Lamar Jackson has mixed emotions about playing a road game on Christmas for the second straight year.
The Ravens are flying to Houston to face the Texans on Christmas Eve and won't return to Baltimore until late Christmas night. Jackson chuckled when asked how he felt about spending his second straight Christmas away from home, before explaining his feelings.
In some ways, he's glad the Ravens are a popular choice to play on Christmas.
"That means we're good," Jackson said. "But at the same time, I do want to celebrate at home sometimes with my family. I don't want to be playing on Christmas all the time."
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley paused for a bit when asked whether he likes playing on Christmas.
"Sure," he said. "I don't dislike it. I think it's an honor to play on Christmas Day, because first of all, it's an important day; it's Christmas. There are not that many games on. It's a very big stage to play on, so it's definitely an honor."
Jackson hopes the Ravens perform as well, or better, than they did last season when they rolled to a convincing 33-19 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. The Ravens locked in and played one of their best games of the 2023 season, and Jackson believes they will respond well again.
"It's great, all jokes aside," Jackson said. "It's a present for everyone. They get to see us play and a lot of eyes on us. I believe a lot of people are going to be watching us at the right time."
Michael Pierce Feels Fresher Down the Stretch
Michael Pierce has unfortunately dealt his fair share of injuries over his career, so when he went down with a calf injury midway through this season, it raised more questions in the 32-year-old nose tackle's mind.
"Am I going to come back and pick up where I left off? Am I going to come back and be a main reason why our defensive line does well?" Pierce said. "To see that happen after you tear your calf and sit out six weeks, it was good to feel like I'm back to normal."
Pierce recorded a sack on Russell Wilson on one of his 13 snaps against the Steelers. He played 23 snaps the week before against the Giants, helping to boost Baltimore's defensive line alongside a healthier Travis Jones.
Pierce said it was "dang near impossible, especially as a big person" to stay in shape, but credited the Ravens' training staff for doing a great job helping him to come back from the calf injury.
Though he was bummed to miss five games, Pierce does see some positives as the Ravens go down the final stretch and into the playoffs.
"My body does not feel like it's about to fall apart," he said. "[Jones] and all those guys that have a couple hundred more reps than I do. It definitely helps in that aspect. Thankfully I played well against the Giants and didn't have much rust. I definitely feel better down the stretch than I did last year."
Desmond King Will Continue As Punt Returner
Head Coach John Harbaugh said Desmond King will be the starting punt returner again in Pittsburgh, despite a fumble and muffed punt Saturday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Fortunately for the Ravens, they gained possession of both miscues. King's first quarter fumble was alertly recovered by Chris Board, while King's muff late in the game was recovered by Kristian Welch.
The Ravens like King's elusiveness. He had a season-long 22-yard return against the New York Giants and 16-yard return versus the Steelers. However, Head Coach John Harbaugh made it clear that protecting the football remains the No. 1 priority.
"'Des' has been a secure guy his whole career and had been with us the first few games. I really anticipate that he'll do well," Harbaugh said. "But obviously it's got to be better than that, and he knows that. Shoot, he was talking to me during the game about it.
"That's priority one. I learned that from Andy Reid, way back when he was a special teams coach. He said the first thing is always going to be a punt catcher. You've got to catch the ball."
Ravens Aren't Holding Anything Back vs. Texans
If the Ravens don't win the AFC North, they could face the Houston Texans again just two weeks later to start the playoffs.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Ravens have a 43% chance of winning the division and being the No. 3 seed. Baltimore has a 35% chance of being the No. 5 seed, which is the second-most likely outcome.
Last season, the Ravens beat the Texans in Week 1 before knocking them out of the playoffs in the divisional round. This season, the two foes could meet twice in two weeks in high-stakes games.
Harbaugh was asked Tuesday whether that possibility will be a factor in how the Ravens approach Wednesday's game from a play-calling standpoint.
"[It's] not a priority," Harbaugh said. "You try to win the game. There's plenty of things that we can come up with for the next game that would be the next iterations of whatever we're doing. Everything we can think of that's good, we're going to try to do it."
