Lamar Jackson would have been the fastest quarterback at the NFL Combine, but he decided not to run the 40-yard dash. He participated in all of the throwing drills, but his decision to partcipated in the 40 left some analysts curious.
Speaking to NFL Network's NFL Now crew, Jackson admitted the recent talk of him playing wide receiver led to him not wanting to run.
"I didn't want to show it out here, they've been talking about receiver and stuff like that so I didn't feel I should do it," Jackson said. "At first I was going to run, as a quarterback, but then they said wide receiver and I had to let them know I was just going to throw today."
MORE: Live updates, results from 2018 NFL Combine
Jackson said it was "absolutely" disrespectful that teams want him as a receiver, but said none of the teams mentioned that to him in any of his meetings.
"[There are] a lot of quarterbacks who had my ability to make people miss, but they never labeled them as a wide receiver, so I feel I should have a chance at quarterback," he said.
In case you haven't seen, some NFL teams wanted the former Louisville Heisman-winning quarterback to take part in WR drills. While the teams may not have asked Jackson himself, they appeared to make it known in secret. And according to NFL Media, he wasn't the only player teams wanted to see run different drills.
Lamar Jackson has said no one asked him to do WR drills. But the requests were, in fact, made. Three more: DBs Marcus Allen, Terrell Edmunds and Derwin James were asked to do LB drills.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2018
It’s not uncommon that teams requested #Louisville QB Lamar Jackson to do receiver drills. For instance: RBs Ronald Jones and Sony Michel was asked to do WR drills. DE’s Bradley Chubb and Marcus Davenport were asked to do LB drills.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2018
As far as his passing drills went, Jackson admitted he could have done better.
"I felt I did pretty good today, there were a lot of passes I wanted back, but you know, you can't be perfect," he said.
While Jackson didn't take part in the 40-yard dash at the Combine, he did say he was going to run it at his Louisville pro day. The QB also said if he had to predict his 40 time, he says he would have run in the 4.3 range, says he likely would have matched a 4.38.
Louisville's pro day takes place on March 29th, so we'll know for sure by then.
