Ravens training camp takeaways, plus standouts after preseason Week 1 win over Colts

Sports

add

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens returned to the practice field at Under Armour Performance Center on Saturday, their first session after a 24-16 preseason win over the Indianapolis Colts.

“Really good, spirited practice, very intense, which is great two days after a game,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “And then, I thought, pretty darn sharp. This is an important stretch. This particular part of camp is really about taking that execution to [another] level. That’s really what we’re intentional about right now in everything we do — getting as good as we can at what we do, how we do it. We had a good game; the tape was good. We’re in a great place. I think we’re right on schedule. Now, we have to take the next step and have a really good week of practice here.”

There were plenty of positive headlines in that game — we’ll get to them in a bit — but the passing offense wasn’t one of them. Cooper Rush and Devin Leary combined to complete 5 of 16 passes for 49 yards, and both threw an interception. On Saturday, however, they bounced back.

Their play, plus Lamar Jackson’s, gave some wide receivers chances to show their stuff Saturday. Devontez Walker, for example, got a half-step on Nate Wiggins and made a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch on a perfectly thrown ball from the two-time MVP.

Later on, in a red zone drill, Jackson delivered another beauty to DeAndre Hopkins, who made the contested catch despite Wiggins being in near-perfect position.

But it wasn’t all offense, all day. Wiggins picked off Jackson later in practice, tapping his feet down deep in the end zone on an inaccurate ball (or potential miscommunication), and he also stood out on a pair of one-on-one drills, high-pointing one ball intended for Jahmal Banks one rep and locking down Rashod Bateman the next.

In a later team drill, it was Chidobe Awuzie’s turn to pick off Jackson, this time on a throw behind Tylan Wallace.

Of course, Jackson had plenty of moments where he looked like the superstar he is, a sprint out to his right where he patiently waited for someone to come open before whipping a line drive to Zay Flowers for a touchdown chief among them. Jackson also found Mark Andrews and Charlie Kolar for touchdowns on back-to-back plays in a red zone drill. Kolar’s catch was especially impressive: a one-handed stab right in the back of the end zone. Both tight ends continued their strong work with Isaiah Likely (foot) still out.

Here were some other notable moments:

• At the end of practice, the Ravens lined up five offensive linemen against four defensive linemen, giving the defensive lineman a chance to pin their ears back and rush the quarterback, something they basically never get to do considering there’s no quarterback contact allowed. Malik Hamm had the highlight of the session, spinning past a whiffing Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan and then spinning again to blow by him after he recovered.
• Banks and Scotty Washington had some nice catches on Rush passes, both going up and over defenders to score touchdowns.
• After retiring in 2021, Chuck Pagano is back in coaching as the Ravens’ senior defensive assistant/secondary coach. After one rep, he pulled rookie cornerback Marquise Robinson aside to break down some things. On his next rep, Robinson showed good make-up speed, tipped an underthrown ball away from Walker and came down with the interception. Pagano had a huge smile on his face.
• The offensive line had several false starts and other procedural penalties, with offending players often being substituted out. The group ran gassers after practice.
• Beau Brade had one of the better plays for the defense, punching a ball out of Walker’s hands for a fumble. After a mad dash — including an offensive player picking up the ball and running with it — Teddye Buchanan eventually came away with the ball.
• After Bihlal Kone’s gruesome season-ending injury against the Colts, the Ravens brought in M.J. Devonshire, who made his practice debut.
• Others not participating in practice included Kyle Hamilton, Keaton Mitchell, T.J. Tampa, Robert Longerbeam and William Kwenkeu. Harbaugh said the injuries to Hamilton, Mitchell and Tampa are not serious. Keyon Martin left practice early; his injury is not serious, either.

One week ahead of Baltimore’s preseason Week 2 game against the Cowboys and two and a half weeks ahead of the NFL’s roster cut deadline, here are four players standing out:

Mitchell ran for 68 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries against the Colts, continuing what has been a strong start.

Mitchell averaged 8.4 yards per carry in 2023 but tore his ACL roughly midway through the season. He missed much of last season but feels like his old self this year, after his first full offseason as a pro.

“I feel good just coming back from strength and conditioning, OTAs, camp,” Mitchell said after the game. “feel a lot better, a lot more confident. So just being more confident in myself and trusting my knee — that it’s stronger, and it can do what I need it to do.”

Mitchell, who said he’s added strength in his upper and lower body, registered 41 of his 68 yards after first contact, according to Pro Football Focus.

“Keaton’s one of those guys that’s obviously got that ability to take it to the house at any time,” Harbaugh said. “You can bounce it to the edge. You can cut it back. He’s good in the pass game, and then also establishing the fact that you’ll run the ball between the tackles. I think he’s doing that, too. And that’s really important. You don’t want to be the guy that they say, ‘Oh, he is an outside run game guy,’ right? You want to make him pay between the tackles, too. That’s something, too, that I know he is very focused on.”

Mitchell has shown impressive burst in practice, too. With Derrick Henry and Justice Hill also at running back, it’s a very talented position group, with three very different skill sets.

Yes, it was just a preseason game, but LaJohntay Wester called his shot on his tremendous punt return touchdown. After nearly having a return touchdown in practice against the Colts, Wester told Mitchell he’d break one in the game, and he did indeed.

Baltimore used four punt returners last season, so if Wester — who also had a 17-yard return earlier — can provide consistency there, it’d be a big help.

“The first punt was a short punt, a tough catch,” Harbaugh said. “He ran up there and made it. Then he gets yards, and every time he had guys buzzing around him. I thought the blocking was good, too, but he made guys miss, got big yards, got [a] touchdown, and obviously, he was massive.”

Wester also had two catches for 41 yards, including a 30-yarder in which he slowed up, found the ball and stayed inbounds along the sideline. The diminutive sixth-round pick has speed to burn and plenty of quickness, which he has shown in one-on-one drills. He had a drop on a potential touchdown Sunday, but overall, he’s had lots of good moments.

Ravens rookie LaJohntay Wester predicted his special teams TD vs. Colts during preseason opener

Bryan DeArdo

The Ravens replace just one starter — left guard — on offense, and it appears Andrew Vorhees has the upper hand in winning that job over Ben Cleveland. Vorhees continues to get more reps there with the first-string offense of late, and Saturday’s practice was a good one for the 2023 seventh-rounder out of USC.

Vorhees is really, really strong, and when he met defenders at the point of attack Saturday, they were pretty much helpless. On an early run in team drills, Vorhees led the way as Henry got to the second level.

When reviewing my notes from training camp, I realized I had written “50” a lot. That’s Adisa Isaac, a 2024 third-round pick out of Penn State. The Ravens have a ton of edge rushers in Odafe Oweh, Kyle Van Noy, Tavius Robinson and Mike Green, and David Ojabo had the monstrous hit on Anthony Richardson that knocked him out of the game. Isaac, however, has flashed more often in practice and also had a sack of his own against Indianapolis, pushing fourth-round rookie Jalen Travis back and taking Daniel Jones down with one hand. He finished the game with four total tackles, the other three on run stops.

On practice Saturday, Isaac showed up big on a couple of would-be run stuffs, too.

Isaac played just 30 defensive snaps as a rookie as he dealt with hamstring injuries, and the EDGE group is deep and talented once again, but Isaac is showing he deserves to be part of it, too.

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Mariano Rivera injures Achilles during Yankees Old-Timers’ Day game

Sports

Next

trending_flat

Jon Gruden still aiming for return to coaching, this time in college football: ‘I’d die to coach in the SEC’

Sports