Lamar shrugs off injury excuse as Ravens roll on

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Ravens have gone from a 1-5 start to a first-place tie in the AFC North despite quarterback Lamar Jackson not at his MVP form.

After Sunday's 23-10 win over the New York Jets, Jackson said knee and ankle injuries haven't affected his play, even though he's mired in one of the biggest slumps of his decorated eight-year career.

"I feel like we just need to execute a lot better," said Jackson, who finished Sunday with 12-of-23 passing for 153 yards. "We get in great field position, but we're not pulling points on the board. That has nothing to do with an injury."

Jackson has been held under 200 yards passing for three straight games for the first time in five years. He has also gone back-to-back games without a touchdown pass for the first time in six years.

During this rut, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player was sidelined for one practice two weeks ago because of knee soreness and was absent from one practice last week because of an ankle injury. Jackson acknowledged last week that he may continue to miss one practice a week for body maintenance.

One of the biggest changes in Jackson's games has been a decrease in his rushing. Jackson, who holds the record for most rushing yards by a quarterback, is averaging a career-low 29.6 yards rushing per game.

"I'm out there so I feel like I should still be able to do what I do," said Jackson, who ran 11 yards on seven rushing attempts.

Jackson, who entered Sunday with the NFL's highest career passer rating at 102.8, has produced a 62.8 rating over the past three games. In wins over the Vikings, Browns and Jets, Jackson has completed 57.1% of his passes (44-of-77) for 522 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he has the "utmost confidence" in Jackson.

"He's our guy, he's our quarterback and Lamar's doing what he needs to do," Harbaugh said. "He is winning football games and it's not always pretty. The pretty games will be there. They'll be there for Lamar Jackson, you can bet on that. But I'm proud of him right now. I'm really proud of him, the way he's fighting to win football games."

The Ravens (6-5) have won five straight games to go from last place in the AFC North to a tie atop the division with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But it has been defense, which has held the past six opponents under 20 points, that has carried Baltimore.

Left tackle Ronnie Stanley has talked with Jackson about how their execution needs to improve on offense to achieve their Super Bowl aspirations.

"So while winning is great, to reach our goals, we know we need to be better," Stanley said.