Ravens Keep Lamar Jackson on Ice as Brutal 12-Day Gauntlet Begins

The Baltimore Ravens are staring down a brutal stretch of three games in 12 days, and they are kicking it off by keeping their franchise quarterback in bubble wrap.

Despite Lamar Jackson taking the majority of first-team reps on Friday, Tom Pelissero reports that Tyler Huntley will get the start Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Jackson is still nursing a high-ankle sprain from Week 4, and Baltimore is clearly playing the long game with their star.

"Tom Pelissero reported that Jackson was close enough to take a majority of first-team reps Friday, but it will be Snoop Huntley again Sunday."

Huntley has been a competent understudy, throwing for 429 yards and four touchdowns over the last two weeks without tossing a single interception. He led a win over the Atlanta Falcons before the offense completely stalled out in a 13-10 rock fight against the Cleveland Browns last week.

Competent only gets you so far when the schedule turns into a meat grinder. After the Bengals, Baltimore has to travel to play the Buffalo Bills next Sunday before turning right around to host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night.

Playing three NFL games in 12 days is the kind of scheduling crunch that makes you want to fake a stomach bug to get out of a Zoom call, let alone take hits from 300-pound defensive tackles. The Ravens need Jackson healthy for that gauntlet, which makes sitting him against Cincinnati a calculated risk.

Anyone looking at the betting lines or setting a fantasy lineup needs to adjust to the Huntley reality. He draws a Bengals defense that has only allowed five passing touchdowns all year, though they happen to give up the fifth-most rushing yards to quarterbacks.

The Ravens are currently stuck in a three-way tie atop the AFC North. Huntley needs to survive Sunday and keep the ship afloat so Jackson can theoretically return to save them from the Buffalo and Jacksonville buzzsaw.