Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will be placed on injured reserve and undergo right thumb surgery after being injured on the team’s first offensive play against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Asked if the injury might be season-ending, Ravens coach Jesse Minter said, “Potentially. We’ll see where it goes.”
Jackson threw an incomplete pass on his first play in the 36-10 loss to the Bills and his throwing hand hit the wrist of Buffalo pass rusher Greg Rousseau. Jackson grabbed his hand and immediately went to the sideline to display that his thumb was out of place. He then was whisked to the locker room and ruled out a short time later.
When Jackson returned to the field in the third quarter, he had a splint on the thumb. Baltimore also lost backup Tyler “Snoop” Huntley (right toe) in the second quarter and finished the game with undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano.
“When you lose your quarterback early — we lost him on the first play. That’ll be a surgery deal. He’ll go to IR,” Minter said. “You know, that’s a tough deal.”
Jackson, a two-time NFL MVP, had missed the previous three games due to a left ankle injury.
“I hope Lamar is doing all right,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen, the 2024 MVP, said in a postgame CBS interview. “You hate to see that from a competitive standpoint.”
Minter didn’t immediately provide an update on Huntley, who had started the previous three games.
Huntley took a blow to his right foot while being pressured by Buffalo’s Ed Oliver with 4:24 left in the first quarter. He immediately had his right foot examined and later appeared to aggravate the toe when he was sacked and lost a fumble in the opening minute of the second quarter.
Fagnano, who played college football at UConn, entered with 9:39 left in the first half to make his NFL debut. He completed 10 of 21 passes for 91 yards, one interception and one lost fumble as Baltimore managed just 144 yards of total offense.
Fagnano injured his right foot late in the third quarter and remained in the game. Baltimore went to a run-heavy attack late in the game.
“Joe, to his credit, not getting a lot of reps and preparation, he hung in there and did some good stuff,” Minter said.
The Ravens (4-4) have lost three straight games – scoring three total points in the second halves of those games — and don’t have much time to sort out their quarterback room. They host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night.
“It’s a short week,” Minter said. “It’s an opportunity to stick together. … We’ll figure out what we have available and we’ll try to put the best plan out there for that short week.”
The Ravens had Skylar Thompson on the practice squad but placed him on IR in August.
Also, former Vanderbilt star Diego Pavia was signed as a rookie free agent after the NFL draft by the Ravens and cut by the team in late July. He’s not with any NFL team.
–Field Level Media
