Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has the unenviable task of preparing his team to face Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson this week.
So how do you get ready for one of the more dynamic runners, passers and escape artists in the game?
“Playing Madden,” Wilks joked Thursday morning. “To be honest, he is probably the closest thing that I have seen since Michael Vick. This guy is extremely dynamic. He can make plays when you do not think there is a play there to be made. He is just Houdini, I guess.”
While Jackson might play like he’s in a video game, the Browns still need to simulate him during practice.
Good luck.
“It is hard to replicate what he does in practice, and you do not really get to the speed of it until you actually get in the game,” head coach Freddie Kitchens said. “I think the guys that are here realize that from last year. He is a tremendous challenge to handle, especially now that he is throwing the ball better.”
Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson offered a pretty simple way to replicate Jackson’s elusiveness to prepare them for what they’ll see Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.
“Put fast people at quarterback, chase them around until you get tired. Drill’s over,” Richardson said, adding, “[He’s a] Baby Vick, but he is right-handed.”
Kitchens joked that he had Odell Beckham Jr. play Jackson on the scout team for the defense during practice.
“You just do not believe me, do you?” Kitchens said laughing.
The Vick comparison might be the most appropriate for the Ravens’ deadly throwing and running star and his name came up every time a defender was asked about the talented Baltimore QB.
“He is a quick, shifty athlete,” linebacker Joe Schobert said. “I think you have not seen somebody like this in the NFL since Michael Vick when he was younger. He gets out of a lot of tackles, he breaks a lot of tackles and he does not take very many big hits. I think this year he has been distributing the ball well so he is finding his game out.”
Kitchens sees one difference between Vick and Jackson – size.
“Michael was definitely dynamic, and he is, too,” Kitchens said. “I think the comparison is definitely there. He is bigger than Michael, and that makes it even more difficult.
Jackson became the only player in NFL history to throw for 250 yards and run for another 150 in a 23-17 win against Arizona on Sept. 15.
He’s now 8-2 in the regular season as a starter.
“Phenomenal not just with his legs but his ability to get the ball down the field,” Wilks said. “One of the great things that he does when he gets outside of the pocket is he is not just looking to run. His eyes are still down the field. He is trying to push the ball down the field, and that is what they have been successful with lately.”
Wilks has been showing his defensive players clips of Colin Kaepernick running Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s offense in San Francisco a few years ago to help prepare them for Roman’s scheme.
“Schematics, they do the same thing,” Schobert said. “But I think that Colin Kaepernick and Lamar Jackson are two different kind of athletes. Kaepernick was a long strider, extremely fast but Lamar is so shifty. He’s more like a running back when he starts to run the ball so there’s a little bit of difference there.”
As a rookie, Jackson completed 58.2 percent of his passes causing critics to raise questions about his accuracy.
He’s completed 63 percent of his passes for 863 yards with 7 touchdowns and no interceptions while rushing for an additional 172 yards and a score through three games this season.
Jackson appears to have rectified it and the Browns have noticed.
“He is making throws, making deep throws and connecting with his receivers,” defensive end Olivier Vernon said. “It is like he is coming into his own right now so it is going to be a big challenge for us. We are going to have to go in there in a hostile environment and win a game.”
The Browns understand they’ll have to be disciplined defending Jackson or he’ll end up shaking them out of their shoes.
“It’s being disciplined and knowing the angles and knowing where your teammates are coming from, but yeah, he has a tendency to make people miss, make a lot of people miss but that’s a credit to him,” Vernon said. “He’s a great athlete and he’s been doing some great things these past few weeks and it’s going to be a challenge for us.”
