M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore) — Lamar Jackson leaned into a locker and spoke for three minutes, a constant grimace on his face, sharing the pain in his back that had taken him out of Saturday’s game and the pain of a season that has slipped away from the Ravens.Jackson took a knee to his lower back late in the first half against the Patriots and said he even took a Toradol shot trying to get back in a game Baltimore needed to win, but the pain never went away and he stayed on the sideline. Much the same way, no answer can bring solace to how the Ravens got a 7-8 record, on the outside of the playoff picture with two games left.”Yes, it’s B.S., bro,” Jackson said of the frustration of this season. “I can’t control that. I’m on the ground. I’m down. I gave myself up. I got kneed in the back, but yes, for the most part, you can say that, because [I’m] getting injured, and then we’re fighting for a chance to make the playoffs. I can’t finish the game with my guys. It’s B.S.”Before the season started, expectations couldn’t have been higher. Oddsmakers projected the Ravens to have as many wins as any team in the league, wondering if they were poised to take over if the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes took a step back. Kansas City did, but a slew of injuries on defense depleted Baltimore in a 1-5 start, giving up 40 points a game in their first four losses.Baltimore got healthy and regrouped, winning five straight games, mainly against lesser competition. At 6-5, they were again the favorite to win a middling AFC North, but back-to-back losses to the Bengals and Steelers set them back again. For all the ups and downs, they knew entering Sunday’s showdown with New England that if they won their final three games, they would be division champs.”We’ve been in tough circumstances all year. It’s been a grind, for sure,” coach John Harbaugh said at the podium. “And we’ve come out and fought every single game. We haven’t played well every single game. … You have to do the things that are required to win, to win a lot of games. And we haven’t done that enough.”A year ago, Jackson was a first-team All-Pro quarterback with a case for a third MVP, throwing for 41 touchdowns with only four interceptions, rushing for another 910 yards and four more scores. This season has been one injury after the next, missing three games with a hamstring, then being limited by knee, ankle and toe injuries. Then, his back on Sunday. As a result, he has only 18 touchdowns and has rushed…
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2025-12-23 19:12:00
