An alarming development out of Baltimore: Lamar Jackson has been added back to the Baltimore Ravens’ injury report with a non-COVID-19 illness and is officially questionable for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. The Ravens updated Jackson’s status Saturday afternoon.
Update: Late Friday night, Adam Schefter reported a quote from a league source saying that Lamar Jackson was 50-50 for Week 11.
Update 2: Lamar Jackson is inactive for Sunday’s game against the Bears.
Lamar Jackson questionable vs. Bears
Jackson had missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with some sort of bug but was back as a full participant Friday. The Ravens signaled on their Friday injury report that they believed there was no chance he would miss Sunday’s game.
“I’m feeling great,” Jackson said Friday. “Probably had a cold or something. I’m better now, though.”
In the next 24 hours, something changed. The Ravens’ plan is for Jackson to still make the trip to Chicago. If not, they would have ruled him out of the game on Saturday.
Jackson has tested positive for COVID-19 in each of the last two years, missing a game because of the virus in 2020. But if this latest illness was due to coronavirus, he would be in the NFL’s pandemic protocol.
Jackson putting up MVP-worthy numbers
Jackson has appeared in all nine games for the Ravens this year, and at the midway point of the season, is an MVP candidate with over 2,400 yards and 14 touchdowns passing and another 639 and 2 scores on the ground.
If Jackson cannot go, Tyler Huntley would presumably make his first NFL start. Undrafted out of Utah in 2020, Huntley has appeared in four career NFL games, completing 6 of 16 passes for 54 yards. He has also rushed for 33 yards on 13 carries. Huntley at Utah was first-team All-Conference in 2019, throwing for over 3,000 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Trace McSorley, who along with Robert Griffin III filled in for Jackson in the game he missed in 2020, is also an option. He’s currently on the Ravens’ practice squad but would be elevated if Jackson cannot play.
Baltimore entered Week 11 with a half-game lead over the Steelers in the AFC North and as the conference’s No. 3 seed.