Lamar Jackson on being ranked 69th in the NFL Top 100 list: “It is what it is”

(AP) — As much as Lamar Jackson might try to stay away from divisive social media topics, at least one broke through this offseason. People were tagging me.” It certainly caused a stir when Jackson was ranked No. The two-time MVP had a down season last year, missing four games and looking shaky when he did play.

He’s bounced back from injuries in the past, but that ranking — which is voted on by players — suggests real skepticism about Jackson’s ability to regain the elite status he held just one year ago. I do not care about rankings.” If there’s a case against a rebound for Jackson it’s that his incredible elusiveness wasn’t really there last season. He rushed for a career-low 349 yards and was sacked 36 times — up from 23 in 2024.

It’s unclear how much of that was because he wasn’t fully healthy — but at this point it’s on Jackson to show he can consistently play at full strength. Still, he won’t be 30 until January and is only a season removed from a spectacular 2024 in which he threw for 41 touchdowns and only four interceptions. An Associated Press survey this month had Jackson in the top four among quarterbacks.

“I feel like he might have gotten faster somehow,” safety Kyle Hamilton said after Wednesday’s practice. “I don’t want to age him, but he is turning a certain age next year, and it doesn’t seem like that. We’ll keep that age between us, what age he is going to be, but I feel like he got faster.” There were also some doubts about Jackson after he was injured at the end of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but he won MVP honors in 2023 and came close to a repeat in 2024.

When he’s been healthy, he’s been extremely difficult to stop. There’s an added bit of uncertainty this year, however. In 2023, Jackson had just signed a new long-term contract with Baltimore, so at least that issue had been taken care of.

Now there are only two seasons left on his deal, and if 2026 goes like last year, there could be real chatter about his future with the Ravens. As usual, Jackson is not interested in discussing his contract negotiations publicly. He was more forthcoming about his adjustment to new coach Jesse Minter, who took over after John Harbaugh was fired.