Panic in Baltimore? Is it Something or Nothing?

Baltimore was collectively holding their breath on Wednesday afternoon when Baltimore Ravens beat writer Jeff Zrebiec tweeted that Lamar Jackson left practice early after being knocked down and flexing his hand/wrist. Jackson stayed in the 11-on-11 drills for a few plays before walking back inside the facility with strength and conditioning coach Scott Elliott, with team doctors following closely behind. About 30 minutes later, a spokesperson for the Ravens told the media that someone stepped on Jackson’s foot and that “he’s fine”. On Thursday, Jackson was held out of practice as a precaution, but fans remained in the dark about the health of their star QB. After Thursday’s practice, head coach John Harbaugh reassured fans and the media that after X-ray confirmation,  “there’s no damage or anything like that… He’s going to be good…It was a big relief. I told the guys, ‘Prayers do get answered.’”

Despite the positive news that this is a minor, almost irrelevant injury that will likely be forgotten in a few weeks, there is still some overall concern about the information reported and what may or may not be immediately shared with the public. If one thinks back to the wrist injury that Joe Burrow suffered against the Ravens in November of 2023, Burrow missed the remainder of the season. Additionally, in the 2024 Week One Bengals loss against the Patriots, Burrow was seen struggling to hold a water bottle. The narrative clearing the air was written as a slippery water bottle combined with sweaty hands, but speculators attributed it to Burrow not being fully healed, or perhaps his grip strength was permanently hindered. The only reason Burrow’s injury comes to mind in this instance is that in the plays following Jackson getting knocked down in Wednesday’s practice, he threw a few more passes before exiting. On a deep ball to LaJohntay Wester, the pass was semi-accurate, and Wester made a great diving catch, but the ball was not a clean spiral, described as a duck by one member of the media. On the last pass before Jackson’s exit, he “one-bounced” an easy dump-off to a wide-open Keaton Mitchell.

Now that could be misreading the situation and an overreaction from someone who did not watch the injury itself, but there were a dozen reporters at that practice, and no one was looking at Lamar once the ball left his hands. No one saw Lamar get hit. Practice is recorded for film and training purposes, so it’s surprising that there was not more information divulged about what happened outside of just having his foot stepped on. Jackson, when he fell, could have landed on his wrist, resulting in some discomfort, but why was that not included in the statement? An overzealous defender may have gotten too close. An offensive lineman may have lost his balance. There are a lot of potential scenarios of what may have transpired on the practice field. Granted, Harbaugh is trying to manage the emotions of essentially the entire state of Maryland and not start an avoidable panic. Is it better to be left in the dark until there is something to know? Or do you prefer full transparency?

At the end of the day, the Ravens are saying Lamar’s foot is fine and was never expected to play in the preseason, so he has plenty of time to rest before the season opener in Buffalo. As a final thought, a listener by the name of Park Heights Prophet commented in the chat of the Ravens Vault Podcast, hosted by Bobby Trosset and Sarah Ellison. “Relax [Ravens] Flock. Could it be something? Could it be nothing? Only time will tell. Worrying about things you can’t control is putting a tax on today that you can’t afford.”