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Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens continue to practice most of the spring without the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been absent for four of the team’s first five voluntary organized team activities, including the one on Thursday. With Jackson gone, veteran backup Josh Johnson has quarterbacked the starting offense.
“It’s this time of year; it’s a voluntary time,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “It’s really not something that we comment on. We can’t, and that’s just the time of year it is. So I can’t speak for anybody that’s not here.”
Other than 2022, when Jackson was engaged in contract talks, the quarterback had been a regular at Baltimore’s OTAs. This year, Jackson missed the first OTA, attended the second one and then skipped the past three. On Tuesday, Jackson was the only absent starter on the Baltimore offense.
After attending an OTA on May 22, Jackson talked about how the 17-10 loss in the AFC Championship Game still motivated him.
“We worked so hard in getting there and [we] didn’t do what we wanted to do, didn’t fulfill our dream,” Jackson said. “[There’s] definitely a little chip on our shoulder.”
Jackson is in the second year of a five-year, $260 million contract, which included $72.5 million signing bonus. Last season, at the age of 27, Jackson became the youngest two-time NFL MVP since the merger. He set career highs with 3,678 passing yards and a 67.2% completion rate, leading the Ravens to the league’s top record at 13-4.
Harbaugh didn’t disclose whether he knew why Jackson has missed a majority of the voluntary practices.
“I pretty much know the different reasons guys aren’t here most of the time, but not always,” Harbaugh said. “Nobody’s required to tell you exactly what’s going on. So I’m not really specifically going to be able to comment on anybody that way. But the guys that were here were great flying around, and those are the guys we had a great time coaching.”
The Ravens will hold their final four OTA practices next week. Baltimore’s mandatory minicamp is June 11 to 13.
Asked whether he expected Jackson to return for next week’s practices, Harbaugh said: “It’s just not something I’m really I’m able to comment on. So I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”
Source: www.espn.com