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Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was back in action Tuesday, participating in his first practice of organized team activities.
On Wednesday, he was back at the microphone.
In his first public comments since the Ravens’ season-ending loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jackson looked back at a trying 2025 season and turbulent offseason in Baltimore and ahead at his first year under coach Jesse Minter.
Here are five things we learned from Jackson’s 15-minute news conference in Owings Mills.
He’s keeping contract talks under wraps
Since Jackson has no agent and represents himself, only a select few know how contract negotiations with the Ravens are going. He’s under contract through 2027, but he couldn’t agree to a new deal with general manager Eric DeCosta by the start of the new league year in March, and his salary cap hit in 2027 is set to skyrocket from $35.4 million to an unwieldy $84.3 million.
Asked Wednesday about his contract situation, Jackson provided few new details. He said he had pondered how he would answer contract questions but reverted to his same response: He’s keeping the conversations private.
However, he did say he would like to stay in Baltimore long term, adding that he loves the team and he loves the city.
He knows there’s a lot to learn this offseason
In recent years, Jackson has had spotty attendance at organized team activities. But after missing three practices last week, he appeared for the second week of the voluntary workouts.
The extra time with the team is imperative, according to Jackson, since he has a new coach (Minter), a new offensive coordinator (Declan Doyle) and new teammates to get used to.
“I had to get the terminology down, knowing where guys are,” Jackson said. “Just watching film and getting out on the field with my guys and knowing what guys are going to be with certain routes, certain plays, hearing Coach call plays.”
Teammates have said that having Jackson active lends a different energy to practices. Minter has said that he wants to keep conversations between him and Jackson private, including those about his practice participation, but he was happy to have Jackson back on the field Wednesday.
“I think the constant with Lamar is, he’s such a great teammate,” Minter said. “And he cares a lot about other players’ success. He pushes guys out there to have success. He gets really excited when other people make plays.”
Minter said that while Jackson has been around the Ravens’ facility a lot, and though they’ve had conversations throughout the offseason, it was exciting to see those conversations translate to the field.
He was surprised by John Harbaugh’s firing
In his first comments on Harbaugh since his January firing, Jackson said he was surprised when the Ravens decided to move on from their longtime coach. Harbaugh had served in Baltimore for 18 years, and was a missed field goal away from a third straight AFC North title.
“But I feel like [owner] Mr. Steve [Bisciotti], he did what was best for the team,” Jackson said.
He added that he hopes Harbaugh has a “great time” in New York, where he now coaches the Giants, and said he messaged Harbaugh when he heard he got the job.
“Hats off to Coach because he did so much for the city, for the team, for this organization,” Jackson said.
The new coaching staff is ‘a breath of fresh air’
Jackson has had a front-row seat to the Ravens’ offseason of change. He spoke with Bisciotti before Harbaugh was fired. He was involved in the Ravens’ coaching search, speaking with Minter as he interviewed for the job. And he hosted Minter and Doyle in South Florida after Doyle was hired, a meeting where Jackson said he could “pick their brains.”
“Really, they want to win,” Jackson said. “And I want to win as well. So I felt like it was great for those guys to come down and meet with me.”
They’ve made an early impression. Jackson called Minter a “cool dude” with a permanent smile on his face. He said he’s had “great conversations” with Doyle, who wants Jackson “involved a lot” during the offense’s offseason installations.
The most obvious change from the previous regime? The coaching staff’s youth movement. Minter turned 43 this month, two decades younger than Harbaugh. Doyle turned 30 in March, three decades younger than Todd Monken.
“His title is coach, so I’m still calling him Coach,” Jackson, 29, said of Doyle. “But it’s cool, because ... him seeing things on film and when he’s calling certain plays, I’m knowing what he’s thinking within the play call. So it’s just making my job a lot easier, and it’s awesome.”
Jackson likened the change to a “breath of fresh air.”
“New coach, new OC, different new guys in positions,” he said. “So everything is just new, basically, besides upstairs [in the front office].”
Last season’s struggles were a ‘once-in-a-lifetime thing’
The Ravens’ running game fell off last year, dropping from a league-leading 3,189 yards in 2024 to 2,662 — still good for second place. Jackson’s drop-off as a runner played a part. He had career lows in carries (67), designed runs (37), rushing yards (349) and yards per game (26.8), and his 5.2 cards per carry were his lowest since his rookie year (4.7).
An inconsistent offensive line and a leaky defense created suboptimal conditions for Jackson. So did injuries. He said he was healthy through the Ravens’ first two games last season, when he rushed eight times for 83 yards and a touchdown. But Jackson said he “couldn’t really burst” in a Week 3 loss to the Detroit Lions, who hounded him for seven sacks. He blamed a hamstring injury that worsened soon after, in the Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, when he left midway through the third quarter.
Jackson missed over a month with the hamstring injury, and he said it lingered throughout the season. A back contusion later knocked him out of a Week 16 loss to the New England Patriots and sidelined him for the Ravens’ Week 17 win over the Green Bay Packers. He also missed practices with ankle, toe and knee injuries, along with an illness.
“It’s football,” Jackson said. “You’re going to be banged up Week 17, and stuff like that, it’s going to happen. You just got to move through things like that and keep playing football. And I felt like I was doing a great job at that.”
Jackson called last year’s struggles a “once-in-a-lifetime thing,” though injuries also forced him to miss the end of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Asked about his involvement in this year’s run game, he said he would do “whatever it takes to win.”
Jackson also jokingly bristled at the notion that he’s past his athletic prime. “One of the players just asked me, ‘Is this Year 9 for you?” Jackson recalled. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I’m not an “unc” yet.’”
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