The Baltimore Ravens are still trying to sign Lamar Jackson to a long-term contract, something general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh would like to finish as soon as possible. There has been some controversy to deal with, some of it stemming from Jackson missing the team's most recent game.
Jackson did not travel with the team to Cincinnati for the wild-card playoff game against the Bengals -- a game the Ravens lost. The Ravens franchise quarterback had his leadership questioned by some in the aftermath, but the head coach isn't questioning it.
"I think his focus was on getting himself back on the field," Harbaugh said at the NFL Scouting Combine this week. "You can talk all about that stuff, but he was thinking singularly about one thing: rehabbing, keeping the swelling out of his knee as much as he could. That's all he was thinking about; that's all he talked about."
Jackson missed the final five games of the season and the playoff loss to the Bengals to a knee sprain, which he described as a "PCL Grade 2 sprain on the borderline of strain 3." Baltimore went 8-4 in Jackson's 12 starts last season, as Jackson completed 62.3% of his passes for 2,242 yards with 17 touchdowns to seven interceptions (91.1 rating) while rushing for 764 yards and three scores.
The Ravens aren't going to doubt what Jackson brings to the organization, as they are 45-16 in his 61 starts since Jackson entered the league in 2018. They average 28.0 points per game when Jackson is on the field compared to 20.0 when Jackson misses games. Jackson is one of six players in NFL history to reach 100-plus passing touchdowns and 4,000-plus rushing yards in a career, and the fastest to reach the mark by 31 games. The Ravens are averaging 184.8 rushing yards per game with Jackson as a starter in his career -- the most by any starting quarterback since the 1970 merger.
Baltimore wants Jackson signed to a long-term deal. They want to make sure he remains with the franchise.
"You can't win in this league without a strong quarterback; that's been proven. So, we want Lamar here," DeCosta said. "We think he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He's certainly one of our best players, and we want him back. So, we understand that.
"Living in a world without a quarterback is a bad world to live in, and I think there are a lot of GMs and coaches who would probably say that who are living in that world right now. We're aware of that. I think we've been blessed since 2008 to have Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson, and my goal is to continue that."
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