2 min read • August 25, 2020
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Lamar Jackson was said to miss his second straight practice and the quoted reason was to “rest his arm”. I think this is fake news. He is a young quarterback and should rarely need rest. Even if it was needed, two days of arm rest is unusual. It was even more unusual with the modified training camp schedule as there are only 10 padded practices, making each rep more valuable than in the past. Now comes word of a groin injury. Even when forced to admit it wasn’t due to arm rest, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh continued to play coy calling it “soft-tissue” and refusing to be more specific. I am not being critical of Harbaugh. He is far from the only coach or team to give fake injury news, and I am only calling attention to the fact that it is routine. So routine that the term “coach speak” has been used as a nice way to say “fake news”. The question is why even create the fake news about Jackson needing arm rest. The groin injury is apparently mild and he is said to return soon, which he did on Monday. It doesn’t seem like the Ravens run any risk of not having him in the opener. Even if it was worse and he missed more practice time, how can his absence be hidden from the media? In any case “soft tissue” acclimation injuries are common upon restart of football activity, especially one without an offseason program.
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