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Lamar Jackson stepped to the microphone Thursday as maybe the NFL’s most scrutinized quarterback, his every word, gesture and practice rep probed for some deeper meaning over the past week.

With the Ravens fighting for a playoff berth in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he seemed unburdened and unbothered.

“You’ve just got to be calm,” Jackson said. “You’ve got to be calm in the storm, so that’s my approach, and I feel like that’s the team’s approach.”

After missing Sunday’s do-or-die win over the Green Bay Packers with a significant back contusion, Jackson should be back Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. He was a full participant in practice Wednesday and Thursday and said he “100%” expects to start.

The only notable difference could be a back flap he hasn’t worn since his rookie year.

“I’m trying to keep my back protected,” he said.

As the Ravens prepared for their first-ever winner-take-all game against the Steelers in a regular-season finale, Jackson acknowledged the criticism he took for sitting out Week 17 after being unable to practice last week.

Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Derrick Henry helped lead the Ravens to a 41-24 win at Lambeau Field that, along with the Steelers’ loss Sunday to the Cleveland Browns, kept their playoff hopes alive.

“I don’t know why I got to get questioned about, ‘Oh, I hear things about ... ’ — I never quit on my team before,” Jackson said. “I never quit anything, to be honest with y’all. So I don’t know where that noise came from.”

Most of the focus of Jackson’s news conference, though, was on off-the-field matters.

For the first time, he addressed a report last week in The Baltimore Sun that said Jackson had been “up late at night playing video games” for an unspecified period.

“I heard that I be playing the game at like 1 or 2 in the morning,” Jackson said. “I wouldn’t even do that during the summer, so I don’t know where that comes from, either. I don’t know, man. I don’t know. I don’t know where that comes from.”

As for The Sun’s reporting that Jackson had been “falling asleep in team meetings” for an unspecified period, Jackson said: “Do you think [coach John] Harbaugh would let me fall asleep in his meetings?” He laughed. “That’s crazy. I’m right in the front [of the meetings]. Man, I don’t know, man. It is what it is, though, like I said. Just noise.”

Jackson is under contract through 2027, but is entering a critical offseason with the Ravens’ front office, which will need to reduce his $74.5 million salary cap hit. He said he “absolutely” wants to remain in Baltimore, where he’s spent the first eight years of his NFL career.

“We’ve got to focus on winning right now, so the contract talk will be after the season or whatever,” Jackson said. “But during the season, I’m locked in.”

Jackson also said he feels he has a good relationship with Harbaugh, who’s been one of his biggest public advocates and a recipient of criticism for the Ravens’ playoff failures. The Sun’s report indicated that Harbaugh “has become tired of Jackson.”

“Like I said, I don’t know where the noise comes from, man,” Jackson said. “I don’t know where the noise comes from.”

Harbaugh last week called his relationship with Jackson “A-plus” and added: “I love him. I always have, always will. I know he’s fighting like crazy to get back. So anonymous reports or things that get said or written or whatever, I don’t really — I don’t need anybody speaking for me. So just ask me, and I’ll tell you what I think."

A loss Sunday would end the Ravens’ season short of the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and stir up old questions about the franchise’s future.

A win would shift the focus to the playoffs — for a while, anyway.

“I doubt we’ll silence it,” Jackson said. “They’re probably going to be quiet for a little bit, but there’s always noise. It’s the National Football League. Still got to focus on winning.”