Lamar Jackson will undergo surgery on his right thumb and be placed on injured reserve, Baltimore Ravens head coach Jesse Minter said after Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, according to the Ravens.
Jackson was hurt on Baltimore’s first play. His right hand collided with Bills pass rusher Gregory Rousseau as he threw a pass, and he grabbed for his hand before going first to the sideline and then to the locker room, the Ravens said.
Asked whether it could be season-ending injured reserve, Minter said, “potentially.”
“It’s tough,” Minter said. “When it happened, I think at the time, you’re just hoping that maybe it’s something small, and then I think pretty quickly kind of realized what had happened.”
Baltimore lost 36-10, according to Reuters.
Jackson returned to the sideline in the third quarter with a cast on his right hand. Right tackle Roger Rosengarten took blame for the protection on the play.
“That first play was super unfortunate,” Rosengarten said. “One hand away. Got to get more space away from Lamar, especially on the first one. That one is definitely eating at me, but have to move on to next week.”
The backup also went down
Tyler Huntley took over for Jackson but suffered a toe injury in the second quarter. That sent undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano into his NFL debut, and he went 10-of-21 for 91 yards with one interception and a lost fumble, the Ravens said.
“That’s a tough deal, and then the next guy [Huntley] as well [going down],” Minter said. “I thought Joe came in – to his credit, not really getting a lot of reps in preparation – hung in there, did some good stuff.”
A return that lasted one play
Jackson had missed three games with an ankle injury he suffered near the end of the first half against the Tennessee Titans, when a defender landed on his ankle as he was chased from behind. Baltimore lost back-to-back games to AFC North rivals while he was out, the Ravens said.
“I was upset,” said wide receiver Zay Flowers, who was held without a catch for the first time in his career. “I want him to play, so I was upset.”
Baltimore is now 4-4. Tight end Mark Andrews pointed to the short week ahead.
“Obviously, it’s a tough break and it’s sad, and a lot of unfortunate things went our way,” Andrews said. “But we have a game in four days, so we have to be able to bounce back, get our bodies right, recover the best we can and be able to come back and fight through this adversity, fight through this battle. We’re getting tested, and we have to respond.”
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