Jackson brings his new-school style to game vs. Newton

FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — Lamar Jackson and Cam Newton don’t know each other well on a personal level.

It didn’t stop the Patriots quarterback from reaching out to his Ravens counterpart and reigning NFL MVP recently on social media.

“He hit me up,” Jackson said last week.

Did the veteran Newton pass along any advice to the 23-year-old?

“Not really,” Jackson said. “Just game recognizes game. He’s the ‘O.G.’ He’s Superman.”

Old school and new school will collide tonight when New England (3-5) hosts Baltimore (6-2). A creative and mobile quarterback with a huge arm to match, Jackson has an NFL rise sharing similarities to Newton’s.

Newton, the Atlanta native, burst onto the football national landscape as a junior at Auburn in 2010, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound oneman show who threw for 30 touchdowns and ran for 20 more while leading the Tigers to a 14-0 record and national title on his way to claiming the Heisman Trophy.

Six years later a similar spotlight shined on Jackson as a sophomore at Louisville, when he passed for 30 touchdowns, rushed for 21 and also earned Heisman honors.

“I’ve watched Cam since Auburn. Everyone in the country did. Everyone knew about Cam — Superman — doing his thing,” Jackson said. “A lot of us looked up to him. ... I followed him a lot. Wanted to get to where he’s at, and now I’m here. Now I’ve got to play against him. Just can’t wait to do that.”

Today’s matchup will be a role reversal of sorts between the pair.

In their only previous meeting in 2018, Newton beat the Ravens when he was with Carolina, though Jackson was still waiting for his turn behind Joe Flacco and played sparingly. Flacco got one more start after that, hurting his hip in a loss against Pittsburgh. Jackson took over the following game and has been the impressive starter ever since.

This time around Jackson is a bona fide star while Newton is trying to prove he can still be an elite QB in the league. What’s more, Jackson’s team has fared far better this season and can add to the recent misery for Newton and the Patriots, who are in a fight to even make it back to the playoffs.

Regardless of what happens today, though, Newton says he will remain a lifelong fan of Jackson.

“Lamar’s got a gift not many human beings got,” Newton said. “I’m a fan of the game. If I’m watching Baltimore, obviously I’m watching to see what the MVP is going to do. I respect his game so much.”

This is the second straight prime-time game for the Patriots, and for Baltimore marks the beginning of a stretch in which four of five games will be held under the lights. It’s a chance to shine for the entire country, but Jackson and the Ravens don’t necessarily see it that way.

“We don’t put that in our minds that it’s a prime-time game. It’s just another game at the end of the day,” Jackson insisted. “We go in there thinking we’re going to play football (and) we’re trying to come out here with this victory. That’s all.”