The frustration of another late collapse boiled over for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who went after one of his Twitter critics with a vulgar reply hours after the Ravens’ last-minute, 28-27 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 27.
Jackson has since deleted the tweet, but head coach John Harbaugh defended his franchise quarterback while stressing that he has warned players not to engage in social media “especially after a loss.”
Such dialogue is “never going to be positive,” Harbaugh said at his regular Monday news conference a day after the Ravens’ loss, which came when the Jaguars scored a touchdown and go-ahead two-point conversion with 14 seconds left.
In all four of their losses this year, the Ravens (7-4) have led by at least two scores in the second half. They led 19-10 midway through the fourth quarter in Jacksonville before the Jaguars scored 18 points in the final six minutes.
The Ravens’ offense scuffled against the Jaguars, failing to reach the end zone on three of five red-zone opportunities. Justin Tucker kicked three field goals inside 30 yards, and then his 67-yard attempt — one yard longer than his NFL record — on the final play of the game landed short.
Jackson finished 16-of-32 for 254 yards, and at least five passes were dropped by his intended target.
A visibly frustrated Jackson met with the media after the loss, which ended a four-game winning streak, and then Jackson sounded off on a fan who suggested that instead of paying Jackson, whose contract is up after this season, the team should use the money to bolster the entire roster.
Jackson replied by saying his critic had “never smelt a football field” and followed with a vulgar phrase.
Harbaugh said he learned of Jackson’s tweet Sunday night and spoke to the quarterback Monday morning, saying Jackson was “baited” into the exchange.
“Really, you just beg guys not get into the Twitter world right after the game,” Harbaugh said, “especially after a loss. … It’s not going to be a nice place. That’s kind of reflected in Lamar’s response, because what he said was just so out of character for him. That’s not the way he speaks, that’s not the way he talks. It’s not the words he ever uses. I’ve never heard him say things like that before.”
“Lamar Jackson … has one of the biggest hearts of anybody I know,” Harbaugh added. “You have all seen him, the way he treats people, the way he treats kids, the way he treats media. He’s also one of the biggest competitors I’ve ever met, so those kinds of conversations he takes very seriously. So you get trapped sometimes by someone who’s baiting you just a little bit, and you can’t live there.”
“I think that’s not a place he wants to be in, [and] those are certainly not things he wants to say.”
Asked whether Jackson is increasingly frustrated, Harbaugh said, “I don’t think there is a measure ‘increasingly.’ That’s a term someone can throw out there to create a narrative, I guess. Lamar hates to lose. We all hate to lose, and we all hate to not score touchdowns in the red zone. So if that’s frustration, sure, I don’t mind that kind of frustration. I want us to be frustrated with that. I want a bunch of guys who want to win.”
Jackson is next scheduled to meet with the media on Nov. 30 at his weekly Wednesday news conference.
NOTEBOOK
DOBBINS TO RETURN TO PRACTICE THIS WEEK: Harbaugh said J.K. Dobbins will return to practice “to some degree” this week, which will begin a 21-day window for the running back to be activated from injured reserve. “I’m not sure exactly what they’ll let him do, so we’ll see,” Harbaugh said.
Dobbins missed the first two games this year as he recovered from a knee injury that cost him the entire 2021 season. He returned to the lineup in Week 3 and appeared in four games before landing back on IR to have what Harbaugh described as a cleanup procedure on scar tissue in his surgically repaired knee.
In four games this year, Dobbins has 35 carries for 123 yards and one touchdown.
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