NFL

Jackson: Ravens not out for 'revenge' against Chiefs

By Sports Desk September 02, 2024

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has dismissed the idea that their meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday is a "revenge game".

The Ravens kick off the new NFL season against the reigning Super Bowl champions, having lost the AFC Championship game against them in January.

It was a fourth loss in six postseason games with Jackson as their starting quarterback and a fourth defeat against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in his career.

However, the 27-year-old has brushed off any suggestions that Baltimore will be using the AFC Championship game as extra motivation on Thursday.

"Any game I play in, I feel like it's a revenge game," Jackson said, via the team's website. "I'm not just going to look at this game like a revenge game.

"Anybody we play, no matter if we've beaten them or lost to them in previous years, I just want to win."

Jackson has led the Ravens to their best records in the NFL since joining in 2018, going 14-2 in 2019 and 13-4 last year. In the regular season, he has the second-best record at 58-19 (.753).

Jackson, who became the youngest-ever two-time NFL MVP since the AFL merger in February, is keen to make a quick start, though he is not getting too far ahead of himself.

"We have to win regular season games [in order] to get to January," Jackson added.

"We can't just go into the season and go 5-12, because then we're not going to be in the playoffs. Playoffs are on our mind, but at the same time, we have to win this game that's ahead of us."

"I'm ready to go. I've been going against my guys for weeks," Jackson said. "It's time to go against somebody else."

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