Lamar Jackson Leaves in a Boot, and Scoring Stops

Lamar Jackson left Baltimore’s 24-18 win over Tennessee in a walking boot after a left ankle injury ended his first half.

The two-time MVP had just built a 24-7 lead at M&T Bank Stadium on Oct. 4. An MRI still has to show the ligament damage, and a person with knowledge of the injury said he is week to week.

A Walking Boot After a 24-7 First Half

Jackson was 15 of 20 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, plus two runs for 20 yards, before Titans defensive end Jermaine Johnson II sacked him from behind late in the second quarter. The left ankle rolled under Johnson as both men went down. That was the fourth-most passing yards Jackson has put up in any first half of his career, and it was also his last snap of the afternoon.

He hopped to his feet after the sack, met the medical staff on the bench, then went to the locker room before the half ended. Tyler Loop, in his second season, drilled a 64-yard field goal on the next play, the longest kick in the building’s history, and Baltimore took a 24-7 lead into the locker room.

Jackson did not return after the first half. He spent most of the third and fourth quarters on the sideline in uniform, sometimes in a knit cap, then left the field with 4:41 remaining and walked out of the stadium with the left ankle in a protective boot. First-year coach Jesse Minter still described it as a small problem.

He was just dealing with a little bit of an ankle, we hope. I don’t know enough about it right now. But we’ll have to see where that’s at.

Jesse Minter, Ravens head coach, postgame at M&T Bank Stadium

Minter said there had been talks about sending Jackson back in if the game required it. The Ravens, 3-1, never needed that call against an 0-4 team, and they still had to survive a scoreless second half. Jackson had been limited Wednesday with a back issue, then practiced in full Thursday and Friday.

THE CLOCK ON OCT. 4

1. Early first quarter: Trenton Simpson intercepts Cam Ward’s flip for Tony Pollard, and Derrick Henry scores from 5 yards on fourth-and-1 against his old club.
2. Later first quarter: Pollard ties it at 7-7 with a 3-yard run after a 70-yard drive.
3. Second quarter: Jackson hits Zay Flowers for a 19-yard touchdown, then Mark Andrews from 3 yards at the end of a 98-yard drive for 21-7.
4. Final seconds of the half: Johnson sacks Jackson. Loop’s 64-yard kick makes it 24-7.
5. 1:12 left in the fourth: Ward throws a 3-yard score to Wan’Dale Robinson and a two-point pass to Gunnar Helm. Malaki Starks recovers the onside kick at 1:10.

Henry finished with 73 yards on 23 carries. Flowers caught eight balls for 118 yards and the score. The Titans committed the game’s only two turnovers. Baltimore still drew 13 penalties for 131 yards and snapped a four-game home losing streak the hard way.

Huntley Took the Snaps and the Scoring Stopped

Tyler Huntley, the backup nicknamed Snoop, took every snap after halftime with the Ravens up 17. He was efficient and empty. In five series he punted four times and watched Loop miss a 40-yard try. Tennessee outscored Baltimore 11-0 after Jackson left, and only Starks’ recovery kept the final at 24-18 on a wet field.

JACKSON, THEN HUNTLEY

Minter said the staff played a little more conservative after the break because of the weather and the lead, and he praised Huntley for coming in when his number was called. Huntley, who went 2-0 as a fill-in starter last season against the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, described a simple job.

It was just take care of the ball. It was raining, weather, and you know we had the lead, so it was just take care of the ball and just do what I could do for the team.

Tyler Huntley, Ravens quarterback, postgame

He did not turn the ball over. He also never pushed the Titans, 0-4, into a true second-half deficit. A patchwork line that had already lost its centers to injured reserve spent the last two quarters trying to run out a game Jackson had built as a passer, and Henry found more bodies in his path. Offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, back from a toe injury that sat him in Week 3, put the gap in plain words: the club wants Jackson out there, and he called him the best player in the NFL.

That is the second cost of the ankle, separate from the MRI. Huntley can complete a high share of his throws and still leave Baltimore in a one-score game against a team that had not won. Sunday night in Atlanta will not give him a 24-7 cushion or a drizzle as an excuse to sit on the ball.

Humphrey, Smythe and Vorhees Went Down With Him

Jackson was not the only starter who failed to finish. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey left in the first half with a calf injury and was replaced by Chidobe Awuzie. Right guard Andrew Vorhees, in the starting lineup this week, was ruled out in the third quarter with a foot injury. Tight end Durham Smythe, a Declan Doyle signing from Chicago who had played 57% of the offensive snaps, went down on an outside run.

WHO ELSE LEFT THE GAME

• Marlon Humphrey: Calf, first half, replaced by Awuzie and ruled out for the rest of the afternoon.
• Durham Smythe: Achilles, assisted off, one catch for 4 yards on the season before he left.
• Andrew Vorhees: Foot, out in the third quarter after stepping in as the starting right guard.
• Trey Hendrickson: Already inactive after finger surgery, with Minter calling the absence very short term.

Smythe crumpled on a Henry run and was taken to the locker room. Mark Andrews said Smythe does so much for the offense that other tight ends have to step up, which points the club toward rookies Matt Hibner and Josh Cuevas if the Achilles is serious. The Ravens had already placed centers Jovaughn Gwyn and Ethan Pocic on injured reserve. Stanley played through the toe. Pass rusher Trey Hendrickson never dressed.

Ravens injuries in this game vs. the Titans:

QB Lamar Jackson (ankle/questionable)
CB Marlon Humphrey (calf, out)
TE Durham Smythe (Achilles, out)
G Andrew Vorhees (foot, out)

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) October 4, 2026

Minter had no further updates on any of them after the game. The line that helped Jackson throw for 222 yards in a half is not the line Huntley would take to Atlanta if this list does not shrink by Thursday’s injury report.

Four Missed Games Last Season Cost the Playoffs

Jackson is 29, in year nine, and this is not a new problem. He missed four games last season, and Baltimore failed to reach the playoffs. A hamstring after the Kansas City game cost him a month. A back contusion ended his Week 17 night. Even when he played, the running game that made him a two-time MVP was gone. He logged 67 carries for 349 yards and two rushing touchdowns, the first time he had finished under 100 attempts.

He explained the drop in camp. Running hurt, he said, would not have put the team in a good position, because he was losing yards. “Whatever it takes to win, that is what I am all about,” he said then. Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, in his first year calling plays, talked in July about keeping his most valuable player out of harm’s way and using designed runs only when the week demanded it.

Sunday’s injury came on a scramble. Jackson tried to get away from Johnson and the ankle went with him. He had already been on a back limit Wednesday. The 2025 tape is the warning, not a coincidence: when Jackson sits, this offense becomes a different team, and last year’s version of that team stayed home in January.

What the MRI Still Has to Show

The walking boot is hard to square with a shrug. A high-ankle sprain would likely sit him on Oct. 11. A lower sprain might not. Until the scan is read, Minter’s “little bit of an ankle” is a hope, not a diagnosis. Early game accounts called it a sprained left ankle. The club has not posted a grade.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The play: Sack from behind by Johnson, left ankle rolled, Jackson out for the second half of a 24-18 win.
• The boot: He left M&T Bank Stadium with the left ankle in a protective walking boot.
• The next game: Baltimore is at Atlanta on Sunday night, Oct. 11, at 8:20 p.m. ET.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• The grade: Ligament damage still depends on the MRI, which had not been described publicly after the game.
• The starter: Huntley would take the snaps in Atlanta if Jackson cannot go; Minter has not named a Week 5 quarterback.
• The others: Humphrey’s calf, Vorhees’ foot, and Smythe’s Achilles have no timeline beyond being ruled out Sunday.

The extra day that comes with a Sunday night kickoff only helps if the MRI is kind. If it is not, Huntley is not walking into a 24-7 lead against a winless roster. He is walking into a prime-time road game with a line already in pieces.

Sunday Night in Atlanta Comes Fast

Baltimore is 3-1 because Jackson threw the Ravens into a hole Tennessee could not fully climb out of, and because Starks fell on a bouncing ball. The second half was a warning shot Ward and the Titans, 0-4, were good enough to fire. A competent offense on a dry field would have asked Huntley to do more than hand the ball off and complete 8 of 9 underneath.

Atlanta gets seven days to plan for whichever quarterback shows up. Jackson’s value is the threat that he might keep a play alive with his legs. That threat is also how he got hurt. Doyle wanted to pick those spots. Johnson picked one for him.

The MRI will say whether the two-time MVP practices this week and whether he flies. The tape from the second half already says what the Ravens are when he does not finish. They hold a lead. They stop scoring. They need the defense, and a recovered onside kick, to make a 24-7 start stand up as 24-18.