Lamar Jackson had yet another big game for the Baltimore Ravens, and he seemed to make a very specific point during the win.
During the first half of the game, Jackson was wearing white sleeves and even had a white glove on his left hand.
@Lj_era8 | #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/kjJHuFNs9o
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 8, 2019
Why was that significant?
San Francisco 49ers radio analyst Tim Ryan said during the week that the Niners had trouble picking up the football out of Jackson’s hands in the Week 13 game between the teams because the quarterback’s dark skin camouflages the dark ball.
“He’s really good at that fake, Lamar Jackson, but when you consider his dark skin with a dark football with a dark uniform, you could not see that thing,” Ryan said, via Matthias Gafni and Lauren Hernandez of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I mean you literally could not see when he was in and out of the mesh point and if you’re a half step slow on him in terms of your vision forget about it, he’s out of the gate.”
Ryan was suspended for his comment, which received widespread attention.
Jackson must have heard about it, because he went with the sleeves look to start the game. And even with the ball against the white sleeves, he still faked the heck out of Buffalo’s defense.
HAVE MERCY LAMAR @Lj_era8 @Ravens pic.twitter.com/FlwdZAdXDO
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 8, 2019
In the second half, Jackson wasn’t wearing sleeves or a glove though.
We'll be back home in primetime Thursday night.
Don't miss the action at M&T Bank Stadium.
: https://t.co/shCcn1daFp pic.twitter.com/wdAOXjV6EU
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 9, 2019
Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes said the lack of sleeves in the second half signified to them that Jackson was gong to keep the ball more on runs.
Bills DE Jerry Hughes after the game: “In the second half, (Lamar Jackson) took his white sleeves off. So we just knew he was going to pull the ball a little bit more.” https://t.co/0Pq4cw7PdH
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) December 8, 2019
Jackson actually passed much better without the sleeves in the second half. He downplayed the reason for taking off the sleeves, too.
With long sleeves, Lamar Jackson was 5-of-10 for 30 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT (50.0 rating)
Without long sleeves, Jackson was 11-of-15 for 115 yards and 2 TDs (134.7 rating)
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) December 8, 2019
White sleeves, no sleeves, one thing is sure: Lamar Jackson is very difficult to defend.
