TAMPA, Fla. — Five years ago, a few days before Lamar Jackson would make his “Monday Night Football” debut, the Ravens quarterback was asked about the prime-time stage. Jackson was just 22 then, not even three months into the 2019 season. He hadn’t been anointed for NFL stardom yet, hadn’t won a playoff game, hadn’t even completed his first full year as a starter.

Everything was new, including “Monday Night Football.” Who wouldn’t be excited? Who wouldn’t be a little anxious? Jackson shook his head. He did not look like he cared.

“Nah, just a regular game,” he told local reporters that late-November day. “Trying to go in and get a victory.”

As Jackson hurtles into the pantheon of NFL legends, Monday night’s throttling of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers marking his latest Herculean feat, the reigning league MVP will not one day be remembered for his heroics on one particular day of the week. Over six-plus seasons, he has spread his magic pixie dust on Sundays and Thursdays and even the occasional Tuesday and Saturday, too, sparing no opponent or TV time slot.

But with Jackson’s performance in the Ravens’ 41-31 win at Raymond James Stadium, he staked his claim to an elevated, if unusual, superlative: the greatest quarterback in modern “Monday Night Football” history. Jackson’s master class against Tampa Bay (333 yards of total offense, five passing touchdowns and a nearly perfect passer rating) is maybe most notable for how neatly it fits alongside his other prime-time bonanzas.

In Jackson’s eight career starts on Monday night, he is 6-2 with 20 passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns and no interceptions, according to TruMedia. He has averaged 300.1 yards of total offense per game, 8.2 yards per pass attempt and 8 yards per carry, all marks that would either lead the league this year or rank among the NFL’s best.

“I’m chasing something right now, so each and every game is going to be the same thing for me,” said Jackson, who finished 17-for-22 for 281 yards and added nine carries for 52 yards. “I’m going to be the same person. Every game, I’m trying to win.”

He just happens to make these Monday night games must-see TV, turning defensive coordinators into Garfields almost every ESPN telecast. Since 2000, among quarterbacks who’ve played at least five such games and attempted at least 100 passes, Jackson ranks first in both expected points added per play (0.28) and EPA per drop-back (0.32), ahead of the stars you might expect (Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen) and the prime-time darlings you might not (Colin Kaepernick, Daunte Culpepper, Chad Pennington).

Even before this last Monday night, Jackson had enough iconic moments to fill an NFL Films special. In that 2019 debut, he announced his superstardom with five passing touchdowns in a demolition of the Los Angeles Rams. A year later, he overcame cramps — he swears it was cramps — to lead a late comeback in a shootout win over the Cleveland Browns.

“I remember the one time everybody thought he had to go to the bathroom and poop, and then he came back out and won the game,” joked running back Derrick Henry, who rushed 15 times for 169 yards and had a 13-yard touchdown catch against the Buccaneers (4-3). “So, yeah, I’ve seen him plenty of times.”

In 2021, Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history to complete 85% of his passes in a 400-yard game as the Ravens stormed back from a 19-point deficit to edge the Indianapolis Colts in overtime. In 2023, in what was billed as the “Game of the Year,” he outdueled MVP candidate Brock Purdy in a Christmas night thumping of the San Francisco 49ers.

Not every prime-time start has brought out prime Jackson, of course. He finished with just 97 passing yards in a blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020. In the Ravens’ 2021 season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, he had over 300 yards of total offense, but a crucial fumble doomed the Ravens to an overtime road defeat.

Jackson seemed headed for a suboptimal stat line early Monday night, harassed by Tampa Bay’s pass rush and hamstrung by penalty problems. Then, as if he remembered he was back in his home state, he just started showing off. The Ravens (5-2) scored on six straight drives and seven of eight at one point, reaching the end zone five times in that span.

Jackson hit wide receiver Rashod Bateman for two big plays, including a 49-yard touchdown that was Jackson’s deepest completion of the season. He found resurgent tight end Mark Andrews for a pair of touchdowns, including one on fourth-and-3 from the Buccaneers’ 4. He slipped away from pressure as if his jersey were covered in baby oil. He turned an aborted screen pass into a first-down scramble. He even blocked for Henry downfield on his improvised 39-yard run down the left sideline, undeterred by the Ravens’ fourth-quarter lead (34-18) or the handful of hits he’d already absorbed.

“It doesn’t matter when, where or what, he’s the ultimate competitor,” said Andrews, who had four catches for 41 yards. “You see it out there, him making that Derrick Henry block. It’s just play after play after play of him making big-time plays and helping this team win games. He does it better than anybody in the league, and we’re so fortunate to be with him and just try to help him out. He lays it all out on the line every game. Just really awesome. He’s the best, man. He’s the MVP.”

Added tight end Charlie Kolar: “I think for him, he’s the same on the sideline. The way he talks to us, he’s the same in the huddle. Maybe it’s just the circumstances. Maybe he plays amazing on Monday night. But I think he’s pretty amazing every day.”

Even if Jackson is blind to the klieg lights of “Monday Night Football,” coach John Harbaugh could appreciate his place in the sport’s history. Harbaugh grew up watching Don Meredith and Howard Cosell during the broadcast’s early days on ABC. He can still hear Chris Berman rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’ his way through ESPN’s weekly highlight packages. After Monday’s win, Harbaugh recalled telling the Ravens that it was an “honor” to play in prime time, that they should cherish the opportunity.

He could smile, knowing the Ravens had another “Monday Night Football” matchup on their schedule — against his brother Jim’s Los Angeles Chargers, no less. And he could smile, knowing he’d have Jackson as his quarterback, too.

“It’s incredible, and he’ll go down in the history of ‘Monday Night Football,’ for sure,” Harbaugh said. “And he has a lot more to go.”