‘A tough situation’
Huntley limited while Jackson remains sidelined
The wait continues for Lamar Jackson. The Ravens quarterback did not practice Thursday afternoon, sitting out his 14th consecutive session since reportedly spraining the posterior collateral ligament in his left knee in the first quarter of an eventual 10-9 win against the Denver Broncos on Dec. 4.
Jackson’s continued absence would seem to open the door for Tyler Huntley to make his fifth consecutive start Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Bengals in Cincinnati Bengals in a game that likely has strong playoff seeding implications for both teams. But Huntley, a third-year pro who practiced Wednesday on a limited basis because of injuries to his right wrist and right throwing shoulder, was limited again Thursday and did not make any throws during the portion of practice open to the media.
Offensive coordinator Greg Roman acknowledged the severity of Huntley’s injury status.
“Anytime your quarterback can’t practice, that’s a tough situation,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “But it is what is. It’s the NFL in January. You’ve got to adapt and try to overcome that. But he’s working hard, and he’s doing rehab like crazy. He’s been dealing with this thing for weeks and fighting through it. It could change maybe the way we have to play some of these games a little bit, but we know when he’s at full strength, he’s a dynamic player for us. So we just want to get him back there.”
In his past five games, Huntley has thrown for 470 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 60% (48 of 80) of his passes. In the team’s 16-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night, he connected on 14 of 21 throws for 130 yards and a 7-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Isaiah Likely in the second quarter before getting intercepted by safety Minkah Fitzpatrick with 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter to end a comeback attempt.
But if both Jackson and Huntley are unavailable for Sunday in Cincinnati, rookie Anthony Brown would be in line to make the first start of his career. Roman expressed his confidence in Brown, noting his performance in a 16-14 win at Pittsburgh on Dec. 11 in which he connected on all three of his passes for 16 yards against one sack.
“You never know until you get out there and do it for the first time, but that’s OK. That’s part of the excitement,” Roman said. “I thought how he comported himself in Pittsburgh on the road and coming in that game and leading us to victory there was pretty darn impressive. So he’s off to a good start. But he’s buckling down for any opportunity that comes his way.”
Five starters returned Thursday after sitting out Wednesday’s session to rest.
Starting defensive lineman Calais Campbell practiced fully after a knee injury sidelined him for the past two games.
He was given Wednesday off to continue to rest his knee. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley also was a full participant.
Three more starters in running back J.K. Dobbins, outside linebacker Justin Houston and right guard Kevin Zeitler were removed from the injury report. Tight end Nick Boyle (illness) and cornerback Daryl Worley (hamstring) were also taken off the injury report.
Starting cornerback Marcus Peters, who has missed the Ravens’ past two games, participated Thursday after being limited Wednesday by a calf ailment.
Cornerback Kevon Seymour (finger) was upgraded from limited participation on Wednesday to a full practice on Thursday.
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson (illness), who did not practice Wednesday, was absent again on Thursday.