Lamar Jackson’s trade request from the Baltimore Ravens has sent ripple waves across the NFL. It started with John Harbaugh having to play damage control, and it led to speculation about his best team fit for a potential departure.
But before we even got here, there was underlying chatter Jackson purposely sat out Baltimore’s last five games of the 2022 season, including a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Why? Rather than try to recover from a severe PCL knee injury, some asserted he was protecting his potential value on the open market.
Heck, even Charles Woodson and Michael Vick shared such irresponsible opinions about the situation.
On Twitter Tuesday night, Jackson dispelled these rumors in the strongest manner:
I don’t remember me sitting out on my guys week 1 vs jets To week 12 vs Broncos. How come all of a sudden I sit out because of money in which I could’ve got hurt at anytime within that time frame 🤔 When we know the Super Bowl been on my mind since April 2018.
— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) March 29, 2023
Let’s get real. I rather have a 100% PCL than go out there and play
horrible forcing myself to put my guys in a bad situation now that’s selfish to me.— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) March 29, 2023
There are a lot of layers to this Jackson saga with the Ravens. Asserting a superstar like him sat out on purpose while recovering from an awful injury is probably taking it a step too far.
