John Harbaugh: I’m determining Lamar Jackson’s performance, not his participation

The Ravens are in the OTA portion of their offseason work and attendance is voluntary, so quarterback Lamar Jackson has decided not to take part in the majority of the workouts.

Jackson has actually attended one session because the Ravens moved into this stage and head coach John Harbaugh was asked about Jackson’s absence throughout a Friday interview. Harbaugh said he’s more interested in how Jackson looks when he’s on the field than he is on the number of days Harbaugh is in participation.

“I’m not taking any position on it, evaluating it,” Harbaugh said, by means of Gianna Han of the Baltimore Banner. The day he was out here, he played great. I could see he remained in fantastic shape. Tossed the ball excellent, made the checks out, understood the offense. I believed he was wonderful. When he returns and practices, when that happens I anticipate him to play at that level. That’s what you measure. I’m not determining the presence. It’s a voluntary camp. I like being out here, I believe all the players do. When Lamar’s out here, I guarantee you he enjoys being out here. He’s my guy. I enjoy him.”

Provided the voluntary nature of the workouts, Harbaugh can’t press Jackson or any other player to participate in so his true feelings about the quarterback’s choice may be a little various than what he says openly. As long as Jackson produces come the fall, it will be a moot point anyway.