Flacco ruled out against Raiders
Jackson scheduled to start at QB; injuries frustrate J. Hurst
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders because of his right hip injury, leaving the starting job to rookie Lamar Jackson for the second straight week.
After Flacco missed practice again Friday, coach John Harbaugh said he was unsure what the game-day status of the team’s longtime starter would be. But he acknowledged: “I’m counting on Lamar being the starter for this game. I think that’s pretty straightforward.”
Jackson has been the presumed starter all week after he led the Ravens to a 24-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Harbaugh said after the game that Flacco would be hardpressed to make it back to face the Raiders.
The quarterback question could loom larger next week as the Ravens prepare for a trip to Atlanta to play the high-scoring Falcons.
But Harbaugh acknowledged that the longer Flacco is out, the more difficult it would be for him to jump straight into game action.
“At this point, he would have to practice to be ready,” he said.
As for Jackson, he’s changed little in the wake of his successful debut as an NFL starter. He ran for 117 yards and rallied the Ravens from an eightpoint deficit to put them in a five-way tie for the final AFC wild-card spot.
“Same guy,” Harbaugh said. “He’s always confident and into it and upbeat. He’s kind of the same. It’s interesting. He’s just kind of Lamar, and he’s a joy to be around.” Hurst’s injuries ‘ frustrating’: James Hurst has missed the past four games with a back injury that Harbaugh initially hoped would be a minor inconvenience.
But what once was a “disk issue” is now a troublesome calf. Harbaugh on Friday attributed the injury to Hurst’s nerve root, one of two bundles of nerve fibers from the spinal cord that convey sensations to the central nervous system, which controls most functions of the body and mind.
Hurst was held out of practice again this week. He last practiced Oct. 19.
“It's just unpredictable, time-wise,” Harbaugh said. “We thought he'd back two, three weeks ago. So I'm as frustrated as anybody — I'm not as frustrated as James; he's the most frustrated. So he could be back next week. Now, he's got to practice, he's got to get in the weight room, he's got to get himself right. All those things would have to happen, but until … that's all cleared, he's not going to be able to go.”
Rookie Orlando Brown Jr.’ s play at right tackle has made Hurst’s absence manageable, but the team could be down two starters Sunday against Oakland with Lewis’ availability in question. Dixon thankful for chance: As one of eight players on injured reserve, Kenneth Dixon knows the Ravens could have easily mothballed his 2018 season until next year.
Instead, the team designated the running back as one of its two players available to return from IR (cornerback Maurice Canady is the other). And for that, Dixon is thankful.
“It means a lot,” Dixon, 24, said Wednesday. “It shows that they believe in me, and it shows that they know that I’ve been working hard to get back. So I really appreciate it. Coach Harbaugh is a really good guy. He told me to stay ready because he wanted to see me back. I just wanted to come back and play.”
Dixon has taken steps toward that scenario, practicing two days before Sunday’s win against the Bengals and again Wednesday. The Ravens already have four running backs on their active roster in Collins, Buck Allen, Ty Montgomery and rookie Gus Edwards, and Harbaugh was not prepared to say where Dixon would Ravens rookie Lamar Jackson is scheduled to make his second start. fall into that group.
“We’ll see,” Harbaugh said Monday. “He has to practice more than one time. I have to see the guy practice. If I see him practice, I’ll know where he fits in.”
Dixon’s return appeared shaky when Harbaugh said the running back was dealing with “issues that are beyond our coaches’ control. We just have to wait for league clearance and things like that.” Like Harbaugh, Dixon would not elaborate on what those issues were.
“It wasn’t anything that was bad, I promise you that,” he said. “I just had to wait on confirmation.” Extra points: Harbaugh said secondyear cornerback Jaylen Hill might need hip surgery after he suffered a setback when he briefly tried to return to practice last week. Hill was attempting to come back from a torn ACL that put him on the physicallyunable-to-perform list at the start of this season. … Wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo also began the season on the PUP list after undergoing surgery on his upper leg. But Harbaugh offered some hope that he’ll return to practice. “I don’t think he’ll play this year, in the season,” he said. “But to get him back for three weeks of practice would be a bonus.” … Harbaugh, who’s from Ann Arbor, Mich., and is the brother of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, guaranteed victory for the No. 4 Wolverines in their rivalry game Saturday against host No. 10 Ohio State. “I will say, this is the first year I’ve done that,” he said, chuckling.