Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (12.14.20)

QB Lamar Jackson

(on why he went to the locker room) “I started cramping on the field. Right before those two passes I threw to Willie [Snead IV] and Mark [Andrews] – the overthrow – I was cramping in my forearm. And I was telling Coach, ‘I need to get some salt in my system really quick.’ We punted the ball, I was on the sideline, Tyus [Bowser] ended up catching the pick – the interception – we go down and score. And right after that, I gave the ball to J.K. [Dobbins], and my legs just started cramping. I’m like, ‘I need something now to help me get better really quick, because this is a crucial game, right here. Both teams are playing their hearts out.’ And we went to the back. Dr. [Andrew] Tucker, he was helping me out a lot, and [assistant certified athletic trainer] Kevin [Domboski] came back and started stretching me. Trace [McSorley] was doing a great job driving the ball down the field, then I saw my guy go down. And as I’m seeing him go down, I was still stretching. I was catching an attitude, because it wasn’t going the way we wanted it to. And then I saw him go down, and I was like, ‘We’ve got to start now. We’ve just got to go out there now.’ And I started running out there – ‘Kev’ [Kevin Domboski] was running with me. It was fourth down, the offensive line blocked their tail off, and our guys just made great catches, and we came out with the victory.”

(on if he thought about the magnitude of the game) “I didn’t put that in my mind at all. It’s crucial games for us right now. All I’m thinking about is winning that game. We had enough time on the clock, and I was like, ‘Man, it’s Go Time.’ It was just ‘Go Time’ for us, and it was our time, I feel. Our team fought hard. The offense played great today. We still have little things to clean up – we didn’t play a perfect game. But we’re where we want to be right now. We’re excelling right now.”

(on what he was doing in the locker room) “I was cramping. I didn’t pull a Paul Pierce. I didn’t pull a Paul Pierce. I was cramping.”

(on what was going on with his cleats in the first half) “I changed them after halftime. We had a long sack, and I tried to make something happen, [and] I ended up slipping. It wasn’t the perfect cleats for the grass. I made a change, put on some better cleats, and I didn’t have that problem anymore. That was it.”

(on his TD pass to WR Marquise Brown) “We had a great play called, I dropped back, it looked like they were in man [coverage], the corner [inaudible] Marquise [Brown], and I was making a scramble to my right, and Marquise just came open. I just had to give him a playable ball, and he just did the rest.”

(on what was going through his mind when he started cramping, if he was nervous it was something more serious and how he’s feeling now) “No, not at all. I knew I was cramping. I just wanted it to go away as soon as possible. Like I said, it was a crucial game. We were playing against a great team. We had to come out with the victory, and I was just cramping at the wrong time. And right now, I’m hungry. I had too much salt [laughter]. I’m hungry, now.”

(on what it’s like to have Justin Tucker) “It makes my job a lot easier and the offense’s job a lot easier; we didn’t have to score a touchdown. Some coaches don’t trust their kicker; we trust ours. We put all our faith in ours. And we just had to get him in great position to kick the field goal. And ‘Automatic Tuck’ – he did the rest.”

(on if he’s ever cramped like that and if he ran out of the locker when he saw QB Trace McSorley got hurt) “As soon as I saw him go down, I started running out of the locker room. And yes, I’ve [cramped] before, but it was my fault that I was cramping that time. But this time, I don’t know what was going on; I thought I did everything right.”