Lamar Jackson's uneasy contract situation isn't yet nearing a solution, but it does seem, well, closer.
Jackson spoke on the matter following Ravens practice Thursday, telling reporters "we're having a mutual conversation" and "we're keeping it in house."
Jackson was asked if he was still having discussions with general manager Eric DeCosta about his long-term future and told reporters the two were "still talking right now," adding he'll focus further on his contract when he has free time.
Jackson -- who doesn't have an agent and is taking a bit of a risk by entering 2022 without a long-term deal in place -- doesn't have much free time during training camp, but that doesn't seem to have the Ravens worrying in late July.
"Both sides are motivated to get the job done," coach John Harbaugh said Thursday, via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
That's about as firm of a response as we've received from either party since questions started flying about Jackson's contract more than a year ago. Earlier in the year, Baltimore had taken up a stance that essentially stated the team was waiting for Jackson to seriously approach them about a new deal, with DeCosta telling media members the Ravens would "work at Lamar's urgency."
"He knows how to find me; I know how to find him," DeCosta said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
The two sides have found each other at training camp, a process Jackson said Thursday he wouldn't miss, regardless of contract situation, because he wanted to practice with his "brothers."
Money isn't the issue, at least not according to Jackson, who said "I just want to win at the end of the day. I just want to be great."
"Football," Jackson said when asked what motivates him. "Football more than anything. I love it with a passion, it's all I want to do. However long I can."
