Lamar Jackson out vs. Bengals, Tyler Huntley starts again

There was real hope this was the week. Then Saturday afternoon the Ravens downgraded their franchise quarterback to out, and the beat confirmed what it meant.

Jeff Zrebiec

@jeffzrebiec

Ravens rule QB Lamar Jackson (ankle) out for Sundays game against Bengals. It will be Tyler Huntley for third straight start.

Jackson hurt his left ankle on the final offensive snap before halftime of the October 4 win over Tennessee, according to ESPN, and he's been rehabbing since. He was limited in practice all week. By Friday he said he still felt it when he ran, and he put the call plainly: "If I can just go out there and feel the pain a little bit, I can play. But if I'm restricted and I can't do what I do, I'm not helping nobody."

What makes this one sting is how close it looked. Jackson took most of the first-team reps Friday, and Baltimore is about to hit the busiest stretch of its season, which is exactly the argument for sitting him one more week.

Tom Pelissero

@TomPelissero

The Ravens have three games in 12 days, with a visit to Buffalo next Sunday and then a home game against the Jaguars on Thursday night. Lamar Jackson was close enough to take a majority of first-team reps Friday. But it'll be Snoop Huntley again Sunday against the Bengals.

So it's Snoop again. Huntley is 6-8 as a fill-in starter for his career, per ESPN. This year he's had one of each: a 30-23 overtime win at Atlanta, then a 13-10 loss at Cleveland where the offense never got going. Over 14 quarters with Jackson, the Ravens scored 116 points and 14 offensive touchdowns. Over 10 quarters with Huntley, it's been 40 points and 4 touchdowns. That's not a small gap.

The Cleveland game hurt in a second way too. About 40 minutes after the Jackson news, Baltimore made its roster moves official, and one of them was putting outside linebacker Tavius Robinson on injured reserve with the pectoral injury he suffered against the Browns. He's done for the season.

Jeff Zrebiec

@jeffzrebiec

Ravens place OLB Tavius Robinson (pectoral) on injured reserve. He'll miss rest of season. The Ravens have signed G/C Kyle Hergel from the practice squad to active roster. He had already used his three standard elevations. OLB Adisa Isaac elevated from PS for tomorrow's game

Safety Jaylinn Hawkins (knee) is also out Sunday, so this is a banged-up 4-2 Ravens team heading into Cincinnati to face a 3-2 Bengals team that is plenty capable of making it a long afternoon. The history isn't great either: ESPN notes Baltimore is 0-3 against Cincinnati without Jackson since 2019.

Then came the number that explains why every Ravens fan is sweating this ankle. A few games without Jackson has been the difference between a normal season and a great one in Baltimore, and the split is ugly.

Jeremy Fowler

@JFowlerESPN

Since 2021, Jackson has missed between 4-5 games three times. In those seasons, Ravens averaged 8.7 wins per year In the two years with a full Jackson, Baltimore averaged 12.5 wins.

Jamison Hensley

@jamisonhensley

Ravens ruled out Lamar Jackson (ankle) for Sunday’s game against the Bengals. Tyler “Snoop” Huntley will start his third straight game for Baltimore.

Nobody's panicking at 4-2, but that's a 4-win difference tied to a handful of missed games, and Jackson is already at 3. Huntley needs to hold serve Sunday, and the real question is whether Lamar is good to go next week in Buffalo. With the Jaguars coming to town on a Thursday right after that, the Ravens can't afford for this ankle to drag on much longer.