As we warned on Thursday, nobody should have really gotten their hopes up that Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson wasn't going to be playing on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Jackson missed the first two days of practice this week and was listed on the injury report with back and knee issues, but there will be no "ducking" of the best pass rushing team in the entire NFL (the Broncos).
The MVP hopeful Jackson returned to practice on Friday for the Ravens, a strong indicator that he's going to be playing against the Broncos on Sunday.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson appears to be playing vs. Broncos on Sunday
Lamar Jackson (back/knee) is back at practice for Ravens.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) November 1, 2024
There was some thinking earlier this week that Jackson, if he was actually dealing with something, might end up not playing against the Broncos on Sunday because the Ravens have such a quick turnaround to face off against the Bengals on Thursday night.
But at 5-3, they can't really afford to be without their superstar quarterback. The Ravens are in danger of losing a fourth AFC game already this season on Sunday and/or Thursday, and as good as this team is offensively, the defense has been the Achilles heel.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has a great record against rookie quarterbacks, historically, and Lamar Jackson is a perfect 3-0 against the Denver Broncos since he came into the league back in 2018. Sean Payton has been a streak ender as head coach of the Denver Broncos, but going into Baltimore and getting a win against the Ravens would be one of his most difficult feats yet.
Going into Sunday's game, crazy as this may sound, the two head coaches -- John Harbaugh and Sean Payton -- have nearly identical all-time records. Harbaugh is 165-102 while Payton is 165-101. These are two of the best football coaches in modern league history going up against each other in what is obviously a pretty rare instance.
The Broncos will be bringing the heat against Harbaugh's Ravens, win or lose. Nobody has more pressures this season than the Denver Broncos and nobody has blitzed more than Vance Joseph's defense. The Broncos are aggressive on that side of the ball but they will have to marry that aggressiveness with gap integrity and making sure they read their keys based on the Raven's offensive formation.
Injured or not, Lamar Jackson is a dynamic dual-threat at the position and if he's able to practice on Friday, he'll be good enough to go for the game. Even 80 percent of Lamar Jackson would be more than most teams want to deal with.