Ravens’ Lamar Jackson talks the possibility of winning MVP a third time.
After the Baltimore Ravens beat the Washington Commanders, the team is starting to take its usual dominant form after a shaky start to the season. Leading the way is Ravens star Lamar Jackson who continues to make history as he speaks about the possibility of winning his third Most Valuable Player award.
Jackson would speak after Thursday’s practice about the possibility of winning a third, which would make the star quarterback the seventh player ever to capture it that many times. However, the 27-year old would downplay the “hype” of it and is solely focused on winning football games for his team according to ESPN.
“I really don’t care about the hype,” Jackson said. “I’m not going to dwell on an MVP trophy or anything like that. I never have. Even when I won it, I never dwelled on it. It was about me just trying to win each and every game I’m in. And same thing from now, I’m still trying to win these games to get to February and win in February.”
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson on his “second nature”
As he mentioned in the final part of the quote, Jackson’s main goal is to perform better in the postseason as he is 2-4 during that time and has been unable to move past the conference championship game. Per ESPN, he’s the only player to win the MVP award twice and not win a Super Bowl.
Looking at the present, the Ravens face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they are 4-2 in the midst of a four-game winning streak. He has thrown for 1,529 yards, 10 touchdowns, and two interceptions to go along with 403 rushing yards as he speaks on what has led to his success so far and even Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh described as “second nature.”
“I just feel like everything is slowing down even more,” Jackson said. “Just from the [seven] years I’ve been in the league and seeing all types of defenses, seeing all types of blitzes. Everything is just second nature right now. So I’m just trying to be a better player myself each and every year.”
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson on the offense being “pick your poison”
While Jackson leads them, he believes that the offense is a “pick your poison” as it features other offensive playmakers like Zay Flowers and especially running back Derrick Henry who leads the league in rushing so far with 704 yards.
“Just a pick your poison offense,” Jackson said. “They have to get prepared for those guys who are running those routes – our receivers and our tight ends and sometimes our running backs.”
“It’s just playing chess and not checkers out there on that field. That’s basically what it is with our offense, because any given game depending on what the defense is giving us, [it’s like,] ‘OK they’re stopping the run, so now we just air it out, or if they’re stopping the pass – they’re going Cover 2, cover four quarters and stuff like that – we [are] running the ball. It’s hard to defend us, that’s what I believe.”
