On Monday, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson announced on Twitter that he had requested a trade. Recently, the Ravens slapped the Non-Exclusive Franchise tag on Jackson, which allows the former MVP to negotiate with other teams.
One team that is not interested in Jackson is the Washington Commanders. On Tuesday, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera was asked if the team was interested in Jackson. According to Rivera, they were not.
“No, we never did,” Rivera said at the 2023 NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix. “Honestly, we never did. It is just something that we just didn’t feel suited what we wanted to do. I know he’s a tremendous talent and a player that can impact your team. I just didn’t think, and we sat down and talked about it, that it was the direction for us as a football team.”
Rivera explained why the Commanders decided not to look into acquiring Jackson.
“I mean, again, you look at what the impact on your roster building is,” he said. “What were the assets that we would have to use to get him? What would the financial impact be? These are the things that we have to think about separate from anyone else. This is why we did what we’re doing. We were able to keep the defensive line guys that we have in place. We have a couple of other guys we have to think about on the defensive side, three guys that we feel are part of the core that we are trying to put together.
“We want to build up the offensive line. We have some dynamic playmakers. We are in a position now if you want to do something different; it may impact those dynamic playmakers, that front that you’re trying to build. We are roster building for the first time and feel really good about doing the things that we are trying to do right now.”
Rivera and the Commanders are confident that 2022 fifth-round pick QB Sam Howell or veteran Jacoby Brissett can get the job done in 2023. We’ll see if that was the right choice going forward.
New York Jets coach Robert Saleh made it official today when he announced that Joe Flacco will start at quarterback against his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, on Sunday in the season-opener at MetLife Stadium.
According to Saleh, second-year quarterback Zach Wilson(knee) will likely return at the earliest in Week 4 against the Steelers.
The 37-year-old Flacco is grateful for the opportunity to be a starter in the NFL.
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve talked about it a lot. It should be an exciting one,” Flacco said. “Listen, anytime you get a chance to lace them up on Sunday and try to put yourself and the team in the best situation you can; it’s a lot of fun; grateful for the opportunity, but yeah, obviously, there’s going to be some different emotions that I haven’t experienced before with this one…
“I think at the end of the day, it is like every other game once the dust settles and the game gets going. It’s a football game. You’re lining up, and you’re playing against the guy across from you. So, I’ve played it enough to know that at some point, that’s going to be the time; maybe the first snap or two will be even extra kind of crazy feelings that go into it, but after that, I’ve been a part of a bunch of playoff games and all those things, and it’s a football game at the end of the day. It’s just a matter of when it settles in and when you can let your mind calm down a little bit.
The 15-year veteran spent 11 seasons in Baltimore and won a Super Bowl with the Ravens. He last played for the Ravens in 2018, where he would eventually lose his job after injury to current Ravens starter Lamar Jackson, but despite losing his job due to injury, Flacco had no ill will towards Baltimore.
“It’s part of the business, and obviously, your competitive nature has certain feelings about it, but a lot of those things are out of my control to a certain extent,” he said. “Like I said, what I’ve been trying to do ever since then is kind of just keep my head down and work and get better at football and look for the best opportunity.”
This will be Flacco’s last chance to prove that he can still be a starter in the NFL, and fortunately for him, he’ll have at least three weeks to show the Jets he’s still that guy. If he has success, those three games could be even longer.
The Washington Football Team handled the last preseason game like the last preseason game. Head coach Ron Rivera sat all of the starters on Saturday at FedExField, and ultimately, Washington would fall to the Ravens 37-3.
“Not to get anybody hurt,” Rivera said about why he rested his starters. “It was something we decided on a few days ago. We didn’t want to get anybody hurt. We had a big camp, it’s been successful, and a lot of guys worked. A lot of people we feel really comfortable and confident in who they are for us. We just felt exposing is not the thing to do, so we didn’t expose them.”
Conversely, Baltimore played many of its starters, but not for long, including quarterback Lamar Jackson, who saw his first preseason action on Saturday and played one series.
According to Jackson, he was happy to be out there against Washington.
“Yeah, just to get my feet wet for the regular season,” Jackson said. “I’ve got to feel that contact, that real contact because you know guys in practice aren’t hitting me or anything like that. It was great to get my feet wet.”
For Baltimore, the concern is running back J.K Dobbins, who left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury. According to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, Dobbins will undergo testing on Sunday.
Jackson hopes everything will be okay with Dobbins, but he has confidence in the other backs on the team.
“Hopefully, we don’t miss him. He’s a tremendous back,” Jackson said. “We have Gus [Edwards], and we’ve got Ty [Ty’son Williams], but hopefully, he’s good.”
Baltimore got a big-time performance from third-string quarterback Tyler Huntley, who threw for 285 yards and four touchdowns against Washington.
With the win against Washington, Baltimore won an NFL record 20th straight preseason game. The last time Baltimore lost a preseason game was in 2015.
“I just think it’s really cool for the guys,” Harbaugh said about winning 20 straight preseason games. “I’ll tell you this; there’s a lot of guys watching on TV with their kids, telling their kids about that accomplishment and the fact that they were a part of that. That’s the most meaningful thing. I think there are other aspects of it, but to me, that’s the thing that means the most.”
It’s time to prepare for the regular season. Washington hosts the Chargers in Week 1, while the Ravens go on the road to play the Raiders on Monday Night Football.
After defeating the Tennessee Titans last Sunday in the wild card game, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson was a happy man. Following his first playoff victory, he showed legendary Houston rapper Mike Jones some love. You remember Mike Jones, whose debut album “Who Is Mike Jones?” dropped in 2005. Jones had many hits on that album, including “Still Trippin” and “Back Then.”
Obviously, based on his reaction, Jackson is a big fan of Jones. When USA Today reporter Mike Jones was called on to ask Jackson a question, the former MVP started laughing, and eventually, he explained why.
The NFL announced the AFC and NFC All-Stars for the 2020 Pro Bowl presented by Verizon, which kicks off at 3:00 PM ET on Sunday, January 26, and will be televised live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and simulcast on ABC and Disney XD – the third time the game will be available on both broadcast and cable networks.
The Pro Bowl players were determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counted one-third toward determining the 88 All-Star players who were selected to the Pro Bowl. The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its All-Star teams. It was also the first professional sports league to offer online All-Star voting in 1995.
Thirty teams had at least one player selected to the 2020 Pro Bowl and 24 clubs had multiple players chosen as All-Stars. The BALTIMORE RAVENS, including second-year quarterback LAMAR JACKSON, placed a league-best 12 players on the Pro Bowl roster, while the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS led the NFC with seven players selected. The 2019 Ravens join the 2007 DALLAS COWBOYS (13 players) and 1973 MIAMI DOLPHINS (12) as the only teams to have at least 12 players selected to the Pro Bowl since 1970.
Twenty-five of the players selected to the Pro Bowl today are first-time All-Stars, including three rookies – defensive end NICK BOSA of the San Francisco 49ers, return specialist MECOLE HARDMAN of the Kansas City Chiefs and return specialist DEONTE HARRIS of the New Orleans Saints.
The 2020 Pro Bowl coaching staffs will be from the losing teams in the AFC and NFC Divisional playoffs with the best regular-season records.
Under terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each player on the winning Pro Bowl team receives $70,000, while each player on the losing squad earns $35,000.
2020 PRO BOWL PLAYERS BY POSITION
(*First-time Pro Bowl selection; Bold/Italic: Starter)
Baltimore Ravens quarterback LAMAR JACKSON received 704,699 total fan votes to lead all NFL players in balloting for the 2020 Pro Bowl presented by Verizon. Fan voting ended on Thursday, December 12.
Seattle quarterback RUSSELL WILSON (539,768 votes) ranked second overall, while Kansas City quarterback PATRICK MAHOMES (468,838 votes), Minnesota running back DALVIN COOK (431,748 votes) and Carolina running back CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY (406,477 votes) rounded out the top five.
Four of the top five vote-getters – Jackson, Mahomes, Cook and McCaffrey – are under the age of 25. Additionally, nine first or second-year players led their conference in votes received at their respective positions.
The BALTIMORE RAVENS led all clubs in total votes received. The SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS, GREEN BAY PACKERS and SEATTLE SEAHAWKS rounded out the top-five teams to receive the most fan votes.
Pro Bowl rosters will be announced on Tuesday, December 17 live on NFL Network’s Pro Bowl special “NFL Total Access: Pro Bowl Players Revealed” at 8:00 PM ET.
Players for the game are determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counts one-third toward determining the 88 All-Star players who will be selected to the Pro Bowl. The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its All-Star teams. It was also the first professional sports league to offer online all-star voting in 1995.
The 2020 Pro Bowl presented by Verizon, which kicks off at 3:00 PM ET, will be televised live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and simulcast on ABC and Disney XD – the third time the game will be available on both broadcast and cable networks.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback LAMAR JACKSON, with 146,171 votes, leads all players in balloting for the 2020 Pro Bowl presented by Verizon.
Kansas City quarterback PATRICK MAHOMES (116,325 votes) ranks second overall, while Seattle quarterback RUSSELL WILSON (115,370 votes), Minnesota running back DALVIN COOK (106,167 votes) and Carolina running back CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY (100,218 votes) round out the top five.
Four of the top five vote-getters – Jackson, Mahomes, Cook and McCaffrey – are under the age of 25. Additionally, seven first or second-year players currently lead their conference in votes received at their respective positions.
The BALTIMORE RAVENS lead all clubs in total votes received. The SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS, GREEN BAY PACKERS, DALLAS COWBOYS and MINNESOTA VIKINGS round out the current top-five vote-getters among teams.
Fan voting for the 2020 Pro Bowl presented by Verizon will continue online and on web-enabled mobile phones at NFL.com/ProBowlVote until Thursday, December 12.
Pro Bowl rosters will be announced on Tuesday, December 17 live on NFL Network’s Pro Bowl special “NFL Total Access: Pro Bowl Players Revealed” at 8:00 PM ET. The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its All-Star teams. It was also the first professional sports league to offer online all-star voting in 1995.
