Lamar Jackson made several "wow" plays in the Ravens' Monday Night Football victory, but another moment left fans buzzing at something other than his highlights.
After the Ravens failed to get a snap off in time during a fourth quarter drive into the red zone, Jackson spiked the ball into the turf and shouted in anger.
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley seemed to be motioning to Jackson to relax and the two briefly went facemask to facemask in a heated exchange. Left guard Kevin Zeitler patted Jackson's shoulder and said something to him, and Jackson immediately calmed down and tapped him and the other offensive linemen on the helmet.
In a matter of seconds, the flare-up was over, but it was of course the talk of sports talk TV and social media.
"It is what it is. You know, we're competitors," Jackson told ESPN's Lisa Salters after the game. "Ronnie got on me, but we're brothers. We're gonna do that sometimes."
Jackson and Stanley laughed about it and the ensuing sports talk TV drama Tuesday.
Jackson, who finished 12-of-22 for 133 yards and a touchdown passing against the Saints, was also visibly frustrated earlier in the game about missing a first-down throw to Demarcus Robinson that led to a field goal.
Jackson hates settling for field goals. He has on many occasions said that the only time he wants to see Justin Tucker on the field is on extra points and kickoffs. The Ravens went through a cold streak in the red zone earlier this season and Jackson does not want to see them fall back into that after settling for two field goals in the second half against the Saints.
Jackson is also an intense competitor at all times, and that sometimes leads to outbursts of emotion. On Tuesday, his coaches said they like seeing passion from their quarterback.
"The thing I like about Lamar is he's never satisfied," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "He wants to play a perfect game, and yet third down, he kind of did put the cape on a number of times."
"You just know how passionate he is, and it shows," Quarterbacks Coach James Urban said. "And one of the things we've always talked about throughout his career is, 'Don't be afraid to let people know how important this thing is to you.' Sometimes quarterbacks have this mentality of being like 'Joe Cool,' and they have to just maintain at all times.
"It's OK for people to know how excited you were by a great block someone made or a great run or a great play you made. It's OK for people to understand and know how much you wanted to make that throw and doggone it, you didn't. I love it. I think the guys feed off it. He's an energy giver, and it shows [with] the way he plays."
