As the Ravens prepare for their first game out of their bye, we heard some bad news about a certain player. Unfortunately, it was about Lamar Jackson:
#Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, who was not spotted during the media portion of practice, is dealing with an illness.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 7, 2023
Luckily, it’s “just” an illness. Lamar is no stranger to being sick, as we know, but his absence at practice was at least not due to some new injury popping up.
https://t.co/5qgw4RsE01 pic.twitter.com/9kFooASyO3
— RAMEY (@HoodieRamey) December 7, 2023
Lamar has dealt with being sick before and has even missed games because of it. Rashod Bateman was also sick this week, so something is going on around the Ravens’ facility. It is almost funny how Lamar seems to get sick every year, and the fanbase gets to label that game as a “sick game.”
Outside of that, the Ravens had everyone accounted for at practice on Thursday, which, considering the state of injuries in the NFL, is awesome to see. Especially when you consider that the Ravens are notorious for being hurt late in the season, and they might be the healthiest team in football. Knock on wood, they stay that way.
As we look forward to the Rams game, two big factors are in play. One of them is something neither team can’t control: the Weather.
Rams are traveling to Baltimore to take on maybe the best defense in football in a game projected for plenty of rain and 20 MPH sustained winds cool cool cool
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) December 6, 2023
This is a big plus if the weather is bad on Sunday. Considering that the Rams are coming across the country and have to deal with bad weather, which they aren’t used to, that plays a huge part in giving the Ravens an advantage. Although if Lamar is sick, it is unknown how the weather affects him. He will play on Sunday, no doubt, but how good he will be can be a question, depending on how he looks at today’s practice and in warmups on Sunday.
The other factor in the Ravens’ favor is getting Marlon Humphrey back.
“At his best, he’s as good as they come.”
Mike Macdonald on @marlon_humphrey: pic.twitter.com/SqmVBLKnrF
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 7, 2023
The Rams have a group of talented receivers, and having Marlon on the field will help stop the passing game. The cool thing is that the weather and Humphrey factors go together. The rain will force the Rams to run the ball, but so will Marlon being on the field. This means the Ravens can stack the box and, hopefully, make the Rams running game nonexistent, something they’ve struggled with recently.
Either way, let’s hope the Ravens handle the weather and their business, without sustaining any significant injuries. The AFC truly looks wide open.
