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Baltimore Ravens rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson didn’t hide from an underwhelming performance in his team’s 23-17 AFC Wild Card Round defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
“I feel like I played poorly,” Jackson said, per The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. “You just got to move on, learn from this one.”
Jackson finished 14-of-29 for 194 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also led the team with 54 rushing yards on nine carries.
Chargers linebacker Uchenna Nwosu also stripped Jackson on what proved to be Baltimore’s final play. The Ravens turned it over with 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter to rule out a comeback.
As Jackson struggled throughout the first half and into the third quarter, some Baltimore fans vocalized their frustration.
Will Brinson @WillBrinson
Ravens fans booing Lamar Jackson when he’s the youngest player to start in an NFL playoff game and isn’t being replaced by Joe Flacco.
The 2018 first-round pick brushed that aside, saying, “It happens,” per ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley.
Joe Flacco remained on the bench for the duration of the game. According to Sports Illustrated‘s Conor Orr, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he and his staff “were considering” making a quarterback change. However, they reached a consensus to stick with Jackson.
Some will likely second-guess Harbaugh in the days and weeks ahead. Flacco obviously has the experience edge on Jackson, with Sunday’s game only the eighth start of Jackson’s NFL career.
But Jackson threw a pair of touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to get the Ravens to within one score of the Chargers. As much as a team can’t take a playoff appearance for granted, Harbaugh had to consider the future too.
The long-term benefits to letting Jackson make mistakes and grow from Sunday’s loss should outweigh the short-term gain fo potentially advancing one more round in the postseason with Flacco under center.
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