The Browns aren’t the only AFC North team entering 2019 with a second-year QB poised to get his first Week 1 start. Lamar Jackson was, like Baker Mayfield, a 2018 first-round pick who took over for a veteran during his rookie year. Like Mayfield, Jackson had some ups and downs as he efforted to adapt his more freewheeling college game to the NFL.
Jackson has more adapting to do this offseason, a fact which caught him by surprise. The Ravens changed offensive coordinators, dumping Marty Mornhinweg for Greg Roman. This major move apparently came as news to Jackson during his first week of OTAs.
“Coming in, I didn’t know we would have a totally different offense,” Jackson admitted last week. “When I got here, coach was like, ‘Yea, we have a totally new system. You’re going to have go through this and that.’ It’s been getting to me a little bit.”
This wasn’t some rogue reporter trying to catch Jackson off-guard with a misleading question. The interview appeared on the Ravens’ own website. They even tweeted out an excerpt with a smiling Jackson admitting he didn’t know the team was changing offenses.
It’s not a good look for Jackson as he enters his first full season as the starting quarterback. Imagine if Baker Mayfield arrived at Browns camp not knowing the Browns had a new offensive coordinator, or if Andy Dalton showed up in Cincinnati expecting more of Hue Jackson as his coach.
