The Ravens are 3-1 but now face an all-too-familiar problem — an injury to Lamar Jackson

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens are back where they spent much of last season — uncertain about Lamar Jackson’s status.

The good news for the Ravens is that in 2026 they’re off to a better start.

A win over Tennessee on Sunday pushed their record to 3-1. But Baltimore went scoreless in the second half after Tyler Huntley started playing quarterback because of Jackson’s ankle injury. Now Ravens fans enter an all-too-familiar routine: getting little concrete information on the two-time NFL MVP's status, awaiting updates about whether he practiced and hoping to see him back before too long.

Jesse Minter, in his first season as Baltimore's coach, said Monday he didn't think the injury would be “crazy long term” — but it's hard to know what, if anything, to read into that.

Three different Baltimore seasons — 2021, 2022 and 2025 — were derailed to some degree by injuries to Jackson. Last year, he missed the final two games of a 1-5 start by the Ravens, and although he eventually returned, it was not a great season for the Baltimore star. The team finished 8-9.

The Ravens have more margin of error to work with at the moment if they're without Jackson. They're tied for first place in the AFC North.

What's working

Baltimore has unleashed Zay Flowers this season to a degree not seen previously. Through four games — which include six quarters he missed with an injury and two more that he played without Jackson — the speedy Flowers is second in the AFC with 352 yards receiving.

He caught a 19-yard touchdown pass and a 52-yard throw from Jackson in the first half Sunday. In both cases, he had a linebacker trying to cover him.

“You can game plan for a guy like Zay, but I also think in our offense he's going to line up at five different positions,” Minter said. “You can have a game plan for him when he's the outside receiver to maybe take him away, or maybe when he's the slot receiver. But then he's ending up as No. 3 a lot. He's ending up on linebackers in zone coverages. He's ending up out of the backfield a few times, as we've seen this year. I think that's just a credit to Zay to be able to do all that.”

What needs help

The Ravens had 13 penalties for 131 yards Sunday. Baltimore has 39 penalties in four games, 26 of which have come on offense. That's led to some concern about whether the team needs to alter its approach to cut down on the flags — perhaps by using less motion and shifting.

“It’s obviously unacceptable, I would say, the amount of penalties that we have. It starts with me and starts with our coaching staff,” Minter said after the game. "It’s great to use cadence and use weapons and use motions, things like that, and we had a bunch of penalties on defense, too, that really extended drives. So, both sides of the ball, really just ... if we can get out of our own way, I think there’s a high ceiling for us.”

Stock up

Baltimore's defensive front came up big in the first half with a fourth-down stop near the goal line, and although they gave up a late touchdown, the Ravens held on to a double-digit fourth-quarter lead even without the offense adding to it.

Stock down

The secondary still has issues. Baltimore allowed rookie Carnell Tate to catch nine passes for 145 yards.

Injuries

Aside from Jackson, the Ravens also lost cornerback Marlon Humphrey (calf), guard Andrew Vorhees (foot) and tight end Durham Smythe (Achilles tendon) on Sunday.

Key numbers

Flowers and Cleveland's Denzel Boston are the only players with multiple receptions of at least 50 yards this season.

Next steps

The Ravens play at Atlanta on Sunday night, followed by a road game against a surprising Cleveland team that is tied atop the AFC North with Baltimore.

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