Ravens won't change Lamar Jackson despite injury concerns

It appears the Baltimore Ravens are going to treat quarterback Lamar Jackson similar to how the Philadelphia Eagles plan to handle star Jalen Hurts moving forward. 

Per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh has suggested the Ravens won't go out of the way to try to keep Jackson healthy now that he's signed a five-year contract reportedly worth up to $260M with $185M guaranteed.

"There really is no conscious decisions along those lines in a sense that Lamar is a unique player," Harbaugh explained. "He plays — I say, sometimes we call it 'Lamar ball.' Right, Lamar? And I tell him all the time. I said, 'You play like you play. You have a unique style because you are so unique.' … There’s nobody like him, and there never will be as a player. So, 'Let’s go be the best Lamar Jackson that God intended you to be.'"

After the Eagles and Hurts agreed to a five-year extension reportedly worth up to $255M with $179.3M guaranteed, Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni insisted the club "didn't pay (Hurts) more to do less" even though the signal-caller suffered a right shoulder sprain in December that impacted him throughout the playoffs. 

Jackson, meanwhile, ended the last two seasons sidelined because of injuries. An ankle issue cost him the closing weeks of the 2021 campaign, and a PCL strain/sprain he suffered in Week 13 this past December kept him out through the postseason loss at the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Despite all of that, a healthy Jackson remains one of the most talented and most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL. Harbaugh believes Jackson knows when to use specific physical gifts during games. 

"I think Lamar is unique in the way he sees the field," Harbaugh continued. "He sees it in a snapshot. He doesn’t necessarily see it in a connect-the-dots progression. He takes a big-picture view of the field. … So, you trust that as a coach, and you allow — you don’t let, you encourage him to play the way he plays. So, I think he’s going to throw when it’s time to throw, and he’s going to run when it’s time to run." 

It's believed concerns related to Jackson's injury history left at least some teams "hesitant" to make a move for his services while his rights were retained via the non-exclusive franchise tag. The one-time NFL Most Valuable Player may spend the next handful of years making clubs regret not pursuing him this spring.