Ravens Expect to Have Lamar Jackson Back After Bye

"We're going to have healthy players coming back," Harbaugh said. "Our quarterback is going to be back. That's probably a big one."

Big doesn't begin accurately describe how monumental of a positive update the news he broke is for his team that has looked utterly lost and has been inept without him and a fan base that has been suffering from second-hand embarrassment for most of the season but especially since Jackson has been out.

During the star signal-caller's absence, the Ravens offense averaged just 6.5 points with underwhelming veteran backup Cooper Rush as the helm for seven quarters. They turned to his former Pro Bowl backup too little too late against the Rams but even he wasn't able to overcome and cover up the glaring deficiencies of what was a disjointed offensive unit even before he went down.

Jackson isn't the only three-time All Pro who the Ravens have been sorely missing the past two weeks and is slated to make his return to the starting lineup coming out of the bye. Veteran linebacker Roquan Smith also left the Ravens Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs with a hamstring injury. Unlike last week, Harbaugh was proud of how the defense performed in his absence against one of the best offenses in the league.

"Our middle linebacker will be back," Harbaugh said. "I thought our defense played pretty darn well against a high-powered offense. It was good to see and we needed to see that."

If Smith does make his return coming out of the bye and doesn't suffer any setbacks in his recovery, it will mark his first time playing against his former team. He was originally selected No. 8 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Bears out of the University of Georgia before he was traded to the Ravens midway through the 2022 season.