OWINGS MILLS, Md. — There are televisions pretty much everywhere at the Under Armour Performance Center. They are all over the player’s dining area. They are inside the weight room and outside the training room. Three large televisions even survived the team’s early-season purge of games from the locker room.
As safety Kyle Hamilton pointed out earlier this week, it’s impossible to avoid the outside conversation about the team and its quarterback, tight end Mark Andrews described Wednesday as “polarizing.”
There’s plenty being said about Lamar Jackson these days, including at the team facility, where players have found themselves discussing their star quarterback and the constant dialogue surrounding everything from his health to his future in Baltimore to how he deals with the constant scrutiny.
“He’s a two-time MVP and the face of the franchise. People are probably going to talk a little bit,” Hamilton said. “But it’s not with any negative connotation attached to it.”
The first big question about Jackson this week has been answered. Will he play in Sunday’s winner-takes-the-AFC-North/loser-goes-home matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium?
Yes, that’s the plan, according to Jackson, barring a late-week setback because of the back injury that sidelined him for last week’s game against the Green Bay Packers. For a second straight day, Thursday, Jackson was a full participant in the Ravens’ practice, and the quarterback made clear following the workout that he fully expects to play against the Steelers.
“100 percent,” Jackson said. “I’m going to be out there. I feel great right now.”
Jackson did say that he plans to wear extra padding to protect his lower back area.
“I’m trying to keep my back protected,” he said.
It’s been a challenging season for Jackson, who’s been dealing with a variety of physical issues since at least Week 4, if not earlier. He’s been slowed by hamstring, knee, ankle, toe and back injuries. All told, he’s missed four games and been knocked out of two others. This could be his first full week of practice since the days leading into a Week 10 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. That was nearly two months ago.
“Obviously, this year hasn’t been the way he’s drawn it up, but he’s a fighter, and he’s going to continue to fight for this organization,” Andrews said. “Everybody in this organization has trust in Lamar. He’s one-of-one. I’m excited to take the field with him this week, because that’s our guy. He knows the type of opportunity that we have, and we’re going to fight our butts off.”
When on the field over the last three months, Jackson has rarely looked like himself, lacking the explosiveness, elusiveness and decisiveness that typically define his game when he’s in peak form. Jackson amazingly doesn’t have a run of 20 yards or more all season. In comparison, backup Tyler Huntley, who has seen action in five games this year, has two runs of 25-plus yards and another for 19 yards.
The Ravens’ offense, which had been among the league’s best over the previous two years, has scored 30 or more points just twice since Week 3, and Huntley started both of those games.
The challenges for Jackson have come off the field, too. A recent column in The Baltimore Sun criticized the quarterback’s work ethic and maturity and questioned his relationship with longtime head coach John Harbaugh. It also suggested that the Ravens should look to trade Jackson this offseason and draft his replacement.
Jackson pushed back on some of the criticism Thursday, disputing the assertion that he falls asleep in meetings and stays up late playing video games. He also said that he has a strong relationship with Harbaugh and he wants to remain in Baltimore, but that he’s currently focused on winning, not his contract. The critique that seemingly bothers him most, though, was that he’s hesitant to play through injuries.
“I never quit on my team before,” Jackson said. “I’ve never quit on anything. I don’t know where that noise came from.”
Lamar Jackson has pushed back on the notion that he has not been devoted to the Ravens this season. “I never quit on my team before,” he said. (Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
Ravens players and coaches have vehemently defended Jackson, but the ambiguity, particularly with his health and when he is and isn’t practicing, has created a clear perception outside the building that the Ravens and their franchise quarterback haven’t been in lockstep most of this season.
“I don’t think it’s ever a matter of, does he want to (play)? I think it’s just a matter of, is he physically able to do so? And that goes with any of our most important players,” Hamilton said. “If somebody’s got something lingering and may not be able to come to practice or something like that, people are asking about it. It’s not just a Lamar thing. But I’ve been around this dude for the past four years, and I know what he’s about. I know that he practices what he preaches, and if he’s able to go out there, play and practice, he will do so. He’s a warrior, and I respect him. I respect who he is as a person and as a player.”
Whenever or however this season ends for the Ravens, whether it’s late Sunday night in Pittsburgh or in the weeks ahead, Jackson and the Ravens will have decisions to make. He still has two years left on the five-year, $260 million contract extension that he signed before the 2023 season, but that pact was always viewed as essentially a three-year deal.
Jackson’s cap number rises to $74.5 million in 2026 and 2027. That amount of cap space dedicated to one player, even the star quarterback, would make it nearly impossible for general manager Eric DeCosta to build a deep and strong playoff-caliber roster, given the Ravens’ other salary commitments.
In other words, the Ravens will have to address Jackson’s contract in some fashion this offseason. That could happen in the form of a restructure, in which the Ravens would push money onto future caps, or a contract extension, with which the Ravens would reaffirm his status as one of the NFL’s top players.
Another option would be a trade, but that would seemingly be the last resort for an organization that has shown an unwavering belief in Jackson and his ability to lead the team back to the NFL mountaintop.
Decisions on both sides would certainly be easier if the Ravens could suddenly morph into the team that pundits expected them to be all along, take care of business in Pittsburgh on Sunday night and go on to make a playoff run, particularly since extended playoff success is one of the only things that has eluded Jackson.
To do that, the Ravens need Jackson to be at his best. Reports about his performance in practice this week have been exceedingly positive.
“Honestly, I can’t really speak on motivating Lamar. I think Lamar is very self-motivated,” Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “I don’t know that he lets external factors motivate him. I do know if he’s out there, he’ll be ready to go. The Steelers, in the past, seem like (they) have been a team that’s always been a knife in our side, especially him. I think he’ll be more than ready to go if he’s out there Sunday.”
Humphrey is right. The Steelers are probably the team that has given Jackson more issues than any other. Baltimore is just 3-5 in Jackson’s eight starts against Pittsburgh. In those games, Jackson has accounted for 12 total touchdowns and 13 total turnovers.
So it’s fitting that Jackson still has a chance to salvage this tumultuous Ravens regular season, and that he and the Ravens need to go through Pittsburgh to do it.
“You’ve just got to be calm,” Jackson said. “You’ve got to be calm in the storm, so that’s my approach, and I feel like that’s the team’s approach.”