The assumption is that rookie Lamar Jackson isn’t going to start at quarterback just yet for the Baltimore Ravens. Joe Flacco is still around and is apparently motivated following the addition of the first-rounder, so Jackson may have to play in other positions for the time being.
But according to Ryan Mink of the team's official website, the Ravens gave the rookie quarterback a taste of playing quarterback by giving him a lot of reps in their final practice of minicamp.
It was OC Marty Mornhinweg's idea earlier in the week to hand Jackson all those 11-on-11 reps in the final practice in order to test Jackson. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who has generally been impressed with what he’s seen of Jackson this offseason, seemed satisfied with how the rookie handled the experience.
“He ran almost the whole practice today, and that’s a big step in the right direction,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “He responded well. I think we had one timeout we had to call, which isn’t too bad for a rookie running the whole practice. He got the plays called. He competed, completed some passes as much as you can.”
Even Flacco had some words of praise for his understudy and potential successor.
“He’s doing a good job of learning, but he does a really good job of just naturally hanging in there and having his eyes down the field and finding the open guy,” Flacco said per Katherine Fominykh of the Baltimore Sun. “He’s gradually getting better at speeding everything up, but he doesn’t make mistakes.”
While Jackson has had a strong spring and has impressed most members of the team with his talent, it remains unlikely that he can supplant Flacco for the starting job by the start of the season. Nevertheless, the Ravens have to be pleased with the performance of the young QB.
If Jackson keeps up his current rate of development, though, it may not be too much longer before he runs with the first-team on a full-time basis.
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