The Ravens turned Thursday night over to Joe Fagnano, placing Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley on injured reserve and leaving the undrafted rookie to make his first career start against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Baltimore moved quickly after both quarterbacks were ruled out for a minimum of four games, a reset that forces the team to play its next stretch with an entirely different look at the position.
The timing matters because the Ravens have no proven fallback in the room. After the roster move, Baltimore signed Austin Reed to the 53-man roster, and he joins Fagnano and Kedon Slovis in a quarterback group that has combined for 89 passing yards and zero touchdowns in the NFL. That is why the search for Ravens QB tonight now centers on Fagnano, not on a veteran with a long résumé or a polished backup plan.
Jackson’s absence is tied to a right thumb injury, while Huntley was hurt in the first half of Sunday in Buffalo with a toe injury that has been described as season-ending turf toe. Jackson had not yet had surgery as of Tuesday, and Head Coach Jesse Minter said then that there was still no final certainty on that part of the recovery. Even so, the Ravens’ move to injured reserve makes the short-term picture clear: neither quarterback can help for at least the next four games.
That leaves Baltimore with one immediate answer and one unresolved one. Fagnano is set for the start, but Minter has not said who will be the No. 2 quarterback on Thursday night. At the same time, Baltimore is reportedly finalizing a trade for Jacoby Brissett, though he would not be in line to make his debut until Monday, Nov. 16 against the Los Angeles Chargers. In other words, the Ravens are patching the position for now while trying to put a more stable option in place before the schedule turns again.
For one night, the job belongs to Fagnano. What follows will determine whether Baltimore can survive the stretch with a rookie, a newly added arm and a hurried reshuffle, or whether this becomes the point where the season’s quarterback problem stops being temporary.
