CLEVELAND — Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson burst onto the scene midway through the 2018 season and carried the team to an AFC North Division championship and return trip to the postseason for the first time since 2014.
And while there was much speculation about Jackson’s ability to be a dual-threat quarterback and remain healthy throughout a full season, the early part of 2019 has yielded positive results, as he has Baltimore out to a 2-1 start and in first place in the AFC North Division heading into Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
“The first thing you see is he is more poised and under control when he is throwing the ball,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said of Jackson. “They have done a tremendous job working with his throwing, his accuracy and things like that.
“He definitely gives you some problems from that standpoint just because I think he is more comfortable now than he was last year. It shows in how he sits in the pocket a little longer and continues with his eyes down the field as he is on the move.”
Known more for his athleticism and ability to run with the football, Jackson has worked to become a passer and a runner, and it has paid off, at least early in the 2019 season.
Jackson has completed 63 of his 100 attempts (63.0 percent) for 863 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception. The elusive Jackson has been sacked just six times for 33 lost yards, and he has added 172 yards and one score on 27 carries.
Currently, Jackson is top five in passing touchdowns, quarterback rating, yards per attempt and 20-yard completions.
“I think he is making good decisions and making good quick decisions,” Kitchens said. “He is getting the ball out of his hands when it is there. The one thing he does, just as any quarterback, is he continues to look down the field when he gets outside of the pocket, which creates big plays for them.
“Most of your big plays in this league, unless they are just schemed up perfectly, they come off the quarterback breaking contain or stepping up in the pocket, and then, breaking contain. That is how you get big plays and he is no exception to that. He just does a tremendous job of keeping his eyes down the field and continuing to look to throw the ball first.”
To the Ravens, Jackson is doing what they thought he could do when the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner was selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
“He has always had arm talent,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a conference call with the Cleveland media earlier this week. “That is something that has been there. We recognized that and saw that in the draft process, and also, last season, but he just worked hard.
“He has gone to work. He has worked with different people -- James Urban, our quarterback coach, and others. Just give him credit.”
Although it will be anything but easy to defend against Jackson, after studying film, Kitchens believes it all comes down to fundamentals.
“We just have to tackle,” Kitchens said.
“You have to be good in tackling with your technique, running your feet and stuff like that because he is very versatile from the standpoint of he will make you miss in space and he has great speed. That is a deadly combination for defenses, and that is what you have seen on tape.”