Lamar Jackson Is Still Day-to-Day With an Ankle Sprain: What Wednesday Means for Ravens-Bengals
Lamar Jackson has not practiced in any capacity since Oct. 4. Baltimore hosts Cincinnati on Sunday with first place in the AFC North sitting in a three-way pile, and head coach Jesse Minter will not say whether his quarterback is playing because he does not know yet.
“I’d still put it in kind of the day-to-day thing,” Minter said Monday. “We’ll know a lot more on Wednesday.” Asked directly whether Jackson would practice this week, he answered, “Potentially, but we’ll see how it goes.”
That is the whole story, and it is worth being precise about it. Nobody has reported that Jackson is returning. Nobody has ruled him out either. Wednesday’s practice is the first real data point in 17 days.
What the injury actually is
Jackson sprained his left ankle in the Ravens’ 24-18 win over Tennessee on Oct. 4, a game he started before Tyler Huntley relieved him. He has missed two games since, a 30-23 overtime win at Atlanta and a 10-13 loss at Cleveland. He was a non-participant in practice on Oct. 14 and 15 and was ruled out on Oct. 16.
No grade for the sprain has been released, no imaging has been made public, and the team has not offered a target date. Minter said last week, “To Lamar’s credit, he’s getting a lot of treatment and doing things,” and added, “When he’s ready to play, he’ll be ready to play.” Adam Schefter had reported a realistic chance Jackson would play at Cleveland. He did not.
Huntley has not lost them a game by himself
Huntley went 24-of-32 for 201 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions at Atlanta, adding a rushing score. At Cleveland he was 19-of-31 for 165 yards and a touchdown with no picks, and Baltimore lost by three in a game the offense never unlocked. He has thrown three touchdowns and zero interceptions on the season.
Minter calls him “a really good player,” and the record backs the compliment up more than the box scores do. The Ravens are 1-1 without Jackson and 4-2 overall.
The division is why this matters now
Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Baltimore are all 4-2. Cincinnati is 3-2 coming off a bye, half a game behind the group. The Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS is the kind of game that decides tiebreakers in January.
It also happens to be Jackson’s best matchup. He is 11-3 as a starter against Cincinnati with 24 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 101.9 passer rating. His 2026 numbers in four starts are absurd: 68-of-96 for 70.8 percent, 967 yards, six touchdowns, one interception, a 119.6 rating and 10.1 yards per attempt, plus 144 rushing yards. The 29-year-old is a two-time AP MVP and is playing like he wants a third.
He is not the only decision
Cam Jurgens is close. The two-time Pro Bowl center, acquired from Philadelphia on Oct. 7, has not played a snap for Baltimore because of concussion protocol. “We feel like it’s come a long way over the weekend and that there’s a real opportunity for him,” Minter said. If Jurgens clears, rookie Vega Ioane slides from center back to right guard.
Rashod Bateman left the Cleveland game with a shoulder injury, and Minter said, “I think he came out of it okay.” Trey Hendrickson, who signed a four-year, $112 million deal in March, returned in Week 6 with his hand partly wrapped and still recorded a sack.
The unsettled spot is kicker. Tyler Loop missed a 49-yard attempt in a three-point loss and is 10-for-13 on the year. “Those are critical misses,” Minter said, and he did not rule out adding competition.
Baltimore can beat Cincinnati with Huntley. It cannot afford to spend Jackson’s ankle on a game in October and lose him in December. Wednesday tells us which way the Ravens are leaning.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
