After an untimely hamstring injury forced Lamar Jackson to make an early exit during the Baltimore Ravens’ Week 4 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, his recovery and availability have become a big talking point for fans in the NFL. Unfortunately, they were thrown through an absolute loop this weekend.
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Following the Ravens’ Week 7 bye, it was widely speculated that Jackson would make his return against the Chicago Bears in Week 8. And, after the Ravens listed him as a full participant for Friday’s practice, his return was more or less confirmed.
Well, that was until the franchise decided to retroactively change Jackson’s status for Friday’s session nearly 24 hours later. He’s now officially listed as OUT for their Week 8 contest. And that has resulted in cries of “foul” from both fans and analysts alike.
According to Ian Rapoport, however, Baltimore may not have actually violated any rules by doing so. “My understanding is that Lamar Jackson was a full participant this week for the Ravens on Friday, but not as you would say…,” he said.
“Lamar took scout team reps. He was basically the scout team quarterback on Friday. He took his full allotment of reps, but not as QB1,” added Rapoport.
This likely won’t be of any comfort to those who were breathing a sigh of relief with the initial news that Jackson was healthy. But it may be reassuring to Baltimore fans who are fearful of their team potentially losing a draft pick.
“According to the rules, it is going to be that they downgraded him, essentially, from full to limited, because the letter of the law says that if he didn’t take his QB1 reps, then he wasn’t a full,” added Rapoport, whose explanation does still beg the question of why the Ravens would list Jackson as a full participant if they knew that he wasn’t.
The answer to this question likely won’t matter much on Sunday. Although conveniently enough for the Ravens, Chicago may be just as short-staffed come kickoff time.
Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Braxton Jones, Cole Kmet, and potentially even Jaylon Johnson will all be sidelined for Week 8. And these are just a few of the names worth mentioning for the Bears. So, from both an availability and talent standpoint, this may just turn out to be one of the most downtrodden matchups of the 2025 regular season so far.
Thankfully, for both Ravens fans and Jackson, there’s always next week to look forward to, or at least right up until there isn’t.
