JACKSON REJOINS RAVENS FOR MINICAMP
On the eve of mandatory minicamp, quarterback Lamar Jackson is back with the Ravens.
Jackson, who missed three weeks of voluntary organized team activities for the first time in his NFL career, reported to the team facility Monday. He’s expected to rejoin the Ravens for their three practices in Owings Mills this week, which run from today to Thursday.
“I hope you’re ready for the season because I’m surely is,” Jackson said in a video shared by the team’s Twitter account.
Coach John Harbaugh said last week that he expected Jackson, who’s entering the final year of his rookie contract, to return for minicamp. Under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, players who fail to report all three days can be fined up to $93,085 by their team.
“I know he’s working hard. Lamar Jackson is a hard worker, so I’m not worried about how hard he’s working. I fully expect him to come back in great shape,” Harbaugh said. “I’m sure he’s throwing, I’m sure he’s doing a good job. And when he gets back here, we’ll be rolling with Lamar. Right now, we roll with the guys we’ve got, and when he gets here, he’ll merge right in with everybody, and we’ll go to work with Lamar.”
Jackson, who worked out in South Florida while away from the team, has been reluctant to engage Ravens officials in contract negotiations this offseason. General Manager Eric DeCosta said in February that the team is “working at Lamar’s pace.”
Jackson, the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player, is looking to bounce back from the most frustrating season of his career. He missed the final four weeks of the 2021 season with an ankle injury and struggled to limit his interceptions and sacks. Jackson was named to the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career, but the Ravens missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
This week’s practices will also be his first without wide receiver and close friend Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, whom the Ravens traded during the NFL draft. Jackson spent part of the offseason training with wide receivers Rashod Bateman and James Proche II and working with private quarterback tutor Adam Dedeaux.
“I seen Lamar Jackson today,” Bateman tweeted jokingly Monday. “He good.”
Notable
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard signed his restricted free agent tender. Lazard, the Packers’ top returning receiver with Davante Adams traded away, will make $3.986 million this year and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of the upcoming season.
The 26-year-old Lazard caught 40 passes for 513 yards and eight touchdowns last season. He had the most yards receiving and touchdown catches last season of any player still on the Packers roster following the trade of two-time All-Pro wideout Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders.
All-Pro Bills starting safety Jordan Poyer will report for mandatory practices this week after sitting out all of Buffalo’s voluntary spring sessions because of a contract issue.