QB Lamar Jackson noncommittal about Covid-19 vaccine after contracting virus twice

CNN
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Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has now had Covid-19 twice, but when asked by reporters Monday whether the Ravens have spoken to him about getting vaccinated, he was noncommittal on vaccines.

“I just got off the Covid list, so I’ve got to talk to my team about this and try to see how they feel about it,” he said. “I’m going to keep grinding as much as I can about it, and go from there.”

He was asked again if he would get vaccinated.

“We’ll see. Talking to the doctors. We’ll see,” he said. He later added he felt getting the vaccine was a personal decision.

“I’m just going to worry about that with my family, keep my feelings to my family and myself. I’m focused on getting better right now. I can’t dwell on that right now on how everybody else feels – just trying to get back into a great routine,” he said.

Jackson tested positive for the second time in July before training camp and said he was upset by it.

“What the? Again?! It was crazy. I was heartbroken because I wasn’t looking forward to that all. Right before camp it was like, not again. Not right now. But it’s over with,” Jackson said, adding he was fatigued and slept a lot.

“But I’m glad to be back. Ten days being off, I didn’t like it at all,” he said.

Jackson first tested positive in late November 2020, according to the NFL Network and ESPN. It was during this time the Ravens were struggling to manage a Covid outbreak among players – at one point placing 20 players on the Reserve/Covid-19 list.

Vaccinated players that test positive and remain asymptomatic are eligible to return after testing negative twice in a 24-hour span, according to league protocols.

Unvaccinated players are required to quarantine for 10 days and then test negative before they’re able to return.

Jackson said Monday he didn’t feel that having an unvaccinated quarterback was a disadvantage to the Ravens.

“I’m just going to follow the NFL protocols as much as I can, best I can. I’m not worried about it. Last year I came off Covid, I felt like we did pretty good,” he said. “This year, I’m trying to do the same thing if anything. Just like I said, I’m going to follow the protocols.”

Jackson’s noncommittal to the vaccine comes as the NFL and other leagues try to combat vaccine hesitancy among players. Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley tweeted in June he’d rather retire than get a vaccine, but in July said he was not “anti or pro vax. I’m pro choice.”

CNN’s Homero De la Fuente, Jill Martin and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.