It is OTA season throughout the NFL, which means players and teams are getting a chance to get back onto the field, develop chemistry, and take a look at rookies and new acquisitions.
Of course, OTAs are not mandatory team training sessions, and sometimes key players will not show up for various reasons.
The most common reason is that a player is holding out in order to receive a contract extension, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who got a five-year, $260 million deal a year ago.
Head coach John Harbaugh was mum when addressing why Jackson was absent from his team’s offseason workouts.
“It’s this time of year; it’s a voluntary time,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, per ESPN. “It’s really not something that we comment on.”
After the 2022 season, there was a feeling that perhaps Jackson’s days with Baltimore were numbered, as he received their non-exclusive franchise tag last March, which allowed him to talk to other teams about a possible deal.
But he remained put, and he responded with his best season in a while, which earned him his second regular-season MVP.
With him strutting his stuff, the Ravens finished with the best record in the league, although they fell meekly in the AFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
This coming season, they will have star running back Derrick Henry in the backfield, and the combo of him and Jackson should be terrifying when it comes to their ground game.
Wide receiver Zay Flowers has a strong rookie campaign under his belt, while three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews is healthy after his ankle injury last fall.
If the Chiefs fail to get back to the Super Bowl, the Ravens look like the team most likely to supplant them as AFC champions.
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