The Baltimore Ravens added quarterback Tyler Huntley to the reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday, and he won’t play Sunday in a key AFC North clash with the Cincinnati Bengals, NFL Network reported.
Huntley missed Friday’s practice with what was termed a non-COVID illness, and the Ravens listed him as questionable — be he still was expected to start in place of the injured Lamar Jackson. A day later, all that changed when Huntley became the 11th Ravens player on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Now, either Jackson must return from his right ankle injury, or the Ravens will be forced to turn to veteran journeyman Josh Johnson as the starter. The Ravens signed Johnson from the New York Jets practice squad 10 days ago.
The Ravens’ haven’t ruled Jackson out, and he was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report. He injured his ankle against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 12 and hasn’t practiced since.
Johnson, 35, played in three games for the Jets, completing 29 of 45 pass attempts for 334 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The bulk of those stats came on Nov. 4, when Jackson replaced injured Jets starter Mike White in a 45-30 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
A fifth-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008, Johnson has started eight games (36 total appearances) and has a 1-7 record while seeing game action for the Bucs, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington and Jets. He played in the Alliance of American Football in 2019 before it folded and in the XFL in 2020 before it shut down due to the pandemic.
In his NFL career, Johnson has thrown for 1,966 yards with 11 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
Huntley started last week’s 31-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers when Jackson was sidelined, and he passed for 215 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 73 yards and two scores.
Huntley is 86 of 125 (68.8 percent) for 743 yards, three touchdowns and one interception this season.
The winner of Sunday’s game will take over first place in the AFC North. Both the Bengals and Ravens are 8-6, with Baltimore having lost the past three games by a combined four points.
–Field Level Media