- 14 minutes ago
Jeremy White and Sneaky Joe DiBiase are joined by Baltimore Ravens and NFL reporter for the Baltimore Sun Brian Wacker to discuss the Ravens side of things as both the Ravens and Bills prepare for their big AFC clash on Sunday afternoon. The guys spend a good chunk of time discussing the strange Lamar Jackson injury stories that have been a focal point this season for them. They then move onto the rest of the team and get Wacker’s thoughts on the defense, Derrick Henry, and more!
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00:00So we're going to get a little bit of a straight story from Brian Wacker of the Baltimore Sun.
00:04He joins us on the Western Hotline. Jeremy and Joe, happy Thursday, everybody.
00:08Beautiful day here in Western New York. Game coming Sunday, 1 o'clock.
00:11Brian, good morning. Thanks for taking some time today.
00:14Wanted to reach out to you for the Baltimore side of all of this.
00:17It does feel like, for anyone watching maybe from afar, that the ups and downs of a Lamar week,
00:23is he available, isn't he available, maybe that just comes with the territory.
00:28Brian, how different has this last two weeks been than it's always been?
00:33Well, certainly, first, thanks for having me.
00:37It certainly feels a lot like 2025 and 2026, to your point.
00:43Marjacks missed, you know, four games last year with hamstring and back injuries.
00:49And that hamstring injury in particular sort of lingered with the same question,
00:55is he available, is he not available?
00:58Is he going to play this week?
01:00And those questions seem to be percolating again.
01:03I think where a lot of this originated, too, is that, you know, initially,
01:08when the ankle injury happens, Coach Jesse Minner calls Lamar Jackson, quote, day to day,
01:14as you heard in the clip there.
01:15So, you know, I think that sort of threw off the expectations for people.
01:22Then Lamar coming out and disputing some reporting about what type of ankle sprain he has,
01:30noting that it's a high ankle sprain.
01:32As we know, those typically take at least four weeks, usually longer for players to recover from.
01:38All that said, Lamar was on the practice field yesterday.
01:43He was a full participant for the first time since the injury.
01:46So I would think that would point toward him playing this Sunday.
01:53But again, it's always a guessing game because I think there's always some level of uncertainty around Lamar Jackson,
02:00who does represent himself as opposed to having an agent, which oftentimes, you know,
02:07when we hear these leaks about whether someone's going to play or not play, you know,
02:13that is often coming from either an agent or somebody in the building.
02:17And with Lamar not having an agent, you know, that kind of narrows things down.
02:24So, and I think there's just always uncertainty around Lamar Jackson.
02:29How much, I also want to ask, like, how much is this a lesson in why coaches never say anything
02:34about injuries?
02:34Because if you don't say anything, this story kind of can't happen.
02:38We talk about that sometimes with Joe Brady.
02:39He won't give timelines.
02:41He doesn't do anything more than he has to because otherwise it can lead to miscommunication
02:45and thoughts of maybe a setback.
02:46But is it deeper than that, you think?
02:50Well, that's certainly part of it.
02:51And I think Jesse Minter as a first-time head coach is, you know, look, he's a smart guy.
02:56I think he's well aware of that going into it, but I think he's sort of learning it in real
03:00time at the same time.
03:01So, you know, we saw this a lot on the previous regime with John Harbaugh.
03:07You know, he would be very vague with a lot of the phrasing.
03:12And occasionally he would tell you things, you know, even off to the side, sort of after availabilities and so
03:19forth
03:19and give you better context of situations.
03:22But, yeah, look, this is why coaches try to be vague.
03:26They try to be nonspecific, particularly with timelines, with player injuries,
03:32because they don't want to box themselves into a pickle.
03:35And, you know, and sometimes these injuries change.
03:38You know, sometimes maybe in the moment the situation looks one way,
03:43and then the next day it looks different.
03:46Do you feel like this has kind of always been the story with Jackson,
03:50like even when it was Harbaugh, like years ago, like there's always been this underlying,
03:54is he willing to play when maybe he can, but he's not fully 100%?
04:01I don't know if there's a, if the through line is, you know,
04:09is he willing to play whether he's 100% or not,
04:12so much as it is just, you know, because I'll say this,
04:17Lamar Jackson is one of the most competitive people out there.
04:21And, you know, this is a guy that wants to play football.
04:26That said, I think there's always been this layer of mystery around him.
04:31I mean, just think about it, guys, for as big a star as he is in this sport
04:36and even to a degree transcends this sport,
04:39we know so little truly about Lamar Jackson compared to Patrick Mahomes,
04:45compared to Travis Kelsey, compared to a lot of other guys, Tom Brady.
04:51We can go down the list.
04:52And, you know, that's always been one of the more intriguing elements to Lamar.
04:58Look, he keeps a very small circle.
05:01As you heard in that clip earlier at the top there,
05:03his mom is his de facto manager.
05:07She does not really do interviews.
05:10She doesn't even really have many public appearances very often.
05:14So, you know, it's a very small, tight-knit circle.
05:20People have certainly been cut out of it over the years.
05:24And I think, you know, Lamar likes to keep things close to his vest.
05:31He always has.
05:32You know, we ask him about his contract as one example during the season.
05:35And it just doesn't really entertain the questions at all.
05:39So, certainly is prerogative.
05:42But that kind of speaks to the level of privacy a very big and public superstar
05:48likes to try to maintain.
05:51Brian Wecker, Baltimore Sun, joining us on the Western Hotline.
05:53Brian, for Lamar, one more thing on this topic.
05:57Like, we opened up this morning talking about injuries and all this.
06:00And, you know, we knock on wood all the time.
06:02Josh Allen plays hurt all the time.
06:04A lot of times he's not talking about how hurt he is.
06:07And I certainly don't want to go to, like, a Lamar won't play hurt.
06:12But are there questions about whether or not there's enough, I don't know,
06:16love or drive or whatever, like, that it needs to be too perfect for him to go out there?
06:22Or are we talking about a player that if it were a playoff game, it might be different, right?
06:26Because availability is very important here.
06:28Or this seems to be, like, the big talking point around the Ravens and around Jackson.
06:33Yeah, look, again, I think Lamar is a guy, if he feels like he can play
06:39and he feels like he's healthy enough, you know, we point blank asked him last week,
06:45you know, look, do you have to be 100% to play?
06:48And he said, no, he just needs to be able to sort of feel good enough to be able to
06:54do the things
06:55that he's capable of doing and wants to do.
06:59Otherwise, he feels like it's doing a disservice to his team.
07:03Now, again, like, you know, I think we can certainly parse that and nitpick and so forth.
07:09But Lamar is a guy, from my experience, the past, you know, three and a half years covering this team
07:15is really competitive and wants to just really does love playing football.
07:21Doesn't always love to practice, I think, which you could say that about a lot of guys, certainly.
07:28But I think he is a competitive guy, loves being out there on Sundays.
07:35And, you know, I think if he's healthy enough, he'll play.
07:40If he's, you know, if he has doubts and maybe, you know, maybe that's somebody in his ear saying,
07:46look, or maybe that's just his own feeling, what he feels in his ankle or whatever the particular injury is,
07:53where he's just not quite where he wants to be, then, yeah, he's maybe not going to play then.
07:59But I think there's a fine line somewhere in between there is probably what would be most accurate.
08:07So the Bills and Ravens have something in common saying goodbye to long-term head coaches.
08:11The Bills get rid of Sean McDermott.
08:13The goal is to get through the proverbial playoff wall.
08:16What was the goal for Baltimore to move on from John Harbaugh?
08:20It seemed more amicable than maybe the one here.
08:23But what was the goal in changing, and are there signs that they are getting what they were looking for
08:29to be different?
08:30Well, first, I don't know how amicable it was here.
08:33I mean, certainly John Harbaugh, I think, yeah, did expect to be back.
08:37And I know there were people in that building that expected to be back.
08:40That said, to your larger question, I think the goal was to, you know,
08:45not lose games in familiar ways that they have been, you know, losing the past few seasons.
08:53You go back to that Buffalo playoff game, of course.
08:55You go back to the AFC title game in 2024.
09:00And yet here we are in 2026.
09:03And this is why I said it sort of feels like we're stuck in a time loop here with 2025,
09:08because they're losing games the exact same way they lost them under John Harbaugh.
09:12So, to me, at that point, that falls on the players.
09:16And this has been a big topic of conversation, obviously, the past couple of weeks
09:21with the way they've lost, giving up 48 points in the second half
09:25and not scoring in the second half at each of those past two losses to the Browns and Bengals.
09:32This is a team that, you know, has not been detailed enough, has not been disciplined enough.
09:37You can look at pre-snap penalties, missed tackles, lack of turnovers, unable to hold on to leads,
09:47running game, evaporating offensive line, influx again.
09:52You know, in fairness, there have been a lot of injuries to that group.
09:56They've had 17 different line combinations.
09:59They're on their fourth different center, which required them trading to acquire Cam Juergens.
10:05So, I mean, there's been a lot of challenges, I think, with this group.
10:09But I also think you look at the roster, for all the times we hear of the talent of this
10:14roster,
10:15and look, they certainly have plenty of it, from Lamar Jackson, Roquan Smith, Kyle Hamilton, etc.
10:22I think there are question marks about this roster and the talent on it, and is it maybe overvalued?
10:29I mean, you could look at the wide receiver position.
10:32Jacoby Lane certainly looks like a very promising rookie.
10:36Jay Flowers, obviously, we know he's capable of, a two-time Pro Bowler, one of the best receivers in football
10:42right now.
10:44But beyond that, you know, Rashad Bateman hasn't really panned out the way the organization would have liked.
10:49He's already on his third contract with the team, and this is a guy who's never topped 1,000 yards,
10:55never topped more than, I think, 75 catches.
10:59You can look at the cornerback position, Marlon Humphrey, one of the highest-paid players on the team,
11:04has been also arguably the worst corner in football, giving up more yards than anybody in the sport so far
11:12this season.
11:13Nate Wiggins, a former first-round pick, he's been very up and down.
11:17And, you know, there's Roquan Smith even, you know, and even Kyle Hamilton we saw last week had probably his
11:24worst game of his career.
11:26So I think there's, you know, there's a lot of question marks, and I mentioned the offensive line.
11:31There's another position you can look at or position group, you know, where it hasn't been great.
11:36So, you know, I think there's some questions about the construction of this roster,
11:42and is it really as good as maybe we thought?
11:44Of course, Lamar raises all of that, so that's a big help.
11:50Within all of that, what do you think of where they're at with Derrick Henry?
11:54There have been matchups going in where there's been as much talk here about stopping Henry as there has been
11:59about Jackson.
12:00And he's under four yards a carry right now, which has never happened in his career.
12:04He's never been under five in Baltimore.
12:06Is that just a product of Jackson hasn't been out there,
12:09or are there signs that, all right, he's 32 and it's finally starting to slow down?
12:14I think there's a few things when you look at that.
12:17And to that point, I mean, you can also look at his yards before contact.
12:22That's also been evaporating this season, and I think that's been the biggest problem
12:26is that he's getting contacted.
12:29I think last week it was within 0.7 yards for first contact,
12:37which is, you know, you're basically at the line of scrimmage.
12:39So that's a big problem.
12:41And so I just mentioned the offensive line.
12:44You know, they've had issues at guard and center,
12:47in particular on the interior there throughout, you know, the past several weeks.
12:53You know, they drafted Vango Wani, a very talented rookie, right guard.
12:59Now he's injured.
13:01You know, the center, they were on a few different iterations there.
13:04They bring, finally, Cam Juergens clears concussion protocol.
13:08He starts last week.
13:10Vango Wani gets hurt.
13:12John Simpson has probably been below average at left guard.
13:17The two tackles, Roger Rosengarten, Ronnie Stanley, I think they've been okay, not great.
13:23Rosengarten's probably been better than Stanley in that regard.
13:27So I think the offensive line's been a problem.
13:29You mentioned Lamar.
13:30Lamar, that's certainly a problem because, look, Tyler Snoop Huntley, as much as he's a capable backup,
13:37he is a backup.
13:38And he's not the same dynamic player that Lamar is, and teams know that.
13:42And so they scheme and treat this team differently when you're facing Tyler Huntley than you do Lamar Jackson.
13:49They can bring more people up to the box, and they can hone in on the running game.
13:55And then, of course, the question, 32 years old, at what point is Derrick Henry going to slow down?
14:02Maybe we're starting to see that.
14:04I'm not quite sure it's entirely there yet, but I think certainly those first two issues of the offensive line
14:10and Lamar Jackson not being out there, I think plays probably the biggest role.
14:16Brian Wacker, Baltimore Sun, on the Western Hotline, on Bills-Ravens.
14:19Brian, thanks for the time, and enjoy the game on Sunday.
14:23Look forward to being up there. Thanks, guys.
14:25All right. You'll see the new house, which is, I mean, we like it.
14:28It's pretty nice, so enjoy it. Thanks, Brian.
14:31Can't wait.
14:33I was thinking about Allen with this, and Lamar with this, too.
14:37Like, you know, they get compared a lot because are they not the two MVPs that haven't been to a
14:45Super Bowl,
14:45not just won it?
14:47And if you think about that concept, think about how much Joe Burrow going to one has done for him.
14:53He went to one, and he didn't win.
14:57He was close, but he didn't win.
14:59Just going to one has really, what, dialed the heat down on him?
15:05We do not talk about Burrow the same way with Allen and Jackson.
15:08Maybe it's because he's missed more time.
15:10I think, is it that, is it that he's made it, or is it that nobody thinks he's as good
15:13as those two?
15:15Because he's not an MVP.
15:16No.
15:17He's rarely in the MVP conversation.
15:19You're saying he doesn't get the same scrutiny because he's not thought of on the same level?
15:22Yeah. I think maybe there's a thought that he's just a, maybe it's not even a big step,
15:27but he's a step below Allen and Jackson.
15:29Maybe.
15:30The thing about the differences in personalities, like listening to Brian talk about how Lamar is, you know,
15:34there's an inner circle and very protected.
15:37And, you know, as a teammate, I'm sure he's a popular teammate.
15:40I don't know much about him.
15:41I was thinking about this with regard to Allen because Allen is what?
15:46Everybody's favorite teammate.
15:47You know, how much do we know about him?
15:49How much does his personality come through?
15:52Whether it's on the field, off the field.
15:54I feel like Bills fans feel a closeness to this quarterback that is, is it rare?
16:00Right?
16:01You can like your quarterback.
16:03You can think he's great.
16:03But Bills fans are family, like in their minds to Allen because of how he puts the team on his
16:11back
16:11and how he plays for them.
16:12And there's probably a delicate way for Allen to be the teammate that he is.
16:17And what I mean by that is, if the Bills were a band, the Bills would be the band where
16:24the lead singers on the cover of every magazine
16:26and the entire supporting cast never gets mentioned.
16:30And yet, the supporting cast generally loves him universally.
16:36Right?
16:37Allen does get all of the credit and maybe all the blame, but on a level that's not like other
16:45teams.
16:45You know, you'll have another, have the Bills done enough for Allen.
16:50You see that post on Twitter, oh, the Bills don't surround Allen, then he helped.
16:53And right underneath it is, the offensive line's top three.
16:56The run game led the league last year.
16:58They went out and traded for DJ Moore.
17:01They've got enough pieces around him.
17:02This idea that they don't support him at all, like it's not really true.
17:07And yet, that seems to still be, the magazine cover is still Allen on the front page.
17:13No one else gets credit.
17:15McDermott, gone.
17:16No credit for him.
17:16It was all Allen.
17:17Joe Brady, has he had a good start to his career as the coach?
17:20Maybe.
17:21Who gets the credit for it?
17:22Josh Allen does.
17:23Right?
17:23Like he's, and I'm not saying that's wrong to give him all the credit.
17:26I feel like all I'm saying is for Allen to be the kind of teammate that he is,
17:32if he were a jerk, we would know about it.
17:36We would hear about it because guys might get resentful that they aren't getting the credit.
17:41I almost want to treat it like, well, when does that happen though?
17:44When does the guy get notified, noticed as the jerk?
17:47Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay started to get that, but when?
17:50At the very end.
17:51At the very end.
17:52And was he just, did he change?
17:54Was he a good soldier before that?
17:56And we just didn't find out?
17:58Or was it, oh, he was winning MVPs?
17:59No, I think all the profiling on Rodgers was maybe that he was always like that.
18:03But that's what I mean, did we know about it while it was happening?
18:06Or did we not find out until it started to dip?
18:08And that's where, like I'm curious about Jackson for that.
18:12You don't hear any about it.
18:13There's a Sammy Watkins story from a couple of years ago in Consider the Messenger
18:17because he says stuff, sometimes it's outlandish.
18:20There's alien comments from him that are like really weird.
18:22I mean, he did go after Lamar while he was on the Ravens.
18:26Like, you're not out here.
18:28And we're out here putting our bodies on the line.
18:30Why aren't you with us?
18:31Why aren't you doing it the same way?
18:33He's the only guy that's ever said that publicly.
18:35And I wonder, is everybody there just on board with it?
18:39Everybody's okay?
18:40I'm a Ravens player, and I'm playing with three different injuries,
18:44but I'm doing it because that's, there's Spencer Brown yesterday.
18:46He's being drugged up like he's a small elephant.
18:48And guess what's probably going to happen on Sunday?
18:50He's going to play through a back injury.
18:52And if you're a guy like that on the Ravens, and you're fighting through that,
18:56and then your quarterback over here isn't willing to do the same thing,
18:59how do you feel about him?
19:02And you probably wouldn't know about that publicly while he's your quarterback, right?
19:05Right.
19:06Because if you did, maybe you would get unnamed sources.
19:09You wouldn't see their name on it, but you would see some story at some point about,
19:13hey, I've got a few unnamed sources here that are Ravens players that are like,
19:17yeah, it's BS that this guy doesn't do what we do, putting it on the line injury-wise.
19:22Where you play, not even injury, you play hurt, but you don't play injured.
19:268-0-3-0-5-50.
19:27Bills and Ravens on Sunday, 1 o'clock.
19:31Good old Sunday 1 o'clock game.
19:33How many more Sunday 1 o'clock's are there?
19:34There's a good number, right?
19:36Miami is a home Sunday 1 o'clock game, and I think that might be it.
19:42The Jet game at the end of the year is a to-be-determined.
19:46It's probably going to be Sunday 1 o'clock.
19:47Dolphins Sunday 1 o'clock.
19:49Both Dolphins games are at 1 o'clock.
19:51And that's it.
19:52And the Jets game on the road.
19:54So you've got this one, the Jets on the road, two Dolphins, and then maybe another.
19:59So four.
20:00So Jets and Dolphins games.
20:03Non-division games, they don't have another 1 o'clock game scheduled.
20:08Well, from week 12 to 16, they go Thursday 8-20, 4-25, 8-20 Sunday night,
20:15Saturday 8-20, Friday 4-30.
20:17Who's the Thursday game?
20:18Packer?
20:19The Thursday game is the Chiefs.
20:20That's Thanksgiving.
20:21Right, Thanksgiving.
20:22Thanksgiving, Christmas, Sunday night football, a Saturday night game, a Sunday 4-25 game.
20:27Yeah.
20:28This one-seed race.
20:29Win on Sunday.
20:31The Chiefs have a little bit of a test against the Broncos, right?
20:34Win on Sunday.
20:35Yeah, they did look great against Denver in week one.
20:38Yeah.
20:40But they, well, Denver still doesn't look good either.
20:44I don't know what to do with Denver, yeah.
20:45Denver has four.
20:46Are they four or five and two?
20:47What's the record?
20:48Either way, they beat Arizona last week.
20:51You know, Bo Nix is running to the end zone with nobody 30 yards near him.
20:55They do not look good on offense at all.
20:58And they've got some good...
21:00They're five and two.
21:00They somehow beat Seattle.
21:02They've beaten Seattle, Jacksonville, and the Rams.
21:04And I still feel like I don't want to take that team seriously.
21:07It's mostly just the quarterback.
21:09The quarterback looks terrible this season.
21:12And Waddle, of the...
21:14I said this the other day.
21:15Of the receiver trades in the offseason, the big ones, like DJ Moore is not...
21:20We're hopeful, and it's looked good when he's been out there, but it's still only 12 catches through eight games.
21:24And I think you could say he's the best one.
21:27That's the best of the big receiver deals, right?
21:29Yeah.
21:29Because A.J. Brown is not happening at all, and he was hurt.
21:34And Waddle's not helping the Broncos at all, and he's hurt.
21:38Well, Waddle might not be helping the Broncos because he's got the ability to get downfield,
21:41and Bo Nix can't throw more than three yards.
21:43That might be a little bit of a mismatch there.
21:45Probably right.
21:46803-0550, shots of audio.
21:49When we return, we'll get the best sound from around the sports world.
21:53Jeremy and Joe on WGR.
21:56WGR.
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