oldno82

The thing is, there has not been a successful running quarterback in the NFL who has had a long career running downfield. There have been many successful pocket passers who get injured and come back to have long careers but not any I can think of who were running quarterbacks who got injured and returned to play well as a pocket passer if they weren't successful being a pocket passer before they got hurt. That's why I want to see them transform Lamar into a pocket passer predominantly. Otherwise he could go down with an injury and never make it back. I think Lamar has the smarts, coolness under fire, and arm to be a very good pocket passer and the team has an obligation to convert him into a guy who stays in the pocket first and runs only out of desperation.

Losing Mason while keeping Boykin was not a smart move. Max, I saw that video on TV...cracked me up too!

Who wrote the article?

I wonder who the sacred 4 will be.

And the answer is...???

I like what they've done there! Glad they got McSorely back but he should be on the 53.

Are we really going to go with only 2 qb's (who run a lot)? Guess so but it makes me uncomfortable.

I guess they think his downfield blocking is worth keeping even if he can't get open enough. Sorry to see McSorely cut. He still deserves a chance to try out behind the '1's somewhere. Would've cut Justice Hill and kept McCrary or, even better, Mason.

After watching the dvr recording, i'd have to say, put a guy, Mason, we already have, in our backfield rotation. He runs big and fast and with determination. I think he just needs some time with our first string blocking.

Well, all I can say is, that really sucks about Dobbins. He would have been the next star, or superstar for the whole of the NFL. Just hoping he can come back next year and be one of the best at his position, for his sake alone. Meanwhile, I think Gus and Ty'son will hold down the fort. What is worrying me most isn't RB or WR but the O-line. They've got two weeks to clean that up and they'd better do it wisely.

Can somebody tell me the nature of Sammy Watkins' current injury?

I look for Lamar to play a series or two. The rest I have no answer for (though I doubt it).

This just in...Greg Roman fell over a stool in the locker room right onto Lamar's leg. They carted both of them off. And John Eisenberg stepped on Tucker's toe on the field and broke it. He was carted off. Several fans had panic attacks watching the practice. They were carted off. Under NFL rules, fans can on IR for 3 games and if they can't come back by then they lose their PSL's!

Crap... the next thing we'll here is that the receivers coach went down with a torn ACL!

Hill is not Priest Holmes who you could tell before he was traded that he was damned good.

You must be talking about this: https://www.fanduel.com/theduel/posts/video-rashod-bateman-already-progressing-injury-rehab-ravens-01fdjdrspxpw.

Stanley and Zeitzler returned to practice today. Wow! If we can get Bozeman back we'll have 4 lineman back. Wonder how Cleveland is doing with his concussion recovery.

I hope so but I doubt it. They've been pretty much manhandled during practices from what I've read.

Let's just hope Watkins stays healthy enough to last until Bateman can play.

I agree somewhat that Bateman's missing camp and pre-season is a big hit to his development with Lamar. But, I also think he's more developed than most rookies and will start to make his presence known by October at the latest. He doesn't look like a rookie and I think has that 'it' factor that says 'star player'. Just my hunch. Proche and Duvernay were both not used enough by any means last year. The coaching staff, as you said, didn't get them on the field. They seem to not want to use rookies in certain cases though to my eye they were ready for a shot to play.

If we lose Bateman for 8 weeks...well,... pardon me if I throw up.

I couldn't agree more!

If you trade the high-priced star you lose his cap hit, sure. But your new qb will usually require 2 seasons to hit his stride and that's assuming you have such a star just laying around. After 2 years you go through the same thing all over again and on and on and on. Seldom will you have a really good younger qb on your team or be able to trade for. And that's not even to say what happens to your team chemistry and cohesion when you're switching out qbs every 4 years. And this goes for any player who is a superstar. Equal replacements aren't just lying around waiting for your team to call with a trade. The real trick is to balance on a high wire the constant push and pull of paying the high price for a franchise qb and keeping enough of a team around him with enough quality to give yourself a playoff shot every year. The Pats did it for as long as they wanted to keep Brady. They are the model to try and follow. And that is extremely difficult.

Sounds good. Like you said, more will be known next week but so far so good.

Maybe he can head-butt some veteran responsibiity into Lamar too.