Jamison HensleyDec 21, 2025, 10:15 PM ETCloseJamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.Follow on X
Lamar Jackson exits game with back injury (0:31)Lamar Jackson heads to the Ravens locker room early with a back injury. (0:31)
BALTIMORE — While grimacing in pain from a back injury, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said he hopes to play Saturday at Green Bay to help keep Baltimore’s fading playoff hopes alive, but he acknowledged his status is uncertain.
“Yeah, that’s the goal,” Jackson said after Sunday night’s 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots when asked if he could play this week. “We’re going to do a little [MRI] scan [Monday] and then see what it shows.”
Jackson was injured with 1:56 left in the second quarter Sunday, when he was kneed in the lower left side of his back by Patriots safety Craig Woodson. Jackson was replaced by backup Tyler Huntley and officially ruled out late in the third quarter.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh described Jackson’s injury as “a bruise of some kind” and said he hasn’t received anything definitive from the trainers or doctors. If Jackson can’t play Saturday, Huntley would make his second start of the season.
“I don’t know how serious it’ll be,” Harbaugh said of Jackson’s injury. “We’ll have to find out over the next couple of days.”
Jackson said he tried to return to the game, but it hurt when he threw the ball to a trainer at halftime. In the locker room after the game, the two-time MVP struggled to sit at his locker and flinched in pain when trying to put on his socks and shoes.
The Ravens’ playoff chances took a significant hit with the loss to the Patriots. Baltimore (7-8) can be eliminated from playoff contention next weekend if the Ravens lose at the Packers on Saturday or the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6) win at Cleveland on Sunday.
“All we can do is control what we can control,” Jackson said. “Just watch film and get to practice and work … that’s it.”
This has been one of the roughest seasons in Jackson’s eight-year career. He has suffered injuries to his hamstring, knee, ankle, toe and now back.
“I gave myself up, and I got kneed in the back,” Jackson said. “I can’t finish the game with my guys. It’s BS.”
The Ravens, who finish the season at Green Bay and at Pittsburgh, have struggled to win without Jackson. Since taking over as Baltimore’s starting quarterback midway through the 2018 season, the Ravens are 76-29 (.724) with him and 5-11 (.313) without him.
With Huntley playing the entire second half Sunday, the Ravens nearly beat the AFC East-leading Patriots. But Huntley’s final pass went to wide receiver Zay Flowers, who sealed the loss by fumbling with 1:48 left in the game.
The Ravens drew criticism for not playing running back Derrick Henry on the final two drives. Henry scored a 2-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put Baltimore ahead 24-13 and then didn’t play another snap.
“Looking back, would I rather have had Derrick starting the drive? Yes,” Harbaugh said. “But Derrick was kind of ready for Keaton [Mitchell] to start that drive. And then, he was planning on coming in next. So, they were working that rotation.
“When you look back on it, I think it’s pretty easy to say, ‘Hey, he should have been in there or shouldn’t have been in there.’ But we’re rotating those guys throughout the game as two backs. But yes, [on a] game-winning drive, do I want Derrick Henry on the field? Sure, I do want him on the field.”
Lamar Jackson exits game with back injury (0:31)Lamar Jackson heads to the Ravens locker room early with a back injury. (0:31)
CloseJamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.Follow on X
“I’m mad because I felt like the game was in our favor,” Jackson said.
Lamar Jackson heads to the Ravens locker room early with a back injury. (0:31)