The Lamar Jackson situation has become the obvious (and, for the Ravens, unfortunate) headline. Week 8, however, had several incidents with uncertainty regarding starting quarterbacks.
Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who was and is day-to-day with a bone bruise, insisted throughout the week that he’d play against the Dolphins. He was listed officially as questionable. On Saturday, reports emerged that Kirk Cousins will start.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields was, by all appearances, destined to be benched for Tyrod Taylor. Taylor was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday before being ruled out on Friday. Fields plays.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was characterized as day-to-day with an ankle injury. On Friday, Young was listed as doubtful. Now, Andy Dalton will play.
And it wasn’t clear whether 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy would return until Friday, when he was ruled out again for Mac Jones
But for the Ravens’ incorrect characterization of Jackson as being a full participant in practice on Friday, all teams seemingly complied with the injury report. Still, there likely was very real inside information within all buildings as to the ultimate plan.
How was that handled? Who told someone on the outside about it? What happened with that information?
These are questions that become critical for the NFL to ask moving forward. It’s also critical for the league to re-examine its injury-reporting rules to consider whether more transparency is needed in order to neutralize the inside information.
The easy answer to that one is [absolutely](https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/267d1e39-828e-457b-8b6b-daf796399879). The harder question is how to come up with a better way to prevent any loose ends from being loose lips from becoming non-losing betting slips?