Former Baltimore Ravens defensive back Bernard Pollard is of the opinion that the team played Lamar Jackson, though he isn’t feeling any sympathy toward the quarterback as he gave Jackson advice he didn’t heed.
Pollard, who won a Super Bowl with the Ravens 11 years ago, recently spoke to Compare.bet’s NFL writer Kyle Odegard and told him he advised the QB not to get on the field for the team, to which Jackson responded that he wouldn’t allow the Ravens to manipulate him.
“I can’t sympathize with Lamar because I gave him advice,” Pollard declared. “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 relationship between Jackson and the Ravens has deteriorated significantly but it’s still believed that there is a way back for the player.
The 2019 MVP missed the last five games of Baltimore’s regular season, as well as their AFC wild-card round game against the Cincinnati Bengals, due to a knee injury. That came on the back of Jackson making just 12 appearances for the Ravens last season.
While Pollard doesn’t think the injury was imagined, he doesn’t buy that it was as serious as Jackson would like everyone to believe and doesn’t see it as being significant enough to keep him out for six games.
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“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,” he added. “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.’”
Jackson passed for 2,242 yards and 17 touchdowns for the Ravens this term, also rushing for 764 yards and three TDs. The team went 8-4 with him as a starter.
Jackson and Pollard had previously engaged in a war of words on Twitter but the latter revealed they had a civilized chat thereafter.
