After suffering a hamstring injury Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is unlikely to play in Baltimore’s Week 5 matchup with the Houston Texans, according to Brian Wacker of The Baltimore Sun.
Wacker adds
that Jackson’s hamstring injury could sideline him for 2-3 weeks. The obvious path forward would be to hold Jackson out for Week 6 against the Rams as well with the hopes that he can return after the Ravens’ Week 7 bye.
If Jackson does miss time, the Ravens will turn the offense over to veteran backup Cooper Rush. He completed 9 of his 13 passes for 52 yards (4.0 yards per attempt, 76.2 passer rating). In fairness, Ronnie Stanley had been replaced by Joe Noteboom at left tackle, and Baltimore’s offense already looked completely out of sorts when Jackson was in the game.
Still, Rush’s tape did not inspire much confidence for the Ravens’ next two games, especially against the Texans and the Rams, who both have a top-10 defense with an excellent pass rush. Most disappointing was his throwaway on a late fourth down, not the kind of decision a veteran should be making.
A week of first-team reps should improve Rush’s comfort in the offense on some level, but putting up 20-plus points against Houston and Los Angeles might be too much to expect. Todd Monken will try to lean on the run game with Derrick Henry, but opposing defenses will be ready against such a predictable strategy. They will load the box and force Rush to make some throws.
This post will be updated with more information.
