Every game may not literally be “do-or-die” for the 2-5 Baltimore Ravens, but don’t tell that to two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
“Coach [John Harbaugh] touched on that with us in a team meeting: Each and every game is going to be like a win-or-go-home game,” Jackson said on Tuesday, according to ESPN. “It’s do-or-die right now, each and every week.”
Jackson suffered a hamstring injury in Week 4, which has kept him out of game action ever since. In his absence, the Ravens went 1-2, being outscored 61-13 in back-to-back home games before beating the Chicago Bears in Week 8.
Jackson said that his hamstring “feels great” and expects to play Thursday against the Miami Dolphins, which is the first of three consecutive road games for the Ravens, followed by matchups against the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns.
Last week, it was reported that the Ravens removed a ping-pong table and other games from the locker room given the team’s struggles. The person who wanted them removed?
“I told him [Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti] to take all the games, ping-pong, turn off the TVs,” Jackson said. “If we could have taken out the TVs, they’d have been out of here, too. I appreciate Mr. Steve for putting that in for us, but we had to focus. I wouldn’t say people don’t take the job seriously — don’t get me wrong — but I didn’t feel like it was time for that. We have a lot of work to do.”
In the four games that Jackson started before suffering his hamstring injury, he totaled 869 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, one interception and a 130.5 passer rating, while completing 71.6% of his passes. He also rushed for 166 yards and one touchdown.
In total, Baltimore is 21st in the NFL this season in total yards (315.7 per game) and 13th in points (24.9 per game). Defensively, the Ravens are 30th in opponent points (30.0 per game) and 28th in opponent total yards (379.6 per game).
The Ravens are two games behind the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North and 2.5 games behind the Kansas City Chiefs for the third AFC wild-card seed.
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