The Ravens Hand the Keys to the Offense to an Undrafted Rookie

It's now official: Joe Fagnano will be the starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Head coach Jesse Minter confirmed this on Tuesday.

The decision was almost inevitable. Lamar Jackson injured his right thumb on his very first play upon returning to action on Sunday, and Tyler Huntley injured his toe during the same game. With a short week of preparation, the Ravens had virtually no other option.

Fagnano will thus make team history. He will become only the second undrafted rookie quarterback to start a game for Baltimore, following Anthony Brown in 2022.

He already got a taste of action on Sunday, playing most of the loss to the Buffalo Bills. He completed 10 of 21 passes for 91 yards, with one interception.

The organization has nevertheless hedged its bets. It added Kedon Slovis to the active roster and Austin Reed to the practice squad. If the game had taken place on Sunday, the Ravens might have turned to Slovis or a veteran, but the short notice virtually guaranteed the starting spot for Fagnano.

The young quarterback is also recovering from an ankle injury. After being limited in practice on Monday, he participated fully in practice on Tuesday.

Derrick Henry could be in for a busy game

With a quarterback making his starting debut, expect to see a lot of Derrick Henry early in the game. The Jaguars' run defense has also lost linebacker DaVon Hamilton for the rest of the season.

Fagnano had already pulled off a feat by carving out a spot among the 53-man roster at the end of training camp. No one could have imagined then that he'd have the team's season in his hands just a few weeks later.

The Ravens (4-4) will look to snap a three-game losing streak against one of the American Football Conference's top teams. That's a lot of pressure for a rookie.

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