The Ravens didn’t waste much time showing that Lamar Jackson’s first training camp practice under offensive coordinator Declan Doyle might look different from what came before.
On Wednesday in Owings Mills, Baltimore leaned hard into under-center snaps, zone runs and play-action off those zone looks. It wasn’t a total overhaul, but it was a noticeable shift for a quarterback who had spent most of last season working from shotgun or pistol. More than 80% of Jackson’s drop-backs in 2024 came from those formations, yet Day 1 put him on a different track.
For the roughly 2,000 fans watching, the early returns were encouraging. Jackson looked comfortable, not rattled, and was unofficially 7-for-9 in 11-on-11 work and 5-for-7 in seven-on-seven.
His first team-drill drop-back ended with a chunk completion to Zay Flowers near the left hash marks. Soon after came a play-action bootleg and a short throw to Durham Smythe.
Then Jackson worked through his reads on another play-action snap and found Rashod Bateman on the back side of the play.
Coach Jesse Minter said Jackson’s mindset has been unmistakable.
“He’s got a lot of intent right now,” Minter said. “I think he’s such an elite competitor and wants to do that, that that’s always been his goal.
But I do think, again, as you go through things, and as you have ups and downs, and you kind of learn that your career may not last forever, and you have these goals that you want to accomplish, sometimes your focus narrows. And I would say that he’s got a real narrow focus on what we’re trying to accomplish, and definitely appreciate that from your quarterback.”
That’s the big question hanging over camp: how Baltimore balances the new structure around Jackson with what still makes him dangerous. He has long been a threat in shotgun and pistol, especially in read-option packages, but he was also one of the league’s best under-center quarterbacks last season. The next six weeks will be the testing ground as Doyle and Jackson work through the installs.
Safety Kyle Hamilton said the fit already looks natural.
“Just technically, schematically, the under center, it feels very natural from my perspective for him,” Hamilton said. “Just play fakes, running out, or running out of every handoff like he has the ball, it’s just little stuff like that that he’s been very intentional about.
… I feel like he might have gotten faster somehow. I don’t want to age him, but he’s turning a certain age next year, and it doesn’t seem like that.”
The Ravens also have a real competition brewing at center, and it’s not the kind of battle this roster usually features. Ethan Pocic is the most accomplished and highest paid of the group, but nothing is settled.
Pocic tore his Achilles tendon in December and signed a one-year deal worth up to $4.5 million on July 17. He’s in the mix with fellow free-agent additions Danny Pinter and Jovaughn Gwyn.
Corey Bullock, who backed up Tyler Linderbaum, is still sidelined after offseason surgery, though he could be back early in camp. Minter said the Ravens no longer have an “established player” at center after losing Linderbaum in free agency, which is unusual for a team with so few open jobs.
“You’re bringing in a guy that’s got some skins on the wall, has played a lot of football,” Minter said of Pocic. “Again, another one of those guys that it’s our job and his job and our performance team’s job to help acclimate him back into football, coming off the injury that he’s coming off of.
So another guy we’ll be working closely with, as far as the amount that he’s doing over these first couple weeks. But I expect him to jump in there and compete for that position.
And we’ll see the best man win.”
There were a few other quick hits from the first day. Jackson brushed off his No. 69 ranking in the “NFL Top 100,” saying, “It is what it is,” and adding, “I play football. I don’t care about rankings.”
Hamilton also pointed to rookie Malaki Starks as a future star at safety, saying, “I don’t see a reason why he can’t be the best at his position in our league. He has all the talent, all the mentality, just the approach to the game.”
And kicker Tyler Loop, whose miss against the Steelers in Week 18 ended the Ravens’ season, did not get any “live” field goal attempts on Wednesday.
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