Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Nelson Agholor is continuing to grow his chemistry with Lamar Jackson.
Agholor caught 35 passes for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first season with the Ravens last year.
Now, he's been working with Jackson to improve their connection. The 31-year-old receiver told reporters from OTAs on Tuesday that Jackson has been better this offseason at communicating his vision and breaking down his thought process about certain plays.
"People don’t realize how cerebral Lamar Jackson is," Agholor said.
Agholor then detailed a miscommunication during OTAs on Tuesday where Jackson took Agholor aside to better explain what he wants from him. Without being able to see the play, some of the details were confusing, but here's Agholor's full explanation.
"The conversations he has with you one-on-one about what he sees and what you may see—
"Like, even today, I'll be honest, I had an in-cut, like basic. And my mannerisms was the reason why I didn't complete the ball, because I saw something and he saw something else. And whether we completed it or not just then, I got better when I walked to the sideline. He showed me on the form, he's like, 'Nelly, the reason why I'm thinking keep going is because I look at this nickel and I see his body language.' I'm like, 'Well, I did take a snapshot of the nickel, and I thought he was going to drop.' But [Lamar] said, 'He ain't gonna get there by the time I'ma zip it. I'ma zip it two yards here.'
"And that's what makes a special quarterback special, because you may see something, but when they allow you to see what they see, you now can be consistent with your mannerisms and your cuts."
Agholor said Jackson has made a point this offseason of talking through plays and giving more insight into what he sees as a quarterback.
"He's done a really great job of allowing us to dive deeper into his thought process," Agholor said.
Agholor has played with a slew of quarterbacks in his nine-year career, from Sam Bradford to Nick Foles to Carson Wentz to Derek Carr to Mac Jones (to name just a few). He has seen quarterbacks of all skill levels and has been impressed by Jackson's football IQ.
Despite winning two MVPs, Jackson still faces occasional questions about his ability to lead a team with his passing and make big throws in big moments. As Agholor tells it, people from the outside don't know how well Jackson processes the game.
Here's video of Agholor's comments, via Brian Wacker of The Baltimore Sun:
Nelson Agholor on working out with Lamar and Zay in So Fla last week: “Top secret!” He expounded on it and Lamar now vs last year #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/tXMz0LMsCF
— Brian Wacker (@brianwacker1) June 4, 2024
