Ravens’ Lamar Jackson Faces ‘Uphill Battle’ to Play Sunday vs. Bengals, per Report

The Baltimore quarterback’s status is uncertain.

The Ravens enter their wild-card round game at Cincinnati in a familiar position: weighing the absence of quarterback Lamar Jackson. 

Though the quarterback’s knee injury sidelined him for the final five games of the regular season, he was expected to return for Baltimore’s postseason. That may no longer be the case.

“Lamar Jackson faces an uphill battle to be able to get out on the field, in the playoffs against the Cincinnati Bengals,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on Wednesday. “He’s working, he’s trying, he’s rehabbing but the knee is just not quite right.”

Jackon suffered a PCL sprain in a Week 13 win over the Broncos. Baltimore went 2–3 in his absence, with Tyler Huntley starting the first four, and undrafted rookie Anthony Brown starting the final—a 27–16 loss to the Bengals. The Ravens averaged just 13 points a game since Jackson’s injury, a span of time that saw Huntley miss the loss against Cincinnati with a right (throwing) shoulder injury.

From @GMFB: #Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (PCL) faces an uphill battle to play vs. the #Bengals in their Wild Card game, per me and @MikeGarafolo. More uncertainty. … Meanwhile, Baltimore paid LB Roquan Smith on a 5-year, $100M deal. pic.twitter.com/85Nbo8AefH

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2023

If healthy, Huntley would be the presumed starter for the wild-card game at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. 

Jackson is 1–3 in the postseason for Baltimore and has missed four games in each of the last two seasons. He started for the Ravens’ two-game playoff run in 2020 and has completed 55.5% of his postseason passes for 900 yards, with three touchdown passes and five interceptions.