



OWINGS MILLS, Md. — In some training camp practices, but not all, the Baltimore Ravens keep score in 11-on-11. Lamar Jackson comes alive on these days because he hates losing.

And on this overcast Wednesday, the Ravens’ second-year quarterback is feeling particularly antsy. After winning the first 11-on-11 showdown of camp four days earlier, the defense crushed the offense Sunday and Monday, something Jackson had to stew on since Tuesday was an off day.

So with practice set to begin again at the Under Armour Performance Center, Jackson turned to Ravens quarterbacks coach James Urban and asked the only thing he’d been thinking about for 48 hours.

“They keeping score?”

“Yeah, we’re keeping score,” Urban replied.

“It ain’t happening today,” Jackson remarked. “We’re gonna win.”

And then Jackson, whose reputation as a “gamer” has already permeated the building, went about having his best practice in four days. He showed off arm strength and touch, throwing some pretty balls that made the fans roar, and displayed improved command of new offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s scheme, which has been completely built around his unique skills.

“I think we’re going to give defenses a lot of looks, a lot of things to prepare for,” receiver Willie Snead IV told Yahoo Sports. “It’s not traditional. We’ve have some traditional stuff in, but then we’ll have different triple-option stuff, play-action, run-influenced break out-of-the-pocket type stuff. It’s just a lot to prepare for [on] defense.”

So much so that Ravens coach John Harbaugh even suggested that the Ravens might push offenses to the next era of football.

View photos Quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens believe they're at the forefront of offensive evolution in the NFL. (AP) More

“Coach was talking to us last night — he was getting me pumped up talking about the new revolution, changing [everything] and stuff like that,” Jackson said. “I felt like we were about to play Miami. I was pretty pumped … I was like, ‘OK, coach. I’m all-in!’ The whole team was all-in. Coach was saying some real stuff up there.”

There are four primary reasons the Ravens believe they might indeed be at the forefront of that revolution, despite Jackson’s middling passing stats last season.

“We are only limited by our own imagination,” Urban told Yahoo Sports. “[It will be] innovative, creative. The sky’s the limit for what we want to do.”

No. 1: Jackson will run — a lot

Jackson averaged 16 carries a game in eight starts last season, which would average out to an absurd 256 over the course of a season. Nevertheless, he also broke the NFL record for quarterback carries in a season with 147, so one might assume the Ravens will encourage him to eschew running in favor of throwing more from the pocket, just for the sake of his health.

Not so.

When recently told on NFL Network that Cam Newton once ran 139 times in a season, Harbaugh said to “take the over” on Jackson, who might be the NFL’s most dynamic running quarterback since Mike Vick.

“It’s gonna happen, and that’s a good thing when it happens,” Roman told Yahoo Sports, regarding Jackson’s penchant for running. “We’re not trying to force it or dissuade it.”

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But the coaching staff has some rules in place to prevent unnecessary wear and tear. For starters, while Jackson is free to get all the yards he can, he better end the play by getting down or getting out of bounds. What’s more, he is not allowed to cut back across the field, which would expose him to blindside shots.

In addition, there’s hope that the 7-to-10 pounds of muscle Jackson — who is now believed to sit around 218 — gained this offseason will help mitigate the running risk.

“If you have a sports car, you don’t worry about driving it because it can handle it,” Urban told Yahoo Sports. “I tell him, don’t ever let me coach you out of being the player you are. Trust your great natural ability.”

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