Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson views the recent bye week through a very different lens than most of his teammates.
While many Ravens were content to slow down and enjoy the break, simply wanted to get back on the field as soon as possible. He said as much after the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 1, and still feels as such coming out of the bye.
"I'm still fired up. Nothing's changed," Jackson said Wednesday. "I'm antsy right now. I'm hyped."
After torching opposing defenses for the first half of the season, the Ravens' offense has cooled off a bit over the past few weeks. Baltimore has averaged just 21.6 points per game over its past three games after averaging 30.8 points over the first 10 games.
Jackson and co. don't need perfection, especially with the defense rounding into form, but getting back on track is key to making a late push, and it starts with learning from recent mistakes.
"We sat back, watched film, looked at things we could have cleaned up on the field – little mishaps here and there," Jackson said. "Those types of games, we can't have those. It won't be a perfect game, but you have to try to make it, especially with a high-rolling offense [and] that defense. We have to put points on the board, and I feel like [in] any game like that, we have to do that.
"It's going to be a slow game; it won't be one of those high-scoring games. Sometimes it might [be,] but nine times out of 10, it's going to be one of those low-scoring games, [and] we just have to find a way to win."
Jackson has fallen behind in the MVP race amidst this stretch, not helped by Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen going on a heater at the same time. Winning his second consecutive MVP award and third overall has never been Jackson's main focus, but if that's what it takes to help his team win, then he's more than up to the challenge.
"I'm going to try to play [at an] MVP level every game I'm in; it really doesn't matter," Jackson said. "I don't think about anything like that – don't get me wrong – because I feel like the world should know what my goal is. But I just have to focus on [one] game at a time, and just me being who I am, I don't really care about me being MVP Lamar [Jackson]; I feel like I'm doing that regardless."
