Ravens Coach John Harbaugh Expects Lamar Jackson to Be at Minicamp

The Baltimore head coach isn't concerned that Jackson isn't at OTAs.

Lamar Jackson isn’t at Ravens voluntary OTAs as his contract will expire after this season, but head coach John Harbaugh said he isn’t concerned about Jackson being away from the team. Harbaugh expects Jackson to return for mandatory minicamp and doesn’t think being away from the team will have a huge impact on his performance.

“I expect him to be here at mandatory minicamp,” Harbaugh said, via NFL.com. “I know he’s working hard. Lamar Jackson's a hard worker, so I’m not worried about how hard he’s working. I fully expect him to come back in great shape, that’s what he talks about. I’m sure he’s throwing, I’m sure he's doing a good job.”

Jackson already addressed criticism of him not attending OTAs in April, when Chris Simms said if Brady attends OTAs Jackson should as well.

“Lamar wants to be Lamar, Chris,” he wrote on Twitter in April. “This part of OTAs is Voluntary my Guy I will be there, just not on your watch it’s probably other QBs not attending Voluntary OTAs either but since it’s Lamar it’s a huge deal. Find something else to talk about.”

As Jackson enters the final year of his rookie deal, he is representing himself as he negotiates an extension with the team. General manager Eric DeCosta already said the team expects a deal to eventually get done.

In 2021, Jackson is coming off a down year where he only played in 12 games but totaled 2,882 passing yards and 16 passing touchdowns along with 767 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. 

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