John Harbaugh addresses Lamar Jackson's participation in Ravens' OTAs
The Baltimore Ravens are holding voluntary organized team activities this week. While the workouts are technically voluntary, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was glad to have Lamar Jackson in attendance on Wednesday.
Jackson missed the first part of OTAs on Monday was back on the field Wednesday, working out with Baltimore for the first time in over five months.
Harbaugh was asked about Jackson being in attendance and spoke about his star quarterback, as well as other players on the roster taking part in the voluntary workouts.
“I’m happy with the numbers. We’ve got a lot of guys here. The numbers are really high. That’s exciting,” Harbaugh said. “The energy’s really good. I think it’s important. I’m a coach. I want everybody here. I want every player here all the time doing everything they can.”
It has been an interesting offseason for Jackson, who signed a five-year, $260 million deal earlier this month.
Back in March, Jackson requested a trade, before ultimately agreeing to a long-term deal with Baltimore.
While Jackson is at OTAs, two of his top targets are not. Receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and tight end Mark Andrews are away from the team working out on their own.
Yes, Harbaugh would love for those two to be in Baltimore going through OTAs, but he’s also just fine with them putting in work away from the team.
“Everybody’s got their own circumstance, and that’s OK. I think about what OBJ’s doing, for instance, out there in Arizona. I don’t have any problem with that. Or what Mark’s doing out there. They’ll be in here soon enough – whenever they’re ready and they need it,” Harbaugh said.
“And they talk to me and tell me what they’re doing. They’re working hard. So you don’t try to worry too much about it, but from an importance standpoint, if you want to rank it, today’s the most important day there ever was, because tomorrow’s a hope and yesterday’s a memory. So try to focus on today.”
The 26-year-old Lamar Jackson has had an impressive NFL career after being drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.
Despite being a Heisman winner and two-time ACC Player of the Year, Jackson wasn’t drafted until the final pick of the first round.
Jackson has proven his doubters wrong in the NFL, including by winning the NFL MVP in 2019.
The former Louisville star was injured in Week 13 last year against the Broncos and missed the rest of the season.