Last week saw Lamar Jackson return to the practice field.
Now, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is confident Week 9 will mark Jackson's return to the playing field when his team faces the host Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football.
"I feel very confident about it," Harbaugh told reporters on Monday. "We'll expect him to be out there Thursday night."
The Ravens held a walk-through on Monday and listed Jackson as a full participant on their estimated practice report.
Jackson has not played in the Ravens' previous three games due to a hamstring injury suffered in Week 4. He seemed to be trending to playing Sunday against the Chicago Bears after being labeled questionable on Friday.
Optimism for Jackson returning to action was at a high after Baltimore's bye week. He followed with limited work for the first two days of practice and an initial full-participation designation for Friday's session. However, he was ruled out on Saturday, and his practice participation for Friday was changed to limited.
Following Sunday's win over the Bears led by backup Tyler Huntley, Harbaugh said that the full designation of Jackson, who had practiced Friday with the scout team, was an honest mistake.
The Ravens are 6-12 without Jackson since 2019, when he became the team's bona fide Week 1 starter.
In four starts this season, the Ravens franchise quarterback was excellent despite the team going 1-3, completing 71.6% of his passes for a league-best 10.78 yards per attempt, 10 touchdowns and just one interception.
Baltimore's 1-5 start to the season tied for the worst in franchise history, but the Ravens are now 2-5 after Sunday with Jackson finally set to return.
Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, only four teams have made the playoffs following 1-5 starts to the season. The Ravens are aiming to be the fifth. Their prospects have no doubt improved with Jackson's status for Week 9.
