“So what’s it like working in Baltimore right now?”
“Well … we spend about half of our time trying to figure out what’s going on with Lamar Jackson. And since we can’t get an answer, we spend the other half of our time hypothesizing what’s going on with Lamar Jackson.”
This exchange with a friend who works in the national media last week was honestly my first reflection about how our new “normal” in the Baltimore sports scene must be perceived from afar. Outside of some regular radio hits I do around the country, I honestly spend very little time watching or listening to national sports media content. I feel like I probably shouldn’t have to explain why. You’ve seen it.
And this is our reality. As the Baltimore Ravens prepare for their 14th playoff appearance in franchise history, the postseason rematch with the Bengals is merely a side attraction when it comes to our sporting discourse.
To be clear, I’m as interested as the rest of you. There’s no condemnation coming for that. Any interest I would have in sitting down to watch the wild-card game hinges upon Jackson’s presence. I’m not pretending like I wouldn’t still be watching the game even if he wasn’t playing, I just wouldn’t be “interested” in doing it necessarily. I’m not really “interested” in taking the trash to the curb in the winter, but I have two active sons and I can only handle so many smells within the confines of my abode.
Jackson’s status isn’t necessarily the only relevant storyline heading into the postseason but it’s also the only relevant storyline heading into the postseason. (You get it.) Whether or not Jackson plays, the Ravens can be fairly questioned for letting Gus Edwards play in a Week 18 contest they had all but declared irrelevant based on their inactives. With or without Jackson, their path to victory must include both a dominant defense (which largely showed up again in the regular-season finale) and a dynamic running game. If Edwards is forced to miss the playoff opener due to concussion protocol, the team will rightly be criticized.
But again, the story is Jackson. With him on the field in Cincinnati, the Ravens would have a chance. Without him … try repeating “would have a chance” but have your tone go up an octave or two as you read each word, add another half second of pause between each of them and then somehow make “chance” a two-syllable word with the second syllable really just being a question mark.
The undermanned, only-sorta-trying Ravens were competitive against a Bengals team that appeared to be very much trying (with an MJF-sized chip on its shoulder). Presumably a Ravens team, even without Jackson, that has even a bit more firepower and interest would also be capable of being competitive.
But to feel even remotely good about the Ravens’ chances of knocking off their AFC North rivals, they’ll need their QB1. And that’s OK because there’s a strong chance he plays or it’s unclear whether he plays or the team has genuinely no idea whether he’ll be available. So you can almost kinda sorta understand John Harbaugh’s frustration in talking about it in recent weeks. (Although I still contend that he has to know his specific words would only make for more confusion, and I appreciated his attempt to try to clean things up.)
Now as far as the hypothesizing is concerned, I can only say that it’s exhausting. Despite the reporting about Jackson’s knee failing to nail down any sort of consensus answer about his return, it all very much confirms the existence of a very real injury. The suggestions of Jackson simply “holding out” have always fell flat with me. Jackson had every opportunity to hold out before the season or “hold in” during training camp. For a player who has been so singularly obsessed with winning a Super Bowl since literally the moment he was drafted to suddenly decide in the middle of a playoff push that he would hold out would be antithetical to everything we’ve known about him.
Which doesn’t mean there couldn’t be a disconnect between the player and the organization. Reporting about Jackson is difficult because there’s no singular figure happily interested in sharing the player’s side of the argument in the way agent Joe Linta was always more than happy to publicly speak on the behalf of Joe Flacco. Make no mistake, Jackson has no responsibility to make sure the media is informed. But this has gone far beyond baseless media conjecture at this point. It would seemingly behoove the quarterback and pop culture figure to have some sort of message out there.
What will ultimately become of the relationship between the Ravens and Jackson? On top of the injury, that question lingers over Ravens fans as they measure excitement for a playoff trip. It is an unnerving feeling for a fan base that leaves many falling far short of unbridled Festivus joy. Those who suggest they “know” that Jackson has played his last game in purple can be ignored. They might ultimately prove to be right (who knows?) but their comments are nothing more than attention-seeking guesses.
Still, the concern is real and weighs heavily on a fan base. This risk was part of the calculus of not getting a deal done in the offseason.
So yeah, happy postseason Baltimore. It’s a strange time, but there are 18 fan bases that would love to trade places with you. At least for the next seven days.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox