Can the Ravens’ offense work without Lamar Jackson?

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Declan Doyle’s vision for this Ravens offense included Lamar Jackson — and three non-negotiables.

“We are physical, we are detailed, and we are explosive,” Doyle said at his introductory news conference in February. “Those are the three things that are the pillars that we want to hang our hat on.”

In the first half of the Ravens’ 24-18 win Sunday over the Tennessee Titans, he had all four. Jackson again looked like an NFL Most Valuable Player candidate. The Ravens’ pass protection was stout, their run blocking effective. The offense averaged an elite 8.2 yards per play.

Then Jackson hurt his ankle on the Ravens’ final drop-back of the half, and Doyle’s vision faded inside M&T Bank Stadium. The run game averaged 2.8 yards per carry after halftime. There were three more offensive penalties in the second half. Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley had just two completions of at least 10 yards. An offense that had scored 24 points over the first 30 minutes was held scoreless over the final 30.

As the Ravens await Jackson’s return to health, Sunday’s game against the surging Atlanta Falcons will be the greatest test yet of Doyle’s adaptability. Can the first-time play-caller get a Ravens front missing even more top blockers to hold its own against a dominant Falcons defensive line? Can he smooth out the mistakes that led to six offensive penalties Sunday? Can he produce explosives with either backup Tyler Huntley or a limited Jackson leading the offense?

“Something Coach Doyle kind of preaches to us throughout the week is ‘No drop-off,’” offensive lineman Emery Jones said Sunday. “No matter who has to go in, no matter what happens throughout the game, nobody adjusts better than us. So guys go down, next guy up — we try to hold up to that standard that we have.”

Here’s a look at the big questions the Ravens’ rushing and passing offense will face this week.

How will injuries affect the ground game?

Running back Derrick Henry hasn’t rushed for 100 yards since Week 1, but not because of suboptimal running lanes. The Ravens have ranked in the top 11 in yards before contact per carry each week, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats:

• Week 1 vs. Indianapolis Colts: 4.37 yards (first)
• Week 2 vs. New Orleans Saints: 1.23 yards (11th)
• Week 3 vs. Dallas Cowboys: 3.30 (fourth)
• Week 4 vs. Titans: 1.78 yards (sixth)

The second half Sunday, however, was a slog. With Jackson sidelined and the Ravens’ blocking in further disarray — a foot injury knocked out starting right guard Andrew Vorhees in the second quarter, and tight end Durham Smythe reportedly tore his Achilles tendon midway through the third quarter — Tennessee dominated in the trenches. The Ravens averaged just 0.06 yards before contact on their five carries for 11 yards in the third quarter and 0.94 yards before contact on their 14 carries for 42 yards in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens’ admittedly conservative approach didn’t help. But neither will injuries. Smythe was the Ravens’ top blocking tight end, reliable as an in-line presence and as an insert blocker on Doyle’s various presnap motions. Practice squad tight end Nick Vannett will likely be elevated to shoulder some of his workload as rookies Matt Hibner and Josh Cuevas grow more comfortable.

Jones is the Ravens’ third-string right guard and has barely played next to right tackle Roger Rosengarten. The 2025 third-round pick, a converted tackle himself, could struggle with the team’s presnap cadences in Atlanta, as others on the line already have elsewhere this season. The Ravens have been flagged a combined 15 times for false-start, illegal-shift and illegal-formation penalties.

Huntley is a mobile quarterback, but he does not have Jackson’s dynamism on designed runs or scrambles. Excluding kneel-downs and scrambles, Huntley had 12 carries for 72 yards and six first downs in his five appearances last season, according to Sports Info Solutions. As a scrambler, he had seven runs for 84 yards and five first downs.

Sunday’s road trip does not set up as a get-right game for the Ravens, either. Atlanta easily leads the NFL in run defense (48.3 yards per game allowed), and the Falcons are the only team in the league establishing first contact with ball carriers in the opponent’s backfield (minus-0.13 yards before contact per attempt).

Can the passing game remain explosive?

Jackson and Huntley have shared a locker room in Baltimore for six seasons. But as passers, their aggressiveness over the years has only diverged.

Entering Week 5, among quarterbacks with at least 30 pass attempts, Jackson ranks second in the NFL in air yards per attempt (10.2), according to NGS. He has completed eight passes at least 20 yards downfield; only three quarterbacks have more.

Huntley falls on the other end of that spectrum. Last year, he averaged an Aaron Rodgers-esque 6.2 air yards per attempt, a career low for Huntley. Of his 67 passes in 2025, just three were thrown at least 20 yards downfield — and only one was caught, a 36-yard completion to wide receiver Rashod Bateman against the Chicago Bears in Week 8.

Huntley’s quick-strike approach could be an asset Sunday against Atlanta, which is third in the NFL in pressure rate (43.6%), according to NGS. Huntley averaged just 2.67 seconds before each throw Sunday, a top-10 mark in Week 4.

But with the Ravens’ apparent mismatch on the ground, Doyle and Huntley will have to find more first downs through the air. Of Huntley’s eight completions for 63 yards Sunday against Tennessee, just two moved the chains.

“We want to be an explosive offense,” said wide receiver Zay Flowers, who had six catches for 119 yards in the first half Sunday and two catches for minus-1 yard in the second half. “So we look for explosive plays, and when ‘Snoop’ [Huntley] came in, we still had confidence in [him]. We know what Snoop can do.”

The Ravens may just need him to do more. Huntley averaged 0.1 air yards per attempt Sunday (yes, less than 4 inches per attempt), his passing diet consisting primarily of check-downs and screens.

With Flowers, Bateman and tight end Mark Andrews all healthy, Doyle should be able to find favorable matchups against Falcons cornerbacks C.J. Henderson, Mike Hughes and Billy Bowman Jr. But he’ll need the Ravens’ reconfigured offensive line to hold up long enough, and Huntley to look downfield often enough, for the passing attack to find a sustainable supply of explosives.

“There is one Lamar Jackson,” coach Jesse Minter said Monday. “The guy is a two-time MVP, and so I think for anybody to have to say, like, ‘We are being compared to Lamar,’ is unfair and not realistic. I think Snoop as a backup quarterback in this league, and even as a starter, at times, has shown the ability to come in and really kind of run the offense, make plays with his legs and be able to make plays on third down. …

“He does not really get bothered, and so he keeps a pretty cool head about himself. [He] does not feel pressure too much. And to me, when a guy is needed to go in there and he has that type of mentality, that is what allows him to be successful.”