Lamar Jackson Starting For Ravens, Joe Flacco Could Miss A Week Or Two

Update:

Ian Rapoport reports that the Ravens are, in fact, starting Lamar Jackson at quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Bengals.

Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport are reporting that Ravens’ players expect rookie QB Lamar Jackson to handle the majority of the team’s snaps during Sunday’s game against the Bengals.

According to the report, Joe Flacco is “highly unlikely” to play on Sunday, but the good news is that his hip injury won’t require surgery.

Pelissero adds that Flacco could end up missing a week or two.

The expectation was that Flacco was going to miss Sunday’s game and Jackson would get the start, so this doesn’t come as a big surprise. Robert Griffin III should serve as Jackson’s backup on Sunday.

Jackson, 21, was taken with the No. 32 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft by the Ravens. He agreed to a four-year, $9,471,652 contract that includes a $5,968,472 signing bonus.

The contract includes a fifth-year option for the Ravens to pick up in 2021.

In 2018, Jackson has appeared in nine games for the Ravens and completed 7 of 12 pass attempts for 87 yards and one touchdown. He has also rushed for 139 yards on 28 carries (5 YPA) to go along with one touchdown.

Flacco, 33, is a former first-round pick of the Ravens back in 2008. He’s currently in the third year of a six-year, $125 million contract that contained $44 million guaranteed. He is set to make a base salary of $12 million this season to go along with another $18.5 million (2019), $20.25 (2020) million, $24.25 million (2021).

In 2018, Flacco has appeared in nine games and completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 2,465 yards to go along with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions for the Ravens. He has also rushed for 45 yards.