One minute, it's about ignoring the critics. Now, after an exhilarating 36-35 win over the Kanas City Chiefs, it's about not riding the hype.
Sunday night's game at M&T Bank Stadium was one of the Ravens' biggest regular-season wins in recent memory. Head Coach John Harbaugh said as much in his postgame speech.
Now the Ravens are preparing to fly to Detroit to take on the Lions, who are 0-2 under first-year Head Coach Dan Campbell. Lamar Jackson said the cliché 24-hour rule of celebrating a win for one day only is in full effect.
"We celebrated, had fun and smiled about the game, it's over with now," Jackson said.
"I'm still locked in. I didn't get on a high horse or anything and be like, 'We just won a championship,' or something. None of that has happened yet; we still have a long season ahead of us."
Always a lightning rod for hot takes, Jackson has been widely praised after his performance against the Chiefs. But even in his postgame press conference, he acknowledged that it could all go away soon.
"The noise will go away, then it will come back somehow," he said. "It's going to always be like that as long as I'm playing, I feel, so I don't really care about it. I'm just going to keep playing."
By beating the Chiefs, the Ravens proved nobody should be counting them out. But to reach their ultimate goals, with the injury issues they still face, Jackson will need to continue to play at a very high level.
Asked what the Chiefs win did for him moving forward, Jackson said, "I don't really know." He's still the same guy this week as last.
Harbaugh said Jackson's approach to the weekly game preparation is much like what fans see on the field. Nothing changes about Jackson, regardless of whether he's fresh off a big win or a tough loss like in Week 1 in Las Vegas.
"He's very business-like, but also, he has fun. He'll have fun with his guys," Harbaugh said. "If something happens, he gets on guys. I think what you see is what you get with Lamar."
The Lions are where the Ravens were last week, coming off a deflating loss, on short rest, and dealing with injuries as starting cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu has been placed on injured reserve.
Campbell, a no-nonsense former tight end, told his team that he doesn’t want anyone feeling like they’re the “same old Lions.”
Everyone in the AFC North sits at 1-1. The Ravens have a chance to build some momentum over the next couple months before heading into a grueling stretch run featuring four games against the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers and two of the NFC's best teams in Green Bay and the L.A. Rams.
But to get a winning streak started, the Ravens have to start with two in a row. That begins with the Lions, and Jackson said he doesn't need to preach to his teammates about the importance of not overlooking them.
"Our guys understand that. It's business," Jackson said. "We did what we wanted to do. We wanted to win that [Chiefs] game. We got the 'W', and we have to transition over to Detroit, now.
"[We have to] focus on those guys, because those guys are hungry. We're going down there, and we just have to be ready, because that's a hard defense. That's a fighting defense. Those guys are not going to lay down, so we just have to be ready to play."
