Ravens news: Lamar Jackson on refusal to shake hands with Titans

Baltimore Ravens superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson had a reason for not shaking the hands of the Tennessee Titans players.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had a reason for not shaking the hands of the Tennessee Titans players.

Jackson revealed his reasoning to the media following the Ravens' 20-13 win in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. According to Jamison Hensley of ESPN, he felt disrespected to how the Titans huddled on the Baltimore logo prior to the teams' Week 7 matchup.

Lamar Jackson said he walked off the field at the end of the game and didn't shake hands with the Titans because of what transpired before the last game in November, when the Titans huddled on the Ravens' logo.

Jackson said that was disrespectful.

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) January 10, 2021

While it is not as prevalent in football as it is in baseball, there are certain unwritten rules that players are expected to adhere to as a sign of respect. One of those is not huddling on the opposing team's midfield logo prior to the game. While this would cause much more issues in the past when the players took matters into their own hands, the apparent disrespect still did not go unnoticed by Lamar Jackson, and he responded in kind. This apparent disrespect may have also fueled Jackson and the Ravens going into the Wild Card game.

Jackson didn't have the greatest passing game, only throwing for 179 yards while recording an interception, but he did do fairly well on the ground. He rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown. Many have questioned if Jackson's style of play would be conducive to winning a Super Bowl, and that uncertainty has fueled Jackson all year long. He did not have quite as good of a season this year as he did in his MVP campaign in 2019, but a Super Bowl for the third-year pro would make this season the best of his career while proving all the naysayers wrong.

The Ravens await the result of the Cleveland Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers game to see who they will face in the Divisional Round. If the Steelers win, the Ravens will face off against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. If the Browns win, Baltimore will face off against the Buffalo Bills.