Week 9 Trade Board: Lamar Jackson's Thumb Surgery and IR

One snap, then surgery and injured reserve

Lamar Jackson's return lasted one play. Baltimore lost at Buffalo 36-10 on Sunday, November 1, and fell to 4-4. NFL.com and ESPN both have the score. The Ravens' account, written by Ryan Mink and posted at 6:38 p.m. on November 1, says the club has fallen to 4-4. The Pro-Football-Reference box score lists the same result.

He was back from the ankle injury that had cost him the previous three games. ESPN calls it a high left ankle sprain. The Ravens' story says the return lasted one play: his right hand collided with Bills pass rusher Gregory Rousseau as he threw. NFL.com describes that snap as a pass attempt to Zay Flowers. The box score has Jackson at 0 of 1 for no yards. He came back to the sideline in the third quarter with a cast on his right hand. That is the team account of what people could see. It is not a medical diagnosis.

After the game, head coach Jesse Minter said Jackson will undergo surgery and be placed on injured reserve. In the postgame transcript, his opening line is "That'll be a surgery deal. He'll go to IR. That's a tough deal." Asked if it could be season-ending, he said, "Potentially, but we'll see where it's at." The team story reports that answer as "potentially." Asked to define the injury, he said no. No structural detail and no week-by-week rehab has been posted.

The October ankle page priced a day-to-day return. He returned. This is the injury that followed. Use this page for the keep, sell, and buy price.

Four games, a bye, then Week 14 at the earliest

Injured reserve costs him at least four games. NFL.com says the move sidelines him for at least that long. USA Today's Monday story says he is guaranteed to miss Weeks 9 through 12, the Ravens have a bye in Week 13, and the earliest he could return is Week 14 against Tampa Bay. FantasyPros has the same floor: at least the next four games, and quite possibly more. Week 14 is the first week the absence can end. It is not a clearance. Minter's "potentially" is still open.

Thursday, November 5, is Week 9. The Jaguars visit Baltimore at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video. NFL.com's Week 9 schedule and the Ravens' schedule both list that kickoff. Mark Andrews, in the postgame transcript, put the turnaround in one sentence: the club has a game in four days.

The next three games are on that same Ravens schedule, and ESPN lists them as the rest of the four he will miss. Week 10 is Monday, November 16, at home against the Chargers, 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN. Week 11 is Sunday, November 22, at Carolina, 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX. Week 12 is Sunday, November 29, at Houston, 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS. Week 13 is the bye. Week 14 is Sunday, December 13, at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX, against Tampa Bay at M&T Bank Stadium.

Nothing in that stretch is a Thursday start for Jackson.

The NFL trade deadline is still 4:00 p.m. New York time on November 10. That clock matters if Baltimore adds a quarterback. It does not take Jackson off this injury. Jonathan Taylor is a different open question, on the October 31 board. This thumb does not reprice Taylor, and that rumor does not reprice Thursday in Baltimore. Your league's deadline is a different date. Confirm it with the fantasy trade-deadline guide.

Redraft: no start, and the stash depends on an IR spot

Drop him in a one-quarterback league with no IR spot, when that roster spot is how you field a quarterback for Thursday and the next four weeks. He cannot play the Jaguars, the Chargers, the Panthers, or the Texans. A zero through Week 12, then a bye, does not hold a bench spot you need for a starter. The drop is the lineup you have to set. It says nothing about 2027.

Hold him when the league has an IR spot. When Baltimore posts the move, put him there. The stash is a Week 14 return against Tampa Bay, and Minter has already said the IR stay could run through the season. Do not start him in any week before a report says he is active.

Superflex uses the same split. The quarterback you start this week is the lineup. If an IR spot exists, keep Jackson in it and stream the start. If no IR spot exists, drop him when every other cut is someone you would start ahead of a possible Week 14 return. If a player you are not starting can be cut, cut that player and keep Jackson. The superflex guide is the longer version of that scarcity. It does not turn a thumb surgery into a start.

Sell a rest-of-season starter. Keep him if the offer is a backup. A quarterback you will start from Week 9 through your playoffs is the redraft sell. You are trading a Week 14 chance for points you can use now. A backup, or a player you would not start Thursday, is not that offer. A streamer can be added without giving the name away.

Buy only as a Week 14 stash, and only with a player you are not starting. Do not buy him to play Thursday. Do not buy him as if the season-ending possibility has already been closed. The price is a bench piece for a quarterback who might score zero the rest of the year. Run the package through the trade analyzer after you know whether the league is one quarterback or superflex. The labels here are the frame. They are not a stat projection.

Dynasty: hold the starter

This is a 2026 availability problem until the club says otherwise. Minter did not say Jackson is done after this season. He said a season-ending stay on IR is potential, and that the club will see where the thumb is.

Hold. An offer that turns the postgame answer into a backup's price is the panic sale. Pass on it. An offer that ignores the chance he misses the rest of 2026, and pays the healthy weekly price, is the wrong buy. The fair buy is a discount that still treats him as a starter for 2027. The fair sell is a quarterback you would start in 2027. A 2026 rental does not clear that bar, and a pick that only pays for the headline does not either.

ESPN reports that he did not reach an extension this offseason and is set to enter the final year of his contract in 2027, with an $84.34 million cap hit. That figure does not score a fantasy point. He is under contract for next season. The extension is not done. The dynasty trade guide separates a one-year absence from a job that still exists. This thumb is the absence. The contract is only the reason next year is still his job to lose.

Jalen Hurts is a different case. The Hurts report says he is not expected back in 2026. Minter has not said that here. Leave that price on that injury.

Zay Flowers caught nothing, and the job is still his

Flowers was held without a catch. The Ravens' story says it was the first time in his career. The box score has five targets and no receptions. He said, "I was upset. I want him to play, so I was upset."

The quarterback left on the first snap. The backup left with a toe injury. The next thrower was making an NFL debut. That is the game. It is not a benching.

Redraft: keep him. A career-first zero in this game is not a new target share. If he is the best receiver you can start on Thursday, start him. If you have another receiver with a similar weekly role and a quarterback whose status is already known, that receiver is the safer Week 9 start. The risk is who throws. The who-to-start guide is the checklist once Thursday's quarterback is named.

Dynasty: hold. Five targets and no catches, after the starter's hand hit a pass rusher, is not a sell and it is not a new role. Buy him only if the offer was already cheap before Sunday. A healthy-Lamar price is the wrong number for a Thursday that may be Joe Fagnano, Tyler Huntley, or a quarterback who is not on the roster yet.

Mark Andrews still has the tight end job

Andrews caught 3 passes for 14 yards on 4 targets in the box score. In the transcript, he answered the four-game question by talking about Thursday: "we have a game in four days, so we have to be able to bounce back." He called the injury a tough break. He did not announce a change in his own role.

Start him if he is your tight end. Do not drop him for a Thursday streamer because the quarterback got hurt. Fourteen yards is what this game produced, and the passing game may be short again. That is the risk in the start. Sell only for a tight end you would rather start the rest of the way. A flex receiver or a backup quarterback is a different position. Dynasty: hold. The thumb is not his injury. A discount that prices him as if he were the player on IR is a buy, and only at that discount.

Derrick Henry scored before the game got away

Henry carried 11 times for 53 yards and a touchdown. NBC Sports has that rushing line. The box score also has 2 catches for 7 yards. The score was a 2-yard run with 3:18 left in the first quarter. Eleven carries and a first-quarter touchdown in a 36-10 loss is a lead-back line from a game that got away. It is not a new committee.

Redraft: start him Thursday. Keep him. The offense can hand him the ball, and a game that gets away can take those carries with it. If a manager discounts him as if he were the one headed to IR, that is the buy. A healthy-Lamar workload price for the next four weeks is the number to pass on, in either direction. Dynasty: hold. The injury is not his. A short week without Jackson is a 2026 script.

Huntley's toe is unresolved, and Fagnano is the emergency

Tyler Huntley replaced Jackson and did not finish the half. NFL.com has him at 2 of 4 for zero yards and says he was ruled out after halftime. The box score also lists a fumble lost. ESPN calls it a right toe injury and says Minter is not sure of the status. In the transcript, asked about Huntley going forward, Minter said, "I'm not sure of that yet. We'll see." NFL.com attributes a more specific report to Adam Schefter: the injury is believed to be turf toe, and Huntley was to have an MRI on Monday. USA Today's Monday morning story still treats the toe as something to monitor. That story does not include an MRI result. Schefter's line is the belief. Minter has not confirmed the diagnosis.

The earlier cover is why managers still roster him. USA Today says he started three games during the ankle absence, went 1-2, and completed 68 percent of his passes for 664 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. That window is closed. It is not a Thursday clearance.

Leave Huntley on the bench Thursday unless a report says he is active. If you already roster him, hold the spot through the MRI when you can. If the result rules him out and you need the spot for a starter, drop him in redraft. Do not send a player to acquire him while the toe is open. Dynasty: he is a backup. A share of the backup is not the move just because the starter is headed to IR.

Joe Fagnano, an undrafted rookie, made his NFL debut after Huntley left. The Ravens' story has him at 10 of 21 for 91 yards, one interception, and a fumble lost. NFL.com and the box score match the completions, yards, and interception. USA Today calls him, as of Monday morning, the only healthy quarterback on the 53-man roster. Minter credited him for playing without many prep reps and said the club would sort, over the next 24 hours from Sunday night, whether Huntley can go and whether Fagnano made it through the game. If Huntley cannot play Thursday, Baltimore may have to add a quarterback on the short week. The Monday morning report did not include an addition.

Fagnano is a waiver add. In superflex, or in a one-quarterback league where you have no Thursday quarterback, add him if Huntley is out and the club has not signed or traded for someone else. A debut of 91 yards, an interception, and a lost fumble is not a player you trade for. He is not the quarterback for four weeks until the club says so. The job can change before 8:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, and it can change again before the November 10 deadline. Dynasty: leave the debut on the wire. A first NFL game in relief is not a future starter's price.

Christian Watson's rib is a different Week 9 price, on the Watson board. It does not change who throws in Baltimore.

What to do before Thursday, November 5

• Jackson does not start. In one-quarterback redraft with no IR spot, drop him if you need the roster spot to field a quarterback. With an IR spot, hold him for a Week 14 return that Minter said might not come.
• In dynasty, hold Jackson. Sell only for a quarterback you would start in 2027. Pass on a healthy weekly price, and pass on a sale that prices him as a backup.
• Start Derrick Henry. Start Mark Andrews if he is your tight end. Start Zay Flowers if he is your best receiver. If a similar receiver has a settled quarterback, that receiver is the safer Thursday start.
• Leave Tyler Huntley on the bench unless he is active. Add Joe Fagnano only as an emergency streamer if Huntley is out and Baltimore has not added a quarterback.
• Check the Ravens' quarterback news again before kickoff. A signing or a trade replaces this emergency. It does not put Jackson back on the field.

Player	Redraft into Thursday	Dynasty
Lamar Jackson	No start. Drop in one-QB if you have no IR spot and need the roster spot. Hold on IR for a Week 14 return that may not happen. Sell only for a quarterback you will start the rest of the way.	Hold. Pass on a sale built off "potentially." Buy only at a discount that still prices 2027.
Zay Flowers	Keep him. Start him if he is your best receiver. Prefer a similar receiver with a settled quarterback when you have one.	Hold. Five targets and a career-first zero is the game, not a new role.
Mark Andrews	Start him if he is your tight end. Keep him off the waiver wire. Sell only for a tight end you would rather start.	Hold. Three catches for 14 yards is the game, not the job.
Derrick Henry	Start. Keep him. Buy only if the price treats Henry as the player on IR.	Hold. The injury is not his.
Tyler Huntley	Bench him unless he is active. Hold through the MRI if you have the spot. Drop in redraft if he is ruled out and you need the spot.	Backup. A share is not the add off this report.
Joe Fagnano	Waiver add only if Huntley is out and no quarterback has been added. Not a four-week starter.	Leave a debut of 10 of 21 for 91 yards, an interception, and a lost fumble on the wire.

Sources

• Ravens.com, Ryan Mink, November 1, 6:38 p.m.: surgery, injured reserve, "potentially," the Rousseau collision, Flowers without a catch, Fagnano's line, and the record at 4-4
• Ravens postgame transcript, November 1: Minter on surgery and IR, "Potentially, but we'll see where it's at," Huntley's status, Fagnano, and Andrews on the game in four days
• NFL.com: 36-10, at least four games, the pass toward Flowers, Huntley 2 of 4 for zero yards, Schefter on the believed turf toe and Monday MRI, and Fagnano's line
• ESPN: high left ankle sprain, the right toe, the four games he will miss, and the 2027 contract note
• USA Today, November 2: Weeks 9-12 missed, Week 13 bye, earliest return Week 14 against Tampa Bay, Huntley's three starts, and Fagnano as the healthy quarterback Monday morning
• FantasyPros: surgery, injured reserve, and at least the next four games
• Pro-Football-Reference box score: 36-10, Jackson 0 of 1, Huntley, Fagnano, Flowers 5 targets and no catches, Andrews 3 for 14, Henry 11 for 53 and a touchdown plus 2 catches for 7
• NBC Sports: Henry 11 carries, 53 yards, and a touchdown
• NFL.com Week 9 schedule: Jaguars at Ravens, Thursday, November 5, 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video
• Ravens 2026 schedule: Thursday night, the Weeks 10-12 games, the Week 13 bye, and Week 14 against Tampa Bay on December 13