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Ravens Insider: Ravens OTA observations: Harbaugh talks Gruden invite, Jackson absence

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The Ravens wrapped up their second week of voluntary organized team activities Friday in Owings Mills, and for the second straight day former NFL coach Jon Gruden was roaming the sideline during the two-hour session.

Gruden and Baltimore coach John Harbaugh go back a long way, with the two having worked on Andy Reid’s staff in the late 1990s when Reid was the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The former assistants have kept in touch since and recently ran into each other in Tampa, Florida, where Gruden lives and where Harbaugh’s daughter had a lacrosse game. Harbaugh and his offensive coordinator Todd Monken and tight ends coach George Godsey also spent time down there with Gruden last offseason.

While Gruden didn’t get a copy of the playbook or a script — “You can only go so far; you’ve got to draw the line somewhere,” Harbaugh said — he did speak to the defense Thursday and the offense Friday.

The former coach of the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers also provided Harbaugh with his insights.

“He studied us, and basically the message was, ‘If I was game-planning against you and your defense, what would I do and how would I attack you guys?’” Harbaugh said. “And he didn’t just stop there. He watched our offensive guys, he talked to our offensive guys, looked at all the players and had something for each player.

“He’s just phenomenal and very, very detailed. [He’s] a great teacher, too.”

Gruden’s coaching career also came to an unceremonious and controversial end when, in October 2021 an NFL investigation into the Washington Football Team for workplace misconduct revealed emails that Gruden had sent between 2011 and 2018 to then Washington general manager Bruce Allen that contained racial, misogynistic and homophobic slurs.

In his second stint with the Raiders at the time, Gruden resigned shortly after the emails were reported by the New York Times. Gruden won 122 games as an NFL coach, including a Super Bowl title with the Bucs in the 2002 season.

After resigning in 2021, Gruden spent 2023 as a consultant for the New Orleans Saints and is currently employed by Barstool Sports. He had no problem speaking up during the Ravens’ practices.

“He was grinding pretty good on some guys,” Harbaugh said. “He was letting them know where they can get better, which I respect. I think a great coach is not afraid to tell people where they can improve, and doesn’t every player want to know that?”

Lamar Jackson absent again

Since showing up for the second voluntary OTA session last week, Lamar Jackson hasn’t been seen since.

Not that Harbaugh is too worried about it.

“I’m not taking any position on it or judging it, or whatever,” he said. “Lamar, the day he was out of here, played great. I could see he was in great shape, threw the ball great, made the right reads, knew the offense in an excellent kind of way. I thought he was fantastic.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson during OTAs at the Under Armour Performance Center. (Kim Hairston/Staff)
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, shown at OTAs in May, wasn't at OTAs on Friday. Coach John Harbaugh isn't concerned with Jackson's absence at the voluntary workouts. (Kim Hairston/Staff)

“And when he comes back and practices, when that happens, I expect him to play at that level. That’s what you measure. … I’m not measuring the attendance. I mean it’s a voluntary camp, so I’m not measuring that. I love being out here, and I think all the players do. And when Lamar’s out here, I promise you, he loves being out here. You could see it when he was out here. So, he’s my guy. I love him, and I can’t wait to just get into this season and get going.”

It’s also not dissimilar to what Jackson did last year, when he was in attendance for OTAs early, absent the middle week and then returned during the final week.

He then had career highs in passing yards (4,172) and touchdown passes (41) while directing an offense that became the first to surpass 4,000 passing and 3,000 rushing yards in the same season en route to a 12-5 record and AFC North title. Jackson struggled in the playoffs with two turnovers in a divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills, but it would be a stretch to pin that on voluntary practices taking place in June when he nearly won a third NFL Most Valuable Player Award for his performance during the regular season.

That said, if history is any indication, there’s a chance Jackson could be in attendance next week when Baltimore wraps up OTAs with four more practices between Monday and Thursday.

Other observations

• Defensive tackle Travis Jones made the play of the day, batting a pass from backup Cooper Rush up in the air and leaping to haul it in for an interception on the first play of full team work.

• It was also one of several interceptions on the day, with the veteran Rush and second-year quarterback Devin Leary both struggling with throws that were either well off-target or easy targets for defenders. Rookie safety Malaki Starks and second-year cornerback Nate Wiggins snagged two of them.

• Second-year wide receiver Devontez Walker has enjoyed a nice spring thus far. Thursday, he had a pair of contested catches against Wiggins and fellow cornerback T.J. Tampa and made a pretty over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone on a pass from Leary.

• The practices are voluntary, but the intensity for some players and coaches is not. That includes tight Mark Andrews, who let Rush hear about it after the quarterback had three straight incompletions at one point, while Harbaugh was in the ear of a couple of players, including Tampa at one point after yanking him out of one seven-on-seven session. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley also had words with Jones after the opening interception.

• With temperatures into the 80s under a toasty midday sun, Broderick Washington and Jones were two players who had to take a knee on the sideline at one point. Guard Daniel Faalele, who struggled to stay on the field Thursday, was a little better Friday.

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.

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Ravens quarterback Cooper Rush works out during OTA at Under Armour Performance Center. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)
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