The Bears practiced without tight end Cole Kmet (back), wide receiver DJ Moore (hip) and running back D’Andre Swift (groin) on Wednesday.
Starting cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (shoulder) and running back Roschon Johnson (back) also sat out. Stevenson played 32 snaps in Sunday’s win over the Saints before leaving with his injury.
Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (knee) had his second consecutive limited practice after returning on Friday. He has not played since Sept. 21.
Kicker Cairo Santos (right quad), cornerback Nahshon Wright (hip) and offensive tackle Braxton Jones (knee) were also limited. Santos has not played since Sept. 28 when he injured his adductor muscle during the Raiders game.
Jake Moody, who is on the practice squad, has kicked in his place since.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was a limited participant in his first practice since injuring his hamstring on September 29.
Head coach John Harbaugh said that he expected Jackson to resume working with the team after they returned from their bye week, but he did not take part in their bonus practice on Monday. His return to practice did not lead Harbaugh to make any predictions about whether Jackson will play against the Bears this Sunday.
Jackson missed the last two games and Harbaugh said at his press conference that he would not “put a number” on the chances of the quarterback making it back for this weekend.
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey (calf) was the only Ravens player out of practice. Safety Kyle Hamilton (groin) joined Jackson on the short list of limited participants.
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring), wide receiver Zay Flowers (shoulder), fullback Patrick Ricard (calf), linebacker Roquan Smith (hamstring), left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle), and wide receiver Devontez Walker (oblique) were all listed as full participants.
The removal of ping pong tables and other games from locker rooms is a fairly common occurrence around teams trying to break a losing streak, so it wasn’t surprising to hear that the Ravens had gone that route amid a 1-5 start to the season.
The impetus for the Ravens doing so was the subject of conflicting reports this week, however. One report said that coaches were responsible for the change while the other said it was a player-driven decision, which led to a question for head coach John Harbaugh at his press conference about which side was behind it.
“The stuff was taken out of the locker room,” Harbaugh said. “I was informed of it after it was gone by the equipment guy. Veteran players got together and decided they wanted to take that stuff out.”
The Ravens’ chances of turning things around after their 1-5 start will likely have more to do with getting healthy and executing better on the field than any locker room toys. Quarterback Lamar Jackson’s return to practice on Wednesday was a good step on that front.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson took one step back toward the lineup when he returned to practice on Wednesday, but head coach John Harbaugh didn’t speculate on when Jackson might take the final and most important step.
Harbaugh said at his Wednesday press conference that it was good to have Jackson back on the practice field before saying that he wouldn’t “put a number” on the chance that Jackson plays against the Bears this Sunday. Harbaugh added that there is “no shareable injury information available at this time” about Jackson’s hamstring.
Harbaugh also declined to say whether Cooper Rush will continue to start if Jackson is unable to play. Tyler Huntley would be the other option, but Harbaugh said he doesn’t see any benefit to sharing his thought process on which way the team would go.
The next two days will bring further updates on Jackson’s status as they head into a game that will mean a lot to their remaining playoff chances.
Amid their four-game losing streak, the Ravens took a common step for teams in desperation mode: They removed ping pong tables from the locker room. But whose decision was it?
The original Baltimore Sun report about what’s going on within the team said it was the coaches who wanted the players to get down to business and removed any distractions. But Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports that the changes in the locker room initiated with veteran leaders on the team, not the coaching staff.
Items removed from the locker room also included a basketball hoop, cornhole boards and video game consoles. That often happens in the NFL when teams feel that the locker room has become distracted from the business at hand.
More important than the locker room is that the Ravens are getting healthier, with quarterback Lamar Jackson set to return on Sunday against the Bears. A win would go a long way toward getting the Ravens’ season back on track. A loss would be their fifth in a row, and would raise serious questions about whether this Ravens team has problems much deeper than what’s in the locker room.
