The Baltimore Ravens are preparing to begin the playoffs with an unusual quarterback strategy despite the absence of Lamar Jackson.
According to league sources, both the injured backup Tyler Huntley and the undrafted rookie Anthony Brown will be used by the Ravens in Sunday’s wild-card game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
After Friday’s practice, Ravens coach John Harbaugh did not name a starter. Brown has made one career start, and Huntley, who is listed as questionable, has tendinitis in his right throwing shoulder.
When asked who would be the team’s starting quarterback, Harbaugh replied, “We’ll see when the time comes.”
The Ravens’ strategy for attacking the Bengals will likely dictate how they deploy their quarterbacks. Brown is the superior passer who is able to push the ball downfield, whereas Huntley is better at orchestrating Jackson’s run-oriented offense. Jackson is Jackson’s closest competitor.
Before participating fully in practice on Friday, Huntley was limited on Wednesday and Thursday. Greg Roman, the Ravens’ offensive coordinator, previously acknowledged that Huntley’s injury has “changed the way we’ve had to play some of these games a little bit” and that the quarterback position is “a very fluid situation.”
Huntley is the more experienced quarterback, but he has struggled to throw the ball downfield due to an injured shoulder. In his career, Huntley has started 3-5 games. He has only completed three passes that have traveled at least 20 yards in four starts this season.
Brown impressed the coaches with his ability to confidently make difficult throws when Baltimore rested Huntley during the Bengals’ 27-16 defeat on Sunday. However, Brown is more prone to errors; on Sunday, he fumbled three times and threw two interceptions.
On Thursday, Jackson tweeted that he had “suffered a PCL Grade 2 sprain, on the borderline of a strain 3” and that his knee “remains unstable.” This was Jackson’s sixth consecutive game out with a left knee injury.
Jackson has no guaranteed money after this season because he is exercising the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. If Baltimore made it to the postseason, Harbaugh said he didn’t know if Jackson would be able to play.
The third-seeded Bengals are 8.5 points behind the sixth-seeded Ravens, who are 6-0 all-time in wild-card games played on the road.