When the clock expired in his first playoff as an NFL quarterback, Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson ran into the locker room on Sunday afternoon and waved his teammates to follow. The third-year caller explained that he did not plan to shake hands with members of the Tennessee Titans.
Jackson ran 136 yards and tossed 179 more to lead his team over the Titans 20-13 in the AFC playoff wildcard round.
The win sends Baltimore into the divisional round and avenges an impressive defeat at the hands of Tennessee 365 days earlier. But Jackson said his discontent with Sunday’s opponent was not the result of a post-season defeat, but of an altercation before the game when the two teams clashed in November.
The Titans ran out of the locker room before the game started at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium and paraded in the midfield logo before Ravens players entered the field. Coach John Harbaugh confronted the Titans’ players and exchanged shouts with veteran defender Malcolm Butler before telling coach Mike Vrabel that he deemed the act disrespectful.
Tennessee ended up winning that game in overtime, 30-24.
Before Sunday’s rematch, Harbaugh and the Ravens played down the animosity between their team and the Titans. Jackson, however, pointed to the November fight when a reporter asked during his post-game press conference why he ran into the locker room so quickly.
“I feel like it was just disrespect,” said Jackson. “We didn’t see what happened before the game the last time we faced those guys and they were on our logo and arguing with our coach. That was just disrespectful, because, you know, we treated all of our other opponents with respect, and there was no reason to shake hands and things like that. We could be the biggest guys, so we just left the field. “
And they left the field victorious thanks to Jackson’s play ability and a stifling defense that held runner star Derrick Henry 40 yards in 18 races. After cornerback Marcus Peters secured a fourth-quarter interception on Sunday that essentially sealed Baltimore’s victory, he ran into midfield, flanked by teammates and jumped in the center of the Titans logo.
The referees penalized the Ravens for 15 yards for provocation. It didn’t matter much, because Jackson ran for a big win two moves later and slid in to keep the clock running and deliver another dagger.
After the game, a reporter asked Vrabel if he had any ideas about the Ravens’ celebration or the players running into the tunnel before shaking hands.
“No,” he said. “I train the Titans, not the Ravens.”
Aaron Kasinitz covers the Baltimore Ravens for PennLive and can be contacted at [email protected] or on Twitter @AaronKazreports. Follow PennLive’s coverage of Ravens on Facebook and Youtube.