Ravens giving Lamar Jackson more freedom within offense in 2023: QB says he’s been given ‘keys to the offense’

Quarterbacks coach Tee Martin saw what Lamar Jackson was able to do in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins last season when he made audibles more frequently at the line of scrimmage. He ran for 119 yards and a touchdown while passing for 318 yards and three touchdowns.

Martin said it was not just Jackson’s performance that he noticed, but his demeanor changed as well. 

“I just saw the expression on his face when he came off the field,” Martin said (via ESPN). “He was in a good place.”

New offensive coordinator Todd Monken is on board to allow Jackson to have the freedom the 26-year-old clearly enjoyed in 2022.

“Coach [Monken] is basically just giving us the keys to the offense, really. I’m loving it,” Jackson said.

“There are times where Coach ‘Monk’ says, ‘I’m the coordinator. I call the plays. You like [the play]? Keep it,'” Martin added, referencing interactions between Monken and Jackson. “When you change that play, you become the coordinator. And we want it to work. [Jackson’s] doing a good job and getting us in the right plays and operating the offense.”

Jackson has not gone no-huddle a lot in his career thus far, with just 32 such plays in his first four seasons as a starter, which ranks No. 32 in the league in that time. Despite not doing it often, when he did go no-huddle, he saw success. He completed 70.5% of throws, going 55 of 78 on those plays.

Head coach John Harbaugh said the team has experience with this approach, just not to the extent it may be under Monken.

“We’ve been in that world before, but not to this degree,” Harbaugh said. “To me, the offense starts in that world more than it did before, and I’m excited about that, [and] I know Lamar is excited about that.”

Jackson and the Ravens were able to finalize a contract after long negotiations, so they have now transitioned from keeping the quarterback to making a Super Bowl run with the quarterback. They are making changes they hope will improve their chances of scoring and winning games next year. 

“We’re not going to fool the defense every time, but we want to be right most of the time, putting ourselves in great plays and great positions to move the ball down the field,” Martin said. 

Going no-huddle will mean Jackson will need to change his leadership style a bit as well, and he acknowledged that he plans to be more vocal with the team. 

“At the end of the day, guys just want to see you being you and [being] true to yourself and true to them, as well,” Jackson said. “And I’ll just say, I’m going to try to be more of a vocal leader, because Coach [Harbaugh] was like, ‘You need to start speaking more.’ I just try to lead by example, but I’ll try to be more of a vocal leader.”

Jackson and the Ravens went 10-7 last season and lost, 24-17, to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card round last season. The Ravens were 12th in scoring and 14th in yards gained (350.2) in games Jackson played. He missed the final five games due to a sprained left knee. But before going out, he went 8-4 in his starts, throwing for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions along with 112 rushing attempts, 764 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.