The Ravens will head into Sunday Night Football in Week 5 without Lamar Jackson, and that changes the whole feel of their matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
Head coach Jesse Minter told Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic and other reporters on Friday that Jackson is out for the game. Tyler Huntley will start in primetime, leaving Baltimore without its MVP quarterback for a key road test.
“Jesse Minter ruled Lamar Jackson out for Sunday's game in Atlanta,” Zrebiec reported Friday from Minter's press conference.
The decision wasn’t exactly a shock. Jackson didn’t practice at all during the week, and even though Minter had left the possibility of a return open, the signs had been trending toward him sitting out.
Now the Falcons get Huntley, a former Pro Bowl backup who has flashed ability at times over the years when called on to fill in for Jackson.
Baltimore enters the week at 3-1 and tied with the Cleveland Browns atop the AFC North, but it will have to try to keep that pace without its top quarterback. The Browns, meanwhile, are set to face a New York Jets team dealing with its own injury problems, so the standings could look very different after Week 5.
For the Ravens, the burden on the ground game figures to grow. Derrick Henry should see plenty of work with Huntley under center, and Baltimore will need its run game to get rolling against a Falcons defense that has been inconsistent.
The bigger question now is what comes next for Jackson. Week 6 is the next checkpoint, but after a week without any practice, there’s no clean reason to feel great about his chances just yet.
In Other News...
Matt Ryans Falcons Role Is Already Turning Heads Around The NFL
Matt Ryans return to the Falcons has already become more than a ceremonial homecoming. Atlanta brought him in as president of football, a role built around oversight rather than day-to-day control, but he has been present in the places that matter most, around practices and in meetings as the team puts its football operation together.
What has stood out around the league is how seriously Ryan has taken the job after leaving his CBS broadcasting role to commit fully to the Falcons. NBC Sports Chris Simms pointed to that level of involvement as something different from the way some former players handle executive titles, and it is the kind of detail that is already shaping outside perceptions of Atlantas front office. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Get A Very Different Test Sunday Than Anyone Expected
Sundays matchup against Baltimore is already taking on a different shape than the one the Falcons likely spent the week preparing for. The Ravens are moving forward with a change at quarterback, and head coach Jesse Minter said he feels good about Tyler Huntley stepping in if needed, which shifts the spotlight for Atlanta from a familiar star to a backup with a much different profile.
Baltimore is also dealing with a notable absence on the edge, with Trey Hendrickson expected to sit because of a finger injury. For the Falcons, that means the challenge becomes less about surviving the version of the Ravens everyone knows and more about adjusting on the fly to a game plan that may look considerably different by kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons May Need Kendal Daniels More Than Ever Against Baltimore
The Falcons have spent the early part of this season sorting out how best to use their second linebacker spot, leaning on rookies Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. in different situations depending on the matchup. Daniels has drawn the nod when the priority is stopping the run, while Perkins has been asked to handle more of the coverage work, giving Atlanta a flexible but still evolving answer behind its front.
With Baltimore looming, that rotation feels more important than ever. Coach Jeff Ulbrich has been asking Daniels to absorb multiple defensive responsibilities as the Falcons try to match up with physical run games and backs like Derrick Henry, and Daniels has also seen work on the defensive line as part of that broader plan. For Atlanta, the question is less about whether the rookies can help and more about how much of the burden each one will carry when the opponent forces the issue on the ground. [Read more 🡒]