Jackson Faces Six to Ten Weeks Out With Broken Thumb

Lamar Jackson will miss six to 10 weeks with a broken and dislocated thumb, Baltimore Ravens head coach Jesse Minter said in a statement on Friday, November 13. Jackson is recovering from surgery on his throwing hand. Minter said Jackson is doing well, and the team will let his progress set the return date.

The injury took one play. Jackson dropped back on Baltimore's first offensive snap against the Buffalo Bills on November 1, his hand struck Bills defender Greg Rousseau, and he walked straight to the locker room. Buffalo won that game 36-10. It was Jackson's first game back after a high-ankle sprain cost him three games, an injury he picked up in Week 4 against the Tennessee Titans.

The timeline does the math on Baltimore's season. Minter put it plainly in the statement: injuries like this that require surgery typically take about six to 10 weeks to heal. The short end lands in Week 16, when the Ravens play the Cleveland Browns. The long end lands in January, which means a return needs a playoff berth first. The Ravens placed Jackson on injured reserve on November 5.

Baltimore doesn't get to wait for him. The Ravens are 4-5, they've lost four straight games, and they sit last in the AFC North. They host the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night. Jacoby Brissett, acquired in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals on November 6, is expected to start at quarterback while Jackson is out.

Jackson has told his teammates he plans to return this season. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported earlier in the week that the absence would run six to nine weeks, close to the range Minter confirmed on Friday. Jackson's message to the locker room, per that reporting, was to stay alive until he gets back. It's a two-time MVP asking a last-place team to hold a season together for six weeks or more.

The depth chart behind him is thin too. Backup Tyler Huntley is also on injured reserve, so the Ravens' quarterback room runs through Brissett, a November trade pickup who arrived on November 6. On the optimistic end of the timeline, Jackson returns for Week 16 against Cleveland, with a Week 17 Thursday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals after it. On the long end, he needs the Ravens in the playoffs, in the Wild Card or Divisional round, to play again at all.

His year now has two injuries and one snap between them. Three games missed on the ankle, one play back, then the thumb. The Ravens built their offense around Jackson's arm and legs, and Monday night starts the stretch that decides whether his return is a rescue or a formality.