Baltimore

Ravens

Jackson will receive the “NIR-Rest” tag on Baltimore’s first injury report of the week. The team has routinely held him out of practice with various minor injuries over the past month. It’s a notable change for the Ravens to no longer list him with any injury designation. Jackson is also coming off his best rushing performance since September. He ran for 43 yards and a score versus the Steelers on Sunday. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come for a quarterback who has struggled to put it all together this year. Jackson will be a low-end QB1 for his Week 15 date with the Bengals.

Mitchell suffered a knee injury in the Ravens’ Week 14 loss to the Steelers. He left the game early and was subsequently ruled out. An MRI after the game revealed it to be only a minor injury. All signs point to Mitchell suiting up for Week 15 versus the Bengals. The explosive backup will sit in the RB4 ranks for a potential shootout in Cincinnati.

This is standard operating procedure for Jackson at this point. He had been held out of Wednesday practices for a few weeks until suiting up for last Wednesday’s session. The Ravens instead chose to hold him out of Thursday’s practice. Jackson has been listed with more injuries than we can count over the past month. None of them has caused him to miss any playing time. We fully expect him to suit up versus the Bengals this week.

Released by the Texans last week, Tomlinson joins a Ravens team that has shuffled around bodies at guard of late. It’s possible he gets elevated at some point down the stretch. They released EDGE Carl Lawson from the practice squad to free up the spot to add Tomlinson.

An MRI on Mitchell’s knee came back clean, per Fowler, following the Ravens’ Week 14 loss to the Steelers. Mitchell left the game in the second half with the knee issue after rushing for 76 yards on six carries, including an explosive 55-yard run. If Mitchell can practice in a limited capacity this week, he could suit up in Week 15 against the Bengals. Rasheen Ali would be the clear RB2 for Baltimore if Mitchell is sidelined.

The Bengals and Dolphins were initially slated to play on Sunday night in Week 16. They will now move to a standard 1:00 PM EST slot, while the Ravens and Patriots will prepare to play under the lights in a game that could still carry major playoff implications for both teams. As is the case with every Sunday night game on NBC, we will be waiting all day for this game.

Hopkins has run nine or fewer routes in five games this season, and tied a season-low in Week 14’s loss to the Steelers when he ran a whole seven routes. It would seem that more snaps and routes would go a long way in getting Hopkins more involved with the offense, but we can’t be too sure. Hopkins hasn’t seen more than four targets in any game this season, and last topped 50 yards in Week 2. The Ravens have a Week 15 game against the Bengals on tap in what is effectively an elimination game. We’ll see if the Ravens actually get Hopkins more involved, or if this is another meaningless coach quote that falls by the wayside.

We’ll keep an eye out for the practice reports this week, but Mitchell should have a shot to play in Week 15 based on this news. He’ll be a viable FLEX option, if he plays, in what amounts to an elimination game between the Bengals and Ravens.

Loop has been excellent all season, making 25 of his 27 field goal tries. He hasn’t missed a field goal since Week 5 against the Texans. Loop will be a top-10 fantasy option in Week 15 against the Bengals. The Ravens are averaging 2.1 field goal tries per game, the 11th highest mark in the NFL.

Bateman, who had just five receptions over his pervious four games, dropped a potential touchdown inside the ten yards line against the Steelers — the latest in a frustrating season for the miscast downfield threat in a run-heavy Baltimore offense. Bateman ran a pass routes on 38 of Lamar Jackson’s 45 drop backs against the Steelers. He’s only a deep league option for Week 15 against the Bengals.