ExtremeRavens Posted September 30 Posted September 30 NFL teams don’t commit eight figures to a backup quarterback unless they expect to need him during a rigorous season. Lamar Jackson suffered a hamstring injury this past Sunday, putting his status in jeopardy for the Ravens’ upcoming Week 5 contest against the Texans. If Jackson, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, is indeed ruled out, consider this week a pulling of the lever on the contingency plan Baltimore paid for. Insert Cooper Rush. The 31-year-old quarterback, who signed a two-year contract worth more than $12 million in March, has built his career on being ready for emergencies. Baltimore’s offseason decision to add Rush centered around this exact scenario, to prevent the season from spiraling the moment No. 8 can’t take the field. Let’s get this part out of the way: Rush isn’t here to impersonate Jackson. Rush is on the Ravens’ payroll because his employer has witnessed the downside of pretending a roster can survive on hope when the starter goes down. It happens every season across the league. Now that insurance policy is being called in. The Ravens are 1-3, and the Texans, also 1-3, arrive Sunday with the league’s No. 1 scoring defense, allowing just 12.8 points per game. Baltimore is still third in scoring offense, but that cushion disappears quickly without Jackson’s legs and tempo. However, Rush has made a living in these moments. Over eight seasons in Dallas, he played in 38 games and completed 330 of 544 passes for 3,463 yards with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Last season, he started eight games when Dak Prescott went down with a season-ending hamstring injury, completing 60.6% (187 of 308) of his throws for a career-high 1,844 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. I covered Rush up close during that recent stretch in Dallas. When Prescott’s hamstring ripped off the bone, the overwhelming panic outside the building never fully made its way into the quarterback room or The Star. Rush kept the offense on schedule, and the Cowboys trusted him with the full playbook — not the watered-down version most backups get as an automatic courtesy. Ravens quarterback Cooper Rush speaks with the media after a training camp practice. Rush has experience stepping in for injured starting quarterbacks. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) While explosive plays were sparse due to Rush’s reluctance to prioritize downfield shots, he provided a sense of calm in the Cowboys huddle. That calm steadiness didn’t turn the Cowboys into contenders. They still missed the playoffs behind a putrid run game and shaky defense, but Rush kept them from completely collapsing. Dallas went 4-4 in the eight games Rush started, and that was with little help around him. The Cowboys finished 2024 with the worst rushing attack in the league, mustering just five rushing touchdowns from running backs all season. Yet, Rush still delivered three games with a passer rating of 108.3 or higher and kept CeeDee Lamb productive enough to finish with 100-plus receptions and All-Pro honors. Rush made the offense functional at a time it should’ve flatlined, and Baltimore took notice. Now he walks into a completely different scenario. Rush gets an opportunity to hand the football to a future Hall of Famer in Derrick Henry. And by the way, Henry’s most carries as a Raven came against Houston last Christmas, when he bulldozed the Texans for 27 rushes, 147 yards and a touchdown. If he’s under center on Sunday, Rush will benefit from that same matchup during his first expected start at M&T Bank Stadium. With Jackson potentially sidelined for a few weeks, the timing here is pertinent. The Texans are followed by a Rams defense that ranks in the top 10 in both scoring and total yards allowed. Then comes the ever-important bye. Then Chicago in Week 8. If Rush can keep Baltimore from digging its grave — and the defense stops imploding — before the halfway point of the season, Jackson returns with a shot at lifting the team to the playoffs. Undoubtedly, the offense will look different under Rush, but not entirely unfamiliar. Todd Monken shouldn’t ask him to be a running threat or an escape artist. Think more timing routes, crossers, easy intermediate completions. Rush, though, isn’t here to skid the tempo to a complete halt. I can vividly recall one of his best highlights from a mid-December victory over the Panthers. Rush’s initial read in the left flat was covered, so with the pocket breaking down and a defensive tackle collapsing on him, he extended the play with his legs, escaped to his right, kept his head up, and fired a 17-yard touchdown to a streaking Jalen Brooks in the back corner of the end zone. WOW!!! What a throw by Cooper Rush and catch by Jalen Brooks for the TD! : FOX pic.twitter.com/z6j6eFReQn — FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 15, 2024 That highlight occurred during a stretch when Dallas was still in the hunt with Rush leading the Cowboys to four victories over five weeks. Back in Owings Mills, coach John Harbaugh framed it simply. “We’ve got a lot of playmakers around him if [Rush is] playing,” he said Monday. In addition to Henry, a four-time All-Pro, Rush also inherits a bevy of pass-catching weapons in Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, DeAndre Hopkins, Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews. Nobody inside The Castle is asking Cooper Rush to play like an MVP. They’re just asking him to keep the Ravens afloat and not waste the roster built around one. Have a news tip? Contact Josh Tolentino at jtolentino@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200, x.com/JCTSports and instagram.com/JCTSports. View the full article Quote
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