NFL teams asked Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson to work out as a receiver. Unless they didn’t.
PFT has uncovered the final answer: Both.
Per a source with knowledge of the process, one team (and it takes only one team) asked for Jackson to work out as a receiver when his jersey number and position were called out during a meeting with Scouting Combine officials that occurred early in the week. It’s possible that other teams would have made the request; however, once one team does, the process moves on.
Then, the scout assigned to that player’s group communicates to the player the request to work out at a different position, and the player responds with a “yes” or a “no.” In this case, the group scout asked Jackson to work out as a receiver, and Jackson declined.
So why did Jackson deny that he’d been asked to work out as a receiver? Specifically, he said that “[n]o team asked me to try out at wide receiver.” Which is true -- no team asked him to do it. One team made a request that was related to Jackson in the form of a scout employed by the Scouting Combine asking Jackson to do both.
It’s possible Jackson didn’t realize that the request came from a team, and that the Combine officials were simply acting on, for example, Bill Polian’s ongoing notion that Jackson should play receiver.
So there it is. No team directly asked Jackson to work out as a receiver, but at least one team made a request that was communicated on a second-hand basis to Jackson, and he passed.