Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said he spoke with Lamar Jackson on Monday about the star quarterback's profane postgame tweet directed at a fan a day earlier, saying the language Jackson used was out of character.
Jackson, meanwhile, insisted on Twitter that he did not intend to disrespect anyone's sexual orientation and has never done so.
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After the Ravens lost 28-27 to Jacksonville on Sunday, a fan suggested Baltimore let Jackson leave via free agency. Jackson responded — in a tweet that was later deleted — by saying the person “never smelt a football field" and using vulgar language that members of the gay community said was offensive.
Jackson shot back at the idea that his tweet was anti-gay by tweeting Monday: “Not once have I ever mentioned or disrespect anyone’s Sexuality, sexual orientation, gender, Religion or Race.”
Harbaugh said he heard about Jackson’s tweet Sunday night and talked to him Monday morning.
“We talk a lot about football, but we also talk a little bit about that stuff too — what goes on in terms of the media and everything, and really, it’s just, beg guys not to get into the Twitter world right after the game, especially after a loss,” Harbaugh said. “It’s never going to be positive. It’s not going to be a nice place, and I think that’s kind of reflected in Lamar’s response.
“... He wants to win. I’m sure he’s frustrated, just like we all are, and that’s just a place you just don’t want to live right after a game. I know he understands that.”
Outsports.com, which covers LGBTQ sports news, published a piece about Jackson's comments that said: “Jackson might not be homophobic, but his comment was. He would have been better off apologizing for the tweet in the first place as opposed to trying to defend its contents.”
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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister
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