Ravens' Lamar Jackson Snaps Concerning Practice Participation Streak

Ahead of their biggest and most pivotal game of the season to date, that is almost always a physical battle between heated rivals, the two-time league MVP is the healthiest he's been in four weeks since returning from the initial hamstring injury that caused him to miss three games from Week 5 - 8.

Despite dealing with a toe injury leading up to the Ravens' Week 14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in primetime on Thanksgiving, Jackson most closely resembled his usual dynamic and elusive self, even though his 27 rushing yards didn't reflect it. He was able to outrun defenders to the edge, present a threat in the quarterback run game and extend plays behind the line of scrimmage to throw the ball.

Coming off one of the worst performances of his career from a turnover and pure passing standpoint in the loss to the Bengals, Jackson is fiercely determined to rebound and get back to playing at the elite standard he has set and is accustomed to putting on tape.

Given that the team got a mini-bye as a result of playing on a short week, head coach John Harbaugh isn't sure how much the extra days of rest played a factor in Jackson breaking his first day of practice absence streak, but he's glad to have his quarterback feeling better than he has in recent weeks.

"It's good to have him out there doing what he did today and it's a plus," Harbaugh said.

No. 1 cornerback trending toward being available

Jackson wasn't the only welcomed sight on the practice field for the first session of the week, as second-year cornerback Nate Wiggins was also in attendance and taking part. The 2024 first-rounder has emerged as the best player at his position on the team and league at large through the first 13 weeks of the season.

Wiggins left last week's loss to the Bengals after a strong first half with a foot injury and did not return. After keeping Cincinnati out of the end zone through the first two quarters, including four red zone trips, the Ravens defense gave up back-to-back touchdown drives to open the second half.

Earlier in the week, Harbaugh told reporters that Wiggins’ status is "day-to-day," which cast a shroud of uncertainty over his availability against the Steelers. But after seeing him not only practice but look smooth and agile going through drills, he might end up missing no time at all.

Wiggins leads the Ravens with 9 pass breakups and 3 interceptions and can often be seen shadowing the opposing team's No. 1 wide receiver, which would be two-time Pro Bowler D.K. Metcalf this week against the Steelers.

While having him back for this game would be great, it's not a necessity as Pittsburgh's depth at receiver is shallow behind Metcalf, but next week, they hit the road to face a Bengals offense that will most likely have both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins available, so it will be all hands on deck.