BALTIMORE — The NFL will investigate the Baltimore Ravens‘ handling of quarterback Lamar Jackson‘s practice participation, which led to the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player being ruled out because of a hamstring injury for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
The Ravens could be subject to discipline by the NFL for violating the league’s injury report policy because the team originally listed Jackson as a full participant in Friday’s practice. Baltimore then changed Jackson’s practice participation to limited a day later.
“The league will look into this,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Saturday. “The league reviews any matter involving a change to a player’s status.”
In a statement released Saturday, the Ravens wrote: “Lamar Jackson was present for and participated fully in our entire Friday practice. … Upon further evaluation today and after conferring with the league office, because Lamar didn’t take any starter reps in practice, we updated our report to reflect his practice participation.”
According to a source, Jackson participated fully in Friday’s practice, but he ran the scout team. According to the injury report policy, Jackson should have been listed as limited Friday.
The NFL injury report policy states: “A player who participates in individual drills, but for medical reasons doesn’t take his normal repetitions during the team portion of practice and is assigned to the scout team should be listed as ‘limited participation.’ Participation on the scout team, no matter how extensive, by a player whose normal repetitions would be with the starter but for his medical condition, would not alter the player’s proper designation as ‘limited participation.'”
In changing Jackson’s status to limited Saturday, the Ravens announced that Jackson, who is dealing with a right hamstring injury, would not play Sunday. Less than an hour after Jackson was ruled out, Baltimore went from being a 6.5-point favorite to a 1.5-point favorite over Chicago, according to ESPN BET.
Tyler Huntley will replace Jackson on Sunday, getting the nod over benched backup Cooper Rush. Jackson is now expected to return for Thursday night’s game in Miami, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
In his five seasons with Baltimore, Huntley is 3-7, including the playoffs, as a fill-in starter for Jackson, throwing seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The Ravens are a different team without Jackson’s playmaking ability. Since 2018, Baltimore is 74-32 (.698), including the playoffs, with Jackson as its starting quarterback. Without Jackson over that span, the Ravens are 4-12 (.250), losing six straight games.
This has been one of the most tumultuous starts in the franchise’s 30-year history. The Ravens have lost their past four games to fall to 1-5, which puts them in sole possession of last place in the AFC North for the first time in a decade.
