09-05-2021 Ravens Preview - Flipbook - Page 4
NFL2021
Jackson
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Jackson figures the only way to quiet
such talk is to be the quarterback clutching the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the
season. It remains his obsession, something he talks about in almost every media
session.
“I’m trying to win a Super Bowl,” he said.
“MVPs and stuff like that, having winning
records and stuff, that’s cool, but I want
to bring a Lombardi here myself. Everybody else got one. The quarterback before
me had one — Joe [Flacco]. … So, I want to
come in and win one, so I can feel accomplished and be like, ‘OK, we did that! I won
one. My teammates, we stepped it up. We
did what we were supposed to do.’ Then
I can sit back when I have grandkids and
stuff and be like, ‘Yes, we did that,’ and talk
my trash like old heads do — talk my trash
to the young generation [about] what we
did. So, that’s what I’m trying to do — win
a Super Bowl. Then, we can talk about
legacy.”
Beyond the questions regarding Jackson’s on-field trajectory, he and Ravens
officials have faced a newer barrage of
inquiries about their plans to negotiate
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a lucrative extension. The topic gained
steam again in early August, when Bills
quarterback and fellow 2018 first-round
pick Josh Allen agreed to a six-year, $258
million deal.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh and
general manager Eric DeCosta have
said there’s no rush with Jackson under
contract through the 2022 season and the
franchise tag available as an emergency
tool if negotiations prove difficult.
“[It’s] nothing we’re going to comment
on right now. Eric [DeCosta] is not going
to comment on it either,” Harbaugh said
after Allen signed his deal. “Nothing has
changed in the sense of it’ll happen when
it’s going to happen [and] when it’s best
for both sides to happen. Both sides want
it to happen. There’s really not a hurry on
it. Lamar is going to be our quarterback
for many years to come. We want him, he
wants us.”
Jackson offered a similar answer when
asked to compare his situation to Allen’s:
“That’s good for him, but like I said, I’m not
worried about that. … I’m worried about
my teammates, and we’re trying to get
somewhere. So, the time will come about
that.”
Of more immediate concern is the quarterback’s vaccination status. He missed
Lamar Jackson, left, talks with backup Tyler Huntley between drills during training camp.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta have said there’s no rush
to sign the quarterback to an extension with Jackson under contract through the 2022
season and the franchise tag available as an emergency tool if negotiations prove difficult.
JERRY JACKSON/BALTIMORE SUN
the start of training camp after contracting COVID-19 for the second time in nine
months, and he has not publicly committed
to getting the shot, even though the virus
cost him a game last season.
Jackson said he was “heartbroken”
when he tested positive on the eve of
training camp, but when pressed about
his vaccination plans, he said: “I feel it’s a
personal decision. I’m just going to worry
about that with my family. I’m going to
keep my feelings to my family and myself.
… I can’t dwell on that right now — how
everybody else feels.”
With so much going on in Jackson’s
world, it has been easy to overlook the
football component, which he’ll tell you is
always the real point.
By most standards, he played well in
2020, completing 64.4% of his passes,
limiting his interceptions to nine, rushing
for 1,005 yards and securing his first playoff win with a dazzling 48-yard touchdown
sprint. But he did not handle pressure as
well or find the end zone as relentlessly as
he had in 2019, and the playoff debacle in
Buffalo left a lingering bad taste.
The Ravens answered by redesigning
the offensive line that had failed to protect
Jackson against the Bills and by adding a
pair of high-profile targets in first-round
pick Rashod Bateman and veteran free
agent Sammy Watkins. The talk going into
training camp was that he’d never been
surrounded by so much skill-position
talent, though injuries quickly thinned out
the wide receiver room. Bateman suffered
the worst setback — groin surgery that will
keep him out for the start of the season.
Jackson gathered with his receivers for
offseason workouts in Arizona and Flor-
ida, but he’s spoken only vaguely about
the improvements he sought to make in
his time away from the Ravens’ training
facility. He has said he intensified his work
as the start of training camp drew near.
When he was shelved by COVID-19, for
example, he threw 20-yard passes to his
cousins in the backyard of his Baltimore
County home, practicing the footwork he’s
tried to hone with Ravens quarterbacks
coach James Urban and personal throwing consultant Adam Dedeaux.
“That’s a big emphasis for me — just
working on my footwork, making sure I
stay open so the ball can drive, so I can put
a little tight spiral on the ball,” he said.
Urban urged him to think like the
greatest NBA players, who seem to come
back with a new move or skill after each
offseason. “A guy who plays at a very high
level and then you just continue to grow
his game,” the quarterbacks coach said.
“Michael Jordan comes to mind. He had
to learn jump shots. So, you learn a jump
shot, and you just keep expanding your
game that way.”
Jackson threw with noticeable zip after
returning to practice in the second week
of August, bouncing around with his usual
magnetic energy as teammates trudged
through daily routines. If the weight of his
world pressed in on him, no one could tell.
“You all know I love Lamar,” Ravens
tight end Mark Andrews said. “He’s an
extremely talented quarterback, with an
arm, and he’s throwing the ball … I always
think he throws the ball incredible. But yes,
he’s slinging the rock, man. He’s putting
the ball right where it needs to be, and he’s
locked in. He’s more focused than he’s ever
been.”