Falcon Report

Lamar Jackson Means Falcons 'Don't Care About Winning?' Joy Taylor Called Out for 'Terrible Take'

The Atlanta Falcons were blasted by Fox Sports 1's Joy Taylor for not wanting to win after declining the opportunity to pursue Lamar Jackson.

Harrison Reno

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The Atlanta Falcons decided to stick with Desmond Ridder as their starting quarterback, with the newly signed Taylor Heinicke to serve as his backup. This decision was made despite Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson seemingly being placed on a non-exclusive franchise tag before requesting a trade away. 

Falcons head coach Arthur Smith committed to Ridder as his quarterback in a recent interview, joining a number of teams to decline the opportunity to go after Jackson. Since that decision has been made, many in the national media have not taken kindly to the Falcons not pursuing Jackson. 

Joy Taylor, a TV host on FSI, claimed that not chasing Jackson shows that Atlanta doesn't "care about winning." 

After the clip of Taylor's rant about the Falcons was posted on Twitter, Atlanta Braves centerfielder Michael Harris II quote tweeted the video, calling it a "terrible take," with laughing emojis.

Is Taylor's assessment of the Falcons' will to win - "Just say you don't want to write the check and move on, because its not about winning games,'' she said - outlandish?

The question isn't whether Jackson is superior to Ridder. What Taylor and other critics seem to be missing are all the other complexities, which include what Jackson wants contractually, the two first-round picks that would have to be sacrificed by his winning bidder, and most of all, by the belief that the Ravens will simply match any offer and then retain the player ...

Making a bid, in the minds of some teams, simply not worth the time.

Should the Falcons make sure they've investigated this fully? Yes. But should they be singled out for opting to pass on a Jackson bid? No, because accusations of collusion aside, multiple other quarterback-needy teams are also opting to pass on this.

And the paradox that Joy Taylor is missing: She is ripping Atlanta for not doing something that even Jackson's own Ravens team isn't doing.

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Harrison Reno
HARRISON RENO

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