The Baltimore Ravens announced that quarterback Lamar Jackson (illness) will remain sidelined due to his illness and will not take part in Friday's training camp practice. Jackson will continue to undergo further evaluation and receive care from the medical staff. The 27-year-old two-time MVP returned to the practice field on Wednesday but apparently is still under the weather from an illness that he first came down with last weekend. He should be fully recovered well before the start of the 2024 regular season, so fantasy managers should have nothing to worry about. When healthy, Jackson is one of the most dangerous dual-threat signal-callers in the league and is a top-five fantasy QB. What he lacks with his arm, he more than makes up for with his rushing ability. Jackson had a career-high 3,678 passing yards with 24 touchdown passes and seven picks in 16 regular-season starts in 2023.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (illness) returned to practice on Wednesday after missing Monday and Tuesday's action with an illness, but the two-time NFL MVP left the field after just one hour. According to team reporter Jamison Hensley, Jackson " looked weary while walking across the field and into the team facility." The former No. 32 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft has missed at least one practice every year due to an illness, but the bright side is it is not a major injury. For now, Baltimore is going to take it slow with Jackson. "We are going to work him back in, for sure," Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said with a smile. "I know I'm being kind of a smartass. You'll have to ask him how he feels. But he was great in meetings. When we were on the field at the start [of practice], he said he was feeling good." The team has its first scheduled day off on Thursday, so hopefully, the day off will allow Jackson enough time to feel better and return to full practice in short order. He remains a high-end QB1 in fantasy football heading into his seventh pro campaign.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (illness) is back on the practice field at training camp on Wednesday. Jackson came down with a pretty serious illness over the weekend and missed a few days of practice, but he's back with the team now and will likely be eased into workouts early in camp. While the 27-year-old two-time MVP was out, veteran Josh Johnson worked with Baltimore's first-team offense. Jackson made the Pro Bowl for the third time in his career in 2023, when he threw for a career-high 3,678 yards with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 16 regular-season games, adding 821 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 148 rushing attempts. Staying healthy is the key for Jackson. Although new running back Derrick Henry could vulture plenty of goal-line touchdowns from Jackson in 2024, he should be a lock to be a top-five fantasy QB if he stays on the field.
Lamar Jackson Still Not Practicing With "Pretty Bad" Illness
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (illness) was once again absent from the team's practice on Monday. He was also unavailable for Sunday's session. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh did not have an update on Jackson's condition beyond the fact that he remains out with an illness. Jackson is coming off a season in which he threw for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns while running for 821 yards and five touchdowns. Jackson finished as the QB4 in fantasy in 2023. As such, fantasy managers are anxiously awaiting his return to the field. Given that he is suffering from an illness, hopefully, Jackson will be back on the field later this week.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (illness) was sent home from the team's first day of training camp. Details surrounding the nature of his symptoms were scarce. However, NFL insider Josina Anderson provided an update, reporting that the signal-caller is dealing with a "pretty bad" illness. Without question, this is not the way anyone would want to start camp. Hopefully, Jackson's sickness won't keep him off the field for an extended period. The two-time MVP is coming off a potent season. He finished by throwing for 3,678 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, adding 821 yards and five scores off 148 carries. Jackson also completed a career-high 67.2% of his passes. Fantasy managers should expect more information regarding his health on Monday.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (illness) was sent home from training camp practice on Sunday with an illness. Jackson should return to practice at some point next week and will be a top-five fantasy QB in 2024 after winning his second NFL MVP award in 2023. The biggest storyline of the offseason for the 27-year-old dual-threat signal-caller is that he dropped weight in order to be more agile in 2024, as if he wasn't agile enough already. The biggest question for fantasy managers is whether his drop in weight will make him more injury-prone. New running back Derrick Henry could steal plenty of goal-line opportunities away from Jackson, but he should still maintain high-end fantasy upside heading into his seventh season in the NFL.
Lamar Jackson Being Given More Pre-Snap Responsibility
Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken and quarterbacks coach Tee Martin have made it clear this offseason that they plan to give quarterback Lamar Jackson more responsibility in the team's pre-snap operation this year. During practice on Wednesday, Jackson was challenged by an aggressive defense to change routes, run schemes and protections at the line of scrimmage, and Martin liked what he saw as the offense had one of its sharper practices of the offseason. Last year's NFL MVP will be given more freedom before the snap in 2024 to get the offense into ideal looks. The 27-year-old also showed up this year a little bit lighter as he looks for an encore performance. As long as Jackson is able to stay healthy again, the dual-threat signal-caller should be a top-five fantasy quarterback.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and the reigning NFL MVP has been absent for four of the team's first five voluntary organized team activities, including the last one on Thursday. With Jackson gone, veteran backup Josh Johnson has led the first-team offense. "It's this time of year; it's a voluntary time," head coach John Harbaugh said. "It's really not something that we comment on. We can't, and that's just the time of year it is. So I can't speak for anybody that's not here." Jackson has been a regular at the team's OTAs, other than in 2022 when he was engaged in contract talks. He's in the second year of a five-year, $260 million contract. At age 27 last year, he became the youngest two-time NFL MVP since the merger, setting career-highs with 3,678 passing yards and a 67.2% completion rate. Fantasy managers shouldn't be concerned about Jackson's OTA absences.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, last year's NFL MVP, said that he dropped weight this offseason to "be more agile." Jackson said he weighed 205 pounds, which is 25 pounds less than his 2022 weight and 10 pounds less than last year. The 27-year-old is already the most prolific running QB in the NFL, as he's gained 5,258 yards on the ground in his first six seasons in the league, 1,399 more than any other signal-caller. He led the NFL by averaging 5.5 yards per carry in 2023, but that was his lowest in any full season. Jackson had nine runs in his first three seasons in which he reached a maximum speed of 20 mph or faster, but he's managed just one of those runs in his last three seasons. He doesn't think the weight loss will impact how he takes hits, and it shouldn't deter fantasy managers from taking him as a high-end QB1.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career. Although Jackson still has been unable to find much success in the postseason, there's no doubt that he deserved his second MVP after what was a phenomenal 2023 season as a whole. The 27-year-old threw for a career-high 3,678 yards while throwing 24 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in 16 regular season games. He added 148 rushing attempts for an additional 821 rushing yards and five more touchdowns on the ground. After getting injured late in each of the last two seasons, Jackson stayed healthy all year and proved he's one of the league's elite dual threats under center.
