NFL Injury · Baltimore Ravens

Is Lamar Jackson playing today?

By IsHePlayingToday Staff · Updated Oct 24, 2026

Two weeks. That's how long the Ravens have had to get by without Lamar Jackson, and this week the answer to "is he back?" got closer without ever quite landing. Jackson was back on the practice field Friday, a real step forward — and still, nobody in Baltimore will say the word "yes" out loud for Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

So here it is straight: he might play, and "might" is the honest answer until the inactive list posts. Below is what we know about the ankle, how his week went, what the Ravens look like with and without him, and when the guessing ends.

The injury, in plain words

Jackson has a high ankle sprain. That's a different problem from the regular ankle sprain most people picture. A regular sprain hurts the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. A high ankle sprain hurts the ligaments higher up, the ones that hold the two lower leg bones together, and those heal slower. Players miss real time with these — and Jackson already has, two straight games.

For most quarterbacks, a bad ankle mostly means standing in the pocket is sore. For Jackson, it's the base of his whole game. He plants on that ankle to throw. He pushes off it to escape pressure. He cuts on it when a run lane closes. Take the ankle away and you don't just get a sore quarterback, you get a different one. That's why this decision is slower than a normal "he practiced Friday, he's in" call.

It's also why the Ravens are right to be careful. Bring him back a week early and lose him for a month, and the two games he already missed turn into the cheap part of the story.

How his week went

Read the week day by day, because the pattern matters more than any single quote. On Wednesday, Jackson was a limited part of practice. On Thursday, limited again. On Friday, he was back out on the field with the team — the biggest work day of his week, and the day that decides most questionable tags.

That Friday step is the strongest sign he's close. Teams do not put a franchise quarterback back on the field Friday for show. If the ankle had gone backwards, he would have been shut down and ruled out, the way clearly-not-ready players are every week. Instead, he kept the questionable tag and kept the door open.

But limited is still limited. At no point this week was Jackson a full go, and neither he nor the team has committed to Sunday. The status the Ravens have left him with is "uncertain," and for once that word fits. The ankle is better. Better and ready are two different addresses, and we won't know which one he's at until the weekend.

What the Ravens look like without him

Tyler Huntley has started the last two games, and the Ravens have gone 1-1. Give the man his credit: he kept the season steady when it could have tipped over. Plenty of teams lose their starter and lose every game until he returns. Baltimore didn't.

Still, there's no hiding the gap. With Jackson, defenses have to hold one player back just to watch the quarterback on every snap, and that spy opens room for everyone else. Broken plays turn into 20-yard gains. With Huntley, the offense is smaller and steadier. Defenses play it straight, crowd the short stuff, and dare the Ravens to beat them the slow way. Sometimes it works. It's just a harder way to live.

There's one more version of Sunday to keep in mind: Jackson plays, but he isn't fully himself. A high ankle sprain can let a quarterback throw the ball fine and still take away the escapes that make him scary. If he starts, the first quarter will tell the truth — watch whether he runs at all, and whether he trusts the ankle when he plants to throw.

Game day: what to watch, and when we will know

The final word comes with the inactive list, 90 minutes before kickoff on Sunday. If Jackson's name is on it, Huntley starts his third straight game. If it isn't, he's playing, and the only question left is how close to full speed he is.

Before that list posts, warmups are your best clue. A quarterback moving well, planting hard, and taking his normal pregame reps is usually a quarterback who's in. Reports will swing both ways Sunday morning — they always do with a star at less than full practice — so trust the list, not the noise.

For fantasy lineups, the call splits in two. If Jackson is active, you start him: even a slightly limited Jackson is worth more than almost any waiver option, though his rushing numbers may take a hit on a bad ankle. If he's out, Huntley is a fill-in, not a replacement — set your expectations lower for the whole Ravens passing game and look elsewhere if you have a real choice.

The verdict

Our call: slightly better than a coin flip that he plays — but plan your Sunday like it's a game-time decision, because it is one. The week moved the right way, Friday practice was a genuine step, and two missed games is already a long sit for a high ankle sprain that has had two weeks to heal. The thing holding us back from a firmer yes is the word "limited," which followed him all week. We'll update this page the moment the inactive list is official.