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By Cole Sullivan
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The Baltimore Ravens aren’t exactly in “must-win” territory yet, but they’re getting closer after falling to 1-4 following a blowout loss to the Houston Texans in Week 5 — this time without star quarterback Lamar Jackson..
Jackson suffered a hamstring injury in Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs, forcing him to miss most of the second half. With the Ravens set to face a strong Los Angeles Rams team this week, his injury status is a major storyline.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Jackson's status is "very much in doubt," which would put Cooper Rush in line to start again, unless Ravens head coach John Harbaugh chooses a different direction.
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"Lamar Jackson, their starting quarterback, I would say his status is very much in doubt for this Sunday’s game," Rapoport said. "We’ll see if he’s able to play this week. Seems like a bit of an uphill battle. He’s got the bye next week, so he would get an extra week of rest. Seems more likely than not that we get Cooper Rush on Sunday."
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Jackson is the heart and soul of the Ravens’ offense, and without him last week, Baltimore not only lost 44-10, but also saw Rush complete 14 of 20 passes for just 179 yards, with zero touchdowns and three interceptions. The run game continued to struggle as well, with Derrick Henry logging 15 carries for just 33 yards. Henry also scored the Ravens’ only offensive touchdown of the game — a score that came long after the outcome was already decided.
In the first three games that Jackson played from start to finish, the Ravens scored 40, 41, and 30 points, yet somehow still lost two of those contests. Their struggles have been compounded by a defense riddled with injuries and ongoing performance issues.
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If the Ravens decide to rest Jackson this week and lose to the Rams, their margin for error at 1-5 would be extremely slim. They would likely need to go 9-2 over their final 11 games just to remain in playoff contention at 10-7. Anything less would probably leave them on the outside looking in — a scenario few anticipated at the start of the season.
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