Harbaugh: Ravens will keep letting Jackson run, won't live in fear

The Baltimore Ravens signed head coach John Harbaugh to a new four-year contract on Thursday, stabilizing the team's leadership through the 2022 campaign.

Harbaugh believes 22-year-old quarterback Lamar Jackson will be the answer throughout his extended tenure, despite outside concerns over the injury risks associated with his run-heavy style.

"Every player is one play away from being hurt, and every quarterback standing in the pocket is one hit away from being hurt, too," Harbaugh said, according to Clifton Brown of BaltimoreRavens.com. "The fact that he gets out and runs and scrambles " I get it. I think it's fair to consider that, but you can't live your life in fear. I think there's just as much fear on the other side as he's going to take the thing to the house if he gets out and runs too. So we'll live in that world as opposed to the other world."

Jackson led the Ravens to a 6-1 record to close the regular season after replacing an injured Joe Flacco in Week 11. He racked up 556 rushing yards and four scores on the ground over 119 attempts but completed just 58.2 percent of his passes as a starter, while throwing for 1,114 yards and five touchdowns against three interceptions.

He was shut down by the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round, as they held him below 50 percent passing and to just 54 yards as a rusher while sacking him seven times.

Harbaugh and Jackson are both confident the No. 32 pick of the 2018 draft will be able to make the necessary improvements as a passer to come back as an even greater offensive threat in his sophomore season.

"Throughout the course of the offseason he's going to throw the ball a lot," Harbaugh said. "He's going to have his receivers and throw the ball to them, he already told me that and all those other things. He should come back, I expect him to come back a better quarterback skill-wise than he was when he left. He's determined to do that."

The Ravens' offense is set to have wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Willie Snead return in 2019, while 2018's team leader in both yards and touchdowns, John Brown, will become a free agent at the end of the league year in March.

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