Last July, Lamar Jackson got into a Twitter dust-up with former Ravens safety Bernard Pollard.
The back-and-forth made headlines, but after it was done, Pollard said he and Jackson had a civil conversation via text and phone.
😂 Good one… If you get to the SB we will see what you do. Ask your coach about the extra body I was helping all game and playing with 6 broken ribs… I played through my injuries… Man Up and throw from the pocket.
— Bernard Pollard Jr (@Crushboy31) July 14, 2022
When they chatted, Pollard, who played nine years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl in Baltimore, said he doled out some advice to Jackson about his contract situation.
Namely, don’t play again until you force the Ravens to hand over a lucrative multi-year extension.
But Jackson didn’t listen, and now, as criticism cascades down on Jackson for not playing in the wild card round or even being at the stadium in Cincinnati, Pollard says the star quarterback must lie in the bed he has made.
“I can’t sympathize with Lamar because I gave him advice,” Pollard said. “I told him, ‘Do not step on that football field.’ Lamar said, out of his mouth: ‘I’m not going to allow them to play me.’ But I told him if you step on that football field, they played you. They won. You lost. So I can’t sympathize with that. The business is going to do what the business does. (Ravens GM) Eric DeCosta, (owner Steve) Bisciotti and all of them, I knew what they were going to do.
“It is completely on Lamar. Everything that has taken place is Lamar’s fault.”
.@RealSkipBayless on Lamar Jackson set to miss Wild Card Weekend with knee injury:
“If Lamar wanted to play for his team this weekend, he would. If he had been paid, he’d be out there. He quit on them because they quit on him.” pic.twitter.com/uS6D5pVNTZ
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) January 13, 2023
Jackson injured his knee in Week 13 and didn’t play again this season. There was rampant speculation that he could have returned to the field but decided against it because of the contract dispute.
It’s the second consecutive season Jackson’s season ended prematurely, torpedoing the team’s Super Bowl hopes each time.
Pollard believes Jackson slow-played his injury this season to make a point about his worth to the Ravens, but by doing so he hung his teammates out to dry.
“I don’t think he didn’t get injured, but this is my opinion: I don’t think the injury was significant to where he had to sit out six games,” Pollard said. “I think this is where he took a stand and said, ‘You’re not paying me, we can’t meet (in the middle), so I’m going to show you what you don’t have.’ But when you look at that from a (teammate’s) standpoint, now wait a minute Lamar. We just played all these games with you, won these games, and we were able to put ourselves in position to be in the playoffs.
“We’re better with you on the football field, we have a championship-caliber defense, and now you take the man this offense was made for, and because of a contract dispute you sit out six games? I think it’s bullcrap. And as a player, the locker room will turn on you if you give them a reason to. And I think you’re starting to see it. Guys are still saying, yo, the Ravens have to pay him and this is Lamar’s offense. They are trying to look at it from a business standpoint, but as a player too it’s like, ‘Wait a minute. My window closes. This was an opportunity for us to make a championship run.’ Guys are going to be pissed about it.”
Ravens’ RB J.K. Dobbins didn't hold back on how much Lamar Jackson’s absence meant to the team during Sunday night’s wild card loss to the Bengals, telling reporters: “If we'd have had Lamar, we'd have won too.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 16, 2023
Jackson is a pending free agent, though the Ravens will assuredly franchise tag him. The contract showdown is stretching into yet another offseason, and Pollard is worried that Jackson’s value could start to diminish as he ages.
That’s why Pollard so adamantly told the 26-year-old two-time Pro Bowler to cash in with a multi-year extension before the season, even though it fell on deaf ears.
“I told him, ‘Look dude, you can be mad, but at the end of the day, you need to understand you need to get your money now,’” Pollard said. “If you look at the history of this league, Lamar, running quarterbacks don’t really win Super Bowls. You better learn how to read defenses, take that pacifier out of your mouth to check and put your offense in better position. Lamar keeps thinking he’s Superman and will run around like he does for 10, 12 years. No, bro. That ain’t happening. You’ve got to be smart.
“Lamar is not running away from people like he did Year 1 and Year 2. He’s slowing down. Everybody says he’s young, he’s 24, 25. Well every year he gets older and it’s more mileage on his legs, more hits on his body. He’s not the biggest guy in the world. We’ve got to understand Lamar can’t be putting himself in harm’s way without money behind his name. Kyler Murray’s been signed. Josh Allen, signed. Everybody’s getting contracts. Lamar has got to say, let me sit my behind down so I can get signed.”
