The Ravens Are Running Out of Quarterbacks Just in Time for Thursday Night Football

The Baltimore Ravens are officially one twisted ankle away from pulling a fan out of the stands to play quarterback on national television. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter and Jamison Hensley, Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley have both been ruled out for Thursday night’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

That leaves the offense in the hands of No. 3 quarterback Joe Fagnano. The only problem is that Fagnano is currently dealing with an ankle injury of his own. When your emergency backup is also showing up on the medical report, you have officially crossed the line from bad luck into a cursed franchise.

"Adam Schefter reported that Fagnano is dealing with an ankle injury but has a chance to play."

The quarterback room turned into a triage center during Sunday's brutal 36-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Jackson injured his throwing thumb on the very first snap and is now heading to injured reserve. Huntley stepped in, took an absolute beating behind a leaky offensive line, and left with a suspected turf toe injury.

That forced Fagnano, an undrafted rookie out of UConn, into the fire. He finished the game completing 10 of 21 passes for 91 yards and an interception. Averaging 4.3 yards per attempt is the kind of stat line that makes offensive coordinators stare blankly into the middle distance.

Now the 4-4 Ravens have to turn around on a short week and face a 5-2 Jaguars team that boasts an elite run defense. If you are looking at the betting markets for this game, the point spread is going to look less like a football line and more like a typo. You simply cannot handicap a game where the starting quarterback might be whoever answers a Craigslist ad on Wednesday morning.

Baltimore is already sitting at the bottom of a loaded AFC North, looking up at the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Cleveland Browns. Dropping a prime-time game because you literally ran out of healthy arms is a tough pill to swallow when the division race is this tight.

The Ravens have less than 48 hours to find a warm body capable of handing the ball off. Fagnano hopes to be ready, but sending a hobbled rookie out there against an aggressive Jacksonville front feels like a setup for disaster. Expect Baltimore to make a desperation roster move before kickoff, just so they have someone to take the snaps.