Juan Thornhill destroys Lamar Jackson with epic trash talk ahead of Week 2

Third-year Kansas City Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill heats up the Chiefs-ravens rivalry with a little Lamar Jackson trash talk before their Week 2 game.

Every Ravens fan has hear it before: Lamar Jackson is more running back than quarterback, a joke Jackson himself made when he said he was “not bad for a running back” after a 2019 Week 1 win.

Two years later, Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill is referencing Jackson’s run game once again in advance of their Sunday Night Football game against the Ravens.

Fox 4 Sports sports anchor Harold Kuntz insisted that it was “meant as a compliment” because Jackson’s multifaceted skillset is difficult to emulate, but that’s not how the quote reads without context.

Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill destroys Lamar Jackson with trash talk ahead of Week 2

While Patrick Mahomes is the Chiefs’ physics-defying passer, backup quarterback Chad Henne serves as the scout team quarterback. Henne’s job each week is to emulate the opposing quarterback in practice, and to do that for the Ravens, he’d have to run — a lot.

Following his 2019 NFL MVP season, Jackson rushed for 1,005 yards last season, breaking the NFL record for rushing 1000+ yards in back-to-back seasons.

However, Jackson’s running ability has made him a target for criticism, as relying on the run too heavily without being able to pass from the pocket when needed severely limits the Ravens’ offense. There’s a reason Jackson won MVP in 2019 and hasn’t been in the conversation since.

To add insult to Thornhill’s comments, a similar Lamar Jackson dig was featured in Tom Brady’s Mean Girl-style “Bulletin Board Material” burn book in a recent episode of Bleacher Report’s “Gridiron Heights” web series.

“Everyone’s figured out Lamar Jackson except Lamar Jackson!” the book reads, a reference to his now-predictable playing style.

For Thornhill to reference the run, it’s possible he still feels the burn from this pinpoint Jackson touchdown that posterized him on Monday Night Football in 2020.

As passer and runner, Jackson boasts an impressive resume that will be a challenge for the Chiefs to counter in Week 2.