BALTIMORE _ Ravens coach John Harbaugh wasted no time preserving the mystery about which players he'll start in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Before reporters could ask the inevitable question Monday afternoon, Harbaugh said he would rest quarterback Lamar Jackson, right guard Marshal Yanda, defensive tackle Brandon Williams, safety Earl Thomas III and running back Mark Ingram II, who's recovering from a calf strain.
The Ravens clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC with their victory in Cleveland on Sunday, so they can't improve their position by beating the Steelers. That afforded Harbaugh a luxury achieved by only a few teams each season. Whenever the situation arises, we hear debates pitting the virtues of rest against the dangers of rust.
"There's a strong case to be made either way, and I really recognize the other side of it," Harbaugh said. "It's two good choices, really. We are going to have to practice really well. That's our whole team. And really, the whole team, most of the whole team, is playing anyway."
For all the discussion of the issue, it's difficult to find any real pattern in the results of teams that have rested starters vs. those that have not.
Players mostly avoided weighing in on the pros and cons.
"It's above my pay grade," said Ravens quarterback Robert Griffin III, who will start in place of Jackson against the Steelers. "That's what they pay coaches for. We're paid to play. If they say, 'Hey (Lamar), you're going this week, he's going. If they say, 'R.G.' you're going this week,' then I'm going. That's the way we operate."
Players did express pride in earning some of their teammates a week off. "Those guys have been around the league. They've got more wear and tear on their bodies," nose tackle Michael Pierce said. "For them to be able to rest and get ready for the playoffs is really, really huge for us."
Harbaugh faced a different picture the last time he had to make a similar decision, in 2012. The Ravens clinched the AFC North before their Week 17 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. But they had also lost three of their past four games at that point, and Harbaugh had fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron after the second of those defeats against the Washington Redskins.
The Ravens nonetheless went with the rest option, playing quarterback Joe Flacco and running back Ray Rice for about a quarter and keeping key veterans such as Yanda, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata on the bench in a road loss to the Bengals.
We know how that worked out as the Ravens swept through the best teams in football on their way to victory in Super Bowl XLVII.
Harbaugh said he was not thinking directly about 2012 when he decided what to do this year. "You do go by all of your experiences," he said. "You do go by your feelings about it and conversations, too, of course, and just all that factors in."
The Ravens might like to rest even more of their essential contributors, but that's difficult to do in the NFL, which allows just 46 active players for each game. It's much easier to rest starters in college football or in the preseason, when coaches are dealing with rosters of 70 players or more.
The Ravens will likely have to lean hard on players they can't afford to lose.
"Most of the guys are going to play the whole game," Harbaugh said. "Most of the guys will have a full plate, because guys will be playing both the offensive or defensive position and special teams in a lot of cases. There will be some guys pulling some heavy duty in the game. So, it's just case by case."
They'll also try to win the game, even though a victory would do nothing to enhance their playoff position.
"That's the Pittsburgh Steelers, fighting for a shot in the playoffs, so never," Pierce said when asked if it would be difficult to lock in for Week 17. "We have history with those guys, so no. And anybody who tells you otherwise, we should have a talk."
With that in mind, here's a look at how the Ravens might manage each position group:
