Lamar Jackson can't change the way last season ended, but he can learn from it.
That's the approach Jackson has taken this offseason – to use the past to help shape the future. He's asking coaches for more feedback, restudying game tape from last season, and going over details with teammates as they prepare for their 2025 quest to win a Super Bowl.
Though he's a two-time MVP quarterback who could've won a third after his best campaign yet last year, Jackson is still only 28 years old and convinced he can become a better player than he already is.
Losing to the Buffalo Bills in last year's playoffs and the two first-half turnovers he committed in that game hurt Jackson to the core. For as well as he's played at times, Jackson has had seven interceptions and lost four fumbles in eight playoff games. Still, he nearly led a comeback in Buffalo with an 88-yard touchdown drive in the waning minutes and rallied the Ravens in other playoff losses.
Jackson wants the 2025 season to end in celebration, not despair. He's not dwelling on what happened, but he's motivated by it.
"I don't think I get over any loss, to be honest," Jackson said. "I've got losses from youth football that still haunt me. I never get over a loss, I don't care how small it might be to someone else or how great it might be, it's always the same for me.
"Before, it was like, 'Oh, he can't win a playoff game,' and then we won a playoff game. We got to the AFC Championship two years ago. We just fell short. We fell two games short this past year. We're going to bounce back, and when we come back, I feel like we are going to have vengeance on our minds."