Lamar Jackson was injured after a broken play at the end of the third quarter in the Baltimore Ravens divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. He has since been ruled out.
Jackson raced toward his own endzone to chase down an errant snap as the quarter drew to an end, throwing the ball away just in time to avoid a safety. But Jackson went down hard in the endzone and remained on the turf as the quarter ended, with the medical staff attending to him on the field before taking him to the locker room.
Lamar Jackson appears to be hurt and is being looked at on the ground. pic.twitter.com/M85a6lFyJS
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 17, 2021
Jackson appeared to hit the back of his head on the turf as he was hit by a pair of Bills defenders. He was taken to the locker room for evaluation.
The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that he was placed in the league’s concussion protocol, putting his return in question before the team ultimately announced that he would be out.
As NFL.com noted, this protocol mandates that Jackson be taken for a detailed medical evaluation.
“Officials, teammates, and coaching staffs have been instructed to take an injured player directly to a member of the medical team for appropriate evaluation, including a concussion assessment, if warranted,” the site noted.
#Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is in the NFL’s concussion protocol, the team says.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 17, 2021
The Ravens quarterback had struggled against an aggressive Bills defense before being hurt. He completed just 14 of 24 passes for 162 yards and was largely contained on the ground, running for 34 yards on nine carries just a week after rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown in a wild card round win over the Tennessee Titans.
On the drive before his injury, Jackson led the Ravens into the red zone but threw an interception in the endzone on third and goal. Taron Johnson returned the interception 101 yards for a touchdown, putting Buffalo up by two scores.
With Jackson out, the Ravens were forced to turn to lightly used backup Tyler Huntley as the signal caller. As the Ravens official website noted, the undrafted rookie became the primary backup after both Robert Griffin III and Trace McSorley were placed on injured reserve.
But Huntley came with some high praise from head coach John Harbaugh, who said he looked strong in practice.
“Tyler has been doing great,” Harbaugh said.
“He’s been practicing every day, in every meeting, working really hard. He’s improving. He looks good. So, he’ll be our backup quarterback in this game, and he’ll be ready to go if called upon. So, that’s a good thing.”
He was seen as a strong prospect after throwing for 3,092 yards and 19 touchdowns in his senior season at Utah. He also ran for 290 yards and five scores on the ground.
But he was ultimately unable to bring the Ravens back from the 14-point deficit in the divisional playoff game, driving deep into Buffalo territory but missing tight end Mark Andrews on a fourth-and-goal play and ultimately turning it over on downs. Buffalo would go on to run out the clock.
It was not clear when the Ravens could offer an update on Jackson’s injury.