OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is expected to return from a right hamstring injury and start Thursday night’s game at the Miami Dolphins, coach John Harbaugh said after Monday’s walkthrough.
“I feel very confident about it,” Harbaugh said.
Jackson has been sidelined the past three games, including Sunday’s 30-16 win over the Chicago Bears. Before the injury, the two-time MVP led the NFL with a 130.5 passer rating, throwing 10 touchdowns and one interception.
On Monday, Jackson was estimated as a full participant in the team’s walkthrough.
“It was a great walkthrough for him,” Harbaugh said. “He looked great.”
The Ravens are a different team with Jackson’s big-play ability. Since 2018, Baltimore is 74-32 (.698), including playoffs, with Jackson as its starting quarterback. Without Jackson over that span, the Ravens are 5-12 (.294).
Jackson, 28, hurt his hamstring in Kansas City on Sept. 28, when he left in the third quarter of a 37-20 loss. He returned to practice last week as a limited participant on Wednesday and Thursday.
Baltimore originally listed Jackson as a full participant in Friday’s practice before changing his practice status to limited a day later because he ran only the scout team. This violated the NFL’s injury report policy, which states that a starting player has to be designated as limited when he participates on scout team.
Harbaugh said Sunday that it was “an honest mistake.”
On Monday, Harbaugh said he hasn’t spoken to NFL officials about the matter and didn’t know whether the league would talk to him about the mistake.
“When it became apparent that I knew he wasn’t going to play for sure, we just declared him out,” Harbaugh said Monday. “We were hopeful. I probably would say it was an outside chance. I still had my fingers crossed.”
The Ravens (2-5) just ended a four-game losing streak by beating the Bears. In his eight-year career, Jackson is 2-0 in his first game back after being sidelined.