Rich on If the 4-5 Baltimore Ravens’ Season Is Beyond Saving without Lamar Jackson

The Baltimore Ravens are 4-5, down to their third-string quarterback for one night, and suddenly fielding questions about trading Derrick Henry. Rich's verdict: the division is probably gone, the season is not, and trading Henry would be absurd.

"The Ravens are the team right now at a crossroads," Rich said. "I'm not telling any tales out of school here."

He was sympathetic to the situation. Joe Fagnano of UConn made his first career start against the Jacksonville Jaguars, on a short week, in front of the whole country, in the rain. The playbook looked basic, with a lot of direct snaps to Henry. "They tried their best," Rich said. "It was a very tall order to ask."

But Fagnano wasn't the main problem. "Joe Fagnano is not playing defense," Rich said. The Jaguars marched right down the field to open the game, and the Ravens defense gave up a big play with Humphrey getting turned around. "You want your kid quarterback to perform well under dire circumstances. You can't just give up a touchdown to start the game, basically." The game was still within reach until the rain came down and "the roof caved in."

With Jacoby Brissett now the guy moving forward, Rich laid out what's realistic. "I think the division's gone," he said. The Ravens already lost at home to Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh is still on the schedule in Weeks 15 and 18. Could Brissett come in and be "the Nick Foles here"? Sure. But Rich sees a wild card as more realistic, maybe with 10 wins, and that requires a defense that "has got to hold its own."

He traced how fast it all turned. A 4-1 start. Snoop Huntley stepping in for one of the wins to make it three in a row. Then the Ohio teams took them out. "Just when you think here comes Lamar back, disaster hits. In the span of a half of football you lose both your quarterbacks."

There is a path. Week 10 brings a Monday night game against the Chargers, then trips to Carolina and Houston before the bye. Win two of those three and Baltimore is 6-6 heading into the break. After it come Tampa, Pittsburgh twice and a division finish. If the Ravens get healthy while everyone else is nicked up and Brissett "starts winging it around," Rich said they could win the division. "They can," he said. "I just think realistically, the way everyone else is playing, a wild card's more like it."

What he definitely doesn't believe in is pulling the plug and trading Henry. "Where did that one come from?" Rich asked.

Henry sounded frustrated after the game. "Wasn't good enough. Got to be better. They were the better team," he said. "We lost four times. It's frustrating, so got to be better. Watch the film, get better from it." He added, "Got eight games left. Got to go back to work. That's all I can tell you. I don't have the magical answer." Asked if he plans to stay, Henry said, "I have not mentioned me going anywhere else. I'm saying let's go back to work."

Someone on set had seen trade rumors earlier in the week, possibly wishcasting by fans or other teams. Rich wasn't buying it. "The Ravens don't pull the plug on the season when they're one game under .500. This franchise doesn't pull plugs."

They're not winning the Super Bowl, came the pushback. "Stranger things have happened," Rich said, "but one thing, they're definitely not going to win the Super Bowl if they trade Derrick Henry. For what?" A Day 2 pick if you're lucky, or a Day 3 pick? "That's what the Ravens are going to do now? For Derrick Henry?"

Rich acknowledged that four division games remain, and sweeping them would change everything. The problem is the starting point: the Ravens are the only sub-.500 team in the division. And he couldn't get over the whiplash. Five days earlier, the Ravens were heading into the Bills' new stadium with Lamar back, thinking they could beat Buffalo, go on a run and win the division or the conference. "Five days later, Derrick Henry's like, 'Yeah, I want to be here.' What? The hell happened?"

The defense is part of it. The Ravens have given up 33 or more points in three straight games against Buffalo, Cincinnati and Jacksonville, all stout offenses. And while Baltimore has played without Jackson in recent seasons, Rich noted, "they're not used to playing with a kid getting his first career start."

He did enjoy seeing Fagnano's family in the stands. But Brissett is coming for a reason. "It's crazy how quickly things can change in the NFL."