The NFL has announced two Saturday games for the Week 17 schedule.
On Saturday, December 27, the Texans will play the Chargers at 4:30 p.m. ET on NFL Network. Then the Ravens will play the Packers at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock.
The NFL uses flexible scheduling to put big games in broadcast windows that everyone can watch. The league announced when the schedule came out during the offseason that there would be games on Saturday, December 27, but it did not announce at the time which games would be played on that date. Now we know it’s Texans-Chargers and Ravens-Packers, two games featuring four teams in playoff contention.
The league will also play two games on the final Saturday of the regular season, January 3. Those games may not be announced until six days in advance.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been listed with a variety of injuries when he missed practice in recent weeks, but none of them were cited as the reason he was off the field on Wednesday.
The team’s injury lists rest as the reason why Jackson did not participate. He has been listed with knee, ankle, and toe injuries since returning from a three-game absence due to a hamstring injury.
Jackson has not missed any games despite missing practices the last four weeks.
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie (shoulder) was also out of practice on Wednesday. Running back Keaton Mitchell (knee), linebacker Tavius Robinson (foot), and cornerback Nate Wiggins (foot) were limited participants. Safety Ar’Darius Washington (Achilles) was a full participant.
Neither Robinson nor Washington is currently on the 53-man roster for Baltimore, so they’ll need to be activated to play against the Bengals this week.
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.
