Lamar Jackson focused on playoff success, not chasing Patrick Mahomes
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Lamar Jackson has grown tired of the comparisons to Patrick Mahomes.
The two, young dynamic quarterbacks have become the face of the NFL so they are routinely juxtaposed.
Jackson and Mahomes each won NFL MVP in their second year.
Mahomes, however, has a Super Bowl ring and that's where the similarities end as far as Jackson is concerned.
The Ravens quarterback is still trying to win his first playoff game after losing to the Chargers in the wild-card game his rookie year and the Titans in the divisional round last season.
Those setbacks have motivated Jackson to get better this offseason.
“I worry about what we got going on right here," Jackson told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. "We got put out in the first round, I’m trying to get where they was. I don’t really care what they did, how they got there. I’m focusing on doing it myself. Just get me a ring, that’s what I’d take from it. Go get yourself a ring.”
Last year, Jackson had one of the most successful regular seasons by any quarterback in NFL history. He completed 265 of 401 passes for 3,127 yards and an NFL-high 36 touchdowns, which was also a franchise record.
Jackson also finished with 1,206 yards rushing — sixth-best in the league and the most by a quarterback in NFL single-season history.
Jackson became just the second player to win the NFL's Most Valuable Player by a unanimous vote, joining Tom Brady in 2010. He is also the youngest quarterback to win the award at age 23.
However, the year ended in disappointment with a 28-12 loss to the Titans in the playoffs. Jackson was so disappointed by the loss that he didn't even watch the Chiefs beat the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.
“Nah, I didn’t watch it. I didn’t want to,” Jackson told Breer. “It wasn’t painful, it’s just that we weren’t performing, and I wanted to be there. So I was like, All that’s gonna do is make me mad. So nah, I’m just gonna stay away from it. Plus, I was tired, I had all these events down there, I was in Miami myself. I was tired, for real.”
Jackson hopes to change those fortunes this season. He'll take the first step in that journey against the Browns in Week 1.
