Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco practiced on Thursday but it was only on a limited basis and he could sit out again for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Flacco last played in Week 9 when he suffered a hip injury in a 23-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 4.. He sat out Baltimore’s wins over the Oakland Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals as rookie Lamar Jackson delivered two flashy performances.
In the two games Flacco has sat out, Jackson rushed for 190 yards, including 117 in 24-21 win over Cincinnati in Week 11 after Baltimore’s bye week.
Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Award winner, was not officially named the starter for the third straight week but in the part of practice open to the media, Flacco appeared to be limited in his activities as he took part in passing drills with Jackson and Robert Griffin III
Flacco saw a specialist Monday and Wednesday coach John Harbaugh said Flacco was “progressing very well” from the hip injury. Harbaugh also said Flacco would need to practice in order to return but did not specify how much he needed to participate in practice.
Flacco initially sustained the injury when Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt drove him to the ground on the sixth play of the game. Tuitt was penalized for being offsides and on the next play Cameron Heyward hit Flacco, who stayed in the game and completed 23-of-37 passes for 206 yards.
The original timetable for Flacco to recover was three to four weeks.
