NFL Insider Confirms 'Inflection Point' in Lamar Jackson-Ravens Situation

Teetering on the edge of making or missing the playoffs, the Baltimore Ravens are now possible to play a crucial Week 17 game without their star quarterback, Lamar Jackson, who is dealing with a back injury that he sustained in Week 16. NFL's Next Gen Stats gives the Ravens a 22% chance of making the playoffs with a win over the Packers this week (a bump from their current 9% likelihood).

On Wednesday, established Baltimore columnist Mike Preston published a piece detailing some level of friction between the organization, head coach John Harbaugh, and Jackson, culminating in something of a crossroads given Jackson's contract talks with the Ravens and the increasing likelihood that Baltimore misses the postseason this year.

The column was particularly critical of Jackson's conditioning and his handful of injuries this season, citing a lengthy return from each of them. Preston also posited the idea that the Ravens should look at every option with Jackson this offseason, adding that the quarterback, "would love to play," in Miami. The Dolphins will likely be exploring its own quarterback situation this offseason as well, making it easy to start connecting some hypothetical dots.

NFL insider agrees Ravens are nearing 'inflection point'

NFL insider Ian Rapoport, seemed to agree with the idea that the Ravens and Jackson are staring down a major turning point.

From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: Once they head into the offseason, the #Ravens have a few things to sort out for 2026. pic.twitter.com/cyfCwxhYcE
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 25, 2025

"We'll see where this goes, it does feel to me like a little bit of an inflection point," Rapoport added on Thursday morning. "Lamar Jackson had the opportunity to re-up his contract before the season at a time a lot of people thought he would. Did not happen. The Ravens, at the very least, have some things to figure out and some relationships to discuss in the offseason. I'm not saying there's anything that's going to blow up, but at least there need to be some conversations about how everyone can move forward together."

Harbaugh, speaking to the media the same day the column was published, swiftly shot down any issues between him and his quarterback, describing their relationship as "A+" despite the Baltimore Sun column from Preston specifically claiming Harbaugh is, "tired," of the star quarterback. Harbaugh also denied a claim from the column that Jackson had fallen asleep in team meetings this season.

Ravens season outlook

The Ravens, 7-8, are facing off against the Packers, 9-5 on Saturday night. Jackson was listed as not a practice participant on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ravens remaining schedule

Date	Time	Opponent
Saturday, Dec. 27	8:00 p.m. ET	Packers
Sunday, Jan. 4	TBD	Steelers

Ravens playoff chances, movement in Week 17

Importantly, the Ravens are two games behind the Steelers, who lead the AFC North but have yet to secure the divisional title. Pittsburgh currently owns the tiebreaker, having won the first matchup between the two teams, but Baltimore would force a split in a scenario where the two teams end up with the same win-loss record at the end of the season.

The second consideration after head-to-head record would be win-loss record with all divisional games. Currently, Pittsburgh is 3-1 and Baltimore 3-2. The Steelers have two such games left, the finale against Baltimore, and the Browns in Week 17. So Baltimore, while it needs to focus first and foremost on winning out its own schedule, will be eyeing that Week 17 result. Pittsburgh wins the AFC North with a win or tie against Cleveland. That result would also automatically kill the Ravens' playoff hopes regardless of their own performance against the Packers.