OWINGS MILLS — Ravens head coach John Harbaugh described quarterback Lamar Jackson as “week to week” with the knee injury he suffered in the Ravens’ 10-9 win against Denver on Dec. 4, but he suggested it is unlikely the quarterback would play against Pittsburgh this coming week.
Jackson left the Ravens’ win against Denver after being sacked on the final play of the first quarter, and the team later ruled him out for the rest of the game. He was not available to speak to the media after the game, but television cameras showed Jackson struggling up stadium stairs and walking with a noticeable limp.
A day later, Harbaugh said Jackson had “been through the MRIs, and I would say it’s kind of week to week. … As the week goes on, we’ll see for this week. It’s probably less likely for this week, but not impossible. Then after that, it will become more and more likely.”
Jackson’s backup, Tyler Huntley, engineered a 91-yard touchdown drive in the closing minutes to lead the Ravens to the win. The offense scuffled most of the afternoon regardless of who was at quarterback, and the Ravens went 59 minutes without a touchdown before Huntley’s 2-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds left proved to be the game-winner.
Huntley, originally signed by the Ravens as an undrafted rookie out of Utah in 2020, started four games last year in place of Jackson, winning in Chicago while Jackson was ill and then losing three games as the starter when Jackson was out with an ankle injury. There was no shortage on drama with Huntley as the starter; the Ravens lost by one point to the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams and then lost in overtime to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the season finale.
Pressed into action against the Broncos, Huntley completed 27 of 32 passes for 187 yards, with one interception. He also ran 10 times for 41 yards, including the game-winning touchdown.
“Our players have a lot of confidence in him,” Harbaugh said, adding that Huntley “has a lot dynamics to his game. He can throw, he can run, he operates really well. He’s not as experienced [as Jackson], obviously, but he is experienced.”
The Ravens (8-4) remain tied with Cincinnati for the AFC North lead, but they face a critical stretch coming up with back-to-back division matchups on the road, at Pittsburgh this week and at Cleveland next week.
As of now, the strong inclination is Huntley will be the Ravens’ starter.
“If that’s the way it goes, that’s the way it goes,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll be excited to play, and our guys will be fired up.”
NOTEBOOK
QB HUNDLEY SIGNED TO PRACTICE SQUAD: In a sign that Jackson probably won’t be available this week, the Ravens signed veteran quarterback Brett Hundley to the practice squad. Hundley, 29, is a former fifth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers who spent part of this summer in training camp with the Ravens. He has played in 18 career games, with nine starts, including one against the Ravens in 2017, a 23-0 Ravens win.
The Ravens have had rookie quarterback Anthony Brown on the practice squad all year, and the former Oregon quarterback figures to be the backup to Huntley at Pittsburgh if Jackson can’t play.
QUEEN INJURY NOT AS BAD AS FEARED: Harbaugh said linebacker Patrick Queen is dealing with a thigh bruise, but the prognosis is better than originally thought after a cart was brought out to take Queen from the field. He was injured midway through the fourth quarter as he and Roquan Smith tackled Broncos running back Latavius Murray.
“I was out there and he was saying, ‘Don’t bring that cart out,'” Harbaugh said. “He was hurting, though; those bruises can really hurt. … That play was a like a car wreck right there. There were four guys that came together there and smashed into each other.”
GAME AT CLEVELAND SET FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON: The NFL announced that the Ravens’ Week 15 game at the Cleveland Browns will be played on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 4:30 p.m. It will be broadcast nationally on NFL Network and locally on WBAL-TV. The original schedule showed the game as being played either Dec. 17 or Dec. 18, and the Ravens-Browns game will be the middle game of an NFL Network tripleheader on Dec. 17.
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