Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had just made a series of incredible plays to win a game that seemed destined for overtime. Tyler Loop had drilled a 56-yard field goal as time expired to redeem his miss in Pittsburgh the season prior. The Ravens had bucked their own trend of blowing fourth-quarter leads by responding with grit on both sides of the ball in the face of adversity.
But none of those things were as surprising as Jackson’s impassioned speech in the locker room after his team defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 34-31, in Brazil in Week 3.
“I was dead serious last night. Last week we didn’t finish the game how we wanted to. We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds. Today we had the same thing … but today we conquered at the same time,” Jackson said.
“But what a way to top this game off, man. Shoutout to Loop, man, with that field goal, because I know you’ve been going through a lot of adversity as well, but we’re all one. One accord. We’re moving on one accord. Shoutout to you, shoutout to special teams, defense, offense. We battled, had the center go down. We had all this adversity going on, and we conquered. This is the start of the season right here.”
The speech ended with a loud cheer from Ravens players and coaches, and it felt like a tectonic shift of the team’s institutional core.
Jackson, 29, is normally a leader by example more than a vocal leader. He has said so himself multiple times during his career. But this year there’s been a clear turn in his messaging. Call it age, experience or a new coaching staff, but it’s clear: There’s a new sense of urgency to win and Jackson is doing whatever he can for the team to succeed.
This started in the spring. First, Jackson showed up to voluntary OTAs for the first time in several years. Then it continued in training camp, where he was often seen talking with players in between drills, especially younger players, and supporting guys with high fives or hugs after good plays and bad.
Now he’s taking another step — speaking clearly and directly to the team about where they are and where they need to go.
“I just felt my guys needed to know that they are appreciated,” Jackson said of his speech. “They bust their tail. Sometimes it might not go our way. Some guys might be anxious and might get penalties here and there. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to win. We’re all trying to win. For those guys to win versus adversity — [when] we’re getting penalties, we get stopped on downs I felt like we should have converted and we should have had success on — it was meant for my guys to hear that.”
Running back Derrick Henry has noted Jackson’s singular focus this year.
“He just wants to win and be the best player, best quarterback he can for this franchise every single day he comes in this building and he steps on that field,” Henry said.
“The one thing that I admire about Lamar is like … he could have a great game, and I’ll go talk to him, ask him how he feels, and ask him about his stats, and he doesn’t even know,” the running back added. “All he knows is we won and he threw Zay [Flowers] a touchdown, I got a run — he’s more hyped about what we did than himself. So, that’s the unselfishness that he has, and he just wants to win, man.”
And Jackson isn’t the only player with a newfound voice. Even Henry, who is usually a quieter figure in the locker room, admits he’s been more of a vocal leader.
“Well, I love the coaching staff. I love the energy and just love everything that they bring,” he said. “And I’m just trying to do a little bit more to push the guys, and I’m just trying to be a leader and do my job as much as I can to help the team by being vocal and how I go about my business on the field, in games and in meetings.”
Both Jackson and Henry have won just about every award in the NFL: MVPs, Offensive Player of the Year honors, All-Pros. Henry is climbing up the all-time running back leaderboards for rushing yards and touchdowns. Both are on track to be Pro Football Hall of Famers.
But one thing is missing for Jackson and Henry, 9 and 11 years into their careers, respectively: a Super Bowl. Jackson is 3-5 in his playoff career, while Henry is 4-5. They’ve each only appeared in one conference championship game. It’s not an accident that both players have elevated their roles off the field to get as much as possible out of their teammates, while holding themselves to the same standard.
“We want to step up and show them that we’re not afraid to lead — that any time the team needs to, they can lean on us, and we want to embrace all that,” Henry said.
“But also, we’re holding guys accountable, pushing guys and motivating guys to be their best self, because we all need the best versions of ourselves every single day, especially on game day when we go out there to be able to play the style that we want to play for us to win games. So, I’m just trying to do everything we can to help the guys and be the best team possible.”
The leadership hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“You watch Lamar in the locker room with our players, he was able to say some words to the team the night before [the Cowboys game],” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. “I thought his message was excellent. Derrick has provided a huge role for our offense just vocally as a guy with pelts on the wall that has done it at a really high level that the young guys can look at. Every day he comes out and works. And so it is not only a guy who is just saying things, but he is backing it up with his action. That becomes easy to get behind and to kind of fall in line.”
What’s yet to be seen is the impact. If the team wins 12 games this year and falls in the wild-card round of the playoffs, there won’t be much of a legacy from the new approaches. If the team does get over the hump, many will point to Henry and Jackson trying to wrestle destiny from an abstract idea and into the hands of the players themselves. For now, Jackson wants to make sure he’s leaving a positive imprint on his teammates.
“I pretty much lead by example,” the quarterback said. “But sometimes those guys need to hear my voice and know what I am thinking and let them know I have their back at the same time they have mine.”
Photo Credits: Kenya Allen/PressBox