In the Ravens vs Bengals game, Cincinnati, despite a slow start with no touchdowns in the red zone, exploded for 20 second-half points and pulled away, winning the game ‌32-14, ending Baltimore’s five-game winning streak. Lamar Jackson struggled throughout the game, like in the first half, when he fumbled while being sacked near Baltimore’s 2-yard line. Now, an NFL Insider believes something’s wrong with him. 

Sports commentator Skip Bayless revealed on "The Arena Gridiron" show that Jackson is not at 100% physically. "I'm not going make excuses for Lamar. I will just tell you what my eyes tell me. He ain't right, something is wrong physically with him.... He's just beat all to hell. He's taken too many hits. He's not right, and I don't know if he's going to be able to get back right,” he said. 

Jackson’s 2025 season has been marked by injuries. In the Week 4 matchup between the Ravens and the Chiefs, Lamar Jackson left the game in the third quarter after suffering a hamstring injury. His final snap came on a play where he was sacked by George Karlaftis for a two-yard loss with roughly 8:10 remaining in the third quarter. 

This caused him to miss three games, and even after that, he has nursed knee, ankle, and toe injuries over the last few weeks. His performance has come down; the 2 time MVP has not thrown a touchdown for 3 games. Last season, Jackson ran for 915 yards, 4 TDs, and averaged 6.6 yards per carry, and was the runner-up for MVP. This season, through nine games, he has just 264 rushing yards, 1 TD, and 5.1 yards per carry. But he did not blame the injuries for his performance.

Answering whether his injuries are the reason, he said, "No, I just got to be more consistent. I got to make those throws. I don't miss them in practice, so I shouldn't be missing them in the game. Yeah, I feel like I'm seeing the field pretty good for the most part, you know, but I just got to be consistent. We all just got to be consistent.” Though he does not shy away from taking accountability.

Lamar Jackson took accountability for the Bengals loss.

After his performance against the Bengals, Lamar Jackson got brutally honest about his performance. "No, I just got to play consistent. You know, can't have turnovers, especially in any game, not just this game, but any game. Can't have turnovers. Two fumbles and an interception, tipped interception. We got to be consistent. We're putting our defense on the field too much. Can't have that,” he said. In that game, his passer rating for the game dropped to 65.4, which is far below his standards. 

It was the first time in four years he had a three-turnover game. He committed three turnovers: two fumbles and one interception. Talking of fumbles, the Ravens recorded 4 fumbles in that game, something that had not happened for the first time in 18 years. The total of 5 turnovers was not seen by the Ravens since 2013. 

Jackson said he was beyond frustrated, he was angry, and even took the blame on himself, saying, “I'm talking about myself.  Hold on to the ball and make throws because I feel like I missed throws that I don't miss those. Just got to be consistent." Well,l he has done the first step of improvement, accepting his mistake. Let's hope he clocks in the remaining games and takes the Ravens to the Playoffs.

Can he do it? Let us know in the comments.

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Joyita Das