Lamar Jackson not only missed the Baltimore Ravens’ AFC Wild Card game with a knee injury, he couldn’t travel with the team because of his PCL strain.
So the frustrated Jackson had to watch on TV, from home, as his teammates took on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Yet he somehow missed the biggest play of the game — and the biggest play of the Ravens’ season.
How could that happen? Two words: Bathroom break.
In case you, like Jackson, missed the play, the Ravens had the ball third-and-goal at the 1 with about 12 minutes remaining. Running back Tyler Huntley took the handoff and tried to leap into the end zone.
Instead, he got stripped of the ball and defensive lineman Sam Hubbard grabbed it and rumbled 98 yards to put the Bengals up, 24-17. That ended up being the final margin.
ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS PLAY FOR THE BENGALS TD 🏈 pic.twitter.com/X2j8ePt4DP
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) January 16, 2023
The historic play marked the longest fumble return for a touchdown in NFL postseason history, as well as the longest go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter in the postseason.
And Jackson missed it. He discussed the strange turn of events and his hilarious reaction on the Ravens’ YouTube channel’s The Lounge.
“I’m watching the game at home, I’ve got the TV (turned) up, so I’m limping to the bathroom,” Jackson said. “We’re about to score … then I hear the crowd go ‘Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
Jackson thought the crowd reaction was much too loud for a Ravens TD, considering the game was in Cincinnati.
“I’m like, ‘What?'” Jackson said. “I rushed back to the TV, I looked, saw the score … I almost broke my TV.”
Jackson quickly stopped that impulse.
“I was about to be one of those people (who destroys a TV), but I thought about it, ‘I have to pay for it.’ There’s no point, there’s no point.”
Jackson admitted it was tough not being able to play in the game.
‘I was sick. There was nothing I wanted more than to be out there on that field with my guys,” he said. “And I wasn’t able to be out there because of an injury.”
Lamar Jackson says he went to the bathroom when the #Ravens were at the 1-yard line and about to score in the playoffs vs. the #Bengals. He came back to Cincinnati taking it 99 yards to the house.
"I almost broke my TV."
(via @Ravens YT / The Lounge)pic.twitter.com/v7rYwKnyCV
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 5, 2023
Jackson is healthy now, and after signing a record-breaking five-year, $260 million contract extension recently, he’s happy.
