Recently, in an article from Sports Illustrated by Robert Klemko, Baltimore Ravens players Ty Montgomery and Jimmy Smith expressed their thoughts on having Lamar Jackson at the helm handling quarterback duties in their past two victories.
For now, teammates aren't picking sides publicly, but there's been a rallying around Jackson, the former Heisman winner whose humility and play has inspired passionate defenses of his skillset from around the locker room. "It's kind of hard to listen to the TV when they question his ability to throw the ball, because he can throw the ball," Montgomery said. “His running ability overshadows his arm for whatever reason, but you saw today he was putting throws on the money and trusting his instincts. They're always going to second guess him."
"Any black quarterback, especially with that type of speed, will get labeled that he can’t throw," Smith says, "but he can throw."
Doug Gottlieb has been highly critical of Lamar Jackson well before he was drafted and hasn't backed down since. It started with what he believed was Jackson's inability to throw the ball accurately in college and now more recently, Gottlieb is on record saying the Ravens using Jackson to run the ball so frequently indicates that they may not believe entirely in his throwing abilities.
One thing he wants to make clear is that whether it's Gottlieb himself or any other person who evaluates talent on the football field; this has absolutely nothing to do with racism.
Watch below.