Ravens Insider: Ravens observations from opening practice of training camp

[ExtremeRavens]

The Ravens opened training camp for the 2025 season Wednesday with a 90-minute session that amounted to a glorified offseason practice — except the top players were in attendance.

As expected, coach John Harbaugh declared it a good practice and certain things were clearly noticeable. It appeared that most of the players reported in good shape and were ready to go, even 6-foot-8, 370-pound starting right guard Daniel Faalele. Linebacker Jake Hummel, who will be out a week with a cut on his hand, was the only unexpected absence.

It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the coming days as the temperatures get hotter, but that’s plus for the offensive line. Other starters who looked good were veteran left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who has rebuilt the lower half of his body recently, and second-year right tackle Roger Rosengarten, who looks bigger and thicker compared with his rookie campaign.

The full pads go on Monday. Here’s what else we saw from the opening day of camp:

Nice hands

There were several top catches on Day 1. Even though he was out of bounds, veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins hauled in a one-handed, quick 15-yard out after the ball rolled along his back.

Tight end Mark Andrews caught a long touchdown pass while streaking down the right hash mark. Andrews completed the play with a 20-yard run, something he couldn’t do last season.

That’s a good sign.

New-look secondary

The Ravens used various starting combinations in the secondary, which included cornerbacks Nate Wiggins, Marlon Humphrey, Chidobe Awuzie and Jaire Alexander. The Ravens are hoping the injury-prone Alexander can stay healthy for an entire season and return to the form that made him one of the best in the NFL in 2020 and 2022.

Alexander is cocky, and that’s desperately needed. He knocked down a pass intended for receiver Dayton Wade in the middle of practice and then did one of those signature celebrations.

You didn’t see much of that last season when the Ravens had the No. 31-ranked pass defense in the NFL. I will wait to see if that happens consistently throughout training camp, but it was nice to see some swag back on defense from another player besides Humphrey.

Ravens receivers didn’t get much separation Wednesday, but the defense is always ahead of the offense early in the season.

Injury scare

Fans were holding a collective breath when slot receiver Zay Flowers went down with either a knee or ankle injury after a catch along the left sideline during a 7-on-7 period. Flowers sat on a water cooler for about 10 minutes before returning to action.

Within minutes of returning, he caught a short pass over the middle, made a jump cut and then juked past a defender, so apparently he was OK. Of course, we’ll see if he is on the field Thursday because a lot of swelling might occur overnight.

Flowers, though, looked healthy.

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews showed his speed on a long touchdown catch. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)

Missed opportunities

The Ravens had two big misses in practice as second-year receiver Devontez Walker failed to hold onto a pass after diving over rookie cornerback Bilhal Kone and falling to the ground.

Third-year running back Keaton Mitchell simply dropped a pass from backup quarterback Cooper Rush in what should have been a 40- to 50-yard touchdown reception. Mitchell is in a battle to be the third-down back with Justice Hill, but Hill’s ability to block gives him the edge in passing situations.

Mitchell might have made the play if he didn’t stop running because he didn’t think that he was going to get the ball.

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Where’s the syrup?

The pancake award goes to fullback Patrick Ricard, who easily knocked defensive end David Ojabo to the ground during a pass protection drill. I kept waiting for the late boxing announcer Howard Cosell to say “Down goes Frazier!”

Ojabo won’t want to look at the film on that hit.

Deal or no deal?

With Lamar Jackson in training camp, the Ravens might finally be able to negotiate a new deal with the star quarterback. Everyone knows that Jackson has to be pinpointed, and there is no better time than with him practicing every day.

This isn’t hard to figure out. Top-caliber quarterbacks rotate being the highest-paid player in the NFL, so Jackson will make more on his next deal than the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, who averages $60 million per year on his $240 million extension.

Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard, left, and fullback Lucas Scott clash during a drill. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)

Kicker watch

The rookie kickers performed well. Tyler Loop, drafted in the sixth round out of Arizona, was 6-for-6. John Hoyland, an undrafted free agent from Wyoming, was 4-for-5 with his lone miss from 40 yards.

“With the kickers, it’s a process, and nobody’s more processed than the kickers,” Harbaugh said. “It’s probably more like golf than any other sport in terms of process, swing, replicating that time and time again [and] making a good kick. Arnold Palmer used to talk about making a good putt. Did I make a good putt? If I made a good putt, whether it goes in or not is not the point. The point is, if I make a good putt, I’m going to give myself the best chance to be successful. We want our guys to learn how to make a good kick over and over again in every circumstance.

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“So that process goes into when they’re over there on the side, and nobody’s paying attention to them. When they bring it over to the team period, when they bring it over to a team situation period like we did the second period today in practice where they had to run on the field and make a kick — as game-like as we can make it now — and then when we take it into the game, replicate the kick every single time. That’s what we’re chasing with those guys.”

Harbaugh on Henry

Running back Derrick Henry has already made a fan out of Harbaugh after only one season with the Ravens.

“The intangible thing is the work ethic and the attitude, the enthusiasm for the day,” Harbaugh said of the 31-year-old veteran, who rushed for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns last year. “My dad talks about ‘attacking the day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind,’ and I see that every day, and it’s not necessarily in what he says — although, he’ll have fun — [but] it’s what he does and the way he works at it and how hard he works to get better, how intentional he is about being the best player he can be. That’s his biggest trait, I think.”

Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.

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