At QB, consistency amid the change
With rookie Jackson, ‘You pretty much know what you’re going to get’
Because he is a rookie prone to bouts of inconsistency, because he is a generational athlete who can bend defenses to his will, Lamar Jackson has made every game he’s played something of a guessing game: Just what will the Ravens quarterback do next?
So far, he has experienced defeat as a backup and won as a starter, thrown for touchdowns and botched handoffs. He has completed bombs down the sideline and stared down receivers in triple coverage. He has run quarterback draws, read options and end-arounds. He’s lined up as a receiver, even gotten open in the end zone. He has done seemingly everything on offense but line up at guard and try pancaking a 300-bound behemoth.
“It’s fun being in there with him because when he takes off and runs, you’ve got to have your head on a swivel,” said first-round tight end Hayden Hurst, who has played with Jackson since the team’s rookie minicamp in May.
And yet, Hurst added: “You pretty much know what you’re going to get with him.”
That, teammates and coaches said, is the dichotomy of Jackson. On the field, where he’s expected to make his third straight start today in Atlanta against the Falcons (4-7), Jackson is thrilling and unique and still grasping the NFL’s unyielding difficulties. In the locker room, during team meetings, in practice, he is still the same ol’ Lamar who entered the season expecting to watch and learn from Joe Flacco.
His circumstances might have changed,