OTL: Jackson in the House, but Bashing by Orlovsky, Florio Continues

Yesterday was the first day of school for the Ravens under new head coach Jesse Minter. Monday, April 6 marked day one of voluntary offseason workouts for teams with new head coaches, and it seemed to be very well attended in Baltimore. Social media footage revealed Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews, Roquan Smith, Zay Flowers, and Trey Hendrickson were all in attendance, among plenty of others.

Oh, and Lamar Jackson.

Naturally, before the morning even started, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky started taking shots at Jackson for not being present.

At 8:18 AM, Orlovsky spoke about Jackson on Get Up saying, “This is the start of what should be Lamar’s prime. And I’m not going to overreact to him not being there; maybe he gets there in the next day or two, but it certainly sounds like that’s not going to be the case.”

“I’m not going to react to him not being there because we’ll give him some time, but I want him there,” Orlovsky added.

Hey Dan, maybe give him, I don’t know, six minutes?

At 8:24 AM, the Ravens posted footage of Jackson arriving at the facility on day one of the program. You really can’t make it up.

@Lj_era8 pic.twitter.com/ZQ36d8Oopv

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 6, 2026

SIX MINUTES before Jackson showed up at the facility, Orlovsky was doubting he’d show up at all, and bashing him based on that assumption.

When Orlovsky first broke into the media landscape, he was truly one of my favorites. His advanced breakdowns and logic made him one of the more tolerable NFL analysts. Since then, it seems like he’s been one of the main pushers of unfavorable Lamar Jackson narratives.

Orlovsky wasn’t the only one. Another enemy of Baltimore, Mike “Flores” Florio over at Pro Football Talk posted an article with the headline, “Lamar Jackson has shown up to Ravens offseason program; how long will he stay?”

After the Ravens crushed the 49ers on Christmas of 2023, Jackson called out Florio for his inflammatory comments leading up to the Monday night matchup.

“The 49ers kick the s— out of the Ravens on Monday night. I’m sorry. I know that’s disrespectful to the Ravens, but let’s be realistic. They’ve got to fly across the country on Christmas night, and the 49ers are waiting. And the 49ers are going to dismantle the Ravens,” Florio said.

Jackson responded to those comments after the game, saying, “We’re in the NFL. We play ball. Not to take away from that team, but you can’t just discredit us. We’re grown men. We have to feed our families.”

Jackson also had some fun on the way to the locker room before his more serious postgame remarks, referring to NBC’s Mike Florio as “Mike Flores.”

Sounds like Lamar Jackson took that prediction from Mike “Flores” Florio personally. pic.twitter.com/lAMgE0T2FI

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) December 26, 2023

I will never understand these negative media narratives surrounding Lamar Jackson.

You have an analyst on one major sports outlet questioning whether Jackson will show up at all, and six minutes later it’s revealed he’s already there.

You have an analyst on a second major sports outlet essentially saying, “Okay he’s there now, but when will he leave?”

Not to mention, any time Jackson misses any stretch during the season, narratives are pushed about his effort, and whether he actually cares about being on the field.

In my opinion, it’s nasty. I’m one of the true believers that Jackson cares more about the team than anybody. I’ve never once believed he didn’t want to be out there, and I think he will be the guy to lead Baltimore to their first Super Bowl since the 2012-13 season.

Regardless of what I think, the media will continue to have their narratives, and in fairness, it’s a part of their job. With that being said, please, just please, leave our quarterback alone, or maybe leave some kind words instead.

New Uniforms

In a bit of late-breaking news, the Ravens announced that they’ll be unveiling some new uniforms in the near future:

It’s official!

We will debut a new uniform collection this year built for the next era of Ravens football.

The Next Flight arrives April 16. pic.twitter.com/hKV8K8BT3G

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 7, 2026

What do you hope to see in the new kits?

The post OTL: Jackson in the House, but Bashing by Orlovsky, Florio Continues appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/04/07/out-to-lunch/jackson-florio-orlovsky/