It wasn't too long ago when preseason football actually meant something in the city of Baltimore. No, it had nothing to do with Ravens fans getting the opportunity to see their established favorites and some of the new faces joining the team. It was all related to a preseason winning streak, the longest in NFL history, which after 24 games was snapped last season in a 29-28 loss to the Washington Commanders. Now with the same stakes as everyone else, preseason doesn't mean quite as much in Charm City.
For that reason and many others, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise to anyone that after sitting out Baltimore's first preseason game of 2024, Lamar Jackson will once again get a DNP this Saturday afternoon when the Ravens host the Atlanta Falcons, according to 16-year head coach of the Baltimore Ravens John Harbaugh.
Given Lamar Jackson's NFL tenure and playing style, coupled with Baltimore's Super Bowl expectations, it makes perfect sense that the two-time league MVP quarterback would be kept out of uniform for the entirety of the preseason. In fact, Lamar hasn't played a preseason game since 2021 and there's no need to give him reps now, especially after a successful first season under Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken last year.
Given what we saw last year, there's no reason to believe that Lamar and the Ravens need to use the preseason to get comfortable working out the kinks of a new offense because last year, for much of the season, it looked like there were no kinks. Adding bell-cow running back Derrick Henry to the Ravens backfield should only take some of the burden off of the shoulders of Lamar Jackson, and ultimately, that's the name of the game in Baltimore.
![Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson stands on the sidelines during the second half of a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium.](https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Lamar-Jackson-on-the-Ravens-sideline-1024x681.jpg)