If there is one thing NFL fans can not deny, it is that Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson is one of the best players in the entire league. However, there are still harsh criticisms towards Jackson for not winning in clutch moments or reaching a Super Bowl which prompted a long defense from Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
Right after the first practice of training camp for Baltimore Sunday, Harbaugh would say that they take the critiques of Jackson “personally” according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.
“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. “But we take it personally.”
Harbaugh talks about Jackson's mental fortitude with Ravens
There is no doubting his immense success so far in his career as at the age of 27-years old, he has already won the MVP award twice and has a 58-19 record in the regular season. However, it is usually Jackson's performance in the playoffs that people point to as being a massive shortcoming for the star as he has lost four of the six games he's been in postseason, including a disappointing 17-10 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game last season.
“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,” Harbaugh continued. “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?”
Harbaugh believes Jackson can be the GOAT
Still, what Jackson has accomplished in his career so far should not be taken away from him as he was selected with the 32nd pick of the first round in the 2018 NFL draft as there was four quarterbacks taken ahead of him. Harbaugh has always had high expectations for the Florida-native, but it's tenfold this year as he envisions him being “the greatest quarterback ever to play.”
“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 via ESPN. “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 with illness, misses first day of minicamp
Last season when Jackson won his second MVP award, he threw for 3,678 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions where as on the ground, he rushed for 821 yards and five scores. The Louisville product did miss the first day of training camp Sunday with an illness as Harbaugh mentioned “it just wasn't good.”
“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.”
In any sense, the Ravens are looking to get over the hump and build off a relatively great season where they went 13-4 where they were the No. 1 seed in the AFC, but lost to Kansas City as said before in the conference title game. Funny enough, they will start the upcoming season on the road against the Chiefs in the opening game of the season on Thursday, Sept. 5.
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