ExtremeRavens Posted 13 hours ago Posted 13 hours ago When Lamar Jackson returned from injury in Week 9, his five rushes for a measly 14 yards raised some eyebrows. Despite one 13-yard scramble that coach John Harbaugh deemed the win’s “key play,” there was speculation Jackson’s recently healed hamstring held him back. Jackson vehemently disagreed. “The speculations and what I’m saying are totally different,” he said, days before doubling that rushing production in Minnesota. Even before the injury, on the way to a miserable 1-5 start, Jackson looked less inclined to decide a game by dazzling with his legs. Did he feel ready to run? “If I have to,” he said. Jackson, who built a career bound for Canton, Ohio, on his ability to tuck and run, is taking a new approach this year. He’s saving his legs for the long haul by winning games with his arm. “He’s getting a little older year by year and he just adds more years to his longevity,” Jackson’s close friend and backup quarterback Tyler Huntley told The Baltimore Sun. “He’s not relying on his legs to get him out of a lot of situations. He’s playing quarterback.” Jackson isn’t abandoning his ability to extend plays. His scramble rate — the percentage of impromptu rushing attempts versus designed runs — is higher now (42.9%) than it was in 2024 (34.5%), suggesting his willingness hasn’t wavered. But he’s had significantly fewer designed runs, averaging 2.4 fewer carries per game compared with last year. Most often, those numbers are a product of game planning against particular defenses, according to offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Jackson added Thursday that he doesn’t feel strongly about how those numbers bear out. “I don’t be worried as long as we win,” he said. Still, we’re seeing a tangible shift emerge from years-long discourse. In May 2019, while on a conference call with season-ticket holders, team owner Steve Bisciotti explained the organization’s intent to design fewer run plays for Jackson. Double-digit attempts in each of his seven starts as a rookie lugged Baltimore to its first playoff appearance in four years. Bisciotti wanted to relieve some of that pressure of having “11 eyes on Lamar,” he said at the time. That same sentiment resurfaced four years later. After having taken more hits than any other quarterback over the previous five years, the new direction under Monken provided a chance to scale back. Particularly “with the receivers we have,” Jackson said in 2023. The superstar quarterback expected, excitedly, “less running and more throwing.” Both forecasts fell flat. Jackson saw upticks in rushing figures and brought home a pair of NFL Most Valuable Player trophies to show for it. This fall might be the first time it’s materializing. The deep bank of pass catchers at Jackson’s disposal are his best in eight years, maybe even the best in franchise history. Still, inconsistencies along the offensive line have resulted in the highest sack percentage of Jackson’s career (10.91%). He’s been sacked at least once in every game. That’s why there were questions early in the year about whether Jackson was holding the ball too long. “We taper a line of, sometimes you hold onto the [ball], and ‘Oh my God, you made them all miss and made a play down the field,’ and, sometimes you get sacked,” quarterbacks coach Tee Martin said recently. “That happens to quarterbacks that play this style of football. So as a staff, at times, we have to put him in situations to be successful and allow them sometimes to save themselves from themselves, because he is that type of player.” Baltimore has also faced top-tier defenses that threw the kitchen sink at the quarterback. The Lions employed a spy to generate seven sacks. And Cleveland’s Myles Garrett is perhaps the best pass rusher of his generation. “When he has to run, he has to run,” tight end Isaiah Likely said, but the evolution of his arm talent allows Jackson to pick his spots. Like how Minnesota blitzed Jackson on 58% of his drop backs, the fifth-highest rate of his career, so the quarterback flicked the ball out shorter and quicker than ever. Jackson’s passer rating while under pressure (109.5) leads all quarterbacks in 2025, according to NFL analytics site The 33rd Team. “We live in so many different worlds on offense because of Lamar,” Harbaugh said. Last year, Jackson became the first player in NFL history to reach 4,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards in the same season. He showed significant improvements in arm strength and accuracy. This year, Likely explained, the dip in rushing figures is Jackson not needing to be Superman all by himself. Jackson has unconditional trust in the rest of the Justice League and in himself to put the ball in the right spots. “I feel like that just helps him stay fresh,” Likely said. No more double-digit scrambles, like Jackson had Week 1 against Kansas City last season, barreling his shoulder into one Chiefs defender after another. Asked if that type of workload is sustainable, Jackson said at the time, “I’m not trying to find out.” He hasn’t scrambled more than five times in a single game since. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throws a pass against the Dolphins in Week 9. After being a willing runner early in his career, Jackson now prefers to dissect defenses as a passer. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP) Fans yearn to see plays like Week 10 last year against the Bengals, when Jackson famously ran 58.1 yards to gain 10. Or his 48-yard touchdown on Christmas hitting a career top-speed of 21.25 mph, according to Next Gen Stats, and joked postgame that he was only “jogging.” This year’s magic manifests in different ways. Consider Pro Football Focus’ “elusive rating.” It’s a stat that measures the success and impact of a player running with the ball independent of his blockers by looking at how tough he is to bring down. Unsurprisingly, the slippery Zay Flowers has finished among Baltimore’s top-two most elusive playmakers since 2023, his rookie season. Jackson was a consistent force by that measure the past two seasons. PFF gave him a 31.2 elusive rating in 2023 and 32.6 in 2024. His marks after six games in each season stayed within a standard deviation of less than three. Based on PFF’s imperfect calculations, Jackson is about one-third as “elusive” as he has been the past two seasons. That’s not a product of his hamstring (his metrics didn’t change post-injury). It implies that he’s more calculated in when or how he’s taking off. Back in 2023, Jackson ventured to say, “I want to throw for like 6,000 yards with the weapons we have. … because no one has ever done it and I feel like we have the weapons to do it.” If not for his injury, this year, throwing the ball better than ever, might’ve been the time to do it. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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