Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will undergo surgery on his injured right thumb and will be placed on injured reserve, coach Jesse Minter said after a 36-10 loss at the Buffalo Bills.
Asked if this was a season-ending injury, Minter replied, “Potentially, but we’ll see where it’s at.”
Minter declined to provide any details about Jackson’s injury and whether the thumb is dislocated or broken, per ESPN.
After missing the last three games with a high left ankle sprain, Jackson hurt his thumb on his first snap Sunday. While throwing a pass, Jackson had his right hand struck by the hand of Bills outside linebacker Greg Rousseau , who was attempting to knock down the throw.
Jackson walked off the field with his misshapen and battered thumb. He was soon ruled out for the rest of the game.
“Obviously, it sucks the way this game is kind of cruel like that,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said.
The Ravens are dealing with a run of injuries at quarterback and are unsure who will start Thursday night’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Backup quarterbackTyler “Snoop” Huntley left the game in the second quarter and didn’t return because of a right toe injury. Minter said he’s not sure of Huntley’s status.
A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Huntley suffered what is thought to be a turf toe injury. He is expected to undergo an MRI on Monday to determine how much time if any he could miss, the source added.
Joe Fagnano, the Ravens’ No. 3 quarterback, finished out the game by completing 10-of-21 passes for 91 yards and one interception. The undrafted rookie out of Connecticut fell to the ground holding his left knee after Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver put his shoulder into it. Oliver was flagged for roughing the passer.
On whether he’ll be ready to play Thursday, Fagnano said, “Yeah, I think so.”
Minter said the Ravens will figure out by Monday whether the Ravens need to add a quarterback.
With Jackson going on injured reserve, the Ravens’ once promising season is teetering. Baltimore (4-4), which entered the season with the second shortest odds to win the Super Bowl, has lost three straight to fall into last place in the AFC North and has dropped two games behind the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers.
The four games that Jackson definitely will miss are against the Jaguars (5-2) and Los Angeles Chargers (0-6) at home and at the Carolina Panthers (3-4) and Houston Texans (2-5)
“We’ll do everything in our power to keep rolling, to keep this thing going, to get it back on the right side with whatever that looks like and whoever that’s playing,” said Minter, who is in his first season as the Ravens’ head coach. “It’s definitely my job to make sure that we stay together, that we don’t point fingers, that we have each other’s back, that we believe in the next man up mentality. It’s what we’ve talked about a lot. And sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t. So we got to really, really just pour into the belief and believe in the guys that we have and move forward.”
Baltimore has an underwhelming track record when Jackson is injured.
The Ravens are 7-14 (.333) since 2019 in games where Jackson has not started, averaging 17.6 points. This season, Baltimore has scored six touchdowns in 18 quarters without Jackson.
“It’s a very unforgiving game and you can’t control the circumstances, but all you can do is control your response,” Ravens middle linebacker Roquan Smith said. “Obviously it sucks, but season’s not over.”
This was supposed to be the game where the Ravens were galvanized by the return of Jackson. He had missed the past three games with a high left ankle sprain.
Instead, the Ravens watched Jackson head into the tunnel with his right hand wrapped just after he had gotten back on the field.
“I had first-hand witness of him coming in the training room every day, fighting to get back for this team and then one play that happens,” Fagnano said. “But this is the NFL and crazy things happen.”
Ravens right tackle Roger Rosengarten was distraught over Lamar Jackson’s injury because he was blocking Greg Rousseau, whose hand hit Jackson to cause the right thumb injury.
“I got to get more space away from Lamar, especially on the first one,” Rosengarten said. “So that one’s definitely eating at me … it all falls on my shoulders.”
It’s been nine years since a team has had this run of injuries at quarterback this early in a game. The last time a team had three quarterbacks throw a pass in a first half was the 2017 Dallas Cowboys.
When Ravens players walked into the locker room at halftime, they saw Jackson with his right hand in a brace and Huntley sitting with his right foot in a bucket of ice.
The Ravens finished with 68 net yards passing on Sunday, which are their fewest in nine years.
“When back’s against the wall and stuff starts hitting the fan, you really find out what this team is made of and certain players are made of,” Rosengarten said.
If Jackson doesn’t play again this season, it’s possible that his last play with the Ravens ended with him walking off the field in pain. After not reaching a contract extension this offseason, Jackson is set to enter the final year of his contract in 2027 with an $84.34 million cap hit, which is a figure that the Ravens need to reduce in order to build next season’s roster.
If the sides don’t strike a new deal before the upcoming offseason – and the Ravens have maintained optimism about reaching an extension with Jackson – Baltimore could look to trade him. Jackson has no-trade and no-tag clauses, which means he would have to sign off on any deal.
Culled from ESPN
