. Okay, is that going to let Lamar be Lamar and Houston, regardless of the factor one and three? I mean, that is a defense that has some talent, you know, I’ll beg some ignorance, because I haven’t really watched them a whole lot through the first few weeks, because, you know, but, and I’ll do that this, you know, over the next couple days. But they certainly have, you know, it’s not as though they’ve been blown out in all their games. And you know, they’ve had a talented defense the last couple years. They’re going to be aware of that. So it is one of those situations where, how bad is the hamstring? Can he play with it? Can he play with it and still be 90% of himself, right? You know, if he’s 50% of himself, then no, then he needs to sit out. And you do have to view it through the lens. I think this is where things are interesting, because they do have a week seven by that’s coming up in a couple weeks, where that’s going to make it interesting for, frankly, all these guys. I mean, roquan Smith has a hamstring all that. But you know, to bring it back to Lamar specifically, Lamar specifically, you do have to view it through the lens of, yeah, you really want them out there, because there’s no guarantee that you can win a game with Cooper rush against, certainly against even Houston, let alone talking about the Rams, who I think are a very good football team, you Know, Houston, I think the jury’s, you know, to be kind, the jury’s out when they’re one in three also. But you do have to, you also, do have to look at the big picture here, right? You know, if it’s, uh, you tweak your ankle or you got some sore ribs, there are certain injuries that you can play through. And three. And one’s different than one and three, yeah, but one in three is also different than six and nine, right? Where? Or or six and nine, yeah, that that your season, right? Shot, you’re over, right? But let’s say six and five. Let’s say where. You know it’s starting to get late, early at that point in time, one and three, there’s still so much football left, and you do have a buy in a couple weeks that I do think you have to be smart about this,

Nestor Aparicio  18:48

even if, yeah, like, you can’t be one in five dog,

Speaker 1  18:52

I understand. But if Lamar Jackson plays on an injured hamstring, and then you can’t win anyway, or blows it out, and then he’s out two months, then then the season’s totally shot, right? So it’s tough, like, and, you know, let’s give a big

Nestor Aparicio  19:05

mystery this week. I mean, you’re going to be out on the practice field Wednesday, waiting it out, and it’s going to be an infirmary report this week with our GBMC friends, right?

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Speaker 1  19:15

Yeah, yeah. I mean, no, no question about it. I mean these injuries, I mean it. I know fans are frustrated, and you don’t want to make it sound like an excuse, because that defense was playing poorly before all those guys went down with injuries.

Nestor Aparicio  19:28

Yeah, but I don’t want to see roquan Smith in street clothes in the third quarter, of course, but because

Speaker 1  19:33

what purpose does that serve, other than just being mad and like, you know, you can just lash out, like as a fan base, or as media talking about, you know, how bad the team stinks, whatever. It’s not good, but at the same time you want to, you’d love to get the three and three at the bye week. I mean, the worst, you know, the absolute worst you want to be is two and four, right? Two and four of still, like, that’s bad, but it’s not in some. Accountable. The season’s over bad, right? Like, oh and six would be that. But you know, if you’re one in five, I mean, you know that I’m just having 2015 flashbacks, you know, which is the last time the Ravens started one in three. But you know, the injuries piled up that year, but they were bad even before the injuries really started to mount that year. You know, Joe Flacco went out in what, late November, whatever it was. I mean, season was already shot. You know, by the time they lost Joe and Steve Smith and some of those guys, Suggs was the big one. They lost in week one. But, but you also, like, it’s just tough, because you want to win these next two games so badly, but you also have to recognize there’s three more months of season after that that you can’t force it if you’re talking especially when you’re talking about injuries that have a high setback rate, like a hamstring. Can I mean, how many times have you seen whether you’re any sport goes out there, tries to play on a hamstring, and then they they hurt it even further, and then they’re out twice as long as they might have been to begin with, right? So it’s tough. I mean, obviously you want Lamar out there, and I don’t think he necessarily needs to be 100% perfectly healthy to go, but it can’t be 50% either. I mean, it just can’t, and we talked about that a lot three years ago and four years ago. I mean, when he had the when he had the ankle bruise, you know, in 2021 he he legitimately couldn’t play. No questions asked. We saw him out there on the practice field once. And I mean, he walked around like Fred Sanford, like he couldn’t walk even, let alone play. So that was but, you know, when there was as much discourse as there was two years or three years ago when he had the knee, which, don’t get me wrong, that was a 100% absolutely a legitimate knee injury. But there was also the, you know, the discourse about, can you put a brace on it? How much can you do? How much like Lamar can you be? It was all the contract nonsense, and the contract was a big part about that. Now, some people will point out, yeah, there’s a renegotiation that’s going to have to take a place, take place this March, but no, like, I just have a tough time putting that out there, like, with any to any meaningful degree, in the same way that, you know, people spec, and I don’t think anyone you know who’s being measured about it. But, you know, people speculating like, you know that John Harbaugh just pulled Lamar there, like this third, you know, it was a 17 point game. At that point, the game was not over. You know, it’s still late. You’re not conceding to the Kansas City change, no matter what. Of course, not so. But you know, how bad is this? Right? I mean, if there’s one thing you could say about those two previous injuries that Lamar had certainly wasn’t a fast healer, and I, again, I’m not, let me be clear. I’m not insinuating anything there, but they were two injuries that they at least initially, they lingered. There was chance of him coming back, and he didn’t, so regardless of reasons why. But, you know, it’s just the bye week makes this really tricky. I mean, I mean, it really does because, you know, you kind of view it through the lens of, let’s say you think it’s something where it might take him two or three weeks to really be fully himself, but you’re one in three, and you desperately need to win at least one of these two next, next two games. So you know, what is the threshold for him saying he’s going to play for the training staff and the doctors, to say he it’s good enough for him to play? Or is it just flat out a thing where it’s a situation where this is extremely risky to put him out there. And on top of that, there’s the possibility of, you know, either a re injury, or just him not being his normal effective self, and how that can impact you. So, I mean, it’s just, it’s not good, you know, it’s just, it’s the obvious statement, you know, in the after, the immediate aftermath of the game, I don’t think anyone can really say for sure. You know, I know that the doctor, David Chows of social media and the football world, will look at it. I know initially he said it didn’t look like it was a severe hamstring injury. But, you know, even a minor hamstring injury, you know, that’s, that’s normally a week or two, right? So, but can this team afford to not have Lamar for the next couple of weeks, right? I mean, it’s, it’s tough. No, really is.

Nestor Aparicio  24:31

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I think they can’t afford to not have him, and they can’t afford to have him play at 70% either,

Speaker 1  24:36

right? Yeah. I mean, you know, sure you can. You can have a situation where he goes out there, it’s a little tender. You lean on Derrick Henry a little more maybe, maybe that’s the smoking gun that gets Keaton Mitchell active. And you just say we’re going to play it like 2018 when we handed the ball to Gus Edwards and and, you know, go through the list of guys they had at that point in time, or 2019 when it was Ingram, Gus Edwards justice. Hill right where you just three headed monster, and you just try to pound the rock as much as you can. And you have Isaiah likely back, even though, you know didn’t call his name at all on Sunday. And you’ve got play action that you can run with Andrews and him, and you can ugly your way to a 1713, win over the Texans, maybe, or something like that. I don’t know. You know that that’s saying a lot about the state of the defense, right? I mean, you know, if the defense could even perform like that right now, even against CJ Stroud and a Texans offense that you know isn’t impressing anyone right now, other than if you think the Tennessee Titans are any good, which they’re, they’re horrendous. But, man, it’s just, it’s not good. It’s just not and when I say it’s not good, I mean that more in the short term, immediate range, because I do think, with these injuries, guys will come back, but when and how effective, and what could the additional damage potentially be in the meantime? Right? So, I mean the bye week. It’s funny, because the schedule comes out and everyone says, right away, oh, man, an early buy. You want to have the late by you love to have, you know, like last year, they had it in December. They came out healthy. You know, this was such a healthy team overall, until zay flowers at the very end of the regular season. And now you’re looking at it and you’re saying, Man, the buy. It’s week seven. You wish it was right now, right? You know. I mean, you wish it, it could be right now, based on starting with Lamar, but going down the list of everyone else. So it’s gonna be a very interesting week in that way. And obviously these guys, you know, medical staff, the training staff, I mean, they’ll round the clock treatment for all these guys, right? I mean, everyone that’s not on IR right now, around the clock, and, you know, I suspect some of them will be able to play this week, but I don’t know. I mean, well,

Nestor Aparicio  26:53

there’s a sense of urgency at one and three that this organization hasn’t had in years.

Speaker 1  26:57

Sure, sure. I mean, there’s no question about that. I mean, just because I think they’re absolutely capable of overcoming this early season hole, and just because, yes, there are 13 games left, and just because I don’t think a whole lot of the AFC north, you know, I’m still not a huge believer in the Pittsburgh Steelers, other than just being what they’ve been in recent years, which is fringe playoff team, but not like this juggernaut. You know, I certainly don’t believe in Cincinnati. You know, Cleveland has no, you know, no quarterback. So you know, all that being said, one in three is still one in three. And right now, for me, it’s where is this team? Between the between the ears, in addition to how banged up they are, because this is where things can man you. You just start to doubt you start to doubt the coaches, you start to doubt your teammates, you doubt yourself. And that’s where things can spiral, even for what I still think is a in the big picture, still a darn good football team, but they are not that right now, that’s for sure. And as they’re presently constructed, in terms of the infirmary report, you know, they might not, might be the bye week post bye week, until you can really start, truly starting to feel some confidence again. So it’s all about Houston this week. It’s all about, you know, duct taping this thing together, however you can coming up with a game plan. You know, we haven’t talked at all about Zach or in the defensive coaching staff to this point. We can talk about that, you know, as we go on, but man, you have to look at what you have right now, and you have to be realistic about that you’re not gonna be able to play defense. You know, not that, not that what they were doing was working particularly well even before these injuries. But you certainly can’t try to play defense the same exact way. If you know you’re you’re going to be without Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins and roquan Smith, and you can’t rush the passer to begin with. You know your defense, you know, maybe you know van Noy did a pregame workout. You know, you’d like to think he’s probably a good chance to come back this week, so that’ll be good. But you know, what about the rest of these guys? Is Travis Jones going to be ready? Travis Jones practiced on a limited basis for a couple days this week, but I didn’t like what I him when he left the game against Detroit at the end of the, at the end of the, you know, fourth or midway through the fourth quarter. You know, he couldn’t put any, you know, he wasn’t trying to put much weight on that knee. So, you know, how long is that for him to be feeling himself, knowing that Matt abika is not coming back anytime soon. So, I mean, this is, this is when coaching like, yeah, you’ve got to figure out what’s going to work best here. And that might include you got to come up with your best game plan for Cooper rush, being your quarterback, which he’s won games. That’s why the Ravens went out and signed them. When they did, they wanted him over Josh Johnson, well,

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Nestor Aparicio  29:48

you know, he Lamar playing 17 games. You sort of know that that’s not the way it works in the league. And if you know it’s like starting pitching, you know, we talked about that, you know, all off season here. How many starts? What’s realistic? How many bats are realistic for Lamar at this point?

Speaker 1  30:06

Well, you just can happen to any quarterback. I mean, it doesn’t even have to be just about Lamar.

Nestor Aparicio  30:10

Think about your backup playing two or three games, and whether you can survive that, right?

Speaker 1  30:15

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And if they can’t, then, then it was a waste to sign Cooper rush, and you should have signed someone else, right? I mean, they were able, you know, it’s not as though Tyler Huntley never won a game for the ravens, right? I mean, not that he was great by any stretch of the imagination.

Nestor Aparicio  30:30

I saw Gardner Minshew running around in the game there, and I’m like, you know, you always know a gardner Minshew when you see him,

Speaker 1  30:37

yeah. But, and you know me. I going back to years ago with Joe Flacco, I have never been one that subscribes to spending a whole lot of money or dumping assets to the backup quarterback too much, because

Nestor Aparicio  30:50

unless your starter stinks,

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Speaker 1  30:53

that’s a different discussion. But, but, you know, I always go back to the Tom Moore school of thought when he was in Indianapolis and the Monday night crew came and asked why the backup quarterback never got any reps. And his quote was, if 18 gets hurt, talking Peyton Manning, we’re bleeped and we don’t practice being bleeped around here. So I, I subscribed to that. But the point is, you need at least a backup that you feel good enough about that, if Lamar Jackson has to miss Sunday or has to miss the next two games, can Cooper rush help you win at least one of those right? Two and four is bad. I’m not saying anyone’s feeling good about that,

Nestor Aparicio  31:34

but almost won a playoff game already, but he had talent around him. You know, the Ronnie Stanley Smith and the Marlin, like defensive line, all of that, but

Speaker 1  31:45

this offense still has plenty of healthy talent right now. And I get the Stanley thing, and I’m not saying that that’s good, because it’s not. But they also, like I said, they played the better part of a few seasons without Ronnie Stanley, right? And even when he was out there, a very diminished version of him. So that’s not unprecedented for for this franchise. So that’s where I just look at this thing. And if Lamar can’t go this week, then Todd monkin, you better get in your bag and figure out the best way to put together a game plan when you still have Derrick Henry and you have Justice Hill and, yeah, throw Keaton Mitchell into that mix. Might be time to to bring him out of the garage and see if he can give him four or five touches, and see if he can break one for 60 yards the way he did two years ago, before he got hurt. And you still have these wide receivers, you know, one through four, you know, throw devontes Walker into that picture, because he’s looked good or so far this season. I mean, in very limited opportunities, and you’ve got a healthy Isaiah likely back, in addition to mark Andrews. So there is a lot there even, even if the Ronnie Stanley question is there this week, there’s a lot there that this team shouldn’t be in a position where they can’t score a point with Cooper rushes their quarterback, right? So the game plan changes big time. There’s no question about that. You’re, you’re clearly not calling the same plays remotely for Cooper rush. But you knew that, right? Because you signed Cooper rush back in March. So this is not it. You know, this is something that

Nestor Aparicio  33:17

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there was a plan B, even though we are bleeped, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1  33:21

I mean, you have to, you, you plan for that. Hey, Cooper rush got a ton of, ton of reps in the spring. You know, we talked about Lamar wasn’t at OTAs, right? So Cooper rush got a ton of work with the wall. People paid to watch him play, yeah. So, you know, like, so that’s where you you look at this thing. And believe me, if Lamar Jackson can play, he’ll be out there, of course. But you also cannot lose your minds that and treat this like it’s week 18 and you need to win this game to make the playoffs right. You still have to balance the urgency of the moment while also acknowledging there is 13 games to go. There’s three months to go in the season, and if you put Lamar out there at a time when he has no business being out there, then you run the risk of this thing completely, truly being sunk. You know, lots of fans are saying after Sunday’s game, the season’s over. No, of course, it’s not. I mean, that’s just dumb to say that one in three you can be frustrated, you can be ticked, you can be calling for changes, you know, not not necessarily the most extreme, but somewhere within the reasonable realm of, you know, do you need to swap up how you’re doing things coaching staff wise? Do you do you need to bench so and so and play this guy? And, you know, I’ll hear all that when you’re one and three. The season’s not over, but the urgency level, it’s rising. It’s rising rapidly. As I said, I use the term, and I would have used this had the Ravens lost 27 to 24 and they hadn’t lost four more, five more players, whatever it was, on top of what they were already dealing with. Look, it would have felt one in three doesn’t feel good, no matter the circumstances. But. I absolutely would have been much more. It’s 13 games to go. Get through these next two games, get a couple wins under your belt. Schedule looks so much better after the buy. But when it’s one in three and you got your feelings hurt because you got your butts kicked and you lost, the number of players you lost in addition to the guys that were already hurt, it feels horrible. It absolutely does.

Nestor Aparicio  35:22

It would feel bad if you were two and two and all these guys were hurt. It would, it wouldn’t feel good. Yeah.

Speaker 1  35:27

I mean, let’s, let’s, let’s say what happened in Buffalo hadn’t happened. And they held on in one right? And they were two and, oh, but they lost the last two games. Yeah, that would feel pretty rotten right now too, because you’d be saying, My goodness, they were two and oh, and they had this chance to be four and, oh, and a, maybe a chance of having a perfect record going into the buy and now they’re hurt, and they’ve lost two so, you know, I mean, it’s

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Nestor Aparicio  35:49

look boy, seeing the body of work, I laugh at that, because I’ve watched them play the last month, and I’m, I mean, they’re so far from four and, Oh, they’re so far from winning four games in a row right now, based on what I’m Seeing from them, because of the injuries, because of the I mean, if you’re going to tell me you’re going to take Marlon Humphrey and either make him stink or get him off the field Juan Smith, in addition to that, you’re going to take the entire defensive line away, and you’re going to take Ronnie Stanley away, I’m going to tell you they’re going to struggle to win football games if that’s the case. And that’s beyond Lamar having hamstring.

Speaker 1  36:22

Oh yeah. I mean Lamar, you know, in the same way that I mean Joe burrow right now, you and I aren’t giving five seconds of meaningful oxygen to the Cincinnati Bengals right now, because Joe burrows most likely out for the year, or if he comes back, they’re going to probably be so far out of it, it’s not going to matter.

Nestor Aparicio  36:37

And to your point, you got to make sure Lamar is not there. That’s all Sure, right?

Speaker 1  36:40

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Yeah. And, you know, that’s where you just look at this thing, and it’s tough. I mean, it’s a hamstring again, if, you know, if he had a bruised knee, or, you know, some sore ribs, or, you know, an injury to his non throw, I guarantee you go up to Lamar once he has a feeling freaking sore. I mean, it’s a hamstring. If it was, if sore on Sunday, it’s gonna be sore on Wednesday, it is. I mean, and, and so here’s the caveat that maybe you take some optimism from he clearly, you know, again, he got hurt. However, maybe it was the most minor of you know, he felt it grab a little bit. Look. It was really hot in Kansas City. I mean, you know, watching at home like it was in the mid 80s. Right at kickoff, 88 he kicked. So maybe, so here’s, here’s your, your positive spin, if you’re envisioning a best case scenario, this ended up being more of a cramp than an actual hamstring strain. And he gets some fluids, and he rests it, and maybe he doesn’t practice Wednesday, because anyone would tell you, you get a bad cramp, you know, like once every couple months, I wake up with a calf crypt, which is, you know, just the joys of getting older and probably not hydrating as well as I should, but it’s just a cramp. But you know what? It’s sore the next day. Your best case scenario is maybe this is more of that for Lamar. And if that’s the case, hydrates the next couple days, give him a couple days of rest. Maybe he sits out Wednesday, and maybe he’s good to go next Sunday. You know that that? And if you’re John Harbaugh and the coaching staff when you’re down 17, and he is a little banged up, and you’re not quite sure, you’re you’re hoping it’s just like, hey, it’s just the very start of a hamstring strain. We certainly don’t want to push it here, especially when we’re down 17, and this isn’t trending. Well, let’s shut it down. There’s the scenario for shutting it down where it kind of makes sense, right? Because you don’t want to make it any worse. And if that’s the case and he’s able to play Sunday, then that was smart. Then that was whoever made that final call, whether, whether it’s hardball, the trainer, whoever, then,

Nestor Aparicio  38:46

bravo. But I know a great sports massage therapist here, Luke, so,

Speaker 1  38:51

but, sure, sure, but, but that’s just conjecture. Right now, we don’t know. I mean, we’re gonna, we’re gonna see how this plays out, to some degree, you know, I certainly don’t expect John Harbaugh to be very you know, revealing the daily updates or anything like that. I mean, I think we all understand that. But whether he’s out on the field Wednesday or Thursday, you tell you, that’ll be the big thing, you know, if he’s not practicing all you know, if he’s not out there by Friday, then we’ll probably know our answer, you know. But if it’s like I said, minor and treat, treatment, and he rested a few days, and you get him out there by Friday, and he can log a limited practice, and he’s moving around well and all that. Then, then he can go Sunday, and then you’ll feel so much better about not perfect, but so much better about this football team as it currently stands. You know, I mean, some of these other guys with hamstrings and calves and all that, like, again, you kind of, when you have soft tissue injuries like that, you kind of have to look at it in terms of, all right, maybe they’re out this week, maybe they, maybe they could play against the Rams. But you know what, there’ll be 100% if we can. Them out to the bye week. But how many guys can you afford to do that with right now, given the state of your defense and everything? So it’s tricky. I mean, you can’t treat it like it’s December. I mean, you just can’t even being one in three. You have to still

Nestor Aparicio  40:14

view though, it feels like December early right now, and it’s not even but

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Speaker 1  40:19

it’s not, you know that it’s not in the same way that you know if you start out five and one and then you lose three out of four after that. Yeah, you feel rotten about it in the moment, but no one’s saying the season’s over at that point. So you have to view it through that lens. Let me be clear, because you made a comparison to the Orioles. The ravens are not 16 and 34 right now, the 16 and 34 season was over for the Orioles period. The season is not over for this. One in five. One in five, you’re one in four.

Nestor Aparicio  40:50

They’re either gonna be two and four or two and three, two and three or one and four at the end of this week, right? So, I mean, one of them are good, but one in four is a mess, yeah?

Speaker 1  41:00

And like I said, I mean, if you are entertaining the the scenario where Lamar has to miss a couple games, gosh, you you have to, somehow, someway, figure out a way to be two and four at a minimum. I mean, because one in five, I don’t even want

Nestor Aparicio  41:14

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to think about him not playing his first so, you know, by the way, Luke will have all the injury reports, everything coming out. Our friends at GBMC have sponsored us. We’ve talked about all sorts of things, including my colonoscopy that’s coming up in November. Yes, I have my date. It’s Thanksgiving week. I’m going to be talking to the docs. I’m trying to encourage everyone else out there like me, who doesn’t listen to go listen, because it’s important. I say that with a straight face, even though I’m not looking forward to this, but, but I’m going to make my way through it. Luke is going to be here all week long as well, and we’re trying to pick up the pieces of really, the most unlikely thing. I don’t think any of us really thought we’d be at this point, at one and three. Obviously, the injuries are so important. If you’re on the W NSD tech service brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy. You’ll get those updates during the week, and obviously, listen to us here at W, N, S, D, and am 1570 and all the cool stuff that we do out in social media. Wednesday, we’re getting the Maryland crab cake tour back out. We’ll be at fade Lee’s down at Lexington market. Felicia Porter, our city councilwoman, will be joining us. I always love spending time with Felicia. Said it’ll be great. I’m going to order off menu. I’m going to get some mac and cheese and some other things. I’m going to wander the market, as I am known to do, and I will be giving out Raven scratch off score to see the Maryland lottery on Wednesday, and then we’re at Costas next Monday, after the Houston game. We’re going to be at the Costas antimonium In the afternoon next Monday, and I hear the horses all right, horses for course, is going to come back. Continue to talk about these injuries, which ones are the most acute, which ones are getting in the way, and none of them are good. And it all started with Matt abika, like five minutes ago. And now look what happened to the season. I’m Nestor. He’s Luke. We’re still one and three. We’re doing purple therapy. We’re W, N, S, D, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive. It’s.