One of the most shocking losses of Week 12 came in Jacksonville, where the Ravens lost a two-point lead in the final six minutes of a 28-27 loss to Jaguars.
After the game, an NFL fan took to Twitter and called on the Ravens to let Lamar Jackson go at the end of the season, and the quarterback didn’t like it.
After watching Jackson make just 50% of his passes against the Jaguars, the fan wrote that the Ravens should “let Lamar walk and spend that money on a well-balanced team.”
The Ravens quarterback was tagged in the tweet, and we know he definitely read it because not only did he respond, but he responded with something that could get him in hot water. Jackson told the “STFU” fan while including a vulgar NSFW slur that we can’t show here. (If you want to know the exact words he used, you can click here to find out.)
Jackson’s tweet got more than 13,000 likes in the first hour it was up.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said Monday he spoke to Jackson about the situation, adding that he encourages players to stay off social media after games.
“I just talk to these guys, we talk a lot about football, but we also talk a little bit about that stuff, what’s going on in terms of the media and everything,” Harbaugh said, via NFL.com. “Really beg guys not to get into the world of Twitter right after the game, especially after a loss. It’s never going to be positive, it’s not going to be a nice place.”
Jackson’s response was not what Harbaugh normally sees from his franchise QB, and that may be the problem with post-game tweets: Emotions run high.
“I think that’s reflected in Lamar’s response because what he said was so irrelevant to him. It’s not his way of talking. It’s not his way of talking. It’s not are not the words he uses,” Harbaugh said. “I’ve never heard him say things like that before. … I’m sure he’s frustrated, just like we all are. It’s just a place you don’t want to live right after a game. I know he understands that.”
Harbaugh has been Jackson’s head coach for the 25-year-old’s entire career, since being drafted in 2018. He said anyone who knows Jackson knows he’s not the type of person who featured in the tweet.
“Lamar Jackson, you’ve been around him. He’s got one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. You’ve all seen him. The way he treats people. The way he treats children. The how he treats the media.” said Harbaugh. “He’s also one of the biggest competitors I’ve ever met. So those kinds of conversations, he takes it very seriously. So sometimes he gets tricked by someone who just baits him a little bit, and you can’t live there. It’s not important. I think it’s not a place he wants to be, and certainly not the things he wants to say.
As for the Ravens fan who sent the tweet, he’s clearly frustrated with the Ravens’ inability to do anything on offense over the past few weeks. In the past six quarters alone, Baltimore has scored just one offensive touchdown.
While the fan would love to see Jackson leave Baltimore, that’s definitely not going to happen. Even though he’s in the final year of his rookie contract, there’s almost a zero percent chance that Jackson will eventually become a free agent. After the season ends, the Ravens will look to negotiate a new deal with Jackson, but even if they can’t work something out, Baltimore can still hit him with the franchise tag.
Despite struggling with his accuracy against the Jaguars, Jackson still managed to total 343 yards of offense, including 254 through the air and 89 on the ground. Jackson also quickly moved the ball upfield late in the game to set up Justin Tucker’s failed 67-yard field goal attempt to seal Baltimore’s loss.
