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Mike Preston: Don't panic about Ravens QB Lamar Jackson yet

Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun on

Published in Football

BALTIMORE — Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson didn’t show up for Tuesday’s voluntary organized team activities, the first open to the media this offseason.

Yawn. And yawn some more.

Jackson and several other veterans didn’t participate, and none of it was surprising, especially for a list that included defensive lineman Calais Campbell, cornerback Marlon Humphrey and wide receiver Rashod Bateman. You really didn’t think Campbell, entering his 19th season, was going to appear, did you?

The same can be said about Humphrey and Bateman, who are basically nomads on this roster. As for Jackson, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player has attended other offseason workouts. Rookie coach Jesse Minter said that he has been in communication with Jackson and that the quarterback had other commitments.

Well, so be it.

“Lamar’s been one of our leaders of the offseason program, and he had a couple things going on yesterday and today, and I do expect him to be back soon,” Minter said. “We’ve had some great conversations. I know when he’s going to be back, and again, I’ll probably leave those between me and Lamar.”

No one knows what that means.

Now, if Jackson had shown up for the first day of OTAs, well, that would have been a story. Last year, he attended just one of the 10 sessions and forfeited a $750,000 workout bonus. But instead, we walked away without a big news item.

It’s just no longer a big deal with Jackson, who’s about to enter his ninth season and the fourth year of his five-year, $260 million contract.

Some will have major concerns. Minter is in his first season and trying to forge a strong relationship with the 29-year-old quarterback. The Ravens also have a new offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle, who, despite working with great offensive minds such as Denver’s Sean Payton and Chicago’s Ben Johnson, has yet to call a play in an NFL game.

Also, the Ravens are trying to build a new offensive system with an emphasis on the West Coast offense, which relies more on short timing patterns. On defense, the Ravens have a new coordinator in Anthony Weaver, though Minter will be calling the signals.

It would make sense for most of the players to show up. A year ago, the Ravens had one of the worst secondaries in football, but veterans rule in this league.

 

Humphrey is entering his 10th season. To miss a voluntary OTA is no big deal. Defensive tackle Travis Jones is entering his fifth season and is very familiar with what Weaver runs, having played for him when Weaver was the Ravens’ defensive line coach in 2022 and 2023. The same can be said for defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who was a third-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2020. Madubuike had neck surgery in April after missing nearly all of last season, but hasn’t declared his return.

Actually, I was more interested in other players, like veteran left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who struggled with a variety of lower-body injuries last season but still practiced.

There was $112 million outside linebacker Trey Hendrickson, who played in only seven games last season with the Cincinnati Bengals before having hip/pelvis surgery. He was at practice. Second-year outside linebacker Mike Green participated, and he appeared to have added 10 to 15 pounds of muscle. Rookie right guard Vega Ioane, taken in the first round last month, looked so promising with his explosion and contact off the ball.

Then there was halfback Derrick Henry, about to enter his 11th season. He was still in beast mode at Tuesday’s practice, even though he bumped knees with a defensive player and stayed on the ground for an extended period. He joked that “the ground felt like a bed for a little while” and that he wanted to give reporters something to write about.

“I love putting the work in, conditioning, being in the weight room, being around the guys and putting the work in the offseason,” Henry said. “And around this time, this is where you get to tune up everything, make mistakes [and] learn from those mistakes. And then when training camp comes around, you’re rolling.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, accidents like what happened to Henry can be devastating. If Jackson went down, the season would probably be over. If that happened to Joe Burrow in Cincinnati or to Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville, it would probably be a major disaster as well.

Let’s be honest: Jackson needs to be there because there is so much to learn. No other position in sports is as valuable as a quarterback to a football team. If and when Jackson participates in practice again, that will be a major asset to this team. But when you go down this roster, certain players aren’t going to participate in voluntary workouts, no matter what.

Usually, they are veterans who have been around long enough to know how to condition and stay in really good shape.

Is that Campbell? Yes. Is that Humphrey? Yes. Is that Jackson? We will find out.

But he didn’t show up on Tuesday, and that was nothing new.


©2026 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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