Lamar Jackson Looking to Keep Deep Strikes Going Vs. Dolphins
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson promised to give out popcorn to reporters who asked "good questions."
That meant no inquiries about his contract status, which he was asked anyway and declined to comment.
Jackson, however, was more than willing to talk about throwing the ball downfield and the Ravens matchup against the Dolphins.
Jackson spent more time under center in the 24-9 victory over the New York Jets in Week 1. That's been an area of focus this offseason and it was successful.
"We’ve been going under center during camp – stuff like that. Coach wanted to do things different this year, and I’m pretty comfortable with it,” Jackson said.
Jackson took 11 of his 56 snaps under center and he went 3-for-3 for 30 yards in that formation. He also had three touchdown passes, including a 55-yard strike to Rashod Bateman.
It was also his first pass of 50 yards or more since he had a 61-yard completion to Hayden Hurst against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 8, 2019.
Jackson will also take some deep shots against the blitz-happy Dolphins this week.
“It slows the defense down from blitzing, and it makes the safeties stay back, the corners stay back, and it just lets us do our thing," Jackson said. "Underneath, we might get some runs here, get some underneath passes here. And if they come up, we’re throwing the ball again – over the top.”
Lamar Jackson
The Ravens will have to be creative to counter Miami's defense, which paved the way for a 22-10 victory last season.
The Dolphins were particularly effective in the Cover 0 defensive scheme.
Miami played man-to-man coverage against the Ravens' receivers while the rest of the players blitzed Jackson. It's a strategy that is often used sparingly, but former Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who has since been fired, stayed in that formation because it was working.
The Ravens spent a portion of the offseason working on way to counter that Cover 0 scheme.
“We would have been negligent if we hadn’t worked on it," coach John Harbaugh said. "It was something we needed to get a lot better at, and we studied it the whole offseason. We’ll have a plan for it and hope it works, because these guys are probably the best in the league at doing it right now. They do it more than anybody, they do it better than anybody and it’s just something they’re committed to. I have all the respect in the world for what they’re doing defensively."
