The Baltimore Ravens ruled out All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton for the rest of Thursday night’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a hip injury, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Hamilton got hurt in the second quarter and came back out briefly after halftime before the team shut him down, Pro Football Talk reported. He had three tackles, one for a loss, and a pass defensed before leaving. By then the night was already sliding away from Baltimore: Jacksonville led 17-3 at the half and 23-3 in the fourth quarter.
A second injury in two weeks
This isn’t the first health scare of the fall for Hamilton. He dealt with a right knee injury ahead of Baltimore’s Week 8 game against the Bills, then returned to practice and was cleared to play, Ravens Wire noted. The team hasn’t said anything yet about the severity of the hip injury, and his status going forward will depend on further evaluation.
Losing him hurts in a specific way. Hamilton came into the night with 57 tackles in eight games, second on the team behind Roquan Smith, per ClutchPoints. He’s also the piece that lets defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver move people around. And the safety room was already thin, with Jaylinn Hawkins ruled out before the game with a knee injury.
What’s next for Baltimore
Some breathing room, at least. The Ravens, who entered Thursday at 4-4, don’t play again until they face the Chargers after an 11-day break, according to ClutchPoints. That gives Jesse Minter’s staff time to get answers on Hamilton before they have to make a call.
They’ll need the time at quarterback, too. Lamar Jackson is on injured reserve with a thumb injury, Tyler Huntley is out with a toe injury, and undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano made his first career start Thursday.
Why it matters
McGraw Media’s read: the Ravens can survive a bad Thursday with a third-string quarterback. What they can’t easily replace is the one defender built to cover for everything else going wrong. If Hamilton’s hip turns out to be a short-term thing, the extra rest helps. If it’s longer, Baltimore’s defense has to carry a team without its quarterback and without its best chess piece at the same time. There’s no sense in worrying sick until the team says more, but that’s the update every Ravens fan should be waiting on.
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