Lamar Jackson’s mother, Felicia Jones, was not shy about expressing her disappointment with the Baltimore Ravens quarterback after he missed several opportunities during a loss last season.
In Week 13 of the 2024 campaign, Jackson rushed eight times for 79 yards in the Ravens’ 24-19 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles. However, much of that performance came in the final moments when the star quarterback took off on a 39-yard scramble with less than one minute left in the fourth quarter.
During a postgame press conference, Jackson shared that his mom “cussed him out” for not using his legs more often. “Yes, my momma just told me that. She just cussed me out, so I’m mad,” he admitted at the time.
“She said there were lanes I should have [taken] and ran, but I was trying to let guys develop routes.”
As the old adage goes, mom is always right. “We had developing routes. I was just trying to go through my progressions,” Jackson acknowledged.
“But yes, she’s right.
“I’m sorry for this. I’m just mad, because I feel like we should win these games, and we’re not getting them done.”
Despite the criticism, Jackson still delivered a commendable performance – completing 23-of-36 passes for 237 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. However, given the Ravens ended up on the losing side, he conceded it wasn’t enough.
“I’m always going to put myself at the front line, no matter if I played good or not,” Jackson added. “I played alright, but yes. I’m just ticked off, because we left things out there on that field – me [and] everyone.
“It’s a team sport, and there’s no ‘I’ in team. That was a pretty good team, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like we left stuff out there. We should have put more points on the board.”
Jackson has also struggled to replicate his trademark rushing success this season, sometimes appearing to lack the explosiveness or willingness to take off with the ball himself.
Before the Ravens’ Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals, his 5.75 rushing attempts per game represented a career-low figure that’s almost four carries fewer than his career average of 9.55.
A significant portion of Jackson’s difficulties can be traced to the mounting health issues he’s battled in recent weeks. Throughout the past month, the 28-year-old has been managing knee discomfort along with ankle and toe problems that’ve limited his practice participation.
Speaking about his decreased rushing numbers and diminished explosiveness earlier this month, Jackson said: “I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. I don’t really pay attention to the number of rushes I have.
“We have Derrick Henry, Keaton Mitchell, Justice [Hill] and Rasheen Ali; we have all these guys to run the ball – and sometimes Zay [Flowers] – so, I don’t really worry about it, as long as we’re winning.”
