Brown: Lamar Jackson was asked about the decline in rushing attempts and designed runs last week. He is averaging a career-low 5.6 rushing attempts per game. That’s significantly fewer than his career average of 9.6, or last season’s average of 8.2 attempts per game.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to win,” Jackson said. “I don’t really pay attention to the number of rushes I have.
“We have Derrick Henry, Keaton Mitchell, Justice [Hill] and Rasheen Ali; we have all these guys to run the ball – and sometimes Zay [Flowers] – so, I don’t really worry about it, as long as we’re winning.”
I think Jackson running less is part of his evolution as a quarterback. In three of his first four seasons, he averaged more than 10 carries per game, but he hasn’t averaged double figures in carries since 2021.
As he ages, I think Jackson will continue to rely more on his arm and less on his legs. He’s great enough to do that. So far this season, he has completed a career-high 68% of his passes. He’s completed at least 66.7% over the past three seasons and has become one of the NFL’s most accurate passers, something many didn’t expect when he first entered the league.
Jackson is still a running threat, but he missed three games this season (hamstring) and one practice last week (knee). Only Jackson knows exactly how he feels physically, but if the Ravens keep winning with him running less, I see no problem with that. Save Jackson’s dynamic runs for the stretch run and hopefully the playoffs, when the Ravens will need them most.