Ravens bench QB Cooper Rush for Tyler Huntley vs. Rams facing 1-5 season start

Trailing the Los Angeles Rams 17-3 in the fourth quarter, the Baltimore Ravens replaced quarterback Cooper Rush with Tyler Huntley. Before leaving the game, Rush completed 11-of-his-19 pass attempts for 72 yards and zero touchdowns. He threw one interception.

Rush made his first start for the Ravens last week after starting quarterback Lamar Jackson suffered a hamstring injury in the Ravens’ Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Rush failed to lead the Ravens to victory, falling 44-10 to the Houston Texans.

In the loss, Rush completed 14-of-his-20 pass attempts for 179 yards and zero touchdowns, compared to three interceptions. Cooper Rush signed a two-year, $6.2 million deal with the Ravens in March. Ahead of the Ravens’ showdown against the Rams on Sunday, Rush seemingly believed he would have an improved performance in his second start for the team.

“There’s a little bit of rhythm to it, you know, how you approach your week… Getting more reps and just getting more time with those guys. It does make a difference,” Rush said.

“… We have to be more efficient, on first and second down, especially, and get more manageable third downs… We were able to convert on a few longer ones, but those are hard, those are rare. Just more efficiency, overall, to get us going.”

Evidently, the Ravens didn’t believe Rush was efficient enough on Sunday. Tyler Huntley is in his third stint with Baltimore. In August, he signed to the Ravens’ practice squad as a third-string QB option. Now, after a stunning turn of events, he’s leading Baltimore’s offense.

Since Lamar Jackson secured the Ravens’ starting spot behind center in 2018, Baltimore is 4-12 when Jackson hasn’t played. On Sunday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero provided an update on Jackson’s timetable to return.

“Here’s the good news for the Ravens. My understanding is this is not a long-term injury for Lamar Jackson,” Pelissero said. “He has been in the building rehabbing. The team is at least hopeful that Lamar will be back after next week’s bye.

“The problem the coaches are trying to solve is that everything they worked on through the offseason was to complement the unique system that they have built around Lamar. When you take away the quarterback run threat, all the things he can do in space, the entire offense becomes more predictable, including the run packages with Derrick Henry.”

Jackson will look to fully recover during the Ravens’ bye in the upcoming week. Then, in Week 8, Baltimore will face off against the Chicago Bears.