Ravens’ Jackson masters art of winning while having fun

OWINGS MILLS, MD. >> There are times when Lamar Jackson displays the style and exuberance of a youngster playing football on the street with friends.

Seemingly unaffected by the responsibility of being an NFL starting quarterback, Jackson relishes the opportunity to run, pass and match wits with opposing defenses. And when he’s all done, the Baltimore Ravens star just might flip on a pair of sunglasses and pose on the sideline with his teammates.

Such was the case last Sunday, when the versatile Jackson achieved a perfect quarterback rating and peeled off a can’t-top-this 47-yard touchdown run in a 49-13 rout of the Cincinnati Bengals.

For a new generation of NFL quarterbacks, staying in the pocket is merely an option.

“It’s pretty cool,” Jackson said Wednesday. “We’re just doing our thing: playing ball, having fun, doing what all of us did when we were just little kids.”

With Jackson as the driving force, the Ravens (7-2) have won five straight and established themselves as a Super Bowl contender. Now in his second season, the former Louisville standout is 13-3 as a starter and the focal point of a team that leads the league in scoring, rushing and with a 76.9% conversion rate on fourth down.

Jackson is the only player in NFL history to amass 2,000 yards passing and 700 yards rushing through a season’s first nine games. In the high-stakes world of pro football, Jackson is keeping it low key.

“Obviously, Lamar is our leader. We follow him,” tight end Mark Andrews said. “He’s done a great job of staying humble. With all the spotlight and the buzz and people kind of catching on to the type of player he can be, he’s done a great job of staying true to himself and playing for his teammates.”

Jackson stepped out of character against the Bengals, grabbing sunglasses from head athletic trainer Ron Medlin and hamming it up in a hilarious photo with teammates Marlon Humphrey, Ron Stanley, Mark Ingram and Marquise Brown.

“When you’re winning and guys are making plays, it’s just contagious, the happiness, the joy,” Ingram said.

And, to be sure, Jackson is a unique quarterback. His second perfect rating of the season (15 for 17, 223 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) was impressive, but that 47-yard frolic through the Cincinnati defense might be the play that all past and future quarterback runs will be measured against.