An exciting practice concludes at M&T Bank Stadium
The bright lights shined down on the Ravens fourth practice of training camp and a crowd 26,000 strong roared for a litany of highlights. Here are the latest storylines from camp.
Put some of the highlight clips from the stream together in one spot.
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— Kyle Phoenix Barber (@KylePBarber) July 31, 2022
Travis Jones Is On The Radar
A player whose name hasn’t been talked about the first four days of camp is rookie defensive lineman Travis Jones. That changes today, after his one-on-one pass rush reps caught the attention of many, specifically his rep against offensive lineman Patrick Mekari where Jones exploded off the snap and blew past the blocker. He’s caused disruption at times and veteran nose tackle Michael Pierce praised him following today’s practice.
“Did you see him today,” Pierce said. “That’s all you need to know. He’s special, man, he’s special. Physically gifted. For a big dude, he can really, really move. They don’t make too many like him.”
Ben Cleveland Needs to Pass Conditioning Test… Still
Four days into training camp and second-year left guard Ben Cleveland has yet to practice. He was seen at the stadium on Saturday, but not with his jersey on accompanying his teammates. Questions arose if Cleveland suffered a setback or injury, but Head Coach John Harbaugh clarified after practice it’s on Cleveland to pass the test.
“He’s been struggling with that part of it,” Harbaugh said. “We’re not going to put a player out there until he can do it. I know he can do it, he’s going to do it. He’s just got to get out there and get it done.”
Harbaugh also clarified a player can only take the conditioning test once per day, clearing up a misconception with the media that a player can take the test multiple times per day.
Too Much Mark?
Targeting Mark Andrews is a wise decision for Lamar Jackson, but when is it too much? On multiple 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, about every pass was heading in Andrews’ direction. Rookie safety Kyle Hamilton took notice, too.
“It seemed like every ball was going to Mark,” Hamilton said.
Maybe I’m being nitpicky, but Andrews getting an overwhelming majority of targets felt a bit cumbersome tonight.
That said, I can understand why he’s getting the targets. He’s open. Andrews is a reigning First-Team All-Pro and penalizing him or the offense for throwing his way is foolish. He’s open all over the place and secures the catch damn near every time.
Devin Duvernay Suffers Thigh Bruise
Midway through practice, wide receiver Devin Duvernay and safety Chuck Clark collided along the right sideline and Duvernay took the brunt of it. For several minutes, he remained on the sidelines down on his knees, shaken up from the collision. However, Duvernay never left to the locker room. After practice, Harbaugh informed the media it was “nothing serious.”
“He’s going to [have] a thigh bruise,” Harbaugh said. “He could have come back; I just said, ‘No, not tonight.’”
Ravens will certainly want him healthy for the regular season and with the cautious approach to the season, it makes sense for Harbaugh to cool him off for the night.
Duvernay is expected to be a big part of the offense come the regular season, and Harbaugh gave some insight into his role being more involved with the jet sweep Duvernay had during practice which gained 20-yards.
“He’s going to be a big part of [running the ball],” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know if he’ll be in the backfield as a running back, per se; I think [it’ll] be more as a jet-sweep guy, a mover guy. But that’s part of our offense. Running backs run those plays too, so he’s going to definitely be doing that.”