Lamar Jackson really does not like throwing interceptions. He finds them revolting. The sight of a pick can send the Ravens’ star quarterback into a helmet-ripping tizzy. The stench of a pick can linger for hours, even in a win.

The best medicine, Jackson has found, is the next pass. It helps that he does not throw many to the other team. Last year, he finished with just four interceptions, his fewest as a full-time starter. Less than 1% of the 474 passes Jackson attempted in 2024 were picked off, and a few of those were not entirely his fault.

Jackson’s turnover avoidance tools are elite. He has a veteran’s savvy and a watchman’s vision, a dynamic arm and a supportive infrastructure. But he owes some of his mastery to mess. In training camp, Jackson’s interceptions can mount, and quickly.

In 2023, when Jackson ranked fifth in the NFL in interception rate, he threw four picks during one early-August practice. Last year, when he ranked second in interception rate, he threw three to cornerback Marlon Humphrey in a three-practice span early in camp.

This summer, according to a review of unofficial data, Jackson has thrown as many interceptions in seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills (10) as he did all last camp. And that might not be such a bad thing.

“You don’t like interceptions ever,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Tuesday. And yet he acknowledged, “I just go back [to] last year. I think we had a practice, and, what, did we have eight or nine picks? For God’s sakes, we threw it up like we were getting paid to do it. So, obviously, you learn from that, right? If you don’t throw interceptions in practice, you don’t get better.”

And where better than training camp to try to get away with stuff? Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, one of the NFL’s most accurate quarterbacks, said early in Bengals camp last month that he’s “never going to be upset” at throwing an interception in seven-on-seven work “unless I completely miss the read or make a completely inaccurate throw.”

Jackson, who nearly won his third NFL Most Valuable Player award last season after piloting the league’s most efficient attack, said last week that “there’s always room for improvement.” That has been clear in camp. Even with 10 starters returning on offense, and wideout DeAndre Hopkins added to the receiving corps, Jackson acknowledged the Ravens have had their share of “bad days.”

And bad picks. Jackson has underthrown and overthrown receivers. He’s tried to squeeze balls through unforgiving windows. He’s thrown caution to the wind, only to watch a pass cut through the wind on its way to a lurking safety. He’s at times looked nothing like the quarterback who, according to Pro Football Focus, finished last season with the NFL’s lowest turnover-worthy-play rate.

Sure, the Ravens’ bolstered pass defense is partly to blame. “They made practice extremely competitive, man. There’s a lot of first-rounders in our secondary,” Jackson said last week. And, yes, so is the occasional tediousness of training camp. “Competing against another team instead of going against our guys all the time,” he said, “your competitive side starts to kick in a little more.”

But mostly, Jackson, Monken and the Ravens need the margin for error that camp affords them. Every summer is a process in self-discovery. What plays and passes work? What formations and motions don’t? What’s the right way to get open when Jackson’s scrambling? What’s the wrong way to sit in a zone when he’s in the pocket?

With every practice, the Ravens get a little closer to finding out how they’ll function in the regular season. Even if that means dealing with dysfunction in the preseason first.

“You learn what windows you can throw into,” Monken said. “The receivers learn scramble rules, being friendly. So all those things are a part of it. He [Jackson] is never going to change that. I mean, that’s just not who he is. If he doesn’t see it, he’s not going to throw it. You can go back to last year. I can’t think of ones where, like, the ball bounced off a defender’s chest, like, ‘You didn’t see him,’ or, ‘It got tipped.’ No, that didn’t happen, and we’re just going to keep working and continue that. He’s elite at seeing the field.”