John Harbaugh says Ravens entering new era of football

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- John Harbaugh celebrated his new four-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens by eating some of his wife's brownies, watching his daughter's basketball game and going to a fast-food restaurant.

"I texted my dad that I was at Chick-fil-A, and he thought I had a mistype," Harbaugh said Friday. "He said he spent two hours trying to figure out who Chick was. 'When did he meet this guy named Chick-fil-A?' God, Dad, you got to get out more."

This was reminiscent of the time six years ago when quarterback Joe Flacco went to McDonald's after signing a contract to become the NFL's highest-paid player.

Now Flacco is being supplanted by Lamar Jackson and longtime general manager Ozzie Newsome is being replaced by Eric DeCosta. In a span of a few months, the Ravens have undergone an unusual amount of transition.

"It is a new era of football," Harbaugh said. "We'll be a different team than we were last year. We'll be a different team than we've ever been here before because of a lot of the changes."

The Ravens could have a makeover on offense with potential changes at wide receiver, running back and the interior of the line. The NFL's top-ranked defense has three pending free agents in middle linebacker C.J. Mosley, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and defensive end Brent Urban and has to make salary-cap decisions on safety Eric Weddle and cornerback Jimmy Smith.

Baltimore is hoping the biggest change comes with Jackson. The rookie first-round pick led the Ravens to their first AFC North title in six years on the strength of his running.

Harbaugh is looking to feature a more diversified offense, which means Jackson has to improve his accuracy and mechanics as a passer. Jackson, who can't work with coaches again until April 15 under rules of the collective bargaining agreement, gave team officials his offseason workout plan, which includes a lot of throwing as well as meeting up with his receivers.

"I'm quite sure he's going to work at it really hard," Harbaugh said. "I expect him to come back a better quarterback skillwise than he left, and he's determined to do that."

Jackson completed 58.2 percent of his passes (99-of-170) for 1,201 yards. He threw for six touchdowns and had three interceptions for a modest 84.5 passer rating.

Jackson's greatest impact came as a runner. He led all quarterbacks this season with 695 yards rushing, gaining at least 70 yards rushing in five of seven starts.

Harbaugh isn't concerned that defenses will figure out the Ravens' unconventional offense this offseason. He chalks up the season-worst 229 yards of total offense in the 23-17 wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Chargers to a lack of execution.

"If you think there is a defense that's going to stop Lamar running and us executing really well, that's not going to be the case," Harbaugh said. "They can't put 13 guys out there. The Chargers deserve a lot of credit. They outplayed us and outreached us. We need to do a better job of attacking what they did that day. What they did that day is not going to work next game."

There was speculation that Harbaugh was headed to a mutual parting of the ways during the bye week, when the Ravens were 4-5 with a three-game losing streak. Now Harbaugh is signed as head coach through 2022.

Harbaugh said he wasn't worried about his fate heading into the final year of his contract, but he did acknowledge wondering whether he would be coaching elsewhere after the season.

"Yeah, it's on our mind," Harbaugh said. "I'm not going to say you don't understand the circumstances of your own situation. [But] to me, you do the job, not keep the job."