Getty Lamar Jackson sulks on the bench during a Ravens game.
The Baltimore Ravens already dealt with one of the league’s biggest COVID-19 outbreaks last season, but even though time has passed since, it doesn’t mean the team is out of the woods just yet with the virus whatsoever.
Once again, that was proven on Wednesday morning with news that quarterback Lamar Jackson would be missing camp practice during the day with a COVID-related case that the league is “still trying to process” according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The latest Ravens news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Ravens newsletter here!
Wednesday morning, Schefter revealed the news with a tweet which explained that Jackson would have to be sidelined until the league could sort things out further with regards to the matter.
Lamar Jackson is not practicing today in a COVID-related case the league still is trying to process, per @jamisonhensley and me. Jackson, who tested positive on Thanksgiving, had another test that NFL officials flagged. NFL now going through science, and Ravens awaiting answers.
With Jackson out for an undisclosed amount of time right now, the Ravens will be getting expected backup Trace McSorley some more work in practice. The team will be in a holding pattern until they hear more about what is going on with Jackson, so this will be another case to watch moving forward for the team during camp.
Jackson Missed Time During 2020 With COVID Case
As part of the major outbreak within the team last season, Jackson was forced out of action and missed a game when he was dealing with being infected with the virus. The Ravens themselves had a massive outbreak on the team, which nearly cost them in their playoff push. Baltimore rallied for a strong finish and won a playoff game in spite of this adversity, and likely, many folks believed the worst could be behind the team in terms of another outbreak.
At the very least, the Ravens are hopefully getting this out of the way early on if the case is serious or something to remember. With Jackson, though, the timing is unfortunate with training camp getting set to begin.
McSorley Receiving Chance Without Jackson
With some work from 2020 under his belt after similar circumstances, McSorley got his first taste of league action and didn’t disappoint given how he kept the team afloat in a late-season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Many might not know the quarterback was long productive at Penn State, having thrown for 9,899 yards and 77 touchdowns in his four year career at the college. He entered the NFL as a project considering his size, but given some of the throws he has made thus far, it’s obvious that he has plenty of talent to rely on moving forward. As a result, he will be given a crack at the team’s backup job first, and this will be an interesting step toward that.
It will be fun to see what the Ravens plan on doing with McSorley the rest of his career, and it will be interesting to see how much time the Ravens are able to get him in terms of reps during this camp to help that development along.
READ NEXT: Lamar Jackson Sends Ravens a Training Camp Message