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Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh capped his team’s first practice of training camp Sunday with an impassioned defense of quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Asked about the criticism directed at the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player for not reaching the Super Bowl, Harbaugh delivered a stirring two-minute, 43-second response.
“There’s a lot of great things said about Lamar, but there’s a lot of stuff that’s said that you just got to scratch your head about and kind of wonder, ‘What’s that person even thinking?'” Harbaugh said Sunday. “But we take it personally.”
In February, at the age of 27, Jackson became the youngest two-time NFL MVP since the AFL merger. Since 2018, he has the second-best regular-season record in the league at 58-19 (.753), leading Baltimore to the NFL’s best records in 2019 (14-2) and 2023 (13-4).
But Jackson has struggled in the postseason, losing four of his six playoff games. In last season’s 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, Jackson completed 54% of his passes (20-of-37) and committed two turnovers.
“All his life, Lamar Jackson has been a guy who’s been answering those same questions,” Harbaugh said. “I’m talking about since he was a kid. Junior high, high school, college, the draft. The success he’s had in the [NFL], again, it still comes up.
“OK, now he’s still growing. He’s got a growth mindset. He’s going to get better and better, no doubt. But what does he have to do to prove himself to some people? Right?”
Since being selected with the last pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft, Jackson has become the best dual-threat quarterback in NFL history. He has run for more yards than any quarterback in his first six seasons (5,258) and has thrown 125 touchdown passes in 77 starts.
But Harbaugh has even higher expectations for Jackson. Last week, Harbaugh told Jackson that his dream for him is to become the best quarterback ever.
On Sunday, Harbaugh reiterated that to reporters.
“The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League,” Harbaugh said. “It’s going to happen by Lamar, his work ethic and his brilliant talent, by all of us pouring into that effort together as a team and by the grace of God and God’s goodwill.”
Jackson was not present to hear Harbaugh’s glowing words about him. Before Sunday’s practice, he was sent home by the team’s doctors with an illness.
“He just started getting sick [Saturday] midday in the meetings [and] it got kind of not good,” Harbaugh said. “So, he tried to get in today and get rest and then get fluids and things. It just wasn’t good.”
With Jackson not participating, the Ravens turned to 38-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson to run the first-team offense.
On Saturday, Ravens tight end Mark Andrews called Jackson “the most special player in the world.”
Asked about how criticism affects Jackson, Andrews said, “He’s grown up and had to deal with things like this his whole life. And the thing that stands out about him is he’s got an incredible faith and belief in God and in himself and his teammates. And when you have belief in something else, it’s easy to get through things; it’s easy to help other people carry that weight. He does a great job of just being himself and not letting the outside noise affect him.”
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