Ravens Hold Off Titans After Lamar Jackson Ankle Injury

The Baltimore Ravens beat the Tennessee Titans 24-18 on Sunday and did not score after Lamar Jackson rolled his left ankle. Baltimore improved to 3-1 and ended a four-game home losing streak that had run since last November.

Jackson left M&T Bank Stadium in a walking boot. Tyler Huntley finished a rainy afternoon that started as a 24-7 lead and ended with Malaki Starks falling on an onside kick.

Baltimore Scored 24 With Jackson and Zero Without Him

Jackson was 15 of 20 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, with two runs for 20 yards, before the sack that ended his day. Zay Flowers caught eight passes for 118 yards and a score. Mark Andrews finished a 98-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown. Derrick Henry had already punched in a 5-yard run on fourth-and-1 against the club that let him walk.

Huntley then ran a game the staff wanted to freeze. Coach Jesse Minter said Baltimore played a little more conservative in the second half with the weather and the lead. Huntley said the job was to take care of the ball in the rain.

HOW THE LEAD HELD UP

The Ravens’ first four drives in the second half ended with punts, and the fifth died when Tyler Loop missed from 40 yards. Tennessee kicked a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter, then Cam Ward hit Wan’Dale Robinson from 3 yards with 1:12 left and completed a 2-point pass to Gunnar Helm. The gap was six points, on a day Baltimore had led by 17 at the break.

Titans coach Robert Saleh said the two turnovers became 10 points and the failed fourth-and-goal inside the 5 made it a goofy game, because it never felt like 24-7 at halftime. He was describing the same split the scoreboard later proved. A dual-threat quarterback’s ankle is a cutting problem, not only a pocket problem, and once Jackson sat, Baltimore stopped asking Huntley to push the ball downfield.

The Sack That Put a Boot on Lamar Jackson

The play was the last offensive snap of the first half. Jackson stepped up, Titans defensive end Jermaine Johnson II caught him from behind, and Johnson’s shoulder landed on the outside of the left ankle. Jackson limped to the sideline, spoke with the training staff, and went to the locker room before Loop’s 64-yard kick made it 24-7.

He came back out in a winter hat, talked with Minter before the first series of the third quarter, and never took another snap. Minter said there were talks about putting him back in if the Ravens needed him.

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

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

Jackson had been limited Wednesday with a back problem, then practiced in full Thursday and Friday. Injuries limited him to 13 games last season. He left the building in a protective boot over the left foot.

WHERE EXPERTS DISAGREE

• Day-to-day: Ian Rapoport said Jackson is believed to be day-to-day and would be treated ahead of the Falcons game.
• Week-to-week: Mike Florio said Jackson is believed to be week-to-week, with an MRI needed to show the extent of ligament damage.
• The coach: Minter called it a little bit of an ankle and said he hoped it was in a good spot, without a timetable.

Those are three reads of the same limp, not three medical reports. Until the MRI is public, Atlanta on Sunday night is a live question, not a lineup card.

Four Other Starters Left, and the Line Was Already Thin

Jackson was one of four starters who went to the sideline and stayed there. Baltimore had already arrived without Trey Hendrickson, who sat after a finger procedure, and without a settled interior line. Minter said nobody will feel sorry for the Ravens, and they will not feel sorry for themselves.

WHO DID NOT FINISH

• Lamar Jackson: Left ankle on the final snap of the first half; did not play after the break; left in a walking boot.
• Marlon Humphrey: Calf in the first half; replaced by Chidobe Awuzie. T.J. Tampa is already on injured reserve with a knee injury.
• Durham Smythe: Achilles. Smythe crumpled trying to get to the sideline after a Henry run that gained nothing, and he was ruled out. He had one catch for 4 yards through four games and had played 57% of the offensive snaps as the lead blocking tight end Declan Doyle brought from Chicago.
• Andrew Vorhees: Foot in the third quarter, in his first start at right guard this season; replaced by Emery Jones Jr.

The club has placed three centers on injured reserve since camp, including Jovaughn Gwyn (ankle) and Ethan Pocic (knee) after the Dallas game, with Danny Pinter already down. Rookie Vega Ioane made his first start at center after sliding over from right guard. Baltimore has used a different offensive line combination for three straight games. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley returned from a toe injury that sat him in Week 3 and said the next guy has to be ready.

Andrews, asked about Smythe, said he does so much for this offense that someone has to step up. The next men are rookies Matt Hibner, who caught two passes for 34 yards Sunday, and Josh Cuevas. A 3-1 start with a new staff still has to travel to Atlanta with a line that has not had the same five twice.

Henry Finally Faced Tennessee and Got 73 Yards

This was the first Ravens-Titans meeting since Henry signed with Baltimore before the 2024 season. Tennessee is 6-32 since he left and 0-4 this year. Henry did not bury them. He ran 23 times for 73 yards, a 3.2-yard average, and added two catches for 6 yards.

The touchdown was the part that looked like the old Tennessee tape. Trenton Simpson picked off Ward’s flip for Tony Pollard on the second play from scrimmage, the ball going through Pollard’s hands, and five plays later Henry went through safety Kevin Winston Jr. from the 5 on fourth-and-1. He has seven rushing touchdowns in four games, the first player to do that to open a season since Devonta Freeman in 2015.

HOW SUNDAY WAS SCORED

• Henry, 5 yards: Fourth-and-1, 7-0, after Simpson’s interception.
• Pollard, 3 yards: 70-yard answer, 7-7.
• Flowers, 19 yards from Jackson: Tight window past rookie linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., 14-7.
• Goal-line stop: Pollard, direct snap, fourth-and-goal from the 2, Nnamdi Madubuike at the line.
• Andrews, 3 yards from Jackson: Cap on an eight-play, 98-yard drive, 21-7.
• Loop, 64 yards: Last play of the half, 24-7, the longest field goal in M&T Bank Stadium history and the second-longest in franchise history, a week after his 56-yard winner against Dallas.

Henry’s first six touches went 6.6 yards a pop, then the rain and a shrinking line turned it into a grind. Saleh’s club still found Carnell Tate for nine catches and 145 yards. Kyle Hamilton ripped the ball out at the end of a 33-yard catch, Starks recovered, and that takeaway plus the earlier interception were the only turnovers of the day. They were enough, barely, because Baltimore never scored again.

Thirteen Penalties Almost Handed Tennessee the Game

The Ravens piled up 13 penalties for 131 yards. Eight of those flags for 67 yards came before halftime, while they were still building the lead. Tennessee was flagged five times for 32 yards and still collected six first downs by penalty. Both teams went 2 of 10 on third down. Baltimore was 3 of 3 in the red zone; the Titans were 2 of 4 and left points on the 2-yard line.

Minter called the penalty total unacceptable and said it starts with him and the staff. Doyle’s offense uses a lot of shifting and pre-snap motion, which is part of why Jackson can look like himself and part of why the flags keep showing up. The defense drew some of the ugly ones too, including a roughness call on Hamilton.

The home context made the slop louder. Baltimore’s last win at M&T Bank Stadium had been Nov. 23, 2025, a 23-10 decision over the New York Jets. Then came Cincinnati 32-14 on Thanksgiving night, Pittsburgh 27-22, New England 24-28, and New Orleans 24-17 in this year’s home opener. From 2000 through 2024 the Ravens were 141-54 at home. Sunday made them 1-1 at M&T this season, in front of 70,101, on a day they outgained Tennessee 384 yards to 297 and still needed Starks to fall on a bouncing ball.

Loop’s 64-yarder, which beat the half, was the play that later looked like the winning margin. His miss from 40 in the fourth quarter was the play that kept the door open. Minter said the team needs to put a nail in the coffin at times, and that they will never apologize for a win.

Huntley Has Filled This Job Before

Huntley, who goes by Snoop, completed eight of nine passes for 63 yards and ran four times for 16. He was not asked to win the game. He was asked not to lose it. The passer rating was 95.8. Combined with Jackson, Baltimore was 23 of 29 for 285 gross yards, minus 13 on two sacks, and did not throw an interception.

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 at M&T Bank Stadium

He re-signed with Baltimore in March after a year in Miami and won both of his starts last season, 30-16 over Chicago and 41-24 at Green Bay. He has 16 regular-season starts in his career. If Jackson cannot go against Atlanta, Huntley would be making the 17th, on Sunday Night Football, Oct. 11, at 8:20 p.m.

Flowers did almost all of his damage while Jackson was still in, including the 52-yard ball dropped over his shoulder and the 19-yard score. Andrews called him wide receiver one, versatile and explosive every week. Eight Ravens caught a pass. That spread dies when the playbook shrinks to keep-away, which is what the second half became, and what a night in Atlanta becomes if the MRI goes the wrong way.

Rookie Ethan Burke got his first career sack on Ward, Baltimore’s only sack without Hendrickson. Simpson’s interception was the first of his career. Those are nice footnotes on a 3-1 start. They do not replace a two-time MVP who built a 17-point lead in two quarters and then watched the rest in a hat.

The Ravens visit the Falcons on Sunday, Oct. 11, at 8:20 p.m. The MRI has not been released. Minter said his team will figure out the guys it has and will not apologize for the win.