Lamar Jackson Is Officially Back to Save the Ravens' Offense

Lamar Jackson is officially back, which means the Baltimore Ravens can stop pretending their offense functions without him.

According to Ian Rapoport, Ravens head coach Jesse Minter confirmed Jackson will play this Sunday against the Buffalo Bills after logging another full practice.

"Ian Rapoport reported that coach Jesse Minter said Jackson will play this Sunday and was a full participant again."

Jackson has only played four games this season thanks to an ankle injury, and the results without him have been a tough watch. Just last week, Baltimore got boatraced 35-13 by the Cincinnati Bengals. Watching this team try to move the football without their MVP is like watching someone try to start a lawnmower with no gas in it. You can pull the cord all you want, but nothing is happening.

For the fantasy managers and bettors who have been holding their breath, this is the exact update you needed. Jackson is averaging 19.8 fantasy points per game when healthy, making him a top-eight quarterback on a per-game basis. Now he gets to face a Bills defense that is currently giving up the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

The Ravens desperately need this version of Jackson to show up. They are sitting at 4-3 and somehow in fourth place in a brutal AFC North where the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns are both 5-2. Dropping another game here would make the playoff math incredibly annoying for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

Sunday’s 1:00 p.m. kickoff in Buffalo just went from a scheduled Ravens struggle session to a heavyweight fight. If Jackson is truly 100 percent, Baltimore has a chance to flip the script on their season. If he looks rusty, it is going to be a very long flight back from upstate New York.