If Joe Flacco is indeed more fired up than in past years, it’s likely because the heat is emanating from under his seat atop the Ravens depth chart.
It may have gotten even warmer Thursday, as the Ravens let first-round quarterback Lamar Jackson run practice with the rest of the starting offense.
Via Katherine Fominykh of the Baltimore Sun, Jackson swapped places with Flacco during the final minicamp practice, and stayed with the first offense throughout.
Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg suggested it to coach John Harbaugh earlier in the week, and Harbaugh seemed pleased with the glimpses he saw.
“Just putting him out there today, putting the pressure on him to have him run the whole practice, operate the offense was valuable,” Harbaugh said.
Jackson didn’t want to grade his own performance, but he said he felt “wonderful” about the experience he’s getting, as he continues to learn the playbook. Veterans were praising his performance, with wide receiver Willie Snead saying: “Once he gets it, you’ll see something special.”
“Just to come from college and have veteran guys look at you like that, it’s amazing,” Jackson said. “A lot of guys aren’t getting looked at like that, and I appreciate that, but I got to keep grinding.”
Even Flacco was impressed.
“He’s doing a good job of learning, but he does a really good job of just naturally hanging in there and having his eyes down the field and finding the open guy,” the starting quarterback said. “He’s gradually getting better at speeding everything up, but he doesn’t make mistakes.”
How quickly Jackson progresses will largely determine Flacco’s own future, which makes those glimpses with the starters in practice a valuable peek into the future for the Ravens.