As Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken entered his third season, many expected quarterback Lamar Jackson’s growth to take another step forward. Instead, Baltimore’s offense regressed. With that, some reports even suggested that the chemistry between Jackson and Monken had been strained. However, Monken has now put those doubts to rest.  

“Lamar and I, to me, had a good relationship,” Todd Monken said on the Ryan Ripklen Show. “Could it have been better? Of course. Lamar and I never had an issue—I don’t know where that comes from. I never saw Lamar and Coach Harbaugh not have a great relationship. I never saw coach Harbaugh and any of our players not have a great relationship. Never, not one time. So, any of that would be news to me. But I don’t know how people feel.”

While Todd Monken made it clear that there were never any internal rifts between the QB and his coaches in Baltimore, he also shouldered some blame for the way Jackson and the Ravens regressed in his third season. 

“I didn’t coach Lamar well enough,” he added. “I didn’t do the things we needed to do this year to win enough games to give ourselves a chance. I believe that.”

The dynamic between Ravens’ former head coach John Harbaugh, Todd Monken, and Lamar Jackson reportedly grew awkward this season. There seemed to be weekly uncertainty over whether Jackson would practice.

In fact, Harbaugh often acted as the middleman between Jackson and Monken, whose personalities did not always align. 

When the Ravens hired Todd Monken in February 2023, the goal was to keep Lamar Jackson playing at an MVP level. In many ways, that plan worked. Monken did help Jackson become a better passer to some extent. Over the last three seasons, Jackson recorded 10,399 yards and 86 touchdowns. According to Pro Football Reference, Jackson even led the NFL with a 119.6 passer rating and 74.8 QBR in 2024.

Under Todd Monken’s play-calling, Jackson won his second MVP in 2023 and took the Ravens to the AFC Championship Game, where they eventually lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jackson then finished as the MVP runner-up in 2024. But then came the 2025 season, and injuries kept him from being the full-time starter. His constant in-and-out availability hurt Baltimore’s offense’s rhythm.

The Ravens finished 11th in points and 16th in total yards in the 2025 season. That said, some players even took issue with Monken’s approach, per the Baltimore Banner’s Giana Han.

“Those sources, who had direct knowledge of how Monken ran the offense, said players felt the Ravens worked on a specific game plan during the week only to abandon it mid-game, creating chaos and confusion,” Han wrote. “They also viewed Monken as increasingly standoffish and unwilling to collaborate with players.”

With Todd Monken calling plays in 2025, Baltimore boasted the NFL’s second-best rushing attack. Yet the loudest complaints against Monken centered on the lack of production beyond Baltimore’s receiver Zay Flowers. Baltimore’s running back Derrick Henry also felt underused, even though he finished with the fourth-most carries (307) in the NFL. This only fueled rumors that Monken might have been a factor behind John Harbaugh’s firing.

Did Todd Monken have a role in John Harbaugh’s firing?

In the 18 years under John Harbaugh’s coaching, the Ravens had fallen short, like in the 2019 and 2023 seasons when they entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. This season brought another such situation for the Ravens. In the Week 18 game, kicker Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard game-winning field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That miss kept the 8-9 Ravens out of the playoffs and handed the AFC North to Pittsburgh. Soon after, John Harbaugh was fired. 

Multiple reports suggest Baltimore’s decision with Harbaugh ran deeper than the lost season. Some around the league believe that Lamar Jackson wanted a fresh direction for both himself and his offense.

On January 6, Dianna Russini of The Athletic even reported that one factor behind Harbaugh’s firing was his refusal to move on from Todd Monken. Harbaugh stood by his coaching staff, and that stance reportedly pushed owner Steve Bisciotti to go against Harbaugh.

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Now, even though the Ravens haven’t officially dismissed Todd Monken, his words on the Ryan Ripken Show sounded like someone already preparing to follow Harbaugh out of Baltimore.

“I’m going to fight like hell to fix it,” he said. “I’m going to fight like hell for the next job I get, and I’m going to root like hell for the Ravens.”

In the end, it seems the Ravens still believe that they can win a Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson leading the way. What the Ravens no longer believe in is the coaching setup that surrounded the QB. That might explain why this offseason feels like the start of a completely new chapter in Baltimore.