Who Should I Start? Cooper Rush or Kenny Pickett

Tuesday, August 19, 7:11 PM

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that quarterback Cooper Rush will likely start in Saturday's preseason finale against the Washington Commanders. Harbaugh is likely to handle player participation this weekend like he did in the second preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys when he sat most of the starters. Lamar Jackson will end up not playing in any preseason action this year as he looks for another MVP-like season. In last week's win over Dallas, the 31-year-old Rush went 20-for-30 passing for 198 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Rush hasn't been very good in two preseason games, but he's still fully expected to open the 2025 regular season in September as the primary backup to Jackson and ahead of Devin Leary. If Jackson were to miss any time in 2025, Baltimore wouldn't be asking much of Rush in the passing game.

Tuesday, August 19, 6:32 PM

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said that quarterback Kenny Pickett (hamstring) would do some team drills at practice on Tuesday for the first time since injuring his hamstring on July 26. It's progress for Pickett, but he was still limited in practice. The Browns officially announced on Monday that veteran Joe Flacco will be their starting signal-caller going into Week 1 of the regular season, so at best, the 27-year-old Pickett will be Cleveland's QB to begin the year if he can get over his nagging hamstring injury in the next two weeks. It would help his cause if he gets cleared to play in the preseason finale on Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams. If Pickett isn't healthy enough to be Flacco's backup in the season opener, that job will fall to one of rookies Shedeur Sanders (oblique) or Dillon Gabriel. It's why the Browns are considering carrying four QBs on their initial 53-man roster.