Lamar Jackson Questionable With High Ankle Sprain

When asked if Jackson will play this weekend, Ravens first-year head coach Jesse Minter told the media they were “still working through that,” per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. The first-time skipper explained that, by Jackson’s third practice of the week today, he had worked his way up to a “pretty good amount of work in” practice. His final word on the subject was that the two-time MVP’s availability would ultimately “be a decision on how Jackson feels and how effective he will be.”

Jackson didn’t provide much additional clarity when he approached the mic this afternoon. He told reporters (via Zrebiec) that he is “headed in the right direction” but that the sprain is very “painful.” He told reporters that he isn’t in a place yet to make a call on whether or not he’ll be ready for the Bengals on Sunday. Despite the more intense diagnosis, after nearly three weeks of rest, Jackson reported the swelling in his ankle has gone down, but that “if he can’t move like he usually moves, he’d be doing a disservice to his team to play.”

Jackson got off to a hot start in 2026. Through four games to open the season, he sported the second-highest yards per game average of his career (241.8) with a career-high 70.8 completion percentage. He continued his conservative trend from last year as a rusher with a career-low 4.8 attempts per game, but he made the most of them, sporting a career-high 7.6 yards per carry. With Jackson out, the Ravens have handed over signal-calling duties to Tyler Huntley. While Huntley boasts a 70.8 completion percentage of his own in three games, his passing yards per game average is nearly 100 befow Jackson.

More importantly, Huntley has helped Baltimore stay afloat, closing out a victory over the Titans in the game that saw Jackson depart and winning in Atlanta on a Sunday night before losing the division lead to the Browns last week. They will face off this weekend against another division-rival in the Bengals. Matchups against a healthy, Burrow-led Cincinnati have led to some high-scoring affairs over the years, so the Ravens will hope to have their QB1 back in the lineup.