The Baltimore Ravens won’t have much to play for in Week 18. They have already put a bow on the AFC North. They’ve clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference. They’ve secured a first-round bye.
So, will Lamar Jackson play when the Ravens battle the Pittsburgh Steelers in an otherwise meaningless game next Sunday?
Head coach John Harbaugh is still deciding.
“I have not made any decisions on personnel yet,” Harbaugh said, via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “We’ve got to kind of work through the injury part of it first. That’ll take us probably 24 to 48 hours to get a real handle on that, and then we’ll make those decisions. We’re not going to keep it a secret. We’ll let you know what we’re going to do once we start practicing.”
Here is the thing: the Ravens have some experience with resting guys, and it came back to bite them.
Back in 2019, Baltimore entered the season finale with a record of 13-2 (back when the regular season was 16 games) and decided to rest Jackson. The result? The Ravens lost in Week 17 and were ultimately bounced from the Divisional Round of the playoffs by the underdog Tennessee Titans.
But Harbaugh isn’t going to let that hiccup affect what he does this time around.
“We did our best [in 2019],” Harbaugh said, via Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Sun. “The decisions we made, we made for the right reasons. You’ve got to look at everything from the framework of today — this team and what we’re facing.”
The Ravens will enter the final game of the season with a record of 13-3. They have won five games in a row, most recently obliterating the Miami Dolphins by a score of 56-19 this past Sunday.
Lamar Jackson went 18-for-21 with 321 yards and five touchdowns while carrying the ball six times for 35 yards in the win, making his case for his second NFL MVP award even stronger.
On the season overall, the 26-year-old has thrown for 3,678 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 67.2 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 102.7. In addition, he has rushed for 821 yards and five scores while averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
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