OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson isn’t required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by law or by NFL policy.
We’ll refrain from debating vaccines, post-infection immunity, health ramifications for himself or others, the league’s protocols, or the morality of it all in this space since there’s no shortage of that elsewhere. Jackson reiterated Monday that it’s “a personal decision” whether to get vaccinated, the same sentiment he expressed back in June. The 24-year-old said he’d talk to team doctors about the possibility of getting vaccinated after being infected with the virus for the second time in nine months, but he remained noncommittal about it, saying “we’ll see” and that it was “over with” on more than one occasion during his press conference.
But it isn’t necessarily over for Jackson, especially if he chooses to remain unvaccinated. That puts the Ravens in an unsettling spot as they enter the 2021 season with Super Bowl aspirations in large part due to their superstar quarterback in whom they plan to invest a lucrative nine-figure contract sooner or later.
To be perfectly clear, there are no guarantees for any individual or team navigating the new season with the virus not yet in the rear-view mirror. We know the vaccine doesn’t provide 100-percent protection from testing positive or even experiencing symptoms, but it’s no secret that there’s quite a chasm between the league’s protocols for vaccinated players and unvaccinated players. At the very least, life is much more convenient for the former group while some have gone as far as saying a team with an unvaccinated starting quarterback could be at a competitive disadvantage if we’re strictly looking at the probability of a virus-related disruption.
“I’m just going to follow the NFL protocols as much as I can, as best as I can,” said Jackson, who’s repeatedly stated his obsession with winning a championship. “I’m not worried about it. Last year, [when] I came off COVID, I felt like we did pretty good. This year, I’m trying to do the same thing if anything.”
With John Harbaugh saying 90 percent of Baltimore players were vaccinated as of July 28, the possibility of a widespread outbreak like before last year’s Pittsburgh game appears remote, but Jackson wouldn’t even have to test positive again later this season to potentially leave his team in a major bind. Unvaccinated players are still required to isolate for five days when deemed a high-risk close contact to an infected individual while a vaccinated player isn’t required to isolate as long as he isn’t experiencing symptoms. Last season, Baltimore nose tackle Brandon Williams was deemed a close contact without testing positive on two occasions, which forced him to miss the Week 6 win at Philadelphia and would have cost him another game had he not already been injured and the Thanksgiving Pittsburgh game not been pushed back.
Unvaccinated players are still undergoing daily testing while vaccinated individuals are now tested once every 14 days, quite a difference in both convenience and the potential for even a false positive or an inconclusive result at the wrong time.
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Should Jackson continue to forgo being vaccinated, respecting his “personal decision” won’t be of much consolation to the Ravens if he’s deemed a close contact on the Friday before a critical regular-season game or a January showdown with, say, Kansas City or Buffalo. A vaccinated player testing positive who is asymptomatic can return to action after two negative tests 24 hours apart while an unvaccinated player would again be required to isolate for 10 days, something Jackson has already experienced this summer.
“‘What the — you know? Again?'” said Jackson about his reaction to testing positive on July 27. “It was crazy. I was heartbroken. I wasn’t looking forward to that at all right before camp. It was like, ‘Not again. Not right now.'”
In a sport where availability can never be taken for granted because of the high injury rate largely out of a player’s control, the Ravens will hope Jackson makes the choice to decrease the odds of those same words being uttered at a much worse time than the first 10 days of training camp.
