OWINGS MILLS, Md. – This time, Lamar Jackson “120%” sure he’s playing.
Three days after a relapse of the illness caused him to miss a game, Jackson returned to training on Wednesday and is set to start fighting. Cleveland Browns On Sunday night.
“I’m feeling good. It’s great this time,” Jackson said with a smile. “…Positive. Sure. No recurrence, man.”
Jackson attended morning instruction until Wednesday morning and attended all meetings. His expectation is to have a full training session on Wednesday.
“I think I’m completely back to normal,” Jackson said. “I want to go out there and just go. I don’t want to go out there and limit myself or let the coach limit me.”
He has the winning goal to score 4-1 against the Browns with 85.8 Total QBR. That’s the second-highest Total QBR of any quarterback against an opponent since the metric was first tracked in 2006.
Jackson missed two days of practice last week because he was sick, but he returned to full practice on Friday. The symptoms, however, returned on Saturday, keeping him out of Sunday’s 16-13 win at the Chicago Bears.
“I have no clue [what happened from Friday to Saturday]”Jackson said, who added that he was sweating in his sleep.” I just feel tired. I feel chills. I got out of it. But now I’m fine. I’m feeling great.”
On the flight to Chicago, Jackson rolled in a ball in his seat and was so sick that he didn’t realize the plane had landed. During the match, Jackson watched from the dressing room with his jacket wrapped around his body.
Jackson, however, celebrated as the backup quarterback Tyler Huntley guided the Crows to a 72-yard track winning the game at the last minute.
“When he did that last drive, I didn’t feel sick anymore,” Jackson said.
The AFC North’s leading Raven team (7-3) played against the Browns (6-5) in an important qualifying match. If Raven win, their chances of qualifying for the AFC North will improve to 72 percent, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. If Baltimore loses, their chances of splitting the points drop to 39%.
As an MVP contender, Jackson is 14th in the NFL in passing speed (2,447 yards) and eighth in dash speed (639).
He has missed more time in his four-year career because of illness than injury. This year, he had to miss practice due to three separate illnesses.
“I’m not worried about it because I’ve been healthy all my life,” Jackson said. “I’ve never had a problem getting sick until I’ve been here. I don’t really know what that is. Hopefully that’s over.”
