For a slimmer and faster Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, the game is slowing down
Brian Wacker, The Baltimore Sun
With the Ravens trailing 14-7 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining in the first half and searching to find any kind of rhythm, Jackson dropped back to pass on second-and-5 from his own 18-yard line when blitzing safety Justin Reid batted the quarterback’s attempted dump-off to running back Justice Hill in the left flat skyward. Jackson tracked and chased down the fluttering ball, caught it and raced forward. The official stat line reads, “L. Jackson pass short left to L. Jackson to BLT 31 for 13 yards,” but it was the shoestring tackle by linebacker Drue Tranquill that lingered long after.
“I want that to be a touchdown,” Jackson told The Sun when asked which play he would want back from last season. “That would’ve changed the dynamic of the game if I would’ve scored.”
And in years past, perhaps he would have.
“I was fat,” continues Jackson, noting his weight loss from 230 pounds two seasons ago to 210 last year to about 200 currently. “I had to lose some weight. No way a linebacker should be able to dive and grab my legs like that.”
Instead of a potentially history-altering score, the drive ended in a punt. Baltimore knows the rest.
“You would hope it’s only going to get better, and it has,” Monken said. “Systematically and individually, it’s been a great offseason, and he’s been great.”
How so?
“Just how we do it,” Monken continued. “Just so we are on the same page probably. How do we streamline it to where we are on the same page? Players can anticipate calls, can anticipate situations where we want to go A, B, C, D each week. What are our staples that we want to be able to get to? So, eliminate as much of the guesswork as you can.”
With less guesswork and more understanding of one another, Jackson says he appreciates the autonomy afforded him under Monken.
Ravens GM Eric DeCosta understands there might be ‘hiccups’ with younger O-line
Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic
Predictably, all of the change is causing some angst after a preseason where the run blocking wasn’t good and Vorhees and Faalele, in particular, alternated good and bad reps.
“I think there’s still a little bit of an unknown because we haven’t played as a unit in games. We’ve only seen it in practice,” DeCosta said, adding that a neck injury that has temporarily sidelined Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum exacerbated some of the issues. “Not having a Pro Bowl center out there, that’s kind of the guy that drives the car in a lot of ways on the offensive line. He’s the guy that will typically adjust the offensive line and works with the quarterback on things like protections and stuff. It’s a very important position, and we’re blessed to have one of the best guys in the league.”
Linderbaum returned to practice earlier this week and is expected to play against the Chiefs. His return, however, won’t answer the team’s myriad questions up front. DeCosta acknowledged Thursday that the team understands there could be growing pains.
“I’m excited for the future,” he said. “We may have a couple of hiccups along the way, but I think we’ve started to build from the bottom up, and I think a year from now, we’ll be in a great place.”
News & Notes: Ravens Expect ‘Hiccups’ With Offensive Line, But Long-Term Growth
Ryan Mink, BaltimoreRavens.com
DeCosta Likes QB Room, Leaves Door Open to Addition
The Ravens opted to keep just two quarterbacks, Jackson and Josh Johnson, on their 53-man roster even after the NFLPA vetoed a rule change to allow a third emergency quarterback for games to reside on teams’ practice squads.
Rookie sixth-round draft pick Devin Leary was waived but signed back onto the practice squad.
“We have three QBs, so heaven forbid we get an injury, and if that happens, then we’ll have to adjust the roster if we get a long-term injury at quarterback,” DeCosta said.
Former Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley will reportedly be released by the Cleveland Browns, but it does not appear that Baltimore is on the immediate lookout for help, especially after Johnson went a perfect 11-of-11 for 120 yards and a touchdown in the team’s second preseason game.
“He’s like having another coach, and he’s great with Lamar, the players love him, he’s highly respected, [and] he’s a talented player. So, we love Josh,” DeCosta said.
“And with Devin, we have a young player, and he had his moments. As we’ve seen with quarterbacks, there’s a lot of things that he can improve on and get better at, and we believe he will. We like the room, but it doesn’t mean that we won’t add another guy, which we could do at some point. It’s like any position on the team; we’ll continue to evaluate and look at players that become available and make decisions based off of that.”
Predicting potential 2024 surprises for all 32 NFL teams
Dan Graziano, ESPN
Don’t be surprised if … Isaiah Likely is the Ravens’ second-leading receiver.
What I’m hearing: Second-year wideout Zay Flowers is the team’s No. 1 receiver, and the Ravens believe he’s poised for a big second-year leap. But Likely, who filled in at tight end when franchise stalwart Mark Andrews was hurt last season and developed a rapport with quarterback Lamar Jackson, is a guy the Ravens want to get on the field even with Andrews healthy. He caught 21 passes for 322 yards and five scores after taking over for Andrews in the TE1 role in Week 12.
The Ravens tried out a lot of multiple-tight end looks this offseason, and when I was at Ravens camp, Likely told me he was “learning every position, because in this offense, they want me to be able to go everywhere, whether it’s in the backfield, in line, in the slot, out wide or whatever. So just learning everything and being that chess piece to move around.” The Ravens view Likely as a playmaker who creates mismatches at various parts of the field, and they’d like to use him all over their offense.
NFL 2024 preview: It’s a copycat league, so what schemes will we see more of this season?
Nate Tice, Yahoo Sports
Study up on ‘Odd Mirror’ fronts
One last defensive concept that I could see being called more frequently, especially because athletic quarterbacks aren’t going away any time soon, is what they call “Odd Mirror” fronts.
This front has been a staple on passing downs in college for a few years now, because it’s a great combination of flooding the passing lanes with bodies, which will naturally force the quarterback to hold onto the football. And when the quarterback does look to extend the play when no one gets open, it baits the quarterback into fool’s gold escape lanes and has a player (or players) ready to corral the quarterback.