OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Of all the top quarterbacks in Week 1, Lamar Jackson might be under the most scrutiny.
Will he look different from last season? How is his mobility? Can 2025 be written off as an injury-riddled aberration?
“I believe we have a lot in store,” Jackson said. “New season, it feels like a new breath of fresh air.”
It’s no exaggeration to suggest last season was the worst of Jackson’s pro career. A Baltimore team that had Super Bowl aspirations failed to make the playoffs. Jackson missed a few games with injuries, but that’s happened before. What was more concerning was how he looked when he played.
Jackson’s completion percentage was his worst in three years. He was also sacked 36 times, an increase of 13 from 2024 despite playing fewer games. The two-time MVP rushed for only 349 yards, by far the lowest output of his career.
The optimistic case for Jackson is that his injuries impacted all of that, and if fully healthy he’ll play more like he did when he threw for 41 touchdowns with only four interceptions in 2024. A more skeptical view is that Jackson turns 30 in January and may have to find a way to succeed with less explosiveness.
Jackson and the Ravens didn’t agree on a contract extension this offseason, and he has only two more years on his current deal.
So here Jackson is, at another crossroads. He’s often responded well when doubted. He asked for a trade during a previous contract standoff, but ended up staying with the Ravens and winning MVP honors in 2023. That was after his previous two seasons ended early because of injuries.
This offseason he to No. 69 on the NFL Top 100 list.
“I think he’s been under scrutiny ever since he’s won the Heisman in college,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “More people saying things that he couldn’t do rather than what he can and what he’s shown on tape. Disproved every theory against him, and I think for him all the talk really does not matter.”
For the first time in his Baltimore career, Jackson isn’t playing for John Harbaugh. The longtime coach was fired and replaced by Jesse Minter. Declan Doyle is the new offensive coordinator.
“A lot of moving parts,” Jackson said. “We can put guys in different positions to win. I feel like the success rate should be high. That is what I am expecting, but we will see.”
While Ravens fans and fantasy owners alike await Jackson’s first game, hoping for a bounce-back, this is also Doyle’s first chance to show what his offense can look like. At it turns out, Doyle’s younger brother Dillon is a defensive quality control coach for the Colts, and the Ravens play at Indianapolis on Sunday in Week 1.
“He’s the one breaking down the tape and (things) like that,” Doyle said. “So, I haven’t talked to him for a while.”
Doyle did explain a little bit about the process of putting together a game plan — and Jackson’s involvement in that.
“As the install happens, you install with the quarterback first, then the full group, make sure that they’re all kind of on the same page, then we’ll go through and walk through it, kind of informally, make sure everybody’s on the same page,” Doyle said. “Then we’ll come out and rep it. After that happens, you have meetings that take place post-practice. Following all those meetings, (Jackson) and I sit down one on one and we go to my office, and it takes as long as it takes. I kind of explained that to him, ‘I don’t want to always hold you hostage, but at the same point of time, I need to know what you’re feeling.’”
Rashod Bateman spoke after practice Wednesday and was asked about his arrest in Georgia in June on suspicion of family violence battery and reckless conduct, both misdemeanors, and criminal damage to property, a felony.
“There’s only so much that I can say right now,” Bateman said. “That’s a legal situation.”
The Ravens they’re waiting on the NFL’s investigation into the matter.
“Whatever the consequences are, I’ll deal with it,” Bateman said.
In the first official injury report of the season, the Ravens listed defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike, who missed most of 2025 because of a neck injury, as limited in practice. Receiver Zay Flowers (hamstring) was also limited.
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