It was only one preseason game, but the Baltimore Ravens cannot have liked what they saw from their backup quarterbacks.
Lamar Jackson sat out of the Ravens' 16-13 preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday, thrusting No. 2 quarterback Josh Johnson, a 38-year-old journeyman, into a starting role.
There were already some fears about the Ravens quarterback depth heading into training camp. Neither Johnson nor sixth-round rookie Devin Leary have had particularly strong training camps. Preseason action didn't assuage those fears.
All of the usual disclaimers are here: It's preseason. Johnson was playing behind a makeshift offensive line without two proven starters. The Ravens' top offensive weapons didn't play.
But Johnson went just 4-of-12 for 62 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a 51.4 passer rating. The Ravens didn't convert on third down with Johnson at quarterback, and they managed only two field goals.
Passing incompletions can be misleading. On one occasion, Johnson scrambled away from defenders, threw across his body, and hit undrafted wide receiver Dayton Wade, who dropped the ball, negating a 15-yard gain.
Still, Johnson's play was uninspiring. Leary took over in the third quarter and didn't do much better, completing 6-of-10 passes for 37 yards. He did run in a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh didn't seem concerned after the game, saying that the unusual combinations of players may have thrown off the timing of the offense.
"It"s preseason," Harbaugh said of Johnson’s performance (via Baltimore Banner's Jonas Shaffer). "I think if you watch all of the preseason games, you're going to see the same things. I thought he handled it well, made some really good throws. The timing and that sort of thing, yes, that's tough to evaluate, because the guys aren't all out there. It's not always going to look real great, but I thought he handled himself really well and made some really good throws. [He] protected the football like you want him to do and got us in the right plays, made some decisions on which plays to get us into, which is part of our offense, so that's kind of where it’s at."
Harbaugh's comments suggest that the Ravens only want a game manager out of Johnson, and he partially performed his duties by avoiding any turnovers. Indeed, The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec has written that the Ravens trust in Johnson as a game manager and believe he would be prepared if he needed to start. Perhaps the offense would look slightly better and more manageable with all of the starters in the game.
But if the Ravens have dreams of another deep postseason run, they need to be sure that Jackson's backup can help keep them afloat. A long-term injury to Jackson would obviously tank Baltimore's season. But if Jackson were to miss 2-3 weeks with some injury, a loss or two could still upend the Ravens' season in a brutally competitive AFC North.
There's still more preseason to evaluate Johnson. But another inefficient performance could make calls for a more proven backup grow louder.