Lamar Jackson has had a busy week. On Monday, he revealed on social media that he requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens before the team had even placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on him earlier this month.
It would seem that he is ready to move on from the Ravens, but there hasn’t been any movement in his market. The only team to even confirm they would consider bringing on Lamar Jackson is the Indianapolis Colts.
On Wednesday, Lamar Jackson was back at it on social media. This time, he was firing back at critics who continue to ask him questions about his injury. On December 4th, Lamar Jackson suffered a knee injury that originally was diagnosed as one which would take two or three weeks to heal.
Instead, he ended up missing the remainder of the regular season. The Ravens made the playoffs, but days before they were set to face the Cincinnati Bengals, Lamar Jackson announced himself out, citing instability in his knee and that the injury was worse than originally thought.
Many people have questioned the validity of that, believing he sat out to preserve himself. But, it does not seem that is the case. Lamar Jackson took to Twitter once again to defend himself and respond.
Some of this could be in reaction to comments that Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank made on Tuesday. The Falcons are one of the teams that would make a lot of sense as a landing spot for Lamar Jackson, but they are set to go into 2023 with Desmond Ridder as their starter.
“Looking at it objectively, there is some concern about whether or not he can play his style of game for … how long can that last,” Blank told reporters, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m not sure. He’s only 26. Hopefully a long time for his benefit or anybody that he’s signed with. But he’s missed five to six games each of the last two years. This is not like baseball and basketball where you’re playing 82 or 182 games, or whatever baseball is now.”
The Falcons were one of the teams that pursued Deshaun Watson last year before he was traded to the Cleveland Browns. Their need for a quarterback remains, but they have been absent from any pursuit of Lamar Jackson.
Any questioning of why Lamar Jackson missed those games should have been put to rest months ago. Ravens’ general manager Eric DeCosta spoke about it at the end of the season and does not believe the absence was contract related.
“Lamar can speak to that, but my feeling is no. I think Lamar was hurt. It was just bad timing and I think bad luck for us and bad luck for Lamar.”
The saga will live on for Lamar Jackson, whose future remains up in the air. This could drag on through the NFL Draft, as it would not be surprising to see a team make an offer once 2023 draft picks have been made and are off the table for negotiations.
