Ravens Officially Confirm Lamar Jackson Injury and Return Timeline

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is set to return at some point this season. This is huge news for the organization, which confirmed the passer's injury and return timeline.

It had been previously been reported that Jackson suffered a dislocated and fractured thumb, but that was not confirmed by anyone in the Ravens organization. That is now confirmed, along with a return timeline.

The injury occurred during Week 8, when Jackson went to throw the first pass of his return against the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately, he banged his thumb on the helmet of a Bills defender, leading to the injury. 

Jackson left the field immediately and he was ruled out shortly after. Nobody knew the extent of the injury, but it was later revealed that he would be out for some time. 

Ravens head coach Jesse Minter then revealed that Jackson would be placed on IR, but that only meant he would possibly be out for four games. 

Now, the Baltimore organization has revealed that Jackson will be out for six to 10 weeks. 

The statement reads:

"Lamar is doing well as he recovers from the broken and dislocated thumb injury he suffered in Week 8.

"Recover timelines are challenging to predict, but injuries like this that require surgery typcically take about about 6-10 weeks to heal. He is doing everything he can to get back, and we let this progress guide the timing of his return.

"We are committed to playing our best football over the second half of the season."

What is not clear is when Jackson underwent the surgery and when his injury return timeline started. 

If Jackson underwent surgery when he was placed on IR, that could mean that he could be back as early as Dec. 20, when the Ravens play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15.

If he needs more time to heal and recover, then it would be far likelier that Jackson is back near the end of the season in Weeks 17 or 18. 

If Jackson cannot return within 10 weeks, he may miss the rest of the regular season. Week 10 would be the final game of the season in Week 18, against the Steelers again.

This also means that the idea of Jackson returning might also be tied to how the Ravens respond with Jacoby Brissett. 

Brissett was brought in to act as the veteran presence and balance to the offense the team can stay afloat and win games. The issue is that the former Arizona Cardinals quarterback is in a brand-new system and is not being awarded a lot of time to get used to the playbook and players.

Brissett is a professional, but there could be some sizable growing pains to have to get through, and the Ravens cannot afford to lose many more games if they want a chance at making the playoffs.