Lamar Jackson showed up for the first day of the Baltimore Ravens’ offseason program. That usually warrants mild applause for a franchise quarterback. Instead, his arrival sparked a sharp debate about his loyalty to the previous regime.
Lamar Jackson in the OTAs Is Not a Common Sight
Jackson famously skipped portions of voluntary spring workouts in recent years while John Harbaugh was the team’s head coach. Now that Baltimore has a new head coach, the two-time MVP is suddenly front and center. Former NFL head coach Eric Mangini views that sudden shift in behavior as a direct indictment of how Jackson viewed his former boss.
Speaking on “First Things First,” Mangini did not hold back when asked about Jackson participating in the early phases of the spring schedule.
“Why suddenly are we now at OTAs? Were they not important last year? Were they not important the year before?” Mangini said. “Did you not like John Harbaugh? Like, what was the reason you had… why is this suddenly important now when it hasn’t been important any other year?”
Mangini noted the obvious value of a quarterback attending workouts under a new staff but stressed that championship expectations existed long before the coaching change.
“Maybe, like, I understand the transition, and as a new head coach, I would want my quarterback to be there,” Mangini said. “But as an old head coach, or a head coach trying to win a Super Bowl, or a team trying to win a Super Bowl, or if I was one of the highest-paid players in the league, I think all those things are important. Why now?”
The former Jets and Browns coach also pointed out that merely showing up is only half the battle.
“If you go to one of nine, you’re not doing anything,” Mangini added. “You’re barely punching your card. It doesn’t mean anything. So yeah, if he’s going to go there, and he’s going to be there, and work hard to absorb the new offensive playbook, and to really try to push the new program as forward as he possibly can, I’m all for that.”
Jackson finished the 2025 season throwing for 21 TDs and 7 INTs in 2,549 yards. He was ranked 12th according to the PFSN’s NFL QB Impact Metric. Mangini wrapped his critique by focusing on the optics of Jackson’s renewed dedication to the offseason program.
“And I wasn’t saying that I don’t like a guy being in the offseason program. I just feel like it’s a little bit problematic when you haven’t been there in the past, when the team was in a position that they were in to potentially compete for the Super Bowl,” Mangini said. “I mean, they were SBOB (Super Bowl or bust) for you, and now that they’ve transitioned coaching staff, you’re suddenly all in.”
Jackson previously preferred training in South Florida with his personal mechanics coaches during the early phases of the Baltimore spring calendar. Harbaugh publicly downplayed those absences every year.
He always backed his quarterback. The media cycle inevitably spun into a brief frenzy before Jackson returned for mandatory minicamp and silenced the noise.
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Things are different now. A coaching overhaul changes the math for everyone in the building. Jackson is learning new terminology and building rapport with unfamiliar faces on the offensive staff. He cannot afford to play catch-up in training camp.
Mangini is right to point out the stark contrast in participation, but Baltimore fans care more about the results in September than the attendance sheet in April.
