Lamar Jackson Is Definitely Not Buying Into Ravens Hype, Touts Team's Resolve As Underdogs

There's a lot of hype around the Baltimore Ravens after they soundly beat the San Francisco 49ers on Christmas Day. However, star quarterback and possible MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson is seemingly trying to temper expectations in a bid to maintain his team's underdog mentality and not succumb to the pressure of being christened the best team in the league like we saw with the 49ers...

...and the Cowboys...

...and the Eagles.

The Ravens will face the Miami Dolphins this weekend, a team coming off their own big Christmas weekend win. Their took out the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve.

A win for Baltimore will seal the No. 1 seed in the AFC earning the team a handy Wildcard round bye.

Still, with that on the line, Jackson made it clear he doesn't want his team to change the underdog mentality that got them this far.

"I believe we've got a bunch of guys who've been doubted, a bunch of guys who've got things to prove — on our team — on both sides of the ball," Jackson said on Wednesday, per Yahoo Sports. "So, I believe, anytime we're the underdogs, we're going to always rise to the occasion. But we've got to stay locked in to do that."

That makes sense. That mentality has worked so far. Why change it?

Lamar Jackson leaves the field after his Baltimore Ravens toppled the San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Loren Elliott/Getty Images)

Lamar Jackson Isn't Buying Into The The Hype About His Own Team But For Good Reason

Well, because sometimes you don't have a choice, and external forces change it for you. That's the case with the Ravens who have gone from underdogs to top dogs in their conference.

Jackson still isn't having it.

"Keeping a level head is the most important thing for us right now, because now the narrative is changing," he said. "It was just, 'This team is … the Ravens; we don't know about the Ravens.' Now it's, 'Oh, they're the No. 1 team.' So, we're not paying mind to that. I feel like that's bait — that's clickbait. And like I said, we're trying to make it to February, so we're going to take it a game at a time."

The Dolphins should be a decent test for the Ravens, so let's see if they take these quotes from their signal caller to heart and stay the course.

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