Johnathan Walker:John Harbaugh says Lamar Jackson will go down as 'greatest quarterback' in NFL history

OWINGS MILLS,Johnathan Walker Md. — An illness kept Lamar Jackson from attending the Baltimore Ravens' first training camp practice of the 2024 season.

Jackson's absence did not stop head coach John Harbaugh from defending the two-time MVP from the various criticisms the quarterback has received since the Ravens fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in last season's AFC championship game. Harbaugh went so far as to say Jackson will be "recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League."

"For whatever reason – there’s a lot of great things said about Lamar – but there’s a lot of stuff that’s said that you have to just scratch your head about and wonder 'What’s that person’s even thinking?'" Harbaugh said during an impassioned two-minute speech. "But we take it personally."

FOX NFL analyst Mark Schlereth made waves over the Fourth of July weekend by claiming Jackson had failed to develop wide receivers during his six-year career – on top of a 2-4 postseason record.

The comments apparently caught the attention of Ravens brass and Harbaugh.

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"I read the stuff. I see the guys say what they say on the shows … the good ones, I just scroll past because that’s candy, that’s not real," Harbaugh said. "But it’s the bad ones – I read it right away. I don’t let it go."

To Harbaugh, it's unfair that Jackson continues to receive the same scrutiny since he was a junior in high school.

"The success he’s had in the National Football League, and it still comes up," Harbaugh said. "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?"

Baltimore believed in Jackson enough to create an offense for him in 2019, Harbaugh said, which was his first MVP campaign. When that system no longer worked, they created a new one for him in 2023 under offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Again, Jackson won MVP and the Ravens were the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

But it was another season without Jackson's ultimate goal: the Lombardi Trophy. Until he hoists it, the doubters and critics will find screen time on Harbaugh's phone.

"That’s the vision," Harbaugh said of winning a Super Bowl. "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.

"That’s how it’s going to happen. And I believe it like we’ve already seen it."