OTA notes

[tsylvester]

Some good stuff in here, the best is that there were no major injuries

Here is some on Wiggins

Wiggins wasn’t often targeted. He was conducting his assignments and no better rep showed it than during 11-on-11 drills in the red zone.  At the snap, Wiggins read his initial receiver. After the receiver cut in, Wiggins dropped into his assigned zone, searching for the closest threat. Tight end Mark Andrews flew into his zone and linebacker Roquan Smith trailed Andrews before passing him off to Wiggins, who snapped his head back and forth between his assignment and the quarterback’s eyes. As Andrews worked his way back toward Smith’s zone, Wiggins shaded off Andrews, recognizing a receiver was working their way to the back-corner of the end zone—Wiggins responsibility. He didn’t get jumbled up in traffic. He didn’t stick to Andrews—Jackson’s favorite target and a lethal scoring threat. Hard to blame him if he did. But he didn’t. He diagnosed and made the reads. And when Jackson looked his way, he saw the rookie cornerback sealing off the read and forced him to throw elsewhere.

One on Cunningham

Last season, there were clunky elements to Cunningham’s practices. Not really by fault of his own, seeing as he was moved to wide receiver and a smooth transition is all but impossible in such a short time frame. During OTAs, confidence showed and his play improved. Frequently, Cunningham was targeted and he made the most of them, from toe-tapping full-extension snags on the boundary to run-of-the-mill short routes. But by OTAs end, Cunningham saw first-team reps as the first non-starter in rotation.

Next week he’ll need to prove he can do it against better competition. The past week the Ravens’ defense were missing star safety Kyle Hamilton and their top three cornerbacks in Marlon Humphrey, Brandon Stephens and Arthur Maulet.

If Cunningham can replicate his performance against the big dogs, he’ll be in business.

https://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2024/6/7/24172910/ravens-stock-report-7-up-6-down-after-otas-nfl-news-offseason-workouts

 

[oldno82]

Good news for sure. Let's hope it holds up in camp.

[tsylvester]

Some more this week

Quote

Throughout OTAs, the Ravens secondary were missing the majority of their starting unit. But with Marlon Humphrey, Brandon Stephens, Arthur Maulet and Marcus Williams on the field, the clamps were on, even in the limited contact and contesting rules they were playing with, made big plays.

That isn’t to say the offense didn’t get a few of their own plays made. During a one-minute offense drill, quarterback Lamar Jackson marched the team downfield on six plays and connected with wide receiver Tylan Wallace for the fade-route touchdown against Stephens. Defense had a better practice, but the offense won reps, too.

AM is playing well, good to see

 

Arthur Maulet was on fire in practice. Few balls in his vicinity ended in receptions. And, early in practice he punched the ball loose from wide receiver Zay Flowers, forcing a fumble. Maulet recovered the fumble, the defense roared in celebration and a couple defensive linemen lifted Maulet into the air, chanting Maulet’s name. Later on, Maulet intercepted Jackson, drawing more cheers from the defense

 

After Maulet’s interception and the next play being a false start, linebacker Roquan Smith intercepted Jackson for a poor three-play stretch from the offense.

Tylan Wallace, who I mentioned in my minicamp competitions and stock report had an excellent practice. Wallace was frequently targeted by Jackson and caught all but one—a Stephens pass breakup—including the drive-winning touchdown during the one-minute offense drill. An excellent start for Wallace this week.

A player to keep an eye on the rest of this week could be undrafted rookie wide receiver Isaiah Washington. Today he snagged a few passes, including a sideline toe-tap catch to move the chains.

Though Stephens allowed a touchdown, he also scored one of his own. Early in practice Jackson swung a pass to Derrick Henry, who bobbled the catch and the ball went upward. Stephens leapt up, snared the ball and took it back the other way for a would-be defensive touchdown.

In something I didn’t think was possible, tight end Mark Andrews has found another level of intensity. During his individual route-running drills, Andrews was yelling and going full bore. Afterward, Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken chatted with him and made hand gestures imitating where to run on certain plays and was in support. Later in practice, Andrew jawed at an official during 11-on-11 when his grabby defender didn’t get flagged and the ball went incomplete as a result of being held

https://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2024/6/11/24176456/ravens-minicamp-notes-2024-arthur-maulet-dominates-offense-building-chemistry

[oldno82]

Preston says Bateman was frustrated by the way the Ravens weren't passing the ball his way today. At the end of practice, though, he and Jackson were seen joking together on the sideline. Make of it what you will.

[tsylvester]

The bag of donuts is full of hot air, he tries to stir the pot then stand back and say I told you so.

[tsylvester]

Day 2

Humphrey and Samac are new absences after participating yesterday. Humphrey was in-and-out of practice throughout OTAs and it remains a mystery what he’s dealing with. Samac did step onto the field in his jersey midway through practice, but did not participate. Hamilton was seen on the sideline today with a compression sleeve on what’s assumed the injured elbow.

Midway through practice, offensive lineman Patrick Mekari exited the field and I did not see him return. He exited the field on his own and headed inside. It was unclear if something happened, as he was on the far field participating in run offense vs. run defense drills and I didn’t see if something happened.

 

The Ravens want their quarterbacks to test themselves in OTAs and training camp. They’re asked to make throw riskier plays in practice. Quarterbacks coach Tee Martin talked about it post-practice.

“It’s keys to the Ferrari, right? If you give a guy the keys to a Ferrari you don’t tell him to do 30 [miles per hour],” Martin said. “And sometimes as coaches you can’t be scared when they make mistakes. And you can’t allow the mistakes that they make to put fear in your heart for not calling that play the next time, because without that there is no growth.”

Wide receiver Rashod Bateman did not participate in the second half of 11-on-11 practices. From my notes, he didn’t appear to participate in yesterday’s second-half portion of the same drills. He did participate in the first half of them on both days, however.

After a multi-interception practice from quarterback Lamar Jackson on Day 1, he had zero in today’s practice. At times it felt like he was playing pitch-and-catch with his tight ends, frequently connecting with Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar. According to my notes, the three collectively caught 10 passes from Jackson. There were more from backup quarterback Josh Johnson, too.

The Ravens are testing wide receivers Tylan Wallace, Malik Cunningham and Sean Ryan. Both Wallace and Cunningham are getting frequent reps with Jackson and the first-team. Wallace had a solid day, though there were a few blemishes with two drops, one in 7-on-7 and another during 11-on-11, and he was called for a false start. The false start was questionable as defensive lineman Justin Madubuike jumped over the line and even he believed he was the one getting called until Wallace ran his false start lap around the field.

https://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2024/6/12/24177241/ravens-minicamp-notes-2024-offense-rebounds-on-day-2-trenton-simpson-flashes