Lamar Jackson Injury Uncertainty Causes Bengals-Ravens Odds to Flip Again

No one seems to know whether Lamar Jackson (ankle) will play in the Ravens critical AFC North showdown against the Bengals this Sunday. Not even oddsmakers.

The odds for the game have flipped several times this week. The Ravens opened as a 3-point home favorite at DraftKings. Then Jackson was listed as limited at practice on Wednesday and a beat reporter said he had “a noticeable limp.” The Bengals moved to -1.5 favorites as a result.

Now, after Jackson practiced on Thursday and those same reporters said there is no limp, we’re back where we started (kind of). The Ravens are -1.5 at DraftKings. It’s not -3, but it does suggest Jackson is trending toward playing.

SI Betting’s Peter Dewey spoke with Fanatics sports trader Ty Gour about the line movement for this game and he offered some interesting insights, which would also suggest Jackson is playing.

"Your lookahead line, you essentially have to assume he's going to play until you hear otherwise," Gour said. "So, that's baked into the price, whether we anticipate he'll be at full strength or 80% strength, that would kind of be factored in there.

"And then, as the week goes on, we'll adjust as we know more. Obviously, he wasn't at practice today, and our line went down a point and a half just off that alone. And then we'll kind of trickle down as the week goes on and his status becomes more and more certain one way or the other. If he's back at practice tomorrow in a limited or full capacity, the line will probably shift back towards the Ravens. If he's not there again on Thursday, we'll essentially start pricing as though [Tyler] Huntley is going to be the starter."

Jackson sprained his ankle during the Ravens' win over the Titans the first weekend of October. He’s missed the Ravens' last two games. Tyler Huntley has started in his place, leading the Ravens to a 1-1 record.

Despite keeping the team afloat in what’s emerging as a gauntlet division, Baltimore’s offense has stagnated without Jackson. The Ravens scored 14 touchdowns and 116 total points with Jackson under center (14 quarters). They’ve scored 40 points and four TDs in the six quarters with Huntley. That's over an 8-point-per-game difference.

The Ravens are currently tied with the Browns and Steelers atop the AFC North at 4-2, though currently third based on the tiebreakers. The Bengals are coming off a bye with a 3-2 record. More importantly, they’re both 0-1 in the division.

Jackson’s final injury designation will be made today. We will update this article when that information becomes available.

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