John Harbaugh made right call not to play Lamar Jackson vs. Eagles
With two starting offensive linemen not playing, sitting Lamar Jackson against the Philadelphia Eagles:
John Harbaugh made the right call having Lamar Jackson spend the game against the Philadelphia Eagles on the sideline. The Ravens didn’t have Ronnie Stanley or Marshal Yanda playing in the third preseason game. The Eagles have a good defensive front. Putting Jackson in the game would have been asking for something bad to happen.
Jackson’s preseason is over. He won’t play next week, in the most meaningless of the meaningless games. Jackson finishes the preseason with a decent stat line. He went 10-16 passing for 117 yards. Jackson’s completion percentage was over 60 percent.
The joint practices between Baltimore and Philadelphia allowed Jackson and the Ravens to get work in without the risk of playing in a preseason game. The only tempting reason to start Jackson in this contest would be to get him in a game with Marquise Brown, before the regular season opener.
If something had happened to Jackson, Harbaugh would have been heavily scrutinized. Jackson is the future of this franchise and the most exciting part of the present team. It’s not exciting to see him on the sideline, however saving the excitement for the regular season makes sense.
The decision allowed Trace McSorley an opportunity to start a game. It was a big night for McSorley, who led the team in their dominant victory. McSorley led multiple scoring drives, had an efficient night passing and scored three touchdowns (two passing, 1 running). His touchdown pass to Michael Floyd was his best play of the preseason.
The decision the Ravens have to make with McSorley is interesting. He has exceeded expectations at quarterback. The backup job belongs to Robert Griffin III, and keeping three quarterbacks makes setting the 53 man roster a little more difficult.
Who would have thought that on a night where the running game didn’t get much traction, and Jackson didn’t play, the quarterback position would have been this impressive. Whatever happens with McSorley, he is doing everything he needs to do. He is taking care of what he can control.
Next. The Pros and Cons of keeping Trace McSorley on the 53 man roster. dark
It would have been fun to see Jackson if everything went well. It would have been unnerving to see him take the kind of hits the poor offensive line would have subjected him to. The extra preseason snaps were not worth it. Harbaugh made a very wise decision tonight.