Watch CBS News

Report: Ray Lewis Wanted Flacco To Replace Jackson In Sunday's Loss To Chargers

Ryan Mayer

Baltimore Ravens fans have been engaged in heated discussion since Sunday about whether or not Coach John Harbaugh should have replaced quarterback Lamar Jackson with Joe Flacco in the second half of Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. For those that think he should have, you reportedly had an ally in Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis.

According to an article from The Baltimore Sun, Lewis was in owner Steve Bisciotti's box for the game on Sunday along with former Maryland Terrapins basketball coach Gary Williams. In an appearance on The Tony Kornheiser Show on Monday night, Williams said that Lewis expressed a desire for the team to go to Flacco after Jackson's ineffective first half of play.

"Well, Ray Lewis was standing right next to Steve Bisciotti, and he had his arm around Steve's neck, and he says, 'We got to go to Flacco.' " Williams chuckled. "No, really. So I would say, 'Go to Flacco. Yeah, please.' "

Williams indicated that there was nothing personal about Lewis' preference.

"You can see they just wanted to win that game," he said. "In other words, what do you do to win the game? And the theory behind it is, you got to stay with Jackson. You don't want to ruin him for next year or whatever. And that's the decision that was made, to stay with him."

The debate will continue, but those in the 'put Joe in' camp can now point to a football legend as holding the same opinion.

Follow @WJZ on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.