Jackson injured his ankle during the Week 14 loss to Cleveland and missed last week’s game against Green Bay. Tyler Huntley started in his place and threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns. The Ravens lost on a last-second field goal, dropping a third straight game, but Jackson didn’t practice Wednesday and Thursday and it’s unclear if he will be able to play.
“We are preparing for both,” Hilton said. “We definitely know Lamar is not going to want to miss this one. Division game, a lot on the line. We also know Huntley has been playing well. They might not have gotten the wins, but he’s been playing well in those losses. They are pretty much the same guy. Both athletic guys able to throw the ball and run the offense the way it needs to be run. We are expecting both and we’ll be prepared for both.”
Huntley, an undrafted quarterback out of Utah, is in his second NFL season and has appeared in seven career games for Baltimore, including two starts. He led the Ravens to a 16-13 win over the Bears in Week 11 when Jackson was out because of illness, and the Bengals got a glimpse of Huntley in Week 7 when the Ravens surrendered midway through the fourth quarter after falling behind 41-17.
Jackson had completed 15 of 31 passes for 257 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions and rushed for 88 yards on 12 carries. However, the Bengals sacked him five times, and Baltimore couldn’t stop Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati offense.
This time around will be different for both teams. Cincinnati is thin at the linebacker spot and lost another one, Joe Bachie, to an ACL tear last week. Germaine Pratt and Markus Bailey have taken the reins. Logan Wilson is still expected to be out with a shoulder injury this week and Jordan Evans and Akeem Davis-Gaither are on injured reserve.
Bailey, who saw limited action as a rookie seventh-round pick last year, has taken on a bigger role over the last three weeks and is expected to get his first career start Sunday.
“I think there’s more opportunity for Markus,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “Last year we had Josh Bynes, who we’ll see this Sunday, who had taken a big chunk of that time there. We had Germaine Pratt and Jordan Evans. We were starting to work those young guys. We had a modified training camp. Logan (Wilson) really got the first crack at it. Akeem played a little bit, and then Markus was really coming off of an injury (at Purdue) also. He just didn’t get as many opportunities and this year’s different. He got a lot more in training camp. Obviously, with the injuries at that position, he’s done a good job taking advantage of the opportunities that he gets. The confidence comes with the reps you get. And the opportunities you get comes the confidence. That’s what you see from Markus.”
With the team so thin at linebacker, Hilton has taken more responsibility in the run defense, which still ranks fourth in the NFL while the Bengals have limited opponents to 95.0 rushing yards per game.
The Ravens have one of the best running games in the league, averaging 144.7 rushing yards per game to rank third. Jackson accounts for a team-high 767 yards on the ground, while Devonta Freeman adds 462 yards and Latavius Murray 308. Huntley has 168 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries in five games.
Hilton said he’s up for the challenge of shouldering more responsibility Sunday in helping stop the run.
“I’m built for it,” Hilton said. “I got the shoulders for it. I told coach, ‘Any certain packages you need me for I’m ready to go.’ Honestly, this is the type of game I live for. I love the physical part of playing against the Baltimore Ravens. Whatever coach need me to do I’m ready.”
“They are going to try to get me inside the box taking on guards and tackles and everything. But I have no issue with it,” Hilton added. “Personally, I can live down there if I need to and coaches know I’m able to do that. So I’ll be expecting to be in that box and I’ll be expecting to make a lot of plays on Sunday.”
The Bengals are hopeful they can get some help back in the secondary if Chidobe Awuzie can get cleared off the Reserve/COVID list in time. Trae Waynes returned from injured reserve and played a lot last week at Denver, and Eli Apple has shown improvement after initially stepping in as Waynes’ replacement.
However, with the Ravens’ potent aerial attack, the Bengals could use Awuzie in there as well.
“That would be big,” Hilton said. “No. 1 for a guy they got offensively in Marquise Brown who is able to take the top off offensively and really open up secondaries. Having Chi back to match up with him would be big for us. He’s been locked in with us ever since last week. Just over Zoom and we will call him in the meetings. Anything to keep him updates. We know he’s hungry to get back and we’re excited to get him back.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Ravens at Bengals, 1 p.m., CBS, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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