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OTAs this week

Good attitude from Lamar towards all the changes this year. Nice to know he's not a diva at quarterback. This from Brian Wacker at The Sun: "Lamar Jackson took the snap, pitched the ball to Derrick Henry and rolled the other direction. The only problem was that the play called for a naked boot action, and the quarterback was supposed to keep the ball. New offensive coordinator Declan Doyle was incredulous. “Lamar, what the f–k are you doing?” he shouted at the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player. Jackson laughed on Wednesday as he recounted the exchange, which came during Tuesday’s first day of the Ravens’ two-day mandatory minicamp in Owings Mills. “I wasn’t used to that,” Jackson said. “He was just being a coach. Nothing more, nothing less. “I love that coaching. I’m a coachable player. Sometimes he sees things that I don’t see, and sometimes I see things that he might not have thought of, and it’s great to piggyback off each other. I feel like we need that.” The moment lasted only a few seconds, but it offered a glimpse into what has become a defining theme of the Ravens’ offseason: Details matter, and a new regime means pressing new buttons the way they hadn’t been in the past. Getting the play correct is a big one, and Jackson acknowledged that one was on him. But no matter how small or tedious, the details are things coaches are obsessing over in June because they know they’ll matter in January. For Doyle, a 30-year-old first-time play caller installing a new offense, there has been little room for shortcuts. For first-year coach Jesse Minter, the message has been equally clear: If the Ravens are going to become the team they believe they can be, it will happen through precision and long before there needs to be production. “When you get in the quote-unquote big moments in a game, you sink to the level of detail and training and focus that you’re able to have,” Minter said. “You don’t all of a sudden go and do something different. “It’s how you operate, it’s how you do things. These guys have bought into that.” No detail has been considered too trivial or trite. How Jackson gathers the huddle. The exact direction his toes are pointed on a run-pass option. Where his eyes go before and after the snap. The route depth within a play call. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson runs wind sprints with teammates after practice during mandatory minicamp. (Ryan Bowie/Staff) When Doyle was formally introduced earlier this year, he described his offensive non-negotiables as physicality, detail and explosiveness. The physicality won’t truly emerge until pads come on during training camp. The other two have already become visible. This offseason has brought more than new coaches. There is a new language to learn. The terminology is different. The concepts are different. The structure is different. When the Ravens moved from offensive coordinator Greg Roman to Todd Monken before the 2023 season, there was at least some carryover in plays and verbiage. Jackson wasn’t starting from scratch. This time he is. “It’s a different system than I’m accustomed to being in,” Jackson said. “I feel like it’s going to be a lot of exposiveness going on this year because the way [Doyle] calls plays and his creativity with his mind and how detailed he is, it’s mind-blowing. I’m excited.” Jackson has been careful not to reveal much about the offense’s specifics. But he acknowledged there is significant emphasis on spacing and generating explosive plays. Just as notable has been his embrace of the process. The attention to detail has resonated with Jackson in a way that teammates and coaches have noticed. Aside from missing the first week of voluntary practices last month, Jackson has spent the offseason at the facility and has emerged as one of the program’s leaders. He has described the new coaching staff as a “breath of fresh air” and has spoken openly about the importance of being present and engaged. That level of engagement wasn’t always consistent in previous years under John Harbaugh, who had been Jackson’s only NFL coach until Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti fired him in January after a dismaying 8-9 season that ended without a playoff berth for the first time since 2021. History also suggests Jackson often thrives when everything feels new. Doyle is already his fourth offensive coordinator, and Jackson’s best seasons have frequently come during the first year or two of a coordinator’s tenure. In 2019, his first season under Roman, Jackson threw a league-high 36 touchdown passes and rushed for 1,206 yards, then an NFL record for a quarterback. The Ravens finished 14-2, and Jackson won his first NFL MVP award. Four years later, in his first season under Monken, Jackson posted a career-high 3,678 passing yards, led Baltimore to the NFL’s best record, an appearance in the AFC Championship game and captured his second MVP trophy. The following season, he threw a career-high 41 touchdown passes and finished runner-up in the MVP voting. Then came last year. The offense regressed sharply. Jackson missed four games because of injuries. Questions surfaced about the dynamic between Jackson, Harbaugh and Monken. Jackson endured one of the most difficult seasons of his career. But that was then. Related Articles Ravens’ Tyler Loop reflects on that miss in Pittsburgh: ‘Reset and reload’ 3 things we saw and heard from Ravens’ final day of mandatory minicamp Ravens’ Calais Campbell enters likely final season still loving the game Josh Tolentino: Maybe Mike Green is on to something with Ravens’ new staff | COMMENTARY 5 things we saw and heard from Ravens’ first day of mandatory minicamp “There’s no one I’d rather have as the quarterback, the leader of this team,” Minter said. “He’s been everything.” Optimism is abundant across the NFL this time of year, the product of new staffs and new systems. Yet there is a noticeable energy around Baltimore’s offense, fueled in large part by how quickly Jackson has connected with Doyle’s approach. “I’m being challenged right now,” Jackson said. “This system is different. It’s all Dec. I feel like everybody’s hands-on. We dialed in.” That includes Jackson, the player around whom the entire operation revolves. “I wanna be detailed as well, keep the defense honest,” Jackson said. “We doing everything right, the little things right. Defense don’t know what we’re doing, what we’re capable of on offense any given play. “With the type of coaching Declan is bringing, the sky’s the limit.”"