With or without Lamar Jackson, this weekend always felt like a last stand of sorts for the Baltimore Ravens.
Fresh off an open date — and with the roster a lot healthier than it was earlier this month — the Ravens host the Chicago Bears on Sunday. At 1-5, Baltimore is already in quite a hole, but after Chicago the schedule eases up significantly. The question is: At what point might it be too late?
“The bye week was great," center Tyler Linderbaum said. "A good reset, good opportunity to get guys healthy and a good opportunity to make a run and go 12-5.”
Just getting to 2-5 won't necessarily be easy. The Bears (4-2) arrive on a four-game winning streak, but after that the Ravens face Miami (1-6), Minnesota (3-4), Cleveland (2-5), the New York Jets (0-7) and Cincinnati (3-4). There's a chance to make a run if Baltimore can just win one game to start it.
But the Ravens won't have Jackson back just yet. He practiced this week but was ruled out Saturday.
“It’s really not what I have to see. It’s the player that really has to feel comfortable going out there and putting themselves in position to play,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Thursday. “He says he’s ready to go, I’m ready to go. I feel great. Any great player that says they want to play, I’m all-in. It’s up to him.”
The Bears are one of only three teams Jackson has never played against. The other two are the Ravens (obviously) and the Green Bay Packers. Jackson was ill the previous time Baltimore faced Chicago, in 2021.
“We'll approach it that he's starting for them,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said, well before the final word came on Jackson's status. “That's our starting point.”
The Bears have gotten huge contributions from their running game since their Week 5 bye, particularly from D'Andre Swift.
The 2023 Pro Bowler has run for 232 yards and a touchdown in that two-game span to go with 81 yards receiving and a TD catch. He went off against New Orleans last week, running for a season-high 124 yards and a score.
Rookie Kyle Monangai added a career-high 81 yards and a touchdown, and Chicago racked up a season-best 222 yards on the ground.
“A lot of times you go execute those base things that go on within football, steps and hand placement when it comes to blocking and those type of things, and tracks and landmarks and wide receiver perimeter blocking,” quarterback Caleb Williams said. “When you have all that start to hit and click, and a lot of times that's just the base things, it's not even the scheme or anything. You do those things, you can positively affect the team on the ground. I think we've done a good job with that the past two weeks.”
This will be the first time Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith faces Chicago since the Bears traded him to Baltimore during the 2022 season. He was an All-Pro that season and then twice more since.
Chicago did get a second-round pick in the deal, which the Bears used to select Gervon Dexter, now one of their starters on the defensive line.
The Bears lead the NFL with 16 takeaways, and all but one have come in the past four games. They've come away with at least three turnovers in each of those outings.
Chicago hasn't done that in five consecutive games in a single season since 1979. The Bears did it in six straight that season.
The Ravens are near the bottom of the NFL in turnover margin at minus-7. Baltimore has just three takeaways on the season. Only the New York Jets (one) have fewer.
Several other Ravens who were dealing with injuries before the open date are expected to play against Chicago. That includes Smith (hamstring), tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle) and fullback Patrick Ricard (calf).
With Jackson out, Tyler Huntley guided Baltimore to a 16-13 win at Chicago in 2021. Andy Dalton and Justin Fields played quarterback for the Bears.
AP Sports Writer Andrew Seligman contributed to this report.
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Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) passes against the New Orleans Saints in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson looks on from the sidelines during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Voting began Thursday in Uganda’s presidential election despite a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.
Crowds gathered and long lines formed in some areas as polling station openings were delayed and voting materials were seen being delivered after the scheduled 7 a.m. opening time.
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.
The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls are expected to close at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the electoral commission. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.
Impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays Thursday morning. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.
“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do," he said.
Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.
In addition to delayed voting materials, biometric voter identification machines were not working properly, Nganda said, adding that delays likely will lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support.
“It’s going to be chaos,” he said.
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. Some critics say removing him through elections remains difficult, but the aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59%, Wine secured 35% of the ballots against Museveni’s 58%, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.
The lead-up to Thursday's election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and opposition strategies to prevent vote tampering at polling stations.
Uganda's internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.
There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.
Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.
Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.
“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.
The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.
“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right."
Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”
Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.
Uganda opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, right, greets election observers, including former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, at his home in Magere village on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
Billboards of Uganda President and National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni are seen in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)
Electoral workers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Voters are reflected in a police officer's sunglasses as they wait in line after voting failed to start on time due to system failures during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Voters wait to cast their ballots during the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
