Who knows whether Lamar Jackson is playing Sunday night in Cincinnati?

Luke Jones and Nestor discuss playoff mystery week around Lamar Jackson and beating Bengals in Cincinnati

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

cincinnati, lamar, lamar jackson, point, play, week, game, injury, ravens, sunday, playoffs, talking, lose, win, case, season, standpoint, year, practice, terms

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

w n s t, Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive we are positively into playoff football playoffs. It’s

Nestor Aparicio  00:11

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the wildcard weekend we’re gonna spend the playoff Thursday at GNA in White Marsh Hall gonna be brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery have some ravens scratch offs to give away Get them while they’re hot as well as some holiday cash drops leftover so we’ve given these way in the scene my friend Andy, I’ve got some commitments out for Thursday as well. And our friends at window Nation Of course 8669 You nation taking great care of you five years interest free you buy two you get two free, even a better deal than I got back in August. Luke Jones joins us now he will be monitoring the the most monitored thing in our community over the next 72 hours. The health of Lamar Jackson, Luke, what do you know out knowings mills?

Luke Jones  00:54

I mean, you see, the next 72 hours or this week, it’s been over a month we’ve been doing this. I mean, let’s face it, the stakes are certainly higher this week. But what I what I know is what I’ve been relating to you and to others. So for the better part of the last month, not much. And I think

Nestor Aparicio  01:12

and they are to you. That’s the other part about it. They will lie.

Luke Jones  01:17

I was just going to say if you see the various national reports, so over the weekend, much of the same some sound more optimistic, other sound less optimistic. I think what’s evident at this point in time is theirs, and John Harbaugh even had a monologue that he offered after Friday’s practice, I think it was some damage control from the standpoint of Lord Jackson is hurt, you know, like, like, this isn’t some, you know, some scheme where he’s holding in entirely or the team is just being completely disarmed. You know, I mean, it’s he did suffer an injury. And I think it’s very evident at this point, as we’re talking over a month since it occurred that it was a little more serious than and they initially thought led on portrayed however you want to portray that. And there might be some truth to different explanations there.

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Nestor Aparicio  02:10

And there might be some he said, he said, when it’s all over with, like, show if this thing were to get off the trail after Sunday, if they were to lose, I just what I’m writing about this week is like Does anybody believe that they can go and win, but that there’s nobody that doesn’t believe there’s some drama on the other end of this whenever this is over with? There’s going to be a story to tell about this last month, that isn’t at all what we’ve seen happen out in public, which is Lamar wakes up one day, he might be able to go one day, he’s not. I think it’s a lot more complex than that. I really Yeah,

Luke Jones  02:44

I think that’s fair. I mean, there’s certainly an injury at work here. We can certainly debate how the team has handled it in terms of look, what they’ve said in press conferences, very little in terms of specifics. There’s never been a timetable offered publicly in terms of John hardball talking to the local media after a game. We’re during the practice week. However, let’s also remember, Mr. Jackson does not have an agent. So it’s very unlikely that these national reports that started but two days after the injury, originally what was one of them one to three weeks and all that, you know, go down the list of things we’ve heard from Florio and Schefter and Rapoport and Rich Eisen, who, you know, even talked about it, this

Nestor Aparicio  03:28

is the only sources they have or Eric the constant, John horrible.

Luke Jones  03:31

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I mean, someone within the organization is the point, you know, Chad Steele, let’s

Nestor Aparicio  03:35

go with that.

Luke Jones  03:36

I mean, who, but but the point is, it’s, it’s coming from the ravens, right? I mean, we think I mean, Lamar Jackson to this point. There’s been no evidence that he leaks information to the media. And that’s not to say, That’s never happened. But we know he doesn’t have an agent. And we know how national high profile national reporters, typically working for some media partner with the NFL, get information, it comes from teams or it comes from agents. That’s typically how it works. Yes, sometimes players directly but more often than not, it’s coming through back channels in some way. And we know that the timetables expressed at different points. Were far more optimistic than how this has played out. So I’m in agreement with you. Yes. There’s more to the story. Does it mean it’s as bad as some have theorized at being you know, in terms of Lamar checked out or wasn’t going to rehab? No, I mean, you know, he’s been in the building. I can’t, as I’ve said to you before, I don’t get his daily itinerary, but I’ve seen him in the building. If you follow players on Instagram, he’s been in the building. He’s been in the trainer’s room, he’s gotten treatment.

Nestor Aparicio  04:42

If he’s a kid that doesn’t want to play on Sunday night. He’s a kid you shouldn’t sign for 232 million. That’s not a guy you should marry if he if he’s surely Roger adorning and saying, I don’t want to and I don’t believe I, I have no basis to believe that or accuse him of that in any way. But I tell you why. Do it all you have to do is put on players who played in the league, who maybe share his race, share his background share a battle with a with an ownership over money. All of these high profile athletes, they all say, You shouldn’t go out there and work for free. And they said that before the season began. Two of them are on this year network. Dennis gatos and Nestor both said, he shouldn’t work without a contract like Like, like, why is he out there playing the first 15? If he was willing to go play the first dozen games, why would he not want to go play in Cincinnati on Sunday night, if he felt healthy enough to

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Luke Jones  05:39

play? Well, and that’s what I keep coming back to. And this is why I wrote it. Baltimore positive.com, I think it was two days after the injury occurred, that this was not a case that it benefited any party, the Ravens or Lamar Jackson, rushing him back to the field, because we know how he plays. We know his style. We know what truly makes him special. And a generational talent at the quarterback position is his mobility and athleticism and his legs. So from that standpoint, this shouldn’t have been as surprising now. When I wrote that did I think that meant he was going to be missing over a month and not playing again in the regular season. And we’re gonna be talking about his status being in question for the wildcard round? Of course not. I don’t think anyone knew that, you know, one way or the other. And you just don’t know. And I, I did caution at the time of this injury that it was a PCL injury, and what name did I bring up for shot pyramid? And I think back to how the Ravens handled that. And there’s no I don’t want, I want to say the major similarities, but the point of there being uncertainty and the team clearly not doing anything to clarify, and I get it to a point for competitive reasons. But at the same time, you get to a certain point, this is when people when conjecture starts to take over when speculation starts to take over. And when you are talking about a situation of a contract. And let’s remind everyone he’s not playing for free, made $23 million this year. And to your point, if he showed up and was there for many camp was there for all training camp to not hold out at any point in time, even the OTAs. That’s voluntary, he was not contractually obligated to go to that.

Nestor Aparicio  07:14

So the point that what you said, right,

Luke Jones  07:18

exactly. So from that standpoint, for me, the notion that this is at all him saying I’m just not playing even though I’m ready to play, and you know, I don’t buy that. I think there is a business element to this for him in the same way there is for the ravens, by the way, it does not behoove them to put him out on the field sooner rather than later in terms of if he’s not ready. And there’s another playoff failure then and he doesn’t play well. And he’s not looking good. Is that going to help their case? If there’s if it comes to a point where they are not getting any closer with the contract, and they are looking to deal him at some point, whether it’s this offseason, next season, whatever, whenever. So, you know, we keep coming back to sometimes. It’s almost like an Occam’s Razor situation, sometimes the most, the most obvious explanation is the right one. And it feels like the timetable was probably longer than they anticipated. early on. I think that’s evident at this point, based on some of the media leaks over the first two to three weeks of this and what John Harbaugh had to say on Friday would have benefited far more if he had come out and said something along those lines, say two or three weeks ago rather than the eve of the regular season finale. So from that standpoint, we’ll see I think, as I’ve said for a few weeks now, there’s no more gamesmanship involved from the standpoint of hiding him from practice. He needs to practice he needs to be out there. You know, I thought he needed to be out there last week if we’re talking about wanting to get him ramped up and ready for a playoff game not suggesting him even playing in the finale on Sunday but more so in terms of isn’t played football in over a month now. You know, you don’t just sit out and then you roll the ball back out there and you’re ready to go when you’ve missed that much time. So this week, you need to sit will be very weekend would that be Lamar

Nestor Aparicio  09:14

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like that not see the field for five weeks grant practice Thursday and Friday, get on a plane go to Cincinnati shuck and jive, and somehow they went 33 to 31. And so I’m like, that’s that’s your scenario this week though. Luke, right. Like that’s the best thing you can do. And one thing I’m writing about is that in retrospect in five weeks later, all this just got off a football. I mean, like we’ve watched it’s it’s been awful to watch this right. And watch them mostly lose, but they want a couple and they lost a couple and but it doesn’t cost them anything. Right. It doesn’t cost them until 815 on Sunday night, right? Like none of this. The fact that Lamar hasn’t practiced and the fact that halfword eyes didn’t play the other day like, none of that is cost them. It becomes a cost to them if they’re losing 13 to three in the first quarter. And Lamar can’t play and they’re not there. But like Lamar can still rescue them. They’re still there. They’re still an escape hatch for them your this week but to your point, but times getting short like whether he gets to the practice field this week. He’s certainly not gonna play Sunday night if he didn’t practice all week, right? Like, there’s no chance of that. Sure. But we’ve seen these other guys like, they can’t win. Tyler Huntley can’t win. And certainly, Anthony Brown, they can’t win on Sunday night in Cincinnati. That’s obvious to me. Yeah, I

Luke Jones  10:40

mean, look, I don’t really care what happened on Sunday. i There were two things of consequence that happened in that game on Sunday. Gus Edwards leaving the game after being examined for a head injury. And Alex kappa Bengals right guard who’s probably been Cincinnati’s best offensive lineman leaving with what looked like it could be a significant ankle slash knee injury and some of the early speculation. Wondering if he’s even going to be back for the playoffs, let alone Sunday night those we got banged

Nestor Aparicio  11:06

around to in the game too. Yeah. What? Who’s that? Boy?

Luke Jones  11:11

Oh, yeah, he came back in the game, though. But the point is, I mean, this was a game that was a couple steps up from a preseason game look, give the defense credit. When you’re putting in a position they were put in with the turnovers. The defense played? Well, I mean, that was Joe burrow one of his worst games of the season. And he’s played some unbelievable football the last couple weeks. But to know, what was Cincinnati showing in that game? What was Baltimore showing in that game? Again, they competed, give the Ravens credit. They played hard enough, and just well enough that Cincinnati had to play it starters, the entire game, and maybe they lost the right guard for the playoffs as a result. Beyond that. I’m not taking anything away from what we saw in the game. That changes how I feel about this matchup from Thursday, last Thursday or last Friday. I mean, it comes back to it once again, as you said, Lamar Jackson, if Lamar Jackson is out there, Ravens have a heck of a chance. Now, that doesn’t mean that they’re going to win doesn’t mean that they’re going to be favored, but they have a very legitimate chance. If it’s Tyler Huntley, who I would certainly expect at least him to be ready to go. And I think there was certainly an element of wanting to arrest him with the reality that he might have to be the guy against the Bengals. So this coming Sunday night, but you know, it’s clear what their offense has been, what it has not been without Lamar Jackson, and, you know, even on Sunday, where they competed and move the ball a little bit and certainly kept it. I don’t even want to say interesting, because I didn’t find the game overall, to be terribly interesting, but kept the score close enough, again, that Cincinnati had to play, you know, they had to play the entire game. But yeah, I mean, if we’re talking about this in any kind of term, that’s serious. And in terms of the Ravens making a run, Lamar Jackson’s got to be out there Sunday night. And, you know, as you said, and as I’ve alluded to, for a couple of weeks now, he’s got a practice. I mean, this is clearly an injury that you need to see what he looks like he has to feel comfortable, you have to feel comfortable with how he’s looking moving around. A PCL injury, while not as serious as an ACL injury does deal with stability of the knee. So I don’t want to say, I don’t want to speculate on the chances of a setback, but it’s certainly the kind of knee injury that was a little more complex than just putting on a knee brace and saying, Go get him kid, you know, because we know what his legs mean to him and what his legs mean to this entire offense. So it’s tough from

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Nestor Aparicio  13:39

he could have run around a little bit last week in practice, just to go out there and run around a little bit, that you weren’t gonna play him. Right. I mean, you knew that going in, but like seeing him appear, and I don’t see your point. I don’t know what the magic trick is here. Harbaugh was so caught up in his mind about all this paranoia. He’s such a paranoid human being to begin with. It’s his nature. I don’t know that any of this could play into that paranoia, that there’s a benefit to hiding Lamar Jackson in a bag somewhere and whipping him out this week. I don’t. That’s just that’s not the reality of the circumstance. I mean, I have to be getting pretty far fetched to think that’s the case. Right? Yeah.

Luke Jones  14:19

Yeah. I mean, that’s something you could have done the week of the Steelers game, the first Steelers game? Yeah, that’s something you could have done the first week or two because he wouldn’t have been that that far removed. I mean, when you’re talking about missing five or six weeks, gotta get your clock back, so to speak, right. I mean, he hasn’t been out there with a lot, you know, forget about live bullets have a regular have a real game, even just in practice, you know, where, where there’s a pocket around you

Nestor Aparicio  14:46

terminology and the plays as well, like literally getting your gains back. And I mean, look, they had a hard time getting the plays in 24 seconds before.

Luke Jones  14:54

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Short Well, I mean, the one thing I would say about that, you would certainly hope the mental side he’s remained in Ah, Greg Roman has said that, you know, I mean, obviously he hasn’t been running practices, but he’s still been part of meetings and things of that nature and certainly been there for Tyler Huntley as much as he can be when he hasn’t been rehabbing and getting treatment. So, I mean, look, it’s not ideal. It’s certainly not ideal. And I think part of that is, you know, consider Cincinnati and Luana. rumo. And a defense that while it’s not best in the NFL, it’s, it’s a good defense. And it’s a defense then, at times has given Lamar Jackson and the Ravens a lot of trouble offensively. So there’s that element. And again, what we saw on Sunday, what were the Bengals showing? What were the Ravens showing on either side of the ball, you know, without having an extensive chance to review it, as you and I are talking right now. I’m guessing it was more on the vanilla side for for each team, you know, which you would expect knowing that there was a high likelihood that they were going to play again, in the wild card round. So no, it really is as simple as so you gonna be out there Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, if he’s not, then there’s not gonna be a whole lot of drama to it, then he’s probably just not playing. And that’s just gonna be that stat, and then goes to 11

Nestor Aparicio  16:10

and a half instead of six and a half for sure. I mean, the early line says Vegas thinks Lamar is gonna play or they’re gonna figure out a way to get them out on the field. Now how that goes, I mean, he’s nothing with it. 80% To me, you know what I mean? Like, if he’s not 94% and can’t cut and move and run in this league against that defense that we watched on Sunday. It you’re not doing anybody a service by putting him out there? I don’t think

Luke Jones  16:41

Well, I mean, I don’t know if I agree with that entirely from the standpoint of he’s a much better passer than Tyler Huntley or Anthony Brown. But if your general point I agree with I mean, if he’s far less than 100%, than Yeah, and that’s where you do start getting into some of these other elements that go beyond what happened Sunday night and thinking about the offseason in the big picture, both parties thinking of the big picture in that sense, I mean, big picture for him is

Nestor Aparicio  17:07

go out and hand the ball off, stay in the pocket don’t run away, you usually do. Let’s just give it our best and then you go out there and you lose 34 to 16. And then Lamar goes into contract mode, the minute the season ends, right bellick always says time for pay time for play right time for pay begins the minute that that Harbaugh has a we didn’t win the Super Bowl press conference, right? Like even before the locker rooms closed, that’ll that’ll happen. And that’s the heaviness for the organization right now for me, the heaviness isn’t, are they going to win the Super Bowl or not? They’re not winning the Super Bowl this year. Most of us are already on that on that what happens after this in this very, very messy scenario, in an organization it has its its claws into older players in a lot of ways that were sort of built for these three weeks. glace. Campbell didn’t come here to play football in October, he came here to play in January, same thing would be said for Justin Houston. He looks like he’s aged 10 years since training camp. And the postgame press conference on Sunday that these older players are older Ziglar rested this week, right? I mean, Mark Andrews isn’t older, but they treat him like he’s older at this point. So the amount of money they have into Stanley and into Marlon Humphrey and where they are row quants, with, like all of the can of worms that we’ll spend next week talking about and all that. But all that is really boiling on. This is the big week. This is the playoff week and we don’t have we don’t have flamingos out on the lawn. We don’t have a prayer playing a home game. Right at all that this is far less than ideal from a management situation this week for any of them whether Lamar plays or doesn’t play. There’s only one good outcome here. Lamar plays and they win. And there’s in this time next week, we’re not talking about what happens about cleaning out lockers and house jobs, job security and who’s leaving the Rams job and who which is brother doing like all that comes next week. But this week, this is supposed to be the best week of the year, bro. Right? I mean, you’re getting ready for a playoff game. You and I are getting the buses ready for Cincinnati and we’re going and we have press credentials and we’re all there in the cities all purple boy. That’s that’s what they dream of on a year wide basis, right? Like they live their whole lives into this. We’re gonna play in the playoffs. We’re gonna win playoff games, we’re gonna win a Super Bowl. And now they’re here. And it’s kind of icky. You know what I mean? Even the success they’ve had to be a playoff team. This is everybody’s here waiting for for the bomb to drop, like literally.

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Luke Jones  19:49

Yeah, and I mean, that’s where I mean a few minutes ago, you had made a comment that they hadn’t lost anything up until this point and I understood your general point in terms of they were still in the playoffs. They’re still alive, right? But they did It missed some opportunities. If Lamar Jackson never gets hurt, there’s probably a heck of a chance that they at the very least they were playing for the division like, and I don’t mean coin flip scenario on Sunday. I mean, they’re playing for the division or they were ahead. I mean, if you recall, six, seven weeks ago, I actually thought the Ravens would clinched the division before they got to week 18. For two reasons. One, they had a very favorable schedule, and to Cincinnati had a bear of a schedule while we saw how the Bengals handled that they haven’t lost since Halloween. So kudos to them, they deserve that. But on the flip side, yeah, the ravens, if they don’t lose Lamar Jackson, are you confident that they at least win one of those, you know, maybe two of those games that they lost in the second half of the season? Sure. So, so from that standpoint, not to say that they were going to be the number one seed, but certainly could have been looking at being the three seed, let’s say, you know, they could have been in the position of where Cincinnati is right now. And then you wouldn’t be talking about a home playoff game in the first round, you would be talking about scenarios where you could host in later rounds, as it stands. Now, when you’re the sixth seed, you know, you’re going to Cincinnati and you know, if you win, unless the dolphin somehow do do what a lot of people would think would be the impossible or certainly the highly improbable, you know, you’re gonna go to Kansas City and the divisional round. And we know how that typically goes for teams. So like barbecue. Yeah, hey, nothing against Kansas City. Kansas City next week,

Nestor Aparicio  21:29

this is all of a sudden becomes a successful season.

Luke Jones  21:33

Like literally I guess. I mean, I guess I guess

Nestor Aparicio  21:39

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like scenario where they beat Cincinnati on Sunday night, find me a I can’t I don’t know what it is. I’ve watched them play. I was gonna sit here all week, talk to half a Cincinnati talk to all these people. And I don’t have any scenario where I really think they’re gonna win. But to your point, if Lamar shows up healthy, they can win. And then if they can win, then we can be sitting here next week with purple flamingos on the lawn. And you and I are flying to Kansas City because that’s what we do. Right. Like I think we would begin to believe a little bit. Sure. If they want a game. They want a game this would feel like a different season for them. Certainly psychologically in the building for Lamar for all of that. They need to win a playoff game same as they needed to do before Lamar one the last playoff game couple years ago, right like Lamar has won one playoff game. This is where you get pelts This is where you get. Traditionally, this is used to be where you got contracts. Now you would say well, we can’t penalize guys that don’t win playoff games, they get to get paid to play quarterback. But this is where you become worth $232 million to a franchise when you can win these games and you’re available and healthy for these games. Believe me what lost on me when Joe burrow got sacked. And he took his right arm. I don’t know how to help ball got protected, because he was using his right arm to brace himself as he went down. And I’m thinking to myself, Man, get him out of the game if you’re Zack Taylor on Sunday, because i i This is everything for all of these franchises. This is everything they worked for. And I think they’ll do everything to get Lamar on the field on Sunday. I mean, I I kind of vibe that he’ll play, I kind of vibe that they’ll lose. And I kind of arrived that next week and the next nine months because I’ve done this for 26 years will not go well when that happens. And the thing that changes, all of that is just a week of going to Kansas City next week, get your ass kicked, that would make everybody feel a lot better if they they lose the Patrick mahomes 20, you know, by 21 point 41 to 20. Next week, if we’re talking about them next week playing a playoff game, it’s a successful season. And that’s I’m a critic, and I would say that’s a successful season for them if they win this week.

Luke Jones  23:46

Yeah, I mean, I struggle with that idea a little bit. But it’s certainly better than if Lamar doesn’t play on Sunday night and they lose by 13 points, whatever it I mean, the defense is, you know, they have a good defense, they have a good running game, even if it’s an ugly affair, that that’s something that you know, I mean, we saw it on Sunday, as much as I don’t want to put a whole lot of stock into the game one way or the other. You know, it was an 11 point game because when you play that kind of style, you can generally hang in games and we’ve seen that I mean the Ravens haven’t been blown out this year. You know what from the time Lamar got hurt, they’ve lost games by it’s been one score like it was against Pittsburgh or it’s been 10 points like it wasn’t Cleveland or 11 points like it wasn’t Cincinnati I mean, you know that that’s kind of how it’s played out. So do I think if they you know, if Lamar comes back healthy on Sunday night, and they beat Cincinnati does it constitute being a successful season? I mean, I’m I’m not sure what it changes in the big picture. You know, I don’t think I don’t know if that changes anything for him contractually as far as his position versus the organization’s I don’t know if that saves Greg Romans job for example. Yeah, but you certainly would feel better bout it. But you know, at this point, I think. And I’m not saying that they’re primed for it right now. But at this point, I don’t know if just getting to the divisional round again is good enough for this team. From a standpoint of feeling great about it, I guess you but you certainly feel better about it. So I don’t want to argue semantics with you. But again, it comes back to it’s very simple. We’ve talked about this for weeks now. We’ll continue to talk about it throughout this week. Everyone that you talked to on the air over the next several days, it’ll come back to is Lamar Jackson playing or not, if he plays they’ve got they absolutely have a chance to win to win this game on Sunday night. If he doesn’t play then well, probably what they did. On Sunday in committing four turnovers, you’re gonna be looking at the opposite, you’re gonna need Cincinnati to turn the ball over multiple times. And, you know, a special team score a defensive touchdown, something along those lines, because, you know, without Lamar Jackson, we’ve seen it once again on Sunday, you know, this team struggles to score more than 16 points. I mean, it’s kinda, you know, that’s kind of been their top threshold with either Huntley or Anthony Brown at quarterback. So, you know, I feel like we’re a broken record talking about this, but it’s kind of where it is at this point. And we know what this team does. Well, we know what they haven’t done well, especially in that. And that’s been, you know, that’s been highlighted when Lamar Jackson isn’t out there. And this was an offense that wasn’t exactly clicking in always, even with him out there in the weeks leading up to his injury in early December. So we’ll see, again, follow the injury report, follow my updates from Owings Mills. We’ll see him out there, or we won’t. And if he’s not out there, then not gonna play on Sunday night. I mean, it really is. Yeah, I’m not trying to be flippant about it. But when you’re this far into an absence, he’s got a practice. I mean, there’s no, that side of it, there’s no gamesmanship involved, he has to practice at this point, and they’ll list them is limited, so there’ll be that okay, how much did he actually do? You know, as far as when the media is out there for the first 30 minutes? And then how much does he do when the media is ushered back inside the building? So and that’s the that’s the case for any team? To be fair, that’s not just a Ravens thing. But know that other than that question, oh, then we can speculate a little more. And see if he talks and see what’s said and see what he looks like in the little bit that we get to watch. But there’s gonna be plenty of unknown, I’ll say this much. Whether he comes out in practices a tiny bit, or whether he ends up practicing fully over the next few days, the list of is questionable. I mean, we know that much. And it’ll just be a matter of just how questionable is he? But until he’s even, you know, until he’s out there, at the very least, then it’s kind of a moot point. So we’ll see. I think one element that I did want to mention, because it has been reported, and I’ve seen a couple different national types mentioned this. Now, there’s there’s been the mention that he’s still dealing with some swelling in the knee, which if you’re talking five weeks after an injury, and you’re still talking about potential swelling in the knee, I would say if I were him, at the very least, I certainly hope he’s sought some other opinions and some second opinions to make sure that there is

Nestor Aparicio  28:12

today it’ll be swollen Monday morning after playing in Cincinnati.

Luke Jones  28:15

Well, and it’s, again, it’s just a matter of, if you’re still dealing with swelling. That’s where you look at this thing and wonder, okay, it’s pretty evident, this thing was more serious than they thought, initially, whether it was portrayed this honestly, or, as is the case. And this is where I go back to what John Harbaugh said on this past Friday, if he had said it two or three weeks ago, I think it would have served a much different purpose, you know, much more positive purpose in that way, because it would have cut down on some of the conjecture and speculation and frustration from fans, which I totally understand that. But you never quite know with injuries. I mean, we always, I always call it the Madden football game affect where you play in that. And I know you’re not a video game guy, you used to be once upon a time, but you would have injuries when you would play a season on the video game. And it would say a certain number of weeks. And guess what, at the end of those certain number of weeks, the guy automatically came back and he was fine. That’s not real life. As far as how injuries go. Sometimes it can be far more complicated than that. Sometimes guys come back sooner sometimes guys come back later. Sometimes guys don’t come back

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Nestor Aparicio  29:20

at all. Look at JK Dobbins this year. Look at Ronnie Stanley this year, and there was all this point where they were all asking, Dennis was asking you and I were sitting here week six. Where’s Ronnie Stanley? Where’s Ronnie Stanley? Is he ever going to play? And John said something that we thought was a little flipping which is you’ll play when he wants when he’s ready to play when he feels like he can play and I guess that’s what happens to a 30 year old grown ass man with $100 million in the bank is saying if I’m gonna go out there and do that I need to have full confidence. You’re not going to tell me I feel that way about radio dude. Nobody tells me what to say even if it’s in my best interest or not. Like they’re going to do what they’re going to do their grown ass man in the case of Lamar, all of this swelling contract, can I win? Can I be effective? am I letting the team down? Do I care if I let the team down because team let me down. So there’s all that going into this week. But the I mean, nipples career’s over, right, like you saw him get cut the other day. JK Dobbins they were talking about is scar tissue attached to his bone. And they’re showing him on the sidelines in Cincinnati over the weekend. And you’re thinking, he rushed himself back, they rushed him back. He was barking the last time I was out there as a legitimate media member June, he was barking to the media about I can play I’m ready, I’ll be ready like all of that stuff. Then the reality of him running like a shot racehorse after he broke away from the pack at one point a couple of weeks ago. And we’re all like, God, he looks like he’s hurt. They’re all hurt. It’s the end of the year, right? All of that. But for guys to get back on the field when they’ve had that kind of injury. I’m talking about Stanley Boyle, this Burro had one of those kinds of injuries couple years ago, right? We you and I talked to Flacco at length that it was Chris years ago after his injury, just about what it takes to get back and how you’re feeling about it. And gun to your head when you’re Lamar Jackson, and you’re not running well, and you’ve had swelling on your knee. And this is the most important game of the year, and you’re going to be judged on it. And I think that that’s the issue that all the athletes when I hear the talking heads on TV, talking about Lamar will lose this playoff game if Lamar gets on the field Sunday night and the team loses, because that’s the way this sort of works. That’s also in play here in regards to his contract in regard to his values, values obvious that they can’t win without him. So. And that should be his first negotiating point in the offseason, when he puts his feet up on the desk and says, are you gonna give me this money? Are you going to deal me? And they’re gonna say, Dude, you weren’t ready to play the biggest game of the year? Like, how can we pay you? That’s where this week is just her. It’s caustic Dude, it is really, really on the brink for the whole franchise right now. Money future, in addition to the fact that we’re both in agreement on this, we both would bet we have in our pockets. And we’re not betting men, that they’re not winning the Superbowl. So this isn’t gonna have a happy ending. Either way, at the end, this is good. The band’s gonna break up in a bad mood. At some point, whether it’s this week, Kansas City, wherever it’s gonna be, the band’s gonna break up in a bad mood, and they’re gonna have contractual issues. veteran players, lame duck offensive coordinator, coach has been here for 15 years and lies his ass off and is trying to hold the pieces together, through all of this to constant drafts are gonna get brought up by you, and where’s their wide receiver and like, all of the criticism of the failure sits on the other end of Oh, midnight, Sunday night for them. And that’s the worst season in the world for them. I mean, that that that’s the roughest part of this is that it got off to such a good start. Kids gotten injured, we’re not sure if he’s gonna play even if he plays. Even if he plays, we’re like, those are probably still better, for a lot of reasons. But all of this weighs very heavy on the franchise this week. Because they sort of know they’re not going to win the Superbowl. I think I think deep down maybe maybe not in the building. But the the inevitability of all the ugliness on the other end of the business that they have to take care of. It’s gonna be a bad offseason a business for them. It really is. This isn’t gonna go quick. I don’t think he’s just gonna say just give Lamar 240 million, Sign him up, bring him back. I don’t want to fight about it anymore. And to your point in the case, and to

Luke Jones  33:47

your point, I don’t think Lamar Jackson is suddenly going to acquiesce because of how it’s played out. Right. I mean, you just said, Hey, all he has to say is Did you see what your offense look like without me did? Have you seen what your wide receivers? You know? And again, I’m not saying Lamar words exactly like that. But is he going to suddenly change his tune and you just mentioned it, Nestor this two years in a row, two years in a row now. If Lamar can get back on the field, Sunday night, win, win, lose or draw, oh, there’s no draw on the playoffs. But you get my point, then at least he’s able to come back. And it’s not a case where he has been unable to finish two years in a row. But yeah, I mean, you look at it, they talked about it all last year, they were eight and three number one seed going into that Pittsburgh game at Heinz Field when he when they lost and they went for two at the end of the game, and then the following week is when he gets hurt. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s frustrating, and I am glad that you made you brought up Ronnie Stanley and JK Dobbins Nick Boyle. And that is another reminder once again, of these injuries and the perception, you know, maybe not Boyle, but certainly Ronnie Stanley. I mean, how many times we heard fans, even some media types. Over the last two years kind of ask, okay, what’s the deal here? Why isn’t this guy playing yet? And you understand it to a point. But at the same time, there’s a lot. There’s a lot on the line here for these guys as far as money, they’re making a lot on the line for the organization as far as the investment being made in the player, but it’s complicated. You know, sometimes surgeries don’t go well, as was the case with Stanley’s first. Sometimes rehab doesn’t go, well, sometimes guys have setbacks. Sometimes. In the case of JK Dobbins, it was a difference of opinion in terms of, Hey, are you going to let the scar tissue break up? kind of organically for lack of a better term? Or do you want to go get go get your knee scoped? And hopefully, that helps the flexion of your knee and, and it has he’s looked better since coming back? I mean, it’s arguably been, you know, he’s been a top three or four running back over the last five or six

Nestor Aparicio  35:48

weeks. They went on so that if they win,

Luke Jones  35:51

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yeah, yeah. And that’s a reason why he was held out of action on Sunday. I mean, he was one of the guys they prioritize to keep out of harm’s way. But it’s another example as far as with Lamar have. It’s easy to be cynical, it’s easy to be pessimistic. It’s easy to ask questions about this situation. I’m goodness, I’ve asked questions about it. And I haven’t heard answers, and sometimes you hear someone offer some optimism and someone else isn’t so optimistic about the situation. So you know, there’s plenty of that going on. But ultimately, you know, it still comes back to this was an injury. This was an injury to a lower body, it was a lower body injury for a player who needs his mobility needs. His speed needs his athleticism. This isn’t Tom Brady, or Phillip rivers, or Peyton Manning, I said all along, this is not slap a knee brace on it and tell him to go get on and play from the pocket more. It’s not how it works. Now, that’s part of the conversation a little bit more at this point now, I think rather than in week 15. But it’s still a case of for the ravens, for Lamar to have their best chance to be successful on Sunday night and the remainder of the playoffs however long this run goes, whether we think it’s gonna go very long or not. It comes down to him being as healthy as possible. We’ll find out this week, if five weeks have made enough of a difference, or you and I are talking about most likely, you know, kind of a, you know, a summation of the season. If he can’t play a Sunday night in Cincinnati, and then the Ravens probably lose because that’s how important he is to this football team. I think that much was always should have always been obvious, but has been painfully obvious over the last five weeks.

Nestor Aparicio  37:25

Oh, it’s complicated. Luke Jones and I are here we’re gonna be doing the Maryland crab cake tour on Thursday, chi and a Coney Island hot dog and Whitemarsh no longer an island town but I’m gonna have some island town friends joining us as well. And way mo should be there from one until four. And I’m gonna get to Andy’s famous Highland town crabcakes. I’m looking forward to that. I am Nestor. We are WNS TA in 1570, Towson Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive