Will Lamar Jackson finally face Aaron Rodgers? Only if his shaky health allows it

BALTIMORE (AP) — Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers — six MVPs between them — have remarkably never faced each other. It's finally happening this weekend.

Maybe.

With these two, you can't be certain of anything at the moment.

Jackson's Baltimore Ravens host Rodgers' Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday with first place in the AFC North on the line, but although they share the division lead, these two rivals are looking pretty shaky. That's in part because of the health and performance of their star quarterbacks.

Rodgers is the NFL's career leader with a 102.4 passer rating. Jackson is second at 102.2. Neither has played like it of late. Jackson was erratic in Baltimore's loss to Cincinnati on Thanksgiving, and although the Ravens (6-6) won five in a row before that, he didn't look nearly as explosive as usual as a scrambler. Jackson missed three games with hamstring problems earlier this season, and since then, he's dealt with ankle, knee and toe issues.

It appeared all might finally be well when he took the field for practice Wednesday. The Ravens had extra rest after facing the Bengals the previous Thursday. But afterward, Jackson's normal media session was put off — a team spokesman said he was getting treatment — and he showed up as limited on the injury report because of his ankle. Then he didn't practice at all Thursday.

Rodgers, meanwhile, played last weekend against Buffalo with a brace on his broken left wrist. He went 10 of 21 for 117 yards — the fewest completions of Rodgers' career in a game he started and finished. The Steelers (6-6) lost, missing a chance to move a game up on Baltimore.

Rodgers didn't practice Wednesday but was a full participant Thursday.

“It’s definitely healing. I appreciate the extra day off,” he said. “You know, I love the practice, so I hate missing practice, but dealing with what I’m dealing with, it helps to get another day without any pounding on the bones in there. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Rodgers faced the Ravens in 2021 while with Green Bay, but Jackson missed that game with an injury.

This is the 38th meeting between Ravens coach John Harbaugh and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. Only George Halas and Curly Lambeau (49) have faced off more times.

This is also the latest in the season the two have met with neither team boasting a winning record. They were both 5-6 when they played in Week 13 in 2013.

Of course, as frustrating as this year has been, the winner of this game will probably feel pretty good about its playoff chances by Sunday night.

“I think you never would have envisioned 6-6 at this point with the expectations," Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith said. “But at the end of the day, if you told me, Week 14, at the beginning of the season, you’ll be tied for first place, you control your own destiny, I’m signing myself up for that every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”

The last time Pittsburgh was in Baltimore, the Ravens gashed the Steelers for 299 yards rushing while breezing to victory in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.

The Steelers used a significant amount of resources in the offseason in an attempt to become better equipped to stop the run, drafting defensive linemen Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black and outside linebacker Jack Sawyer and signing Daniel Ekuale in free agency, among other moves.

The results have been mixed at best and may have hit a low point last week against Buffalo, when the Bills piled up 249 yards rushing, the most the Steelers have given up to an opponent at home in more than 50 years.

Now Jackson and Derrick Henry are looming. Pittsburgh reviewed video from the playoff loss this week. Nearly 11 months later, the sting hasn't gone away.

“I mean it still sucks,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “To finish the way we did last year ... to allow 300 rushing yards is truly unacceptable. So that’s something I think that’s fueling us for this week.”

Pittsburgh's midseason swoon may have hit its nadir in the fourth quarter against Buffalo last week, when the fans booed the playing of “Renegade," long a late-game staple designed to pump up the defense.

There were also chants for Tomlin's firing and multiple former Steelers — quarterback Ben Roethlisberger chief among them — saying it might be time for the team to move on from Tomlin after 19 seasons.

Tomlin shares the frustration of the fan base, though his players have done their best to put on ear muffs.

“I don't worry about anybody who's not in the locker room,” said longtime defensive captain Cam Heyward, the second-longest tenured player in franchise history. “It's not a diss at them. I think we've just got to worry about the guys in here and focus on the job at hand.”

If Jackson can't go, backup Tyler Huntley already led the Ravens to a big win over Chicago earlier this season when Baltimore was 1-5. Huntley has faced Rodgers before. He played in that 2021 game for Baltimore — a 31-30 loss to the Packers. And when he was with Miami last season, Huntley started the finale for the Dolphins. They lost 32-20 to Rodgers and the New York Jets.

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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) walks to the sideline to be check out for injury during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) is pressured by Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai (58) during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has arrested a suspect five years after an unidentified person placed two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington.

Agents arrested Brian J. Cole Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, on explosive charges. Calls to relatives of Cole listed in public records were not immediately returned.

The mystery behind the person’s identity has bedeviled law enforcement and helped fuel conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, 2021, and the Capitol riot by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters.

Here's what to know about the arrest:

The FBI and Justice Department declined to elaborate on what led them to the suspect. But authorities attributed the arrest to a reinvigorated investigation and a fresh analysis of already collected evidence and data.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said there was no new tip or witness that led officials to Cole. “Just good, diligent police work and prosecutorial work,” she said.

Investigators have, over the years, sought the public’s help in identifying a person shown in surveillance video taken the night before the riot.

They struggled to determine answers to basic questions, including the person’s gender and motive. They didn't know whether the act had a clear connection to the riot at the Capitol a day later, when supporters of Trump stormed the building in a bid to halt the certification of the Republicans’ 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Law enforcement officials used credit purchases of bomb-making materials, cellphone tower data and a license plate reader to zero in on Cole, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.

His bank account and credit card information showed he bought materials in 2019 and 2020 consistent with those used to make the pipe bombs, according to court papers. This included galvanized pipes and white kitchen-style timers, according to the affidavit. The purchases continued even after the devices were placed.

The two explosive devices found at the scenes were each roughly 1 foot (0.3 meters) long and packed with gunpowder and metal, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation.

Cole owns a 2017 Nissan Sentra with a Virginia license plate, the affidavit says. Around 7:10 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2021, Cole’s vehicle drove past a license plate reader less than a half mile from where the person who placed the devices was first spotted on foot around 7:34 p.m. that night, the document says.

Surveillance video showed the person wearing a light sweatshirt, dark pants and sneakers, with a dark backpack slung over one shoulder. Investigators have long said the gait suggested the person was a man, but their face was obscured by a surgical mask and a hood.

Investigators focused some attention on the suspect’s shoes, believed to be Nike Air Max Speed Turfs. Nike told investigators thousands of pairs had been distributed through more than two dozen retailers and so agents filed subpoenas for credit card records from Foot Locker and other chains to narrow down potential buyers.

Authorities didn’t disclose why they think Cole may have placed the explosives at the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees.

Other questions also remain, including whether the act was connected to the assault on the Capitol the following day by Trump’s supporters.

Cole lived with his mother and other family members in a five-bedroom house on a quiet Virginia cul-de-sac about 30 miles (about 48 kilometers) south of the U.S. Capitol. He has no criminal record and was not registered to vote.

One of four children, he worked in the office of his father, a bail bondsman. His mother works as a realtor.

A high school classmate who lived in the same neighborhood and rode the bus with Cole described him as friendly but said he didn’t speak much.

“He didn’t stand out,” said the classmates, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for having their name associated with the suspect in a politically charged criminal case. “As far as I remember, he was well-behaved and quiet.”

Court records show Cole’s parents divorced in October 2020, just a couple of months before authorities allege he planted the bombs.

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Alana Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo, Michael Biesecker and Brian Witte contributed to this report.

FBI Director Kash Patel speaks at the podium during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. Looking on from left is Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Darren Cox. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

An FBI truck departs the street where the FBI made an arrest and are investigating a house in Woodbridge, Va., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

A FBI agent enters the garage of the house where they made an arrest, in Woodbridge, Va., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)