By ISABEL BALDWIN, US ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Published: 17:59 EDT, 22 August 2025 | Updated: 17:59 EDT, 22 August 2025
Lamar Jackson has broken his silence on concerning claims that the Baltimore Ravens are playing down the seriousness of his injury.
The quarterback was forced out of practice early accompanied by a member of training staff on Wednesday after having his foot stepped on.
However, the Ravens played down concerns Thursday when head coach John Harbaugh insisted that his signal caller would make a swift recovery.
'He's fine,' Harbaugh said. 'He's going to be good. I told the guys, "Prayers do get answered." I was praying.'
'I'm sure it's a little sore today so we just kept him in, but he's fine. He's going to be good,' he added.
However, ESPN's NFL guru claimed all was not as it seemed as he accused the team of covering up the gravity of Jackson's injury.
"If it was anything that was nothing, [John Harbaugh] wouldn't have to pray that Lamar Jackson's X-rays would've turned the way that it did."@AdamSchefter says it sounds like Lamar Jackson's foot injury is scarier than the Ravens lead on ð¯ pic.twitter.com/LHDuccobuM
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 21, 2025
Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson
ESPN's NFL insider Adam Schefter
The signal caller was spotted leaving the practice session around 40 minutes early Wednesday
'If it was anything that was nothing, (John Harbaugh) wouldn't have to pray that Lamar Jackson's X-rays would've turned the way they did. He didn't practice today, second straight day,' Schefter said on NFL Live.
But Jackson has now subtly hit back at the report, posting a laughing-face emoji in response to an NFL account sharing the clip of Schefter's claim.
A serious injury for Jackson would come huge blow for the Ravens who enter the season as Super Bowl contenders after narrowly losing to the Buffalo Bills in last year's Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Jackson has sat for the Ravens' first two preseason games and was already expected to not make an appearance in the third. He has not appeared in a preseason game since 2021.
Harbaugh announced earlier this week that backup Cooper Rush would likely start the preseason finale against the Washington Commanders on Saturday.
Rush joined the team this offseason on a two-year deal and, thankfully for Baltimore, is one of the league's better backups.
Jackson put together an MVP-worthy season in 2024, just narrowly missing out on the NFL's greatest honor to his Bills counterpart, Josh Allen.
He threw for 4,172 yards, 41 touchdowns and just four interceptions while completing 66.7 percent of his passes and taking 23 sacks. He also rushed for 915 yards and four scores.