Lamar Jackson tends to be a man of few words.

As the season approaches and his weekly media appearances become a part of his routine, Jackson remains as polite and friendly and warm as always. His job for football tends to radiate, but, well, he also tends not to tip his hand that much. He’s short on declarative statements and fairly guarded in what he will project and while he’s quick to talk up his teammates and take blame when things go wrong, he isn’t one for much billboard material or generating headlines.

Such was the case on Wednesday as he spoke for the final time at training camp as the Ravens head into their regular season mode with the final preseason game Friday. And it is easy to gravitate to what Jackson said when asked about running more this season, and seek meaning in it, but I’m, personally, not of that mindset.

There is ample reason to believe that Jackson will be asked to execute far fewer designed runs when healthy than ever before and ample reason to believe that the change to Declan Doyle at offensive coordinator was the final break away from run concepts cemented by Greg Roman in Baltimore and carried forward by former coordinator Todd Monken.

There is ample reason to believe that as he nears 30, and with him becoming as accomplished throwing inside the pocket as any quarterback in the game, that Jackson will default to the legs less. As injuries have mounted, including last season, this isn’t exactly going out on a limb. But Jackson, who should have wont three MVPs by now, is always going to put the team first and project as such when asked about his individual role, and so of course he did anything but slam the door on utilizing his legs more in 2026.

“A lot of people know I was hurt last year,” Jackson said when probed about so few carries, “so I really could not do anything like I wanted to. It really would not [have] put my team in a good position if I was just running hurt — losing yards, things like that happening. But whatever it takes to win, that is what I am all about and always been about."

No one can despite this QB is a winner. Not even his biggest detractors.

And he can and still will win with his legs, but not like it used to be.

Up For Anything

Jackson, who wasn’t asked about a lingering contract impasse that hangs over the very future of this organization, will try to tap into his entire skillset, for sure. And plays the game in the moment with determination and grit. But he also lived in the shotgun and pistol under Roman more than any QB in football early in his career, and while Monken started to shift that pendulum to more under center when running back Derrick Henry arrived, they remained in the gun quite a bit.

Moving to an under-center offense (as coordinator Declan Doyle’s mentor, Sean Payton, described on “The Daily Flock”) will cut down on the designed QB keepers and option looks. And it will cut into some scrambling lanes and opportunities as well. This coaching staff is putting heavy emphasis on the “first look” in the play and trying to stay on script in a precise, dropback passing game, and footwork is changing and tempo is changing.

It’s a “brand new” offense as Jackson has described it and it’s more detailed and precise. So while Jackson answered the way anyone who follows him would expect on Wednesday when asked if he thinks he will run more this year - “Whatever it takes to win,” he said – the overarching reality of this offense is that’s not what Doyle is aspiring to.

Doyle is playing his cards super close to his vest and trying to be as vague as possible about this new offense, but he comes from mentors in Payton and Ben Johnson who weren’t designing runs for quarterbacks or leaning into any of that; they have a bulldozer Hall of Fame running back coming from under center seven yards back to do that, as former head coach Todd Haley explained on “The Daily Flock”).

Even in year in which Jackson was hurt and not taking off much, the Ravens ran 14 designed QB runs last season (per Pro Football Focus), still top five in the NFL. In Chicago, where Doyle was coordinator (but Johnson called plays), young and dynamic Caleb Williams carried out six designed runs all season while just learning this system and going under center for the first time in his career.

Ravens QB ran 95 times last season in a “down year” in that regard but Bears QBs ran just 79 times (Payton’s QBs ran 84 times in Denver). If we get to heavy rush totals for Jackson, and he has to default to that, it’s a strong sign that this offense is struggling to take hold.

“I think he has done a really good job of buying into what we are asking of him,” Doyle, 30, basically the same age as Jackson, said this week. “The footwork, the eyes, the timing — there are still things that we are cleaning up in that regard with the first play. But you mentioned it — he is one of the best second-play quarterbacks in all of football.

“You do not want to take that away from him at all, and so the main thing is we give him these clean reads, these things that he knows what is being expected of him with his footwork, with his eyes. Then you get through one, two, three  — all right, you might get to four and five — but really as that play breaks down, that is when you can go create (with his legs).

“That is really like that second part — you are training your guys as well, because you do not want that to be like a fire drill when you take off. You want it to be calculated. You want us to have good spacing, the O-line to continue to block and those guys to be able to find those spots and respond in accordance with the quarterback. So, that is something that we drill as well with the scramble rules, and it is something that I think that as camp goes on, you start to see that second play happen.”

Fair to say, those first three options, most of the time, are not going to include something designed for Jackson to immediately make someone miss with his legs.

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