The Ravens were ravaged by a COVID-19 outbreak around the Thanksgiving holiday which forced their primetime matchup with the Steelers in Week 12 to be moved not once, but three times. While that has unquestionably proved to be the most challenging period of Baltimore's season, they appear to have found a light at the end of the tunnel. On Monday, the Ravens officially activated Lamar Jackson off of the reserve/COVID list, meaning he will return against the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday.
Jackson was one of the near two dozen Ravens that were impacted by the outbreak and was forced to miss last Wednesday's contest with Pittsburgh. Robert Griffin III stepped up into the starting role in Jackson's absence, but the former Washington phenom couldn't help Baltimore mount an upset, completing just seven passes for 33 yards and an interception before going down with a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter. That injury has now found Griffin on injured reserve and would have thrust Trace McSorley, who did complete a 70-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown in the loss to the Steelers, into the starting lineup had Jackson not progressed to the point where the team could activate him off of the COVID list.
While Jackson has been lacking some on-field practice with his teammates to this point, offensive coordinator Greg Roman did tell reporters over the weekend that he has been participating in meetings virtually and is up to speed on the Ravens game plan.
"He's fully engaged on these virtual meetings," Roman said, via the official team website. "He's part of all that, gets to watch all the film once practice takes place. Then we'll have another virtual meeting and look at the practice. The only thing he can't do, obviously, is be here at the facility and actually take part in it. But mentally I think he's right on it."
If Jackson is 100% for this matchup, he could find a lot of success against a Dallas defense that isn't the most stout bunch. Entering Week 13, the Cowboys are allowing the most rushing yards-per-game (156.4) in the entire NFL. They are also giving up 32.6 points per game, which is also the most in the league.
Defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Jihad Ward and running backs Mark Ingram II and J.K. Dobbins are among the other Ravens to already have come off the COVID-19 list.
