The NFL is about to witness a new, improved and refreshed version of Lamar Jackson this season, warns Baltimore Ravens team-mate Zay Flowers.
The Ravens missed the playoffs for the first time since 2021 after an 8-9 finish, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final week and surrendering the AFC North title. Two-time MVP Jackson missed four games amid an injury-disrupted season as the Ravens endured a 1-5 start. Even after returning he never quite looked his blistering best, but has been tipped to come back stronger as Baltimore resume their Super Bowl push this September.
“They’re going to see a different version this year,” Flowers told Sky Sports. “Under a new system, he gets a fresh start. He’s going to be healthy. He’s going to take care of himself, everything. You’re going to see a new version of everybody, if I’m being honest. Soon, real soon, everybody. Real soon.”
Flowers established himself as Jackson’s most trusted target last year, leading the Ravens with 86 catches for 1,211 yards and five touchdowns. Jackson completed 192 of 302 passes (63.6 per cent) for 2,549 yards and 21 touchdowns to seven interceptions, while rushing for a career-low 349 yards after never previously posting fewer than 695 in a season.
Still a premier face of the NFL and a central figure among Super Bowl contenders, Jackson has long silenced pre-draft doubts to become one of football’s most dominant and rounded play-callers. “He stayed true to himself. He doesn’t change for nobody,” Flowers said. “He doesn’t change for anything going on in his life. He’s always going to be him and you can count on that. And I feel like consistency and being yourself and having confidence in yourself and putting God first, you’re always going to win. There’s nothing that can beat that. And that’s what he got.”
Second-year receiver and returner LaJohntay Wester said he still marvels at Jackson’s ability. “It’s crazy,” Wester said. “Some of the things that he does, it’s just unreal. Like I saw him scramble last year in practice and put the ball behind his back, he put the ball behind his back like he was playing basketball. That’s something that quarterbacks are not allowed to do. Quarterback coaches are telling them ‘that’s something you don’t do’, but it’s Lamar Jackson, it’s Lamarvelous.”
This offseason brought major change in Baltimore as the team parted with head coach John Harbaugh after 18 seasons and appointed former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter as his successor. Flowers said the coaching switch offers a fresh opportunity. “It’s a new opportunity for everybody. Everybody who didn’t have a chance to prove themselves the way they wanted to with under coach Harbaugh, they got a new chance with Jesse Minter. And you can feel that energy in the room with everybody. He brings energy. He brings energy, everybody wants to play. Everybody is super excited to get that opportunity to just start fresh and get a new opportunity and push for the same goal that we all want. And that’s a Super Bowl.”
There is a shared sense of renewed energy across the roster. “I’m very excited,” Wester added. “New coaching staff, coach Jesse Minter, he is bringing a new energy into the building. I feel like that’s something that the Ravens was missing last year, and we got it this year. Everybody is on board, everybody, they got a good plan for us.”
The Ravens have consistently been knocking on the Super Bowl door behind Jackson and one of the league’s most talented rosters, losing in the Divisional Round three times since 2019 and suffering an AFC Championship Game defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of the 2023 season. They remain a prominent force in a competitive AFC and will be expected to compete at the front again in 2026.
“If you look around, you see Derrick Henry, then you look to your right and see Lamar Jackson, you’re like, ‘oh yeah, I got to get right, I got to grind and I got to put my best foot forward’,” Flowers said. “It only makes you better with great players around you. It’s only going to push you to be the best version of yourself.”
More opportunities could await Wester, who was used almost exclusively as a returner after arriving as a sixth-round pick out of Colorado last year. “I’m a young guy, so just seeing guys like Zay, Derrick Henry, Lamar every day going hard, that made me want to go even harder just to impress them,” he said. “I’m growing too as well, but it’s just the fact that these guys are already solidified. These guys are legends from my city. Just to be around them, you don’t want to mess up. You want to be on point. You want to have your ducks in order.”