Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is back in concussion protocol, but he had a limited practice on Wednesday. That gives him a chance to be cleared in time for Sunday’s game against the Ravens.
Higgins missed Week 13 with a concussion and then hit his head on the turf multiple times in Week 14.
He has 46 receptions for 667 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games.
Defensive end Trey Hendrickson (hip/pelvis) did not participate in Wednesday’s session as he underwent season-ending core muscle surgery. Fellow defensive end, Shemar Stewart, looks like he’s ready to return from his knee injury as the rookie, who is on injured reserve, had a full practice.
Safety PJ Jules (ankle) did not practice.
Those were the only four players on the roster not to have full participation.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has missed a day of practice in each of the last four weeks and that streak continues this week.
Reporters at the open portion of Ravens practice noted that Jackson is not on the field with the rest of the team. Jackson has not missed any game action despite the missed practices.
It is not clear what physical issue will be listed as the reason for Jackson’s absence. He has been listed with ankle, toe, and knee injuries in recent weeks and he also missed three games with a hamstring injury earlier this season. The team’s injury report will bring word on the reason for his inactivity on Wednesday.
The Ravens fell behind in the AFC North with last Sunday’s loss to the Steelers and will try to improve their chances of winning the division in Cincinnati this weekend.
There’s a common pattern when it comes to bad calls in NFL officiating. The team that believes it was hosed complains. The team that was aided by the error stands silent.
On Sunday in Batimore, a pair of fourth-quarter plays introduced renewed confusion into the catch rule. Both negatively impacted the Ravens. Both helped the Steelers salvage a much-needed win.
The Ravens understandably were upset. The Steelers have been understandably quiet.
“You know, it’s always been debatable,” coach Mike Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday regarding the ruling that wiped out Isaiah Likely’s go-ahead touchdown with 2:47 to play. “It seems like — I’ve just learned to kind of move on, to be quite honest with you. I moved on from Jesse James, for example. I don’t even know what year that was. [Editor’s note: 2017.] There are going to be controversial calls in big games. I think I always focus my energy on making enough plays to minimize that in terms of determining the outcome of the game. That’s why you won’t hear me calling New York postgame for explanations and things of that nature. You guys asked me that, maybe earlier in the year regarding something. It’s not going to change the outcome. I just work to keep moving, and I just like to put together a comprehensive enough plan and make enough plays, where the game’s outcome doesn’t hinge on one play or a couple of plays.”
But it still can. All the preparation and effort can go out the window, thanks to one — or two — bad calls.
So, given the replay ruling that Aaron Rodgers made a catch (when he apparently didn’t) and that Isaiah Likely didn’t make a catch (when he apparently did), does Tomlin understand the current catch rule?
“I do,” Tomlin said. “I just think that I just think that football is so bang-bang and exciting. I think that’s why our fans love it. It’s a difficult game to play because of the speed. It’s a difficult game to officiate. I think as a collective, we have some things in place that kind of, you know, protect us all in an effort to get things right. Ruling that catch a touchdown makes it automatically reviewable, where I don’t have to decide to challenge, etc. And so there’s a lot of things in place, interrelated variables relative to that discussion.”
The more likely reality is that Tomlin isn’t questioning the rulings because they helped his team retake control of the AFC North. And his handling of the situation isn’t surprising. That’s what teams do when a bad call for the opponent creates a good outcome.
But, as Chris Simms said on Wednesday’s PFT Live, it would be refreshing — and useful — for the team that benefitted from a bad call to call it what it was. As to the Rodgers catch, the rule regarding maintaining possession through the act of going to the ground was ignored. As to the Likely non-catch, the rule regarding acts common to the game other than taking a third step with possession (extending the ball, warding off an opponent) was disregarded.
As to both plays, the replay standard was misapplied.
Here’s the reality for Tomlin and the Steelers. The same uncertainty that the league office has now reintroduced into the process of deciding whether a catch was or wasn’t made could sting the Steelers, at some point.
Tomlin’s overall approach to bad calls is extremely pragmatic. However, he can both accept the outcome of a given ruling while questioning its accuracy — or admitting its inaccuracy.
Given the two plays, everyone expected Ravens coach John Harbaugh to have a gripe. No one expected Tomlin to say, “You know, the rule wasn’t properly applied.”
If he had, that would have created real momentum to get the catch rule cleaned up, quickly. Because the end result is that, years after the NFL supposedly fixed the catch rule, it’s broken all over again.
The previously settled catch rule has once again descended into full uncertainty and borderline madness, after the league office overturned Sunday’s ruling on the field that Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely completed the process of scoring what should have been a fourth-quarter, go-ahead touchdown.
On Monday night, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford — a constant presence in the NFL since 2009 — commented on the various shifts and changes to the catch rule, while also lamenting the periodic absence of common sense.
“Since I’ve been in for 17 years now, I feel like the rules changed every third or fourth year,” Stafford said on the SiriusXM Let’s Go! podcast. “You look at the Ravens game against the Steelers and Isaiah Likely’s play and at the end of the game and is it a touchdown? Is it not? Sure felt like one. Sure looked like one in my eyes.”
Stafford expressed sympathy for the officials, who are required to see things in real time and make quick decisions.
“I’m sure they’re getting help from New York,” Stafford acknowledged.
But here’s the point. As to the two controversial (and irreconcilable) catch/no-catch decisions from Steelers-Ravens, New York overturned seemingly correct rulings made by the on-field officials. “Clear and obvious” has quietly and systematically taken a back seat to someone (good luck figuring out who it is) replacing their assessment via replay review for the snap judgment of the officials, without giving those decisions the broad deference that the rules require.
Put simply, the league office has gone rogue. It’s misapplying the replay standard. And, for whatever reason, it’s ignoring key elements of the catch rule. As to Likely, the review process disregarded the multiple ways he could have satisfied the process by performing an act common to the game and treated the absence of a third step as dispositive. As to the Aaron Rodgers non-catch, the review process didn’t consider the requirement that a player going to the ground must keep possession until he lands.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow as a player because sometimes it may not say it in the rule book or exactly show you, but man, you know it as a player,” Stafford said. “Hey, I caught that ball, or I didn’t catch that ball. Or this was a fumble or it wasn’t. And to have that overturned and cost your team possibly a chance at the playoffs or whatever it is. . . . I wish sometimes common sense would override the rule a little bit.”
We’d settle for the rules being applied as written. As written, the rules codify common sense. As interpreted by the replay process on Sunday, the league office proved the age-old maxim that common sense ain’t.
With NFL teams possibly planning to swoop in on South Bend, Notre Dame is scrambling to keep coach Marcus Freeman.
Here’s the reality: Teams with vacancies are permitted to interview him now (if they haven’t already).
Those teams are the Titans and Giants. There’s no requirement for those teams to announce or even to disclose that they have interviewed Freeman.
That’s the rule as it relates to any coach who currently isn’t working for another NFL team. The mad dash to request permission to interview assistant coaches comes after the regular-season ends. Paperwork is filed with the league office, and the official inquiries inevitably, if not immediately, are leaked to reporters who are employed by the league.
For unemployed coaches and/or current college coaches, there’s no external paper trail.
Whether Freeman would be interested in the Titans or the Giants is unknown. Both teams have been dysfunctional in recent years, with revolving doors and chronic struggles. It could be a hard sell to get Freeman interested in either job.
Freeman also can be discreetly contacted by teams that have yet to fire their current head coaches, with no league rules violated. As the end of the 2025 regular season approaches, teams that know they’ll be making a change will be (or should be) trying to identify all potential candidates. Freeman and/or his representation can be contacted without consequence.
Given that Notre Dame has made clear its desire to keep Freeman, he doesn’t have to rush for the first bad opportunity in the NFL. He can wait, if he wants, for a good, stable job to come upon. The Steelers or the Ravens, for example, would be attractive, since both teams have kept their current coaches for 19 and 18 years, respectively.
And what if Andy Reid retires in the next few years? Who wouldn’t want to coach Patrick Mahomes — even if the rest of the roster currently needs plenty of work?
Regardless, the potential pursuit of Freeman isn’t something that must wait until the regular season ends. It can begin right away, and the teams that are talking to him can keep it as quiet as they choose.
