Lamar Jackson’s Juke at Louisville Tore Someone’s ACL

One of the most memorable moments from Lamar Jackson’s magical 2019 season with the Ravens was when he juked a Cincinnati Bengals defender with a spin move on a 47-yard touchdown run, causing astonished announcer Kevin Harlan to exclaim, “Oh, he broke his ankles!”

Harlan was using hyperbole, but it turns out Jackson’s fancy footwork really did result in a defender injuring himself when Jackson was at Louisville. It occurred during practice, according to Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard, Jackson’s college teammate.

“I think it was the first camp practice we had, and [Head Coach] Bobby Petrino had him live,” Greenard said on the “Green Light with Chris Long” podcast. “We’re all looking like, ‘You sure?’ And I’m pretty sure [Jackson] was looking back like, ‘Are y’all sure?’ I remember he took a read zone about 70 yards first play. And then next time he took another read zone and stopped on a dime, and everybody knows the story that went to Louisville. Man, he ended up tearing a guy’s ACL based off of him cutting so hard and dude’s trying to stop on a dime too, and it was all she wrote.”

Jackson slimmed down this offseason to be more agile like he was during his Heisman days. More jukes (not in practice) are coming.

“Everybody knows the story that went to Louisville. Man, he ended up tearing a guy’s ACL based off of him cutting so hard.”

– Jonathan Greenard on his college teammate Lamar Jackson@JOEL9ONE | @jongreenard7 | @Lj_era8 | @JaireAlexander | @geron_christian pic.twitter.com/NEa6LmjN9J

— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) July 30, 2024