Lamar Jackson Focused on Health, Not New Contract

Jackson missed four starts because of an ankle injury.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Even if the Ravens had made the playoffs, there was no guarantee that quarterback Lamar Jackson would be available to play.

Jackson has been sidelined since Week 14 after suffering a bone bruise in his ankle against the Browns. Jackson is still not 100% and he doesn't know when he'll be able to work out again.

"You’ve got to talk to the doctors about that," Jackson said. "I don’t really know much about how long bone bruises last and stuff like that, but they just told me it’s going to be day to day. Hopefully, it’ll speed up.”

The Ravens would like to reach a contract extension with Jackson before he becomes a free agent in 2023. Jackson will play next season under a fifth-year option that pays him $23.02 million.

Jackson said he's had no recent discussions with the team about a new deal.

"No, we haven’t talked about it yet, but I’ve got to worry about getting back right, right now, and getting ready for this offseason,” Jackson said. 

While Jackson has been a dominant quarterback and former NFL MVP, he also had some struggles this past season.

Over his past five games, including the Week 14 matchup when he was injured in the first quarter, Jackson completed 100 of 157 pass attempts (63.7%) for 939 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions (71.6 rating).

He was sacked 17 times.

“Be consistent," Jackson replied when asked how the offense can improve. "I feel like we have our moments where you could see splashes with the passing offense, and then there are moments where you don’t see anything at all. It’s like, we were just throwing the ball out [of] the park this last week, but now it just stopped. 

"We’ve just got to be more consistent, and with what we’re doing in the pass game, I feel, we’ll be shooting for the stars.”