Lamar Jackson did almost all he wanted to during the 2019 NFL season, at least up until the playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans. Since he’s appeared honest about what happened in January as he aims to take the next step as the leader of the Baltimore Ravens. From an off-the-field example to physically working on improving his ability to get the football down the field and outside the numbers, RavenCountry’s Todd Karpovich says he’s actually expecting a better Jackson in 2020.

Read the full transcript below:

John Garcia: From winning the NFL's MVP Award to the Madden cover just this week, it's been quite the run for Lamar Jackson, but he's been pretty honest about the one let down from that 2019 season. For more, we bring in Todd Karpovich from RavensCountry. Todd, Lamar seems like he's being pretty honest about that upset loss to the Tennessee Titans. How do you read into this conversation?

Todd Karpovich: Well, Lamar, he's a leader. He takes the responsibility on himself. But at the same time, Lamar Jackson is not the reason he lost that game. He had 508 yards in total offense and the Ravens had 530 yards of total offense. So, Lamar did his part. Now, the Ravens got away from what they do best was running the football. They threw the ball 59 times and ran 29 times. So he got away what they were doing. Finally, they couldn't stop there Derrick Henry. So he ran for 195 yards. So what did the Ravens do? They got Calais Campbell and Derek Wolfe and drafted two defensive linemen to fix that run defense. Lamar is going to be fine. However, he does still feel stigma being 0-2 in the postseason.

John Garcia: Yeah, absolutely. It seems like he's trying to take a stronger leadership role heading into 2020. What other improvements do you see him trying to focus on in order to get over that playoff hump?

Todd Karpovich: Well, when the season ended to the loss of the Titans, Lamar Jackson went to John Harbaugh's office and he asked "well, what do I have to work on?" They both agreed on "everything" which is great for the Ravens to hear that because they love his work ethic. At the same time, there's two areas Lamar needs to get better at and that's throwing outside the numbers and executing passes downfield. Now, he's working with his personal quarterback coach Joshua Harris from Florida, who said Lamar needs to get lower body involved more when he's throwing outside the numbers so the ball doesn't flutter. As far as throwing downfield, he just needs to get the timing down with guys like Marquise Brown who can fly and he needs to make sure the ball is in the air and Brown get under it. So he's working hard to improve both those areas. We are going to see a better quarterback in Lamar Jackson this season.

John Garcia: Wow, that's a scary thought for many AFC North defenses and well beyond. But either way, we'll know you'll have it covered there at Raven Country. Thanks for joining us, Todd. 

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