The Baltimore Ravens head down to South Florida on Thursday night to battle the Miami Dolphins in a primetime AFC showdown. Both teams have just two wins on the year and any hopes that they have for the postseason hinges on them picking up this midseason victory. The Ravens enter as a 7.5-point road favorite and this has to do with the likely return of Lamar Jackson to the lineup.
The two-time MVP has been out of action for a month with a hamstring injury and was last seen in their 37-20 road loss to the Chiefs in Week 4. Baltimore’s disappointing start to the season quickly turned into a full-blown disaster with Cooper Rush and Tyler Huntley getting reps in place of the star QB. A blowout loss to the Texans was followed up by a deflating loss to the Rams right before the bye week and in a extremely must-win game, Huntley actually stepped up a led the Ravens to a win over the Bears this past Sunday.
Jackson actually participated in practice last week and this actually caused a little bit of controversy. The Ravens initially listed him as a full participant on Friday, but later downgraded him to limited before ruling him out for Sunday’s game against the Bears. They clarified that he was practicing with the scout team on Friday, but the NFL is now investigating to see whether or not the Ravens violated injury reporting policies.
Lamar Jackson injury updates
Jackson will make his return on Thursday after being listed as a full-participant in practice all week.
Fantasy football analysis
Jackson’s return is a relief to fantasy managers who had to turn to alternate options at quarterback for the past month. The multi-time MVP was the No. 2 fantasy QB in the league prior to is injury, averaging 23.6 fantasy points per game with a stat line of 869 passing yards, 166 rushing yards, and 11 total touchdowns. Zay Flowers and DeAndre Hopkins managers should also be relieved as their numbers have also stagnated in the absence of the star QB.
