ExtremeRavens Posted July 22 Posted July 22 The fields are lush and green with freshly painted white lines marking each yard. Even the synthetic putting surface near the front door of the Ravens’ facility in Owings Mills got a makeover with new turf. While quarterback Lamar Jackson was out sick for the first day of training camp on Sunday, hope and promise are still in full bloom for Baltimore, coach John Harbaugh and his players. “Now it’s legit; now they have to be here,” Harbaugh said Sunday as the Ravens held their first full team practice of the new year. “I think everybody’s focus does dial in a little bit more — a lot more — because the time is at hand, the schedule is front of us, the countdown’s begun and we’re getting ready for something we’re about to embark on.” The beginning of training camp marks the start of a six-week sojourn to the 2024 NFL season and the Ravens’ prime-time opener against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 5. The sting of last season’s loss to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game at M&T Bank Stadium has mostly healed. The stench that lingered over the city from an underwhelming, mistake-filled performance has dissipated, replaced by a wave of change that has swept through the roster and within the organization. Gone are wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, Pro Bowl inside linebacker Patrick Queen, safety Geno Stone and longtime running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, along with three starting offensive linemen and several other contributors who signed elsewhere in free agency during the offseason. The coaching staff, meanwhile, saw the departure of whiz kid defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, now the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, as well as several key assistants, including former defensive line coach Anthony Weaver and former defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson. The front office wasn’t immune, either, with former director of player personnel Joe Hortiz now the general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers. He helped hire Harbaugh’s younger brother, Jim, as coach after he led is alma mater, Michigan, to the College Football Playoff national championship last season. Despite all that turnover, the expectation remains the same for the Ravens, both in their building and around the NFL: Super Bowl or bust. “There is a significant amount of change,” Harbaugh said. “Certainly more coaches than you normally see. That’s part of how it works. … We embrace it. We embrace opportunity on the coaching staff side for these guys to move up in these positions … and then embrace it as players, too. … I like our guys. I’m very optimistic they’ll do very well.” Ravens first day of training camp 2024 | PHOTOS Chief among them of course is Jackson, who last season, at age 27, became the youngest player to be named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player twice. Jackson led Baltimore to a league best 13-4 regular-season record and the brink of the organization’s first Super Bowl appearance in over a decade while also boasting career highs in passing yards and completion percentage. The Ravens also made a free agent splash this offseason, adding former All-Pro running back Derrick Henry, who was the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2020. The former Tennessee Titans star has twice led the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns and is a four-time Pro Bowl selection, including last year. And after Baltimore’s defense last season became the first in history to lead the league in sacks, turnovers and points allowed per game, it returns All-Pro talent at every level in defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, inside linebacker Roquan Smith and do-it-all safety Kyle Hamilton, among other key pieces. Still, for all of Baltimore’s talent, a cloud continues to hover. The Ravens are just 2-4 in the playoffs with Jackson as their quarterback, and his postseason performances have been pockmarked by subpar play. That includes last year’s playoffs, when he struggled in the first half of a divisional round game against the Houston Texans and then fell flat against the Chiefs, throwing just one touchdown pass while being intercepted once, fumbling once and being sacked three times. Kansas City went on to win, 17-10, and this season will try to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls while Jackson and the Ravens were left wondering again why they couldn’t even get there. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the criticism fell on Jackson, who is entering his seventh year in the league. Ravens running back Derrick Henry signs autographs for children from Ronald McDonald House Charities who came to watch the first day of training camp Sunday. (Amy Davis/Staff) Sunday, Harbaugh went out of his way to defend the quarterback, launching into a nearly four-minute long counterattack. “They used to tell you don’t read your press clippings … we don’t really have press clippings anymore, we have phones and computers. … I do flip them through them, I read the stuff, I see the guys say what they say on the shows,” he said. “The good ones, I just scroll past because that’s just candy. The bad ones … I read it right away. I don’t let it go. “And Lamar, for whatever reason, there’s a lot of great things said about Lamar but there’s a lot of stuff that’s said you just gotta scratch your head and gotta wonder what’s that person’s even thinking. We take it personally. Lamar’s a guy, all his life Lamar Jackson is a guy who’s been answering those same questions. I’m talking about since he was a kid; junior high, high school, college, the draft, the success he’s had in the National Football League and it still comes up.” For Ravens fans, though, only a Super Bowl will do at this point. “We’ve always had a vision for Lamar Jackson,” Harbaugh continued. “It started with Lamar’s vision and his mom’s vision when he said he was gonna be a quarterback. … We bought in into that. We embraced it. We built an offense for it in [2019]. We’re building another offense for it in ’23 and ’24. “The vision … you see it like it’s already happened, you can see it like it’s already been done. The victory has already been won when you’re pouring into a vision and the vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback in the history of the National Football League. It’s gonna happen.” For that to happen, however, Jackson must lead the Ravens to the sport’s ultimate game. Only once have the Ravens even reached the AFC title game with Jackson at the helm. But there are reasons for optimism. Notably, Jackson is in his second year under offensive coordinator Todd Monken and will have greater input and control. His top receiver from last year, Zay Flowers, was one of the league’s best rookies in 2023. There is the addition of Henry, who, even at age 30, is the best back Jackson has ever played with. There is dependable and tight end Mark Andrews, who is healthy again after missing the final seven games of the regular season last year because of an ankle injury, as well as the emergence of fellow tight end Isaiah Likely. There is a defensive system that has consistently been one of the league’s best even through recent roster turnover. And there is Jackson, who for all his playoff struggles remains one of the game’s most dynamic, electric and talented players at any position. “He’s the most special player in the world,” Andrews said. “There is no one else like him. He’s the best quarterback in the NFL, and he continues to show why he’s labeled that. “He’s our captain, our leader, and we all look to him.” As usual, so will everyone else until he brings the Lombardi Trophy back to Baltimore. View the full article Quote
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