Lamar Jackson Ruled Out Again: Ravens Turn to Tyler Huntley at Cleveland on Sunday

BALTIMORE

For the second straight week, the Baltimore Ravens will play a football game without Lamar Jackson. The Ravens ruled their franchise quarterback out on Friday for Sunday's game at the Cleveland Browns, as the ankle injury Jackson suffered in Week 4 continues to keep him off the practice field entirely. Tyler Huntley will start again at quarterback for the 4-1 Ravens, one week after leading Baltimore to an overtime win in Atlanta.

Jackson was injured late in the first half of the Ravens' Week 4 game against the Tennessee Titans and has not practiced since. Head coach Jesse Minter described him as day-to-day on Wednesday, but Friday's ruling ended any remaining suspense: Jackson did not practice all week, and Baltimore will not rush its most important player back for a division road game in mid-October. The Ravens' full NFL injury picture for Sunday is below — Jackson is the headliner, but he is not the only absence.

How the Ravens got here

The timeline matters because it explains the caution. Jackson left the Titans game late in the first half, and the ankle has kept him out of every practice since. He missed last Sunday's trip to Atlanta, where Huntley started in his place, and reporting through the week — including the possibility of a multi-game absence — consistently pointed toward Baltimore playing the long game. At 4-1, the Ravens have standings room to protect their quarterback. That calculus changes if the losses pile up, but Friday's decision says Baltimore still believes it can win Sunday without him.

Huntley earned this start

This is not a desperation start. Huntley was genuinely good in Atlanta: 24 of 32 passing for 201 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and he finished the game himself, scoring the winning touchdown on a 1-yard run in overtime in the Ravens' 30-23 victory. That is the Huntley formula Baltimore trusts — efficient passing, no giveaways, and enough mobility to keep the read-option structure of the offense intact so the rest of the playbook does not have to be rewritten.

Cleveland will test that formula differently than Atlanta did. The Browns are 3-2, playing at home, and a win pulls them level with Baltimore in the loss column in a division race that is still crowded at the top. Expect the Browns to load up against the run, make Huntley win from the pocket on early downs, and force Baltimore's backup to string together long drives rather than live off short fields. Huntley's zero-interception day in Atlanta is the stat the Ravens will point to; Cleveland's defense is built to end streaks like that.

The rest of the injury report

Jackson is one of four Ravens ruled out for Sunday. Center Cam Jurgens is out with a concussion, tight end Matthew Hibner is out with a hand injury, and defensive tackle Broderick Washington is out with an ankle injury. Losing Jurgens matters in a specific way against Cleveland: line calls and protection adjustments on the road, in a loud stadium, now run through a backup center working with a backup quarterback. Three more Ravens are questionable — Emery Jones Jr., Andrew Vorhees and Ja'Kobi Lane — and their statuses will shape the depth on both lines when the inactives are announced Sunday.

A familiar understudy, an unfamiliar margin

Huntley is not new to this job. He has made a career of being Baltimore's insurance policy, starting 11 games in Jackson's place over the years with a 5-6 record — including a 2-0 mark in spot starts last season — and the Ravens' offense has always kept its shape with him in it: the same formations, the same option looks, the same demand that the quarterback protect the football above all else. What is different this time is the stage around him. Baltimore is not nursing a lost season; it is defending the division lead in October, on the road, against the team best positioned to take that lead away. Spot starts in December mop-up duty are one thing. A start that shapes the AFC North race is another, and Huntley's calm, mistake-free afternoon in Atlanta is precisely why the Ravens believe he can handle it.

What Sunday means for both teams

For Baltimore, the assignment is simple to say and hard to do: win a division road game with a backup quarterback and a backup center, and the Jackson absence becomes a footnote in a 5-1 start. Lose, and the Ravens fall to 4-2 with the Browns surging and every day of Jackson's recovery re-litigated in public. There is no indication yet of when Jackson returns — he has not practiced since the injury, which is the milestone that will actually signal a comeback — and the Ravens have shared nothing beyond Minter's day-to-day description.

For Cleveland, this is the kind of game a contender has to take. The Browns are home, healthier at the game's most important position, and facing a rival missing its center and its star. A win makes the division a genuine three-team argument heading into late October; a loss to a Huntley-led Ravens team would follow them for weeks. Kickoff is Sunday in Cleveland. Baltimore's season will not be decided there — but the story of how long the Ravens can hold first place without No. 8 very well might be. More coverage at Previously Sports.