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PHOENIX — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is excited about the offseason program, coach Jesse Minter said. Excited enough to show up to voluntary workouts? That remains to be seen.
In his first appearance as Ravens head coach at the annual league meeting, Minter shared that he’s excited about a lot of things he’s experiencing for the first time. But he didn’t have many answers to some of the most pressing questions.
Here are the topics that were addressed and what Minter said about them:
Lamar Jackson and offseason workouts
Minter said early on that he would keep things between him and his star quarterback private, and he’s continued to do so.
Last season, Jackson forfeited $750,000 by not showing up to 80% of offseason workouts, as stipulated in his contract. Minter was asked if he has a sense of whether Jackson will show up to offseason workouts this year.
“We’re excited about the offseason program,” he said. “I know Lamar is excited. I think he is excited about some of the changes. We’ve had a lot of good connection points, but the offseason program is voluntary and we’re excited to get a chance to work with all of the guys, whoever wants to show up. We feel confident that a lot of guys will be there.”
Minter was then asked to clarify if that means Jackson’s status is up in the air.
“I think Lamar is really excited about what we have going on,” Minter said. “I think he’s excited about opportunities in the offseason program. Again, we’ll see on April 6 who all walks in the door.”
Jackson is heading into the second-to-last year of his contract, and his cap hit swells to $84 million next season. The Ravens have said they want to extend him, and owner Steve Bisciotti said he wanted it done by the start of free agency.
A deal was not reached by the beginning of free agency, and when the new league year started on March 11, the Ravens went ahead and restructured Jackson’s contract to clear cap space. General manager Eric DeCosta said the sides “ran out of time” but are still working on it.
DeCosta did not speak at the annual league meeting, and team president Sashi Brown did not have an update.
Nnamdi Madubuike’s health
Pro Bowl defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2, and there’s been no update about his status since.
He has posted cryptic messages and workout videos on social media, but the team has repeated it has nothing new to share and has deferred to Madubuike, who has not spoken publicly.
The pass rush was hit hard by Madubuike’s absence. Minter said the Ravens have contingency plans but wouldn’t indicate if they’re optimistic about his return.
“That’s still kind of a to-be-determined thing, I would say,” Minter said. “We certainly, as an organization, have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, all the way down the line. We’ll be excited whichever way that goes. ... Love him as a player, love him as a person. I’ve seen some of the videos of him doing things. I know he just feels good getting back, working out, doing things like that. But I’ll leave all of that up to him.”
Offseason schedule
Minter is most excited for the start of the offseason program but offered no updates on specific plans.
Asked about the practice schedule, joint practices and starter assignments, he said those details are still being worked out.
“It’s all being thought through thoroughly right now about what’s the best for us, what’s the best for our players, what’s the best for health, what’s the best for getting the team ready to play in the season,” Minter said about the practice schedule. He added that it could change throughout training camp to mimic the fact that games happen at different times in the day.
“There’s hopefully a couple of opportunities for joint practices,” said Minter, who will play a role in setting those up. “I don’t think anything is truly final yet. But we look forward to having a couple of those opportunities.”
Asked if he will play his starters more in the preseason, Minter said some younger players could benefit from more time on the field.
“To me, it’s all about trying to be ready for that first game,” he said. “I just think there’s things football-wise that you need to do to be ready to hit the ground running in that first game. Everything will be geared toward that, about getting the team healthy, fast and fresh into that first game.”
New safety Jaylinn Hawkins
Minter has said from the start that he’s excited to use Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton as a “chess piece.” The addition of safety Jaylinn Hawkins in free agency will allow the coach even more freedom to do “cool things” with Hamilton.
Last season, the Ravens defense stabilized to an extent after the team traded for veteran safety Alohi Gilman. Adding the third safety allowed Hamilton to play closer to the line and gave rookie Malaki Starks someone to lean on.
Gilman left in free agency, but Hawkins should play a similar role. Minter expects Hawkins and Starks to build a good partnership.
“Very excited about Jaylinn,” Minter said. “Obviously he had a great year, Super Bowl, all the way there, basically was a full-time starter the whole season, played over 85% of the snaps for New England. ... I was telling Kyle the other day with those three guys on the field together it’s going to be fun to come up with things to utilize those three guys.”
Thoughts on the depth chart
It is hard to build a depth chart as a new coach before you get on the field with your players, but Minter shared a few thoughts on the roster.
Zay Flowers was the clear No. 1 wide receiver under former coach John Harbaugh, and Minter said he’s proven himself. Behind Flowers, Rashod Bateman had a tough year. That doesn’t seem to bother Minter.
“You look at what he’s done in his career, he’s been a really productive player,” Minter said. “He’s coming off a year ... he’s disappointed in how the year went, so I know he’s hungry. He’s ready to get back to what he is. I have a lot of confidence in him.”
Minter had as much excitement but fewer answers when it came to the offensive line.
He said the team is excited about potential centers on the roster and will let on-field competition decide who starts, but he didn’t rule out adding other options.
“The real competition will be in training camp, and I’m sure by then we’ll have more pieces added into that competition,” Minter said.
Emery Jones Jr. is a question mark on the line. He played tackle in college but lined up at guard for his handful of NFL reps, and a shoulder injury limited his progress as a rookie. Minter did not say where the Ravens plan to use him.
Minter reiterated his confidence in kicker Tyler Loop, whose missed field goal ended the team’s playoff hopes last year, but he didn’t say whether they would bring in competition.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Minter said.
As for leadership, Minter said the team is still working through whether to have captains, which changed on a game-by-game basis under Harbaugh.
“That’s an ongoing conversation right now,” Minter said. “I think there’s benefits to doing it both ways, so trying to figure out which direction of that will best benefit the ’26 Ravens.”
Injury updates
While Madubuike’s injury was the most high-profile, several players missed significant time.
Running back Justice Hill suffered a neck injury and was placed on injured reserve ahead of Week 13. Rookie cornerbacks Bilhal Kone and Robert Longerbeam suffered season-ending injuries in training camp. Rookie linebacker Teddye Buchanan tore his ACL in Week 14.
Harbaugh would provide status updates at the annual meeting, but Minter did not.
He simply said, “Probably have more updates later on throughout the offseason program.”
Next steps
Minter and his staff, who have bonded over dinners and time spent together, have been furiously planning since they arrived.
They’ve worked on chemistry and how to divide responsibilities, such as the balance between defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and a defensive-minded head coach in Minter. They’ve been evaluating draft prospects and working to get to know their players the best they can while many are training away from Baltimore.
While many things are clearly still being worked on, after months of planning, Minter is ready to start working with players face-to-face.
“It starts with the relationships, getting a chance to be around the guys, working together, them starting to understand my personality, how we want to operate, the standards that we want to create for ourselves,” Minter said.
“This April 6 date has kind of been what we’ve been aiming for to get the guys back in the building and really start to lay the foundation of how we want to operate.”
The team will hold its first strength and conditioning workout on that date, with the first media availability on April 8.



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