OWINGS MILLS, Md. — At this point of the NFL offseason teams are permitted to hold a maximum of ten on-field sessions of what the league calls 'Organized Team Activities'. So far the Ravens have held five. Their two-time NFL MVP has been at only one of them.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson was absent once again on Thursday. The only OTA he has attended was on Wednesday of last week.
This portion of offseason work is strictly voluntary for players. They don’t have to show up. The Ravens most important player isn’t.
"It’s this time of year. It’s a voluntary time. It’s really not something that we comment on. We can’t," said head coach John Harbaugh.
For now Harbaugh has to make do with coaching the three backup quarterbacks - veteran Josh Johnson and rookies Devin Leary and Emory Jones. Harbaugh insinuated any player skipping OTA’s is missing valuable on-field time with their teammates.
But are guys really missing out on stuff in May that would cause them to be behind?
"I’m a coach so you know my answer to that," said Harbaugh. "That’s what we do. We want to be going forward as fast as we can, no drag, getting better every day."
They try to do so now without Lamar and a handful of others who are in and out of One Winning Drive. It is a unique time for a detailed coach.
"I pretty much know the different reasons guys aren’t here most of the time. But not always. Nobody is required to tell you exactly what is going on," said Harbaugh.
The Ravens are scheduled to have another OTA practice on Friday and four next week beginning on Monday.
Asked whether he expects Lamar to show up next week Harbaugh said it is not something he is able to comment on. He added "I don’t know. We’ll see what happens."
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