NFL fines Ravens US$100,000 over Jackson injury status report
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The Baltimore Ravens have been fined US$100,000 by the National Football League (NFL) for violating league injury report policy rules in how they listed quarterback Lamar Jackson last week, the league announced on Friday.
Jackson had been sidelined by a strained right hamstring but was able to practise last Friday as a member of the Ravens scout team.
He was listed as a full participant in that Friday workout and questionable for a game two days later against Chicago, but the next day had his Friday practice status downgraded to “limited” and his status for facing the Bears dropped to “out” for the contest.
While he did participate in the practice, doing so on the scout squad — running plays for the Ravens defenders they could expect Chicago to run — indicated Jackson was not ready to work with the starting line-up and fully ready to compete.
“After conferring with the league office, because Lamar didn’t take starter reps in practice, we updated our report to reflect his practice participation,” the Ravens said.
Ravens Coach John Harbaugh said on Monday the injury list mix-up was an “honest mistake”, and after an investigation the NFL concluded the mistake was the result of negligence and not an attempt to seize a competitive advantage.
The Ravens have accepted the fine and will not appeal.
“It is critical that the Baltimore Ravens always operate with integrity and in full accordance with NFL guidelines,” the team said in a statement. “We clearly made an error regarding player injury reporting and cooperated transparently with the league’s investigation.
“We accept the decision by the NFL that we violated the policy and have taken steps to ensure that we will be compliant moving forward.”
Jackson was sidelined last week when reserve Tyler Huntley led Baltimore’s 30-16 victory over Chicago.
Jackson took part in practice this week and threw four touchdown passes on Thursday in a 28-6 triumph at Miami.
The blowout of the Dolphins was so complete that Miami, off to a 2-7 start, dumped General Manager Chris Grier but were expected to keep Head Coach Mike McDaniel despite fans booing the club off the field.
