BALTIMORE _ Quarterback Lamar Jackson will not be active for the Ravens' regular-season finale Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of four standouts whom coach John Harbaugh said Monday would not play in Week 17.
With the Ravens having already secured home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, guard Marshal Yanda, safety Earl Thomas III and defensive tackle Brandon Williams will join Jackson as inactive players Sunday. Only 46 of a team's 53 active players can be activated on game day.
Running back Mark Ingram II, who suffered a calf strain in Sunday's 31-15 win over the Cleveland Browns, which secured a first-round bye, also will not play as he recovers from the injury.
"After that, we'll still decide as the week goes on," Harbaugh said. "I think one thing that's really important to understand is, this is pro football, not college football. You can't sit your starters in a game. That's not how it works. You have up to seven options if you're completely healthy. We don't know exactly if we'll be completely healthy or not. We're very healthy, so that does bode well."
Harbaugh said Jackson, the heavy favorite for NFL Most Valuable Player honors, had not yet been told about his Week 17 role, but the second-year star said Sunday that he would do whatever the coaching staff needed him to. Backup Robert Griffin III is expected to start Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, but Harbaugh indicated that third-string quarterback and special teams player Trace McSorley also could earn snaps. McSorley has been inactive in every game this season.
Harbaugh, who consulted with Yanda and other players about the team's rest-versus-rust scenario during their flight back Sunday from Cleveland, as well as members of the Ravens' coaching staff, said the decision to rest starters before the wild-card-round bye was "not that hard of a decision, really."
"I think it's a solid decision," he said. "I don't know if it's easy. I think there's a strong case to be made either way, and I really recognize the other side of it. I think it's a fair, valid case. You know, it's real. So you've just got to kind of balance it out between two good choices, really."
