The impact of certain stars on their teams isn’t always reflected just on the field — it’s often felt even more in their absence. That’s exactly what the Baltimore Ravens under John Harbaugh are experiencing right now. With Lamar Jackson sidelined for several weeks, the team has struggled to find its footing and hasn’t been able to turn things around.
A current record of five losses and just one win paints a challenging picture for a team that, heading into the season, had serious playoff aspirations. The injury to their starting quarterback has completely altered those plans, making his return absolutely crucial.
The latest painful home loss to the Rams, failing to score a single touchdown, is a clear warning sign. A somewhat concerned Harbaugh is hoping to have Jackson back as soon as possible after the bye week.
“I’m leaning into [Jackson’s return] pretty hard,” he said in his press conference. “If I was on the couch with a psychiatrist right now, if I was spilling it, I would have to say I’m leaning really hard into that, really hard. For any kind of psychological wellbeing, spiritual wellbeing, I’m leaning hard on that happening. So, I’m very hopeful that that happens.”
Confidence above all
The outlook is disappointing, that much is clear — especially considering that since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, only four teams have made the playoffs starting a season 1-5 (1970 Bengals, 2015 Chiefs, 2018 Colts, and Washington in 2020).
Despite these challenging circumstances, where not only the results but also the on-field performance have been underwhelming, Harbaugh is the last to lose hope. He keeps the team’s playoff dreams alive and remains determined to fight hard within the division.
“Our focus is going forward and what we can accomplish for the next 11 games to try to earn our way into the playoffs, which obviously, as [it was] pointed out last night, has not been done very often with the record we have,” the HC. “But, we still believe we can do it.”
Cooper struggles to find his footing
The Cooper Rush experiment appears to have reached its sudden end, as the veteran backup was benched after his second consecutive rough outing filling in for the injured Lamar Jackson.
Thrust into the starting role, Rush failed to inject life into the offense, managing just 72 passing yards in Sunday’s 17-3 loss to the Rams and tossing four interceptions across his two starts. After being pulled from the game following a late-game fumble, the team has reportedly turned to Tyler Huntley, signaling that Rush’s limited production was far from the stability the team had hoped for.