BALTIMORE — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was officially ruled out Friday for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium with a hamstring injury.

The news comes three days after The Baltimore Sun first reported that the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player was unlikely to play and could also be sidelined for next week’s home game against the Los Angeles Rams depending on how he responds to treatment. It marks the first time that Jackson, who did not practice all week, will miss a game because of injury since 2022, when a knee injury kept him out of the the final five games of the regular season as well as a wild-card-round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

With Jackson sidelined, veteran and former Dallas Cowboys backup Cooper Rush will get the start.

“It’s always a lot better when you get all of the reps in practice like that to prepare yourself for a game compared to a usual week when you are preparing and all that, but you don’t get those reps,” Rush said Friday. “Got a good plan being out there with the [starting] group and understanding the receivers and what they see and how they see it, and the tight ends and things like that, it was fun.

“You always watch from behind there and Lamar and how they run it and try and replicate that and get a good feel for it.”

The Ravens are also expected to elevate Tyler Huntley from the practice squad, and it’s possible that he could get on the field in some specific packages as well given his mobility.

Rush, 31, however, will get the nod. He was signed this past offseason for a scenario such as this, with Baltimore having inked him to two-year, $6.5 million contract worth up to $12.2 million in March.

His start also comes at a critical time for the Ravens, who have lost two straight and have already fallen two games behind the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers a month into the season.

“They all feel like must wins,” said Rush, who filled in for an injured Dak Prescott last season. “It doesn’t feel any different.

“Whenever a franchise QB goes down, it’s always a sky is falling feeling everywhere you are. It’s normal. If you have to go out there on Sunday and do what you got to do, it’s nice knowing you had a whole week to prep for it.”

Last week, Rush relieved the injured Jackson in the third quarter of an eventual 37-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium and completed 9 of 13 passes for 52 yards.

Sunday will mark his first start since a 41-7 loss by Dallas in Week 17 last season to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. In that game, he completed 15 of 28 passes for 147 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Rush also faced the Texans in Week 11 last season. He completed 32 of 55 passes for 352 yards and a touchdown with one interception but was sacked five times in the 34-10 defeat.

In all, he appeared in 12 games for Dallas in 2024, including eight starts, and completed 60.7% of his passes for 1,844 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions.

An undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan in 2017, Rush spent seven seasons with the Cowboys and helped guide them to a 9-5 record in games that he started over three seasons. For his career, he has completed 60.9% of his passes for 3,515 yards with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

What kind of success he can have against the Texans, though, remains to be seen.

Houston (1-3) has the league’s top scoring defense (12.8 points per game) and is led by Pro Bowl edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., along with All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To’oTo’o. The Ravens (1-3) have also struggled to find a rhythm with their offense and are dealing with several injuries, particularly on defense.

No injury looms larger than Jackson’s, however.

He is at the center of everything Baltimore does and through four games this season has completed a career-high 71.6% of his passes for 869 yards along with a NFL-best 10 touchdowns with just one interception. He has also rushed for 166 yards and another score on 21 carries.

Being without the dynamic Jackson impacts what Baltimore can do with its play-calling as well, especially with run-pass option plays with Rush far less mobile than Jackson, who last season broke Michael Vick’s NFL record for most career rushing yards by a quarterback.

“That’s a challenge, obviously [with] the type of player and leader that Lamar is and how much he means to us,” tight end Mark Andrews said. “The beautiful thing is that we have a lot of fighters in this group and a deep organization with a ton of players that are going to step up and make plays. I just have a lot of faith and trust in the guys.”

As for what Rush brings, he is a prototypical drop-back passer. He is also apt to get rid of the ball quickly and has experience.

“He was here the whole offseason, and you can see why he has been successful,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Thursday of Rush, adding that the veteran is a consummate pro. “Everybody that you spoke to in Dallas … they loved him. He’s been as good as advertised.”

Sunday will mark the 12th time that Jackson has missed a regular-season game because of injury or illness since he became the starting quarterback. In addition to 2022, he also missed five games in 2021 with a season-ending ankle injury and one game in 2020 because of COVID-19.

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