Mike Florio ,
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The Ravens corrected their Friday injury report on Saturday. Despite the clarification, the Ravens may still end up with a problem.
The NFL says it will be reviewing the situation.
The Ravens originally listed quarterback Lamar Jackson as fully participating in practice on Friday. On Saturday, when Jackson was ruled out, the Ravens changed the Friday designation from “full” to “limited.”
“Lamar Jackson was present for and participated fully in our entire practice ahead of Sunday’s game against the Bears,” the Ravens said in a statement. “Upon further evaluation and after conferring with the league office, because Lamar didn’t take starter reps in practice , we updated our report to reflect his practice participation.”
Further review shouldn’t have been needed. Based on the league’s “Personnel (Injury) Report Policy,” the term “full participation” should be used only when a player has taken “100 percent” of his “normal repetitions.”
Although the team’s statement does not specify that Jackson took “scout team” reps, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported on Saturday morning that Jackson “ ran the scout team ” during Friday’s practice. As an industry source told PFT earlier today, that tweet sparked the process that resulted in the Ravens changing the practice designation retroactively.
While the Ravens may have simply been trying to keep the Bears from realizing that Jackson wouldn’t be starting, the same-old gamesmanship needs to be reconsidered in light of the pitfalls of inside information. And this incident, coupled with the NBA’s current gambling scandal, should prompt a full review and reconsideration of the league’s policies and procedures regarding the reporting of injuries.
The mere fact that the Ravens got it wrong on Friday — whether due to negligence or attempted chicanery — cannot happen. Even if/when the NFL fines the Ravens, the only acceptable solution would be to never have situations like this arise.
Big Shield combines gambling, pro football, and the mob into a cautionary tale regarding inside information, and the dangers that come from selling it.
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