After suffering an ankle injury during the Ravens’ Week 14 loss to the Browns, quarterback Lamar Jackson didn’t play another snap in the 2021 season.
He tried to practice on Wednesday in Week 16, but was clearly moving with a heavy limp. He didn’t practice again.
On Monday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said Jackson didn’t suffer a setback in his recovery. Instead, Jackson was dealing with a tricky bone bruise.
“I think early on, right away, you hope for the best with a bone bruise,” Harbaugh said in his season-ending press conference. “Those things are really unpredictable. And there was a thought — and even with Lamar, Lamar felt he was going to be back. First week, he thought he had a chance. Second week, he assured me — he said, ‘I’ll be back, I’ll be back.’ He worked really hard at getting back. But it just didn’t really heal.”
Harbaugh added that he was told by Ravens’ medical personnel that Jackson’s bone bruise was in an area of the ankle where there isn’t much blood flow. That’s part of why it took so long for Jackson to heal. According to Harbaugh, Jackson was still in a walking boot in Week 18.
“He was still limping even at the end of the season,” Harbaugh said. “I talked to him Saturday and he said he felt great. He said he was really getting better. And he said he felt really confident that he was going to get started. He said he’s starting back to work the day after the Super Bowl. That’s his time frame to get going. He should be healed up by then.”
The 2019 MVP, Jackson finished his fourth season completing 64 percent of his passes for 2,882 yards with 16 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He rushed for 767 yards with a pair of TDs.
After getting healthy, Jackson’s next order of business should be to secure a long-term contract extension with Baltimore. He’s entering the last year of his rookie deal in 2022.
