Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson may put up ridiculous numbers on a weekly basis, but he always prioritizes the team’s success over his individual accolades.
Jackson won MVP in 2019 and 2023, but he actually has better stats this season than ever before. Through 15 games, the 27-year-old has completed 67.9 percent of his passes for 3,787 yards, 37 touchdowns and just four interceptions, all the best of his starting career. Add in his 765 yards and three touchdowns as a rusher, and he’s having a truly special season even by his standards.
He’s certainly in contention for his second-straight MVP award and third overall, but his focus remains on bringing the Vince Lombardi Trophy back to Baltimore.
“If it [does] happen, it happens, [and] that’d be dope,” Jackson told reporters Monday. Three times [winning it], but like you said, I’m not really focused on that. That’s never been my goal though. Even [with] the first or second one, [winning MVP has] never been my goal. I always want to finish with the championship, but I’ve been falling short.
“[I] got that accolade, but I still feel like the MVP is a team thing, though, because my teammates [are] helping me get that award, because I always say that I’m not the one catching the passes [or] blocking to help me get these passes off [and] stuff like that. That’s [the] offensive line, tight ends, receivers [and] running backs. It’s everybody, all of us included. I’m trying to win the championship. That’s my biggest goal. That’s been my goal ever since [I was] a little kid, but an MVP in the National Football League – that’s dope. That is dope.”
In most seasons, Jackson would be a runaway favorite for the MVP. However, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen seems to be the consensus pick for the award. He’s having a fantastic season to be sure, but looking at the raw stats, it seems like Jackson should be right there in the race, if not slightly ahead.
Either way, the Ravens’ superstar has definitely heard the MVP talk. Frankly, it would be stranger if he hadn’t heard it.
“I [have] no other choice but to hear it,” Jackson said. “I don’t mean to cut you off, but they [are] tagging me in it. You don’t [have] to tag me. You can talk about it all you want, but you want to tag me to get like clickbait because you know sometimes I [will] say something back like, ‘That was stupid.’ It is what it is. I don’t care though. I really don’t care about the talk [and] the [conversations]. I’m trying to win.”