
If the Baltimore Ravens have any hope of making the playoffs this season, they pretty much have to win Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears. At 1-5 and in a highly competitive AFC, they have almost no margin for error the rest of the way.
If they are going to beat the Bears, they will have to do so without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The Ravens ruled Jackson out on Saturday afternoon, sidelining him for the third consecutive game. Tyler Huntley will start in his place.
Jackson's continued absence is not the only thing that is going to draw attention. Especially from the NFL league offices.
Perhaps the biggest issue with the Ravens ruling Jackson out, is that they also retroactively changed his practice status on Friday from being a full participant (his original status) to a limited participant.
There has been an update to Lamar Jackson’s Friday practice and game status. Jackson was downgraded from a full practice participant to limited, and he has been ruled out for tomorrow’s game vs. Chicago.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 25, 2025
The NFL is serious about accurate reporting of injury situations and practice participation. There's a reason teams are required to report them every week and on a daily basis.
Whatever excuse the Ravens are going to publicly come up with for why his status was retroactively changed, it's going to be awfully difficult to believe anything other than they were trying to play games with the Bears on who they had to prepare for.
That alone is going to cause problems for them with the NFL.
But it is also a poorly timed game given everything that happened this week with the NBA and its sports gambling situation that was centered around injury reports and players not participating in games.
There is a good chance the NFL disciplines the Ravens in some way. It is just a matter of what it will end up being.
More must-reads:
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!