'Sky's the limit': Lamar Jackson relishing freedom of Ravens' new offense from Todd Monken
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Todd Monken has adopted a motto in recent years.
"Cool is out," the first-year offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens says. "Execution is in."
The phrase rings true when it comes to designing and installing an offense, the task Monken and the rest of Baltimore's staff have dedicated the last six weeks to, culminating with mandatory minicamp that wrapped up Thursday.
"The cooler we are, the less we execute," Monken said. "When we get out there on the field, it’s not about being cool – it’s not about that; it’s about your preparation that leads up to practice [and that] you fight like heck during the week, so that come game day, it comes to life."
As the team breaks for more than a month ahead of training camp, Monken left his players with an impression that his scheme relies on tempo while giving players freedom to create on their own. That's especially true for quarterback Lamar Jackson, who will have more responsibility at the line of scrimmage to change calls based on how the defense presents itself.
It's different than the no-huddle schemes Jackson ran in high school and in college at Louisville that used entirely hand signals. The Ravens will still huddle, and Jackson will have plenty of calls to make on his own.
"Monken (is) just giving us the keys to the offense and letting us do our thing," Jackson said.
The terminology differs from that of previous offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who was in Monken's role for four seasons before he and Baltimore parted ways this offseason. Jackson won MVP in 2019, Roman's first year, and the Ravens were the AFC's top seed.
Learning the new playbook, Jackson said, comes down to studying on his own time.
"He’s embraced trying to be louder, trying to be in control," Monken said of his quarterback. "He’s embraced learning the system, and we’ve still got a ways to go. It’s always a work in progress. We’re always under construction, in terms of making sure that we execute at a high level."
In the meantime, Jackson has enjoyed getting to know Monken, and vice versa.
"Even in the meeting rooms, he’s going to have you laughing, but he’s dead serious about what he’s saying," Jackson said. "It means a lot just for him to have that going on in our offense. Everybody has to be dialed in, know what coach is thinking."
Before hiring Monken, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh heard plenty about Monken's modus operandi. Seeing it up close over the last few months has been "even better," Harbaugh said.
"He’s a very good teacher and he does it in a very energetic way, a way we love to see around here, very relatable," Harbaugh said. "He’s also a very detailed coach, especially in the passing game – not just that, the protection, the run game, the quarterback reads. He’s very involved, very hands on.
"I like the system because I like the tempo of it, I like the way it communicates, I like the way it operates."
For Jackson, diving into the details in an effort to emulate Monken played out Tuesday after an incompletion during offensive drills. Jackson wanted receiver Nelson Agholor to run his route a certain way, and Jackson approached him after the play to say exactly that.
"When you’re on the practice field, the fun is being out there and going through the trial and error and the mistakes you make – that’s part of it, too," Monken said. "We’re doing the same thing as we’re putting this together, as coaches and players."
'Sky's the limit' in Ravens' new offense
Ravens right guard Kevin Zeitler has been excited to play in Monken's system before. This time, he actually will.
Zeitler was part of the trade between the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants in 2019, Monken's lone season as the Browns offensive coordinator, that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland and Zeitler to the Giants. Now all three are in the same building.
"Kind of fun everything comes full circle and we get to work together now," said Zeitler, who said the offense still has a "long way to go" in mastering the scheme.
The tempo is what Zeitler said is different than most offenses he's played in.
“I think we’re going to attack, attack and attack," he said.
In Baltimore, Monken will have a deeper wide receiver room compared to the one Roman had, with the arrival of Beckham and first-round pick Zay Flowers as well as Rashod Bateman's anticipated return from a foot injury. Ink on his new contract hardly dry, Jackson will have more aerial weapons than ever to complement Baltimore's patented ground attack.
“The product that we put out is all that really matters," said cornerback Marlon Humphrey, "but on paper, man, we look really scary.”
As the team breaks for more than a month between the offseason program and training camp, Humphrey addressed his teammates in their final huddle on the field.
His message: “Let’s not waste this window. We all know windows open and then close very quickly.”
And any championship aspirations revolve mostly around the success of the offense.
"The sky's the limit in this offense," Jackson said. "We're going to see."
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lamar Jackson relishes Baltimore Ravens' new offense under Todd Monken
