Lamar Jackson has recently been “out” mainly because of injuries, not because he was benched or suspended. Most of the latest absence people are talking about comes from a back contusion he suffered late in the 2025 regular season, on top of earlier soft‑tissue issues.

Quick Scoop

  • Lamar Jackson was ruled out around Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season with a back contusion after taking a knee to the lower back, which made it painful for him to even throw.
  • Earlier in the same season he had already missed time with a hamstring injury and had been listed with ankle, toe, and knee issues, so the team was cautious with his workload and availability.
  • Reports and injury logs describe his status as inactive for at least one late‑season game (notably against the Packers), while the Ravens monitored his back and overall health heading toward key AFC North matchups and playoff positioning.

Injury context and timeline

  • The back issue came after a hit in a late‑season game versus the New England Patriots, where he was kneed in the back and later described as dealing with a “painful” contusion.
  • Following that, he did not practice in the lead‑up to the next game and was declared inactive, with local and national reports framing the absence as injury‑related rather than a coaching decision.

Earlier in the 2025 season

  • Before the back contusion, Jackson had already missed games due to a hamstring injury suffered against the Kansas City Chiefs, which forced him out mid‑game and kept him off the field afterward.
  • Throughout the year he appeared on injury reports multiple times, and coverage repeatedly noted that his season had been one of the most physically challenging of his career, even as the Ravens stayed in the playoff and AFC North race.

What this meant for the Ravens

  • In games he missed, Baltimore had to turn to backups like Cooper Rush, and the offense clearly lost some of its usual explosiveness and unpredictability without Jackson’s dual‑threat presence.
  • At the same time, his status became a talking point in betting markets, fantasy football, and fan forums, especially as the league and media scrutinized how accurately the team handled his injury designations on weekly reports.

Bottom line: Lamar Jackson was out because of a cluster of injuries—especially a late‑season back contusion and earlier hamstring trouble—not because of disciplinary reasons or a permanent benching.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.