TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D5
professional football
defense, whether that meant
passing or running.
He deciphered it all, on
“Sunday Night Football,” against
the defending champions.
“I don’t see him as young,”
Harbaugh said. “He’s wise
beyond his years in a lot of ways.”
Harbaugh paused. During his
postgame news conference, he
stood behind a lectern and
Jackson sat in a plastic chair
directly to his left. Harbaugh
joked that he should stop
talking, because he didn’t want
to inflate Jackson’s ego.
“But you can, because he gets
it,” Harbaugh continued. “He has
a very high football IQ. He also
understands the moment. He
has poise.... He has an amazing
ability to take a lot of factors, a
lot of things — play-call,
personnel, formation, defense
that presents, whatever changes
that have to be made — and just
process all of that in that kind of
moment, which is what makes
the position at quarterback so
difficult. That’s why Tom Brady
is so good at it, too. Lamar does
it his way, but Lamar does it as
well as anybody.”
Deciphering the defense for
Jackson may be easier than for
other quarterbacks. Opponents
have to allocate resources to
contain his rushing in ways they
don’t for other passers, which
decreases the number of reads
he may to have make. But
nothing is easy against Belichick.
Jackson only made it seem that
way, and not just because of his
athleticism. He understands the
game, like all great quarterbacks,
on a deep level.
“If I mess up a play here or
make a wrong read, we go to the
iPad in practice, look and see
what coverage it was and go
from there,” Jackson said. “Next
time I see it, it’s in my mind. I
don’t forget it. If I see it in the
game, if it presents itself, we just
do it.”
The question entering Sunday
night was how Jackson would
perform against Belichick, if he
could pass his greatest challenge.
If and when they meet again,
perhaps in January’s playoffs,
the question will be transposed.
We know Jackson can triumph
over what Belichick presents
him. In the future, we’ll find out
if Belichick can find a way to
repress Lamar Jackson.
“That’s our MVP, and that’s
the league MVP,” Andrews said.
“No doubt about it. He’s a special
player. A guy like that you can’t
replace. He’s special.”
[email protected]genius directing it — supposed to
take away that?
“I mean, I think people
underrate how special he is and
how fast he is,” Ravens tight end
Nick Boyle said. “Anything can
happen when he has the ball.”
All night, Jackson processed
and conquered everything the
Patriots presented. The Patriots
came out in a 5-2 defensive front,
with outside linebackers Van
Noy and Jamie Collins effectively
playing defensive end. By
widening their line, the Patriots
could corral Jackson on
scrambles. But it also created
natural creases for runs, and
Roman exploited them by
motioning his three tight ends
all around, creating
advantageous angles for
blocking and outnumbering
defenders. The Ravens leaped to
a 17-0 lead.
Belichick started adjusting —
“They were mixing it up pretty
good,” Coach John Harbaugh
said — but none of it could
fluster Jackson. Rather than
make risky, downfield throws, he
identified the soft portion of thedraped on him. The pass landed
where only Andrews could leap
and snare it. The 18-yard gain
kept Baltimore’s drive alive and
re-energized a team on the ropes.
“It’s a sigh of relief,” Thomas
said.
The completion set up the
most electric play of the night.
Nine plays later, Jackson rolled
right and spotted defensive end
John Simon setting the edge. He
slammed on the brakes and
sprinted back to the left, across
the formation. He ran into
linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who as
instructed directed Jackson back
toward the middle. Jackson,
though, can foil the most
disciplined defense. He juked
left, rendered Van Noy dead-
legged and bolted inside through
a maze of defenders. He scooted
11 yards for a first down at the 5-
yard line, setting up a
touchdown that put Baltimore
ahead 30-20.
Belichick excels at
determining what his opponent
thrives on and eliminating it. But
how is any defense — no matter
how sound and no matter thehad run 27 consecutive offensive
plays. Momentum had shifted.
Jackson surveyed an extreme
defensive alignment. The
Patriots lined up nine men along
the line of scrimmage, almost all
of them standing up, meaning
they could rush or drop into
coverage. Jackson recognized a
scheme he had studied since
training camp and coaches had
drilled all week. It was cover-
zero, a New England specialty, a
coverage in which the Patriots
play no safeties and bring heavy
pressure.
“You never know for sure,”
tight end Mark Andrews said.
“But we felt there was a good
chance in those situations zero
could come.”
At the snap, the Patriots sent
six rushers. Based on the play-
call, Jackson knew one rusher
would come unblocked around
the edge, so he would have to
release a quick pass. A sea of
bodies and arms swarmed him.
He stood still in the pocket and
lofted a pass to Andrews,
running a corner route with
defensive back Terrence Brookskeeper, the M&T Bank Stadium
crowd chanted: “M-V-P! M-V-P!”
There are other worthy
candidates, but after Sunday
night Jackson should be among
them.
“I’m right with the crowd,”
said safety Earl Thomas, a man
not easily impressed or quick
with superlatives. “This man is
the MVP. I’m right behind him.
I’m backing him.”
Jackson made highlight-
worthy scrambles, Ingram
bruised the Patriots for 144 total
yards, and cornerback Marlon
Humphrey scooped a Julian
Edelman fumble and returned it
70 yards for a touchdown. But
the game hinged on one snap, a
play in which Jackson revealed
both his poise and passing touch.
On the Ravens’ first drive of
the second half, they broke the
huddle facing third and five from
their 24, leading 24-20. On the
sideline, weary Ravens defensive
players strapped on helmets and
hoped. Tom Brady had seized
control of the game — because of
how the first half ended and
Humphrey’s return, the Patriotsbaltimore — A
half-dozen
coaches of the
New England
Patriots stood
Sunday night near
midfield at M&T Bank Stadium,
their backs to their own team,
gazing at their opponents. In the
final moments of warmups
before their showdown with the
Baltimore Ravens, they looked
for any last-minute clues for how
to beat the Ravens and how to
stop Lamar Jackson.
They knew the challenge
ahead but surely felt confident in
their plan. If any coach could
halt Jackson’s ascent, it would be
Bill Belichick, the greatest coach
of all time, who entered on a 21-0
streak against quarterbacks in
their rookie or second seasons. If
there was a way to solve Jackson,
Belichick would find it. By the
end of the night, the second-year
passer had made clear an answer
may not exist.
“Man, Lamar is the dude,”
Ravens running back Mark
Ingram II said. “He is that man.”
In the Ravens’ 37-20 toppling
of the previously undefeated
Patriots, Jackson rushed 16 times
for 61 yards and completed 17 of
23 passes for 163 yards. Numbers
alone didn’t tell the story. The
Patriots’ defense, which had held
its opponents to four offensive
touchdowns in nine games
dating to its unmasking of the
Los Angeles Rams in last
season’s Super Bowl, threw more
alignments and coverages at
Jackson than he had ever seen in
one game, some of which went
against its usual tendencies.
With the help of offensive
coordinator Greg Roman’s
diabolical run schemes, and
through his smarts, nerve and
breathtaking athleticism,
Jackson solved them all. The
Ravens’ offense matched that
four-touchdown total in one
game, with Jackson running for
two and passing for another.
Belichick casts spells on young
quarterbacks, forcing them into
decisive mistakes and
catastrophic decisions. He sows
doubt. He plants land mines.
Jackson’s skills countered
Belichick’s ability to set traps,
and his smarts thwarted what
attempts Belichick made. He
refused to make the big mistake
so many others do, throwing no
interceptions and taking one
sack, for just one yard. Lamar
Jackson didn’t see ghosts.
In the fourth quarter, after an
offensive lineman pulled Jackson
into the end zone on a goal-line
Dynamic Ravens QB Jackson solved Belichick’s defense and puzzled the Patriots
On the
NFL
ADAM
KILGORE
WILL NEWTON/GETTY IMAGES
Lamar Jackson led the Baltimore offense to four touchdowns — as many as the New England defense allowed in its previous nine games.“We need the work,” he said.
“Everybody at every position
needs work.”
He said he was disappointed
with the way the team did not
seem focused in Buffalo. He had
hoped for a fast start and didn’t
like the fact that mistakes
doomed the team’s first drive and
defensive lapses allowed the Bills
to pull ahead early. He said he
wants to attack those things in
the coming days. He sounded like
someone with a long list of things
he hoped to change.
Except at quarterback, where
his silence was perplexing to
many. At 1-8 the season seems
lost, so why not say he was going
to start Haskins now and build
for the future?
The question will remain un-
answered for another seven days.
[email protected]some teams but use trickery to
rattle the quarterback. This tactic
has made Buffalo’s defense one of
the best in the league. Haskins,
though, seemed to recognize the
gimmicks.
Callahan was particularly im-
pressed that Haskins did not get
rattled when the Bills showed a
handful of formations that Wash-
ington’s coaches had not seen on
video.
“Each and every game when
you have a young quarterback,
he’s going to get exposed to new
things,” Callahan said.
On Monday, the coach seemed
more interested in the meetings
and practices he was going to
hold during the team’s bye week,
with an actual practice Wednes-
day before the players get their
mandatory four days off for the
bye.ly good poise,” Callahan said. “I
thought he was very calm. I
thought that he had executed the
system well. And I thought his
decision-making was good and
he just had a poise about him
that I really liked. And I thought... the players picked up on that.
I thought there was a little bit of a
vibe there. That was a positive.”
Haskins didn’t throw a lot
against the Bills, completing 15 of
22 passes for 144 yards and no
touchdowns, but he also wasn’t
intercepted. After the game, sev-
eral players praised the quarter-
back for showing leadership and
said the way he carried himself
and had an understanding of the
offense had improved signifi-
cantly since the Minnesota game,
when he looked lost at times after
replacing Keenum.
The Bills don’t blitz as much as
ton’s first nine games but is in the
concussion protocol after a hit he
took during the Oct. 24 loss at
Minnesota. On Sunday, Callahan
said he wants to see how Keenum
is feeling over the next few days
before making a decision. On
Monday afternoon, he did not
mention Keenum at all, revealing
little about what he is thinking
when it comes to the team’s most
important position.
What he did say is that he was
impressed with Haskins in Sun-
day’s 24-9 loss at Buffalo. He
thought Haskins made good de-
cisions and read the Bills’ defense
well. He liked the way Haskins
threw the ball to his receivers on
the edges of the field and didn’t
make the mistakes many feared a
rookie quarterback making his
first start might make.
“I thought he played with real-a quarterback for the Nov. 17
game against the New York Jets,
let alone the rest of the season.
“I appreciate the question, I
do,” Callahan said when asked
why a 1-8 team with an apparent
quarterback of the future
wouldn’t want to give that player
as many starts as possible in the
season’s waning weeks, so the
team can see what that player can
do. But as much as he appreciat-
ed the question, Callahan
wouldn’t budge on the issue of
Haskins starting.
Finally, he said, “I’m going to
take my time and make the
decision next week, as of next
Monday.”
The choice would probably be
between Haskins, the first-round
draft pick from Ohio State, and
Case Keenum, a seven-year veter-
an who started seven of Washing-BY LES CARPENTERBill Callahan was happy with
Dwayne Haskins on Sunday. Very
happy. But after having a day to
absorb the Washington Redskins
rookie quarterback’s first NFL
start, the interim coach wouldn’t
go so far as to name Haskins the
starting quarterback for the rest
of the season — or even for
another game.
“I’m going to take my time on
that,” Callahan said at his Mon-
day news conference.
“I want to look at a lot of
different things,” he continued.
“I want to take some time,” he
added.
“I want to gather a lot of
information,” he later said.
With the Redskins heading
into their bye week, Callahan
appeared to be in no rush to pick
Callahan won’t name Haskins the starting QB, opting to wait until after bye
does return to the field, the Red-
skins could attempt to toll his
contract based on him failing to
meet the unofficial threshold of
being on the active roster for
eight games this season.
Under the joint review, the NFL
would have chosen one medical
expert, the NFLPA would have
chosen another and those two
doctors would have selected a
third member of the panel. The
three-person panel would have
conducted the investigation and
reviewed Williams’s medical re-
cords if he had given permission.
The panel would have prepared a
report for the NFL and NFLPA.
The Redskins, if found to have
committed wrongdoing, would
have been subject to possible dis-
cipline by the league — probably a
fine.
The review is designed to im-
prove future interactions be-
tween players and medical staffs.
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]the question of when or whether
Williams will again play for the
Redskins. He returned to the
team last week, seemingly in an
effort to get credit for a year
toward free agency, but he did not
pass a physical because he was
unable to comfortably put a hel-
met on his head. The team was
granted a two-week roster exemp-
tion for Williams, after which it
will need to make a roster deci-
sion.
If Williams continues to fail his
physical, the team may have to
place him on the non-football
injury list. If he remains on that
list for the rest of the season, his
contract probably will not toll —
meaning his contract status
would remain the same and he
would still be eligible for unre-
stricted free agency following the
2020 season.
If Williams does pass his physi-
cal, things could grow more com-
plicated. Williams could refuse to
play for the team, which could
result in team discipline, or if heWilliams did not return to the
Redskins after his surgery, asking
to be traded and then holding out
for five months.
On Sunday, the NFLPA put out
a statement supporting Williams
and slamming an NFL Network
report by former Redskins gener-
al manager Charley Casserly, who
is now a contributor for the
league-owned network, that said
Williams was told by a Redskins
doctor to see a specialist about
the growth three years ago but
never did.
“We are also aware of misinfor-
mation being repeated on the
NFL’s own network that is not
sourced and is only designed to
tarnish Trent’s reputation,” the
NFLPA’s statement said, in part.
“Our union supports Trent, is pro-
tecting his rights and continues to
consider potential action if a cam-
paign against him continues.”
None of the recent develop-
ments are expected to have much
of a practical impact, other than
further intensifying emotions, onstop. Doctors have an ethical obli-
gation to treat our men as pa-
tients first regardless of where
their check comes from. It is our
job to ensure that they honor that
duty and if we find that they have
not, we must then hold the physi-
cian accountable to the CBA and
their medical licensing authority.”
The Redskins asked for the
review this past Thursday, hours
after Williams alleged that team
doctors failed — for more than
five years — to take seriously a
growth on his head. This past
winter, the growth was diagnosed
as a rare form of cancer that
Williams said had nearly gone
through his skull and into his
brain. The cancer, Dermatofibro-
sarcoma Protuberans, has a 10-
year survival rate of 99 percent.
But the experience rattled Wil-
liams, who said he was told by a
doctor to get his affairs in order
because he might die. He under-
went three surgical procedures to
remove the tumor and repair his
skin.the rights of other players must be
protected.
It also is conceivable that the
league could push for the review
to proceed without the consent of
Williams and the NFLPA, accord-
ing to that person. But Williams
has the right, if he chooses, to
withhold access to his medical
records from the medical experts
who would be chosen to conduct
the review.
DeMaurice Smith, the execu-
tive director of the NFLPA, con-
firmed Williams’s objection to the
review in a written statement
released after Smith first dis-
closed Williams’s wishes Monday
in a radio appearance on 106.7 the
Fan.
“Our union will continue to
support Trent,” Smith said in the
statement. “Although he has
asked us to not pursue a formal
review of his treatment, we will
consider all legal action if the
affirmative disinformation cam-
paign and the leaking of his pri-
vate medical records does nothave a significant impact on the
question of whether Williams will
play for the team again.
According to a person familiar
with the situation, the NFLPA
never agreed to participate in the
joint review, which would be con-
ducted under the terms of the
collective bargaining agreement,
despite Friday’s announcement
by the league that the review
would take place.
NFLPA officials had not spoken
to Williams at that point, the
person said, and when they did so
later Friday, he was adamant that
he did not want the NFLPA to
participate.
So the union is not proceeding
with the review under the CBA at
this time, said the person, who
spoke on the condition of ano-
nymity to describe a sensitive
situation. The union could choose
to do so later, even over Williams’s
objection, if new information sur-
faces and the NFLPA believes that
WILLIAMS FROM D1
Redskins’ Williams asks players’ union to not participate in review of records