Getty Lamar Jackson celebrates a score in 2020.
The Baltimore Ravens have been facing down a COVID-19 crisis for the last few weeks, but finally, it seems like there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
Not only have several players been lifted off the COVID-19 list, the biggest name on the list is also poised for his return for Week 14.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, quarterback Lamar Jackson will be coming off the reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Obviously, the Ravens missed Jackson’s playmaking in a big way in Week 13. In a close loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens got some decent play out of Robert Griffin III until he sustained a hamstring injury he couldn’t play through. Third string quarterback Trace McSorley came off the bench and led a late scoring drive, but it wasn’t enough in the 19-14 loss. Safe to say the Ravens may have been in a better place had Jackson simply been able to play.
The Ravens will need to win Week 14’s game against Dallas to stay alive in the playoff race. A loss would be bad news, and it appears they will have their best player ready to suit back up. Obviously, the best news is that Jackson has battled the virus and appears healthy and ready to come back.
Lamar Jackson’s 2020 Season
This season, Jackson hasn’t been playing as well as he did when he was the MVP in 2019. Even such, there’s little debate that the Ravens are better with Jackson in the mix. He’s thrown for 1,948 yards, 15 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. More important, Jackson continues to do damage on the ground as a runner, and has produced 575 yards and 3 touchdowns this season.
Even as the Baltimore offense has struggled, Jackson remains the key component, so it will be nice to get him back in the mix for what figures to be a vital game.
Ravens 2020 COVID-19 Response
Early on this season, Baltimore had done a great job as it related to COVID-19. The team avoided serious outbreaks much of the first half of the season and during training camp, but recently had a small situation when Marlon Humphrey tested positive. That situation was handled well by the team and isolated by comparison, but this case happened shortly after. Clearly, for discipline to be revealed and the team and league to be investigating, there’s a good reason that so many players and members of the organization have been impacted. For it to reach all the way to Baltimore’s franchise player made it extra concerning.
The specific nature of this situation and how it happened specifically may not be revealed or may be kept under wraps for a while, but now the case has found its way up the Baltimore food chain in a very intensive way. Arguably, it’s been the biggest COVID-19 crisis in sports at the moment.
With the healthy return of Jackson and others, however, the situation could finally be coming to a head in Baltimore and the team could be getting back on the right track.