Denver Broncos add Lamar Jackson before matchup vs. Ravens

The Denver Broncos have a matchup this coming weekend in Baltimore against the Ravens, a team and road destination that has been historically tough for the Denver Broncos to beat. Leading up to that matchup, the Broncos have made a surprising move, adding Lamar Jackson to the practice squad. That would be former Nebraska Cornhuskers, New York Jets, and Chicago Bears defensive back Lamar Jackson.

Tom Pelissero had it first on Twitter.

Lamar Jackson joining Denver Broncos before Ravens matchup

The timing of this is absolutely hilarious and it had to be a dream come true for the stars to align like this for a reporter like Tom Pelissero. This will undoubtedly go down as one of his most clever tweets ever, and timing is everything. Of course, the Broncos will be taking on the Lamar Jackson — former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, QB of the Baltimore Ravens Lamar Jackson — on Sunday afternoon but nobody knows at this point if the new Lamar Jackson is going to be on the field to try and help Denver beat…Lamar Jackson.

Are you confused yet?

The Denver Broncos are looking for any edge they can get the remainder of the season, and one area of the team that needs to be addressed is the special teams. Although there’s not a weekly joke about Tom McMahon this year, the Broncos special teams unit has been one of the league’s worst all around, whether we’re talking about the return game, Corliss Waitman’s punting, or Brandon McManus’ kicking. The coverage units have not been good lately, either.

This Lamar Jackson — the defensive back — is well-versed in the special teams arts and could potentially get a call-up at some point to help in that regard. He played 61 special teams snaps this season for the Chicago Bears and played 98 special teams snaps for the New York Jets back in 2020.

The Broncos’ Lamar Jackson is a 6-foot-2 cornerback with great size and leaping ability, albeit limited long speed compared to other cornerbacks. He’s probably pretty strictly a special teams player at this stage of his career but you never know when you’re going to get a look at a guy in the defensive backfield. Recently, the Broncos called up rookie Faion Hicks for his first NFL game so there’s a chance they’re looking to evaluate a number of young defensive backs at this point.

We also saw the Broncos attempt to put in a claim on a former Raiders first-round pick — Johnathan Abram — a few weeks back, but they were “outbid” by the Green Bay Packers (who just released Abram, incidentally). Perhaps we will see them go after him again now that he’s back on waivers, but for the time being, it’s Jackson getting added to the practice squad.

Broncos getting trolled by Melvin Gordon signing with the Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs know how to go for the jugular. They have signed former Denver Broncos RB Melvin Gordon to their practice squad.

We’ll see how quickly he can get up to speed and how quickly the Broncos try to get him involved as the special teams have struggled without players like Aaron Patrick, Jonas Griffith, and Mike Boone. For the time being, Jackson’s arrival puts the Broncos up to the maximum of 16 players on the practice squad.