Ravens' Lamar Jackson on Hot Start to Season: I've Just Got to Play 'Lamar Football'

Coming out of college, he heard it. Early in his NFL career, the same story. Even after winning an MVP and establishing himself as a franchise quarterback, Lamar Jackson heard the constant chorus wondering whether his style of play is sustainable.

It turns out it very much is.

Jackson has been the best player in football through the first three weeks of the 2022 NFL season, throwing for 749 yards and 10 touchdowns against two interceptions while adding 243 yards and two scores on the ground. He's been a one-man offensive ecosystem unto himself, producing 87 percent of the Ravens' total yards this season.

“I just want to win. By doing that, I just got to do what I do—play Lamar football," Jackson told Jamison Hensley of ESPN.

Jackson's brilliant play is a bit of a double-edged sword for the Ravens, who failed to reach a contract extension with their franchise face before Week 1. As the team reportedly balked at signing Jackson to a fully guaranteed contract similar to the one given to Deshaun Watson, Jackson bet on himself in hopes of raising his price.

So far, he's winning.

Often derided as a running quarterback by critics, with the emphasis used to criticize Jackson's passing ability, the 2019 NFL MVP is the best passer he's ever been through three weeks. He's tied for third in the NFL with eight completions of 25 or more yards, as the Ravens are seemingly comfortable allowing him to sit in the pocket and let it rip down the field.

"I just think it's a natural next step in terms of finding his rhythm during the week, what he's looking at, how he studies defenses, how he breaks defenses down,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. "It's not a lightbulb thing, it's an evolution of studying the game that you see quarterbacks go through.

“He's still a young quarterback [25]. You watch him play, does it look like he understands what he's going up against and what he's dealing with out there? That's the result of that process and that work effort that he's putting in. It's really impressive.”

Once a franchise known for ball-control offense and a world-beating defense, the script has flipped so far for the Ravens this season. Baltimore's lone blemish in the 2022 campaign saw its defense allow 28 fourth-quarter points in a 42-38 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 2.

But so long as Jackson stays healthy, the Ravens should be on the shortlist of contenders despite an uncharacteristically shaky defense.