Ravens Place Lamar Jackson on IR, Turn to UFL Standout Austin Reed

The Baltimore Ravens' quarterback room just turned into a Spirit Halloween store. With Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley officially heading to injured reserve, Baltimore just signed Austin Reed to the 53-man roster to back up an undrafted rookie.

Jackson lasted exactly one offensive snap against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday before injuring his thumb, and Huntley exited the same 36-10 blowout with a toe issue. That leaves Joe Fagnano as the last man standing for a primetime matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night.

"Tom Pelissero reported the Ravens signed QB Austin Reed to the 53-man roster and officially placed QBs Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley on injured reserve."

If you are wondering how the Fagnano era started, it went exactly how you would expect an emergency rookie debut to go. He completed 10 of 21 passes for 91 yards, threw an interception, and lost a fumble. That is not a stat line that strikes fear into an opposing defense, it is a cry for help.

Enter Austin Reed, who spent part of the preseason with Baltimore before being cut. Reed actually led the UFL in passing yards with the Dallas Renegades in 2025, which is a fantastic trivia answer but maybe not the resume you want sitting one rolled ankle away from live NFL action in November.

The Ravens are sitting at 4-4 and desperately need a win to keep pace in a crowded AFC North. This roster situation is an absolute nightmare for anyone trying to handicap Thursday night. When a team is down to a third-string rookie and a UFL standout, the betting total usually plummets fast enough to give oddsmakers whiplash.

Baltimore has roughly 72 hours to figure out how to run a professional offense without their two-time MVP. If Fagnano and Reed can somehow pull off a win against the 5-2 Jaguars, they will never have to buy a crab cake in Maryland again. But right now, just surviving the broadcast without a running clock feels like the real victory.