SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2026
The Baltimore Ravens made the obvious official on Friday, ruling Lamar Jackson out of Sunday night’s game at the Atlanta Falcons with the left ankle injury that cut his day short in the Week 4 win over Tennessee. Tyler Huntley will start in his place, head coach Jesse Minter announced, in a move that reshapes the marquee game of Week 5 and strips the nightcap of its biggest star.
02 The call came Friday afternoon
Jackson never practiced this week — not Wednesday, not Thursday, not Friday — after hurting the ankle just before halftime of Baltimore’s 24-18 win over the Titans. He never returned for the second half and left the stadium in a protective boot, an image that immediately told Ravens fans this was more than a day-to-day tweak.
Minter had tried to calm the waters earlier in the week, calling the injury not “crazy long term.” Friday’s designation says the Ravens are playing it straight: the ankle isn’t ready, and with a 3-1 record and the season’s second half ahead, Baltimore isn’t in a position to gamble on its franchise quarterback on one ankle in a raucous road stadium.
Jackson has started all four games this season, completing 68 of 96 passes for 967 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. The 70.8 percent completion rate marked him as one of the league’s most efficient passers through four weeks — which is exactly why his absence will hang over Sunday night, a week after the ankle injury first shelved him against Tennessee.
03 What it means for the 3-1 Ravens
Baltimore is 3-1 without its quarterback operating at full strength, and the math of life without Jackson is well-documented: since 2019, the Ravens are 6-11 (.353) without him. That is not a small-sample blip — it is the franchise’s recent history every time the most important player in the building has been unavailable.
Sunday’s depth chart makes the margin thinner still. Baltimore also ruled out pass rusher Trey Hendrickson (finger) and center Cam Jurgens (concussion), and listed cornerback Marlon Humphrey (hamstring/calf), wide receiver Zay Flowers (foot) and guard Andrew Vorhees (foot) as questionable. A team built on continuity is suddenly improvising at its most important positions.
None of that changes the standard in the building. The Ravens opened this season talking like a team with unfinished business, and a Week 5 road game in October — even a nationally televised one — is the kind of spot good teams are supposed to survive. But surviving requires the backup to be a starter for one night, and the defense to cover for a quarterback who doesn’t have the same margin for error.
04 Tyler Huntley’s 12th audition
Huntley is no stranger to this assignment. He has started 11 games in Jackson’s place since entering the league, going 5-6 overall — including a 2-0 record last season. The numbers aren’t spectacular, but they mark him as one of the league’s most battle-tested backups, a quarterback who has run this offense, in these colors, on real Sundays.
The Ravens keep him around to be exactly this: an insurance policy with a starter’s temperament. His game doesn’t mirror Jackson’s — nobody’s does — but Baltimore’s offense has historically adapted to Huntley’s strengths rather than asking him to be a replica. Expect a heavier dose of the run game, quicker decisions, and a scheme that asks him to manage rather than create.
For Huntley, Sunday night is also personal currency. Every backup with starting ambitions needs tape under the brightest lights, and a prime-time road start against a 2-2 Falcons team with its own injury problems is as good a stage as this role provides.
05 Atlanta has its own medical report
The Falcons aren’t exactly rolling out a fully armed roster either. Atlanta ruled out defensive lineman Yasir Abdullah (hamstring) and listed four starters as questionable: left tackle Jake Matthews (groin), linebacker Divine Deablo (hamstring), edge rusher Za’Darius Smith (concussion) and edge rusher Samson Ebukam (hamstring).
Matthews’ status carries the most weight. His 199 consecutive starts are an NFL record, and the Falcons’ offensive line is built around his durability on the blind side. If the groin keeps him out, Atlanta loses the league’s longest-running ironman on a night when Baltimore’s pass rush — even without Hendrickson — will test every replacement.
The Falcons are 2-2 and playing for position in the NFC’s early-season jumble. Getting a 3-1 Ravens team without its quarterback is the kind of scheduling fortune that seasons turn on — but only if they cash it in at home, under the lights, against a team that knows exactly who it is without its star.
06 And in Philadelphia, the quarterback carousel keeps spinning
Baltimore wasn’t the only quarterback headline on a busy Friday. The Philadelphia Eagles released backup quarterback Andy Dalton among roster moves ahead of Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, ending a short and forgettable stint for the 15-year veteran.
Dalton had been demoted behind Tanner McKee, now the primary backup, with rookie Cole Payton also on the roster. He appeared in one game this season — one pass, one interception in a 27-7 loss at Chicago on September 28. For a career that spans 180 games, 39,793 yards, 254 touchdowns against 152 interceptions, an 84-83-2 record and three Pro Bowl selections, it was a quiet exit. Dalton turns 39 on October 29, and ESPN reported he could be a practice-squad candidate as Philadelphia reshuffles its room.
The Eagles’ medical report was no quieter. Philadelphia ruled out running back Saquon Barkley (hamstring), wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring), safety Marcus Epps (groin), center Drew Kendall (knee) and wide receiver Marquise Brown (ankle) for the London trip, with edge rusher Jonathan Greenard (ankle) questionable. The one bright note: quarterback Jalen Hurts (calf) was a full participant in Friday’s practice with no game status.
The Jaguars (3-1) make their record 15th UK appearance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against a 2-2 Eagles team that suddenly looks nothing like the roster that opened the season. Between the Dalton release and the five players ruled out, Friday was a full-scale reset of Philadelphia’s Week 5 plans — more fallout from a Friday injury wire that hit contenders across the league.
