On the first day of training camp, Head Coach John Harbaugh said his vision for Lamar Jackson is to be remembered as the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Jackson would love to see the future play out that way, but his focus remains crystal clear. His mission this season and every season is to win the Super Bowl. And it starts with one.
That's what Jackson is thinking about for now, not where he will rank among the all-time greats once his career is done. However, the two-time MVP appreciates his head coach having his back, and he can use Harbaugh's belief for fuel.
"I appreciate that coming from coach," Jackson said. "Keep doing what I'm doing, keep trying to get better, keep trying to win these games, keep trying to reach that goal.
"I'm not the G.O.A.T, Tom Brady's the G.O.A.T. But I believe that's motivation. I appreciate that. I'm still on my way."
Still only 27 years old, Jackson has not reached the Super Bowl yet, leaving him open to criticism that Harbaugh believes is unfair. In 2023, Jackson had career bests in completion percentage (67.2) and passing yards (3,678) in his first season with Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken. There are many reasons to believe Jackson has not reached his ceiling considering that he is still three years shy of his 30th birthday.
Great quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and John Elway were older than Jackson before winning their first Super Bowl. Jackson doesn't want to wait any longer but understands how difficult it is to win a Lombardi Trophy.
"Patience is the key," Jackson said. "Only a few quarterbacks have won a Super Bowl in the last few years. A lot of people haven't won. I'm focusing on me and I want that real bad. I'm just focusing on what I can control and go from there."
Having won back-to-back Super Bowls and three of the last five, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs remain the team to beat. The Ravens will get an early look at how they match up with the Chiefs this season when Baltimore and Kansas City kick off the regular season in Kansas City.
The intensity of training camp reached another level when Jackson returned from illness on Saturday, and that's what he wants. When Jackson throws a touchdown pass, he doesn't mind letting the defense know about it. And when Jackson throws an interception, the defense gives the trash talk right back to Jackson.
"I believe iron sharpens iron," Jackson said. "We've got one of the best defenses in the league. Me just talking trash to those guys, those guys talking trash to us, and we just going after each other, I believe that's what builds a great team."
Jackson is already the youngest quarterback to win two MVP awards, and he was the youngest player to win the Heisman Trophy. However, the night Jackson was drafted in 2018, he promised to bring a Super Bowl to Baltimore. He's not backing off from that statement and he's ready to chase the ring again.
"That's been the first check box for me since 2018," Jackson said. "April 26, whenever I was drafted, I said that, and I meant that. But this is the highest level of this game we play. You've got to go out a champion and that's what I want to be labeled as, a champion, not just MVP here and there. I want to be a champion."
