News & Notes: Tyler Loop Is Injured, Jake…

Jake Moody will be the Ravens’ kicker Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Head Coach Jesse Minter announced on Monday.

Second-year kicker Tyler Loop (right groin) did not participate in Monday’s walkthrough.

“Tyler has been dealing with something, potentially may go on IR,” Minter said. “We’ll see how that shakes out.”

Loop missed a 34-yard field goal on Sunday with Baltimore trailing, 13-7, clanking the ball off the left upright. He made a 26-yarder later in the game.

His opening kickoff was also booted out of bounds, allowing the Buffalo Bills to start at the 40-yard line on what ended up being a touchdown drive.

Loop has missed four field goal attempts this season (13-of-17), after missing just four attempts his entire rookie season (30-of-34).

The 26-year-old Moody was signed to the practice squad for the second time on Oct. 20. A former third-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, Moody has made 64 of 82 field goals and 107 of 110 extra points in his career.

Long snapper Nick Moore said Moody looked good in practice.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to work with him,” Moore said. “He’s had some really good kicks in the NFL. Tyler’s done a tremendous job of being a professional, working on his craft and being a professional, trying to get better. It’s very hard to kick in this league, as we’ve seen. For Ty, I hate that he’s not feeling well. I hope that he can come back and help us out down the road.”

Ravens Search for Offensive Line Improvement

The Ravens’ quarterbacks were hit 12 times against Buffalo as the offensive line struggled in pass protection. For the offense to become more consistent, the line’s performance needs to improve.

“There’s a lot of things to improve on all across the board, but in particular the offensive line, pass protection, in the run game, so many things,” Minter said.

Baltimore has suffered numerous injuries along the line this season, but Minter said the line wasn’t using that as a crutch.

“We’re chasing improvement, we’re chasing continuity,” Minter said. “That’s not an excuse.”

The offensive line issues led to a tough day for the quarterbacks. On Baltimore’s first play from scrimmage, Bills outside linebacker Greg Rousseau got past right tackle Roger Rosengarten, and Jackson’s right hand collided with Rousseau’s arm as Jackson threw a pass. Jackson suffered a thumb injury that will require surgery and send him to injured reserve.

Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley left the game with a toe injury in the second quarter after he got twisted up on a tackle by Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver. The Ravens’ No. 3 quarterback, Joe Fagnano, got hit low by Oliver and came up hobbling, although Fagnano was able to finish the game.

Rosengarten said after the game that he felt responsible for Jackson’s injury, but Minter said he disagreed.

“I would say that’s never the case,” Minter said. “Football is a funny game — there’s 100% injury rate for guys. Guys get hurt on stuff sometimes where there’s no contact, where there is contact.

“I would never want a player to feel that way. You certainly understand when a guy is saying that — that’s just because of the competitor that he is and how he feels about Lamar and how he feels about his teammates. Honestly, I feel for (Rosengarten) for thinking that, but we’ve got Roger’s back.”

Vega Ioane Hopes to Play vs. Jacksonville

Rookie right guard Vega Ioane (knee) hopes to return Thursday and was listed as limited participant in Monday’s walkthrough.

Ioane returned to practice at limited capacity last week, but was not healthy enough to play against the Bills.

“I feel really good. I’m confident in my ability to be able to come out,” Ioane said. “I didn’t want to go out there and be a liability to the team. But I feel confident now. We will see how practice feels tomorrow, and if I’m ready to go, then I’m ready to go.”

Finding a Winning Formula Without Jackson Will Be Key

Knowing Jackson will be out for some time, the Ravens (4-4) must find a winning formula without him to remain in playoff contention.

Baltimore beat the Atlanta Falcons, 30-23, in overtime in the first full game that Jackson missed this season. Since then, the Ravens haven’t scored a second-half touchdown.

Fagnano (ankle) seemingly has the best chance of playing quarterback against the Jaguars, with Huntley (toe) also banged up. But Minter wants the Ravens to find different ways to win, regardless of who plays quarterback.

“Anytime you’re down playmaker-type guys, the formula may change a little bit of how you need to win,” Minter said. “When you lose a guy like Lamar, it’s a little bit of every phase doing a little bit more.

“It’s being able to play really good defense, being able to maybe make a play or steal a play on special teams, maybe a different style of offense of how we need to play. But we just want to have a formula of how we want to attack and try to win games regardless of who we have.”

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