Lamar Jackson heads to IR, Ravens turn to Joe Fagnano

Lamar Jackson had just missed 3 games with a high left ankle sprain. Sunday in Buffalo was supposed to be the comeback, and it lasted exactly 1 play.

Adam Schefter

@AdamSchefter

Lamar Jackson has been ruled out with a right thumb injury.

On that first snap, Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau went up to knock down the pass and his hand came down on Jackson's right thumb. Jackson was out before the first quarter was over. That made it Tyler Huntley's game, and for a while that looked survivable. Then Huntley started limping on his dropbacks, got blasted on a third down and coughed up a fumble. By the second quarter the Ravens were down to Joe Fagnano, the undrafted rookie out of UConn who was only dressed as the emergency No. 3 and had never taken a regular-season snap.

Jay Skurski

@JaySkurski

The Ravens are down to emergency quarterback Joe Fagnano, who has come into the game and immediately completed two passes.

He hit his first 2 throws, which was nice while it lasted. Then he threw a pick trying to get the ball to Zay Flowers with 2 Bills on him, Huntley was officially ruled out with a toe injury, and Fagnano was the only quarterback the Ravens had left. Naturally, he got hurt next.

Jeff Zrebiec

@jeffzrebiec

Can't make this up. Now, Fagnano is limping and flexing his left foot after taking a penalized hit by Ed Oliver.

Fagnano stayed in, and to his credit he stood in and delivered a third-down throw while taking that hit. It didn't matter much. Buffalo won 36-10, Fagnano finished 10 of 21 for 91 yards and a pick, and Baltimore ended up with 68 net passing yards, its lowest total in 9 years. The offensive line was a disaster all afternoon too, so you can't hang all of it on the No. 3 quarterback.

Tom Pelissero

@TomPelissero

The Ravens signed QB Austin Reed to the practice squad. With Lamar Jackson headed to IR and Snoop Huntley battling turf toe, Reed is now in line to back up rookie Joe Fagnano on Thursday night against the Jaguars.

The real gut punch came after the game. Jesse Minter told reporters Jackson needs surgery on the thumb and is going on injured reserve, which means 4 games minimum. When he was asked if the season might be over, he didn't say no.

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

#Ravens QB Lamar Jackson will have surgery on his thumb and will go on Injured Reserve, per coach Jesse Minter. “We’ll see” if it’s season ending.

That loss puts the Ravens at 4-4 and in last place in the AFC North, 2 games behind Pittsburgh. Since 2019 they're 7-14 when Jackson doesn't play. And this week is a short one, with Jacksonville on Thursday night, so there's barely any time to sort out the quarterback room. By Sunday night Huntley's toe had a name too.

Adam Schefter

@AdamSchefter

Ravens QB Tyler “Snoop” Huntley suffered what is thought to be a turf toe injury today at Buffalo, per source. He is expected to undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine how much time if any he could miss. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson already is being placed on IR due to a thumb injury.

Turf toe is a nasty one for a quarterback who wins with his legs, and it tends to hang around. By Monday morning the TV shows had stopped talking about whether Baltimore had a problem and were asking how long it would last.

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

From @GMFB: #Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (thumb) could be out for the season, Snoop Huntley (toe) is out for the foreseeable future, and Joe Fagnano is next up. What does the future hold for Baltimore?

Monday afternoon the Ravens made their move, and it was more of an emergency patch than a fix. They signed Austin Reed to the practice squad and released FB/TE Lucas Scott to make room. Reed spent part of training camp in Baltimore, and he also worked with offensive coordinator Declan Doyle in Chicago in 2025, which helps when you've got 2 practices to learn the plan.

Jeff Zrebiec

@jeffzrebiec

The Ravens signed QB Austin Reed to their practice squad. He was with them for part of the preseason/training camp and also was OC Declan Doyle in Chicago in 2025. As long as Joe Fagnano is good enough to go, Reed could be the Ravens' No. 2 Thursday.

As long as Fagnano's foot holds up, he starts Thursday night against the Jaguars with Reed backing him up. Fagnano says he expects to be good to go. Expect Baltimore to keep calling around about quarterbacks, because a rookie who was the emergency No. 3 a week ago and a guy off the practice squad is no way to run a.500 team. Next up is Huntley's MRI, then Jackson's surgery, and whatever timeline comes out of that tells us if the Ravens still have a season.