John Harbaugh goes off on Lamar Jackson’s critics

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh blasted critics of quarterback Lamar Jackson in a lengthy statement on Sunday.

Harbaugh delivered a nearly three-minute response in response to a question about criticism Jackson has received for failing to reach a Super Bowl in his career to date. The Ravens coach said the entire organization takes those comments “personally.”

“There’s a lot of great things said about Lamar, but there’s a lot of stuff that’s said that you just got to scratch your head about and kind of wonder, ‘What’s that person even thinking?'” Harbaugh said, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN. “But we take it personally. All his life, Lamar Jackson has been a guy who’s been answering those same questions. I’m talking about since he was a kid. Junior high, high school, college, the draft. The success he’s had in the [NFL], again, it still comes up. OK, now he’s still growing. He’s got a growth mindset. He’s going to get better and better, no doubt. But what does he have to do to prove himself to some people? Right?

“The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League. It’s going to happen by Lamar, his work ethic and his brilliant talent, by all of us pouring into that effort together as a team and by the grace of God and God’s goodwill.”

Jackson has a pair of MVP awards to his name but has yet to play in a Super Bowl. That has been fodder for some critics, who argue that Jackson cannot get it done in the playoffs. Those critics got louder after Jackson’s underwhelming showing in last year’s AFC Championship, though one can argue the quarterback did not get a lot of help from his teammates in that one.

Jackson threw for 3,678 yards and rushed for another 821 last season, tallying 29 total touchdowns. Ultimately, however, playoff success matters to his career more than regular season numbers at this point.