Lamar Jackson’s road back from a broken and dislocated thumb is moving in the right direction, but the Ravens still don’t know whether their star quarterback will play again this season.
Coach Jesse Minter said Friday that Jackson is “doing well” in his rehab after surgery on the right thumb he injured in a Nov. 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Minter added that the usual recovery window for an injury like this runs six to 10 weeks, which puts Jackson’s status squarely in doubt with about eight weeks left before Baltimore’s regular-season finale.
Minter did not say when the operation took place. Jackson has not talked to reporters or addressed the injury publicly since it happened, and Minter was noncommittal Monday when asked whether the quarterback had even had surgery.
Jackson “is doing everything he can to get back,” Minter said in the statement, “and we will let his progress guide the timing of his return.”
The Ravens’ season has gone sideways around him. Baltimore entered the year as one of the AFC’s Super Bowl favorites, but four straight losses have dropped the team to last place in the AFC North. The Ravens are now viewed as long shots to reach the playoffs, and a loss Monday night to the Los Angeles Chargers would push their postseason odds to about 5%, according to The Athletic.
Jackson’s injury is only the latest blow in a season that has chewed through Baltimore’s quarterback depth chart. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player was one of the league’s best players over the first three weeks before a high-ankle sprain in Week 4 knocked him out for three games.
He returned against Buffalo in Week 8, only to get hurt on his first drop-back when his right hand struck the arm of Bills outside linebacker Greg Rousseau on a follow-through. Backup Tyler Huntley then suffered what could be a season-ending toe injury later in that game, and third-stringer Joe Fagnano also hurt his ankle, leaving him limited last week in a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore’s third straight blowout defeat.
With the room stretched thin, general manager Eric DeCosta traded for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett last week. Brissett is set to become the Ravens’ fourth starting quarterback in as many weeks Monday.
“We are committed to playing our best football over the second half of the season,” Minter said.
In Other News...
Ravens Suddenly Face A Coaching Question They Cant Ignore
The Ravens rough start has pushed more than the players under the microscope. After another week of second-half issues and blown leads, the conversation around Baltimore has shifted toward the structure around the team, with former Raiders team president Amy Trask questioning whether the coaching setup is equipped to handle the problems showing up on the field. It is not just about one bad stretch, either. The larger concern is whether the team has enough seasoned support around a first-time head coach to steady things when games start slipping away.
For Baltimore, that makes the next stretch feel less like a simple bounce-back opportunity and more like an evaluation of the whole operation. Trasks criticism went beyond play-calling and game management, touching on roster talent and conditioning as part of the same larger issue. The Ravens still have time to correct course, but the early-season slump has created a hard-to-ignore question about whether the answers lie in the locker room, the coaching staff, or higher up in the organization. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Have One Key Health Question Left Before Week 10
The Ravens are inching toward a much cleaner injury picture ahead of their Week 10 matchup with the Chargers, and the latest practice report offered plenty of encouragement. Jaylinn Hawkins was the lone limited participant because of a knee injury, while a number of other key names took full advantage of the work on the field, including Rashod Bateman and Vega Ioane.
Lamar Jackson and Tavius Robinson were still out, so Baltimore is not all the way back to full strength yet, but the overall trend has been positive as the week has moved along. Coach Jesse Minter also gave an optimistic update on Hawkins recovery, leaving the Ravens with one main health question to monitor before they head into Sunday. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens-Steelers Video Revives Ugly Debate Over Fan Behavior In Front Of A Child
A video from December 2021 has resurfaced on social media and brought an old Ravens-Steelers flashpoint back into view, this one centered on a confrontation between a Steelers fan and a Ravens fan with a child caught in the middle. In the clip, a female Ravens fan throws a drink at the Steelers fan while his son is present, turning a routine rivalry moment into something far uglier and drawing a heated exchange in front of the youngster.
Officers ultimately removed the Ravens fan from the venue, but the original reports never identified the people involved or explained what sparked the dispute. Even so, the footage has revived a familiar debate around how far fan behavior can go in a rivalry that already runs hot, especially when the scene spills over in front of a child who had no part in it. [Read more 🡒]