The Baltimore Ravens were criticized for a confused handling of Lamar Jackson’s injury status. Coach John Harbaugh described the move as an honest mistake.
Jackson was listed as a full-time participant during practice, but a day later it was changed to limited participation.
Jackson was then ruled ineligible for the Chicago Bears game, causing a series of updates which drew critics and raised questions regarding transparency.
Jay Gruden, the former NFL head coach, did not mince words when he questioned Harbaugh about his explanation. He suggested that it was more likely an intentional gamemanship than a mistake.
Gruden said, “John is a dirty guy.” They all do the exact same thing. All of them try to fake the injury reports to make the other team mad. John, Harbaugh was lying. They should be fined. “Although it didn’t have an impact on the game.”
“John is a shady person”
The Arena Gridiron Crew thinks the Ravens were being sneaky with Lamar Jackson’s injury status pic.twitter.com/pfE9xX0c6l
The Arena: Gridiron October 28, 2020
The confusion was caused by the Ravens’ reporting of Jackson’s training workload after he missed three games due to a hamstring problem.
The NFL should have classified him in the limited category, not the full, because he participated in the whole session, but did no take reps with his first team.
The team corrected the report eventually, but speculation grew about whether it was a genuine mistake.
Harbaugh said that there was a miscommunication between the medical department and the communications department, as each believed Jackson’s workload was full participation.
When asked about the origin of the call, he named the staff members in charge of training and public relations.
Harbaugh said that, under previous injury report rules Jackson could have been labeled as doubtful. He added that the Ravens had waited for a final medical assessment to officially rule him in.
Tyler Huntley, who started in Jackson’s stead, helped Baltimore score its most points since Week 3, when Jackson last played a full game.
Ben Johnson, the Chicago Bears’ coach, confirmed that his team had prepared for Jackson during the week and then adjusted its game plan when it learned he would not be playing.