The Baltimore Ravens have had an absolutely disastrous start to the season. The Ravens are 1-5 on the season, although head coach John Harbaugh hasn’t given up on making the playoffs.
“Our focus is going forward and what we can accomplish for the next 11 games to try to earn our way into the playoffs, which obviously, as [it was] pointed out last night, has not been done very often with the record we have,” Harbaugh said heading into Baltimore’s bye week. “But, we still believe we can do it.”
Star quarterback Lamar Jackson has missed the last couple of games, and Harbaugh also spoke about how much that means to the team’s season getting turned around.
“I’m leaning into [Jackson’s return] pretty hard,” Harbaugh said. “If I was on the couch with a psychiatrist right now, if I was spilling it, I would have to say I’m leaning really hard into that, really hard. For any kind of psychological well-being, spiritual well-being, I’m leaning hard on that happening. So, I’m very hopeful that that happens.”
However, Jackson did not participate in Baltimore’s first practice after the bye week.
“QB Lamar Jackson remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. The 2-time NFL MVP did not participate in Monday’s practice, which was the Ravens’ first one since coming off the bye. Jackson hasn’t suited up since injuring his hamstring in Kansas City on Sept. 28,” reported Jamison Hensley on Monday.
Whether Jackson is available or not, the Ravens have made some major changes to the locker room to help the team focus on the task at hand.
“After the loss to Kansas City, the Ravens coaching staff removed several ‘distractions’ from the locker room including the pingpong table, cornhole boards, basketball hoop, and video game consoles,” reported one prominent Ravens Twitter account.
It’ll be interesting to see if the changes pay dividends for Baltimore.