ExtremeRavens Posted August 5 Posted August 5 It was fresh meat day for the Ravens at the Under Armour Performance Center. After nearly two weeks of practicing against each other, the Ravens finally got some new blood to compete against Tuesday with the visiting Indianapolis Colts, whom the Ravens play Thursday night in the preseason opener. It was good for both teams because it’s a change of pace and talent. When teammates face each other consistently, there is a chance of becoming complacent and predictable, even though the Ravens weren’t very good in the nearly two-hour session. In fact, they looked nothing like a team that is expected to seriously challenge for a Super Bowl title. The good news is that it’s not where you start, but where you finish, but the Ravens have work to do. Let’s start with the offense: Not sharp Besides Mark Andrews and fellow tight end Charlie Kolar, few Ravens receivers got open consistently. The Colts were physical and played the Ravens tight, but Andrews easily beat safeties Nick Cross and Camryn Bynum several times. Andrews has perfected the last-minute push off to gain separation. The best catch of the practice came from receiver Anthony Miller, who hauled in a one-handed, 35-yard touchdown reception down the left sideline despite being blanketed by Bynum. The best dropped pass of the session was receiver Rashod Bateman losing a possible 35-yard touchdown along the same sideline on throw from by quarterback Lamar Jackson. Offensive line woes The Ravens’ pass protection during the team period was poor, and at times Jackson showed his frustration by slamming the ball to the ground. He rarely had time to throw, and when he did he usually went to the check-down receiver or running back. The lack of pass protection wasn’t only in the team session, but the individual period as well. On the first four snaps, both tackles, Roger Rosengarten on the right and Ronnie Stanley on the left, were beaten badly. Stanley even got thrown to the ground in what can only be described as an ugly pass-blocking attempt. The Colts certainly worked on the spin move, and just about all of their defensive linemen attempted it. It seemed apparent that the Colts changed up on their defensive line and the Ravens were ill prepared. But then again, a 4-3 defense is pretty standard. It’s not like these guys haven’t seen it before during their high school and college careers. Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey and safety Sanoussi Kane collide during a joint practice Tuesday. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Sticky coverage Now, on to the defense. Second-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s scheme might not be new, but secondary coach Chuck Pagano continues to put his own spin and emphasis on ramping up the defensive backs, several of whom struggled Tuesday. Pagano repeatedly gave his guys an earful after Baltimore struggled to contain Indianapolis’ pass-catchers during one-on-one periods. Pagano’s messaging was palpable and remained consistent through the ups and downs of the joint session. During 1-on-1s, Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell jetted past cornerback Chuck Awuzie for an easy completion. A few reps later, safety Marlon Humphrey was burned by Colts wideout Alec Pierce on a fade route, but the throw from quarterback Anthony Richardson arrived short and the ball hit Pierce in the hands before falling incomplete as the two players tumbled to the grass. A relieved Humphrey jumped to his feet, retreated to the sideline and jokingly said, “that’s a fast white boy.” Wiggins’ involvement in Tuesday’s brawl could’ve been a build-up from his struggles earlier in practice. During a full-team period, Mitchell burned Wiggins on a deep ball down the right sideline. Richardson’s heave wound up toward Mitchell’s back shoulder, but the receiver adjusted midair to snag the ball against the trailing Wiggins, who tossed his hands up in frustration. One of Wiggins’ sparse highlights included him sticking Pierce on an intermediate comeback route during 1-on-1s. With his running mate and fellow safety Kyle Hamilton absent, rookie Malaki Starks held his own in his first action against real competition. Starks registered a pass breakup against Mitchell during a full-team period, although the Colts quarterbacks rarely thew Starks’ way the rest of practice, a possible indicator of how sticky the 21-year-old was in coverage. Memory lane It’s tough seeing the Indianapolis Colts practice at The Castle in Owings Mills. For those of us old enough to remember, the new facility is only a few miles from the old one on Owings Mills Boulevard where the Colts left Baltimore on March 28, 1984. Some of us grew up watching quarterback Johnny Unitas and running back Lenny Moore near the tail end of their careers. We saw tight end John Mackey in his prime, but also the “Sack Pack” and colleagues such as former Colts linebacker Stan White and safety Bruce Laird. Quarterback Bert Jones and running back Lydell Mitchell had Pro Bowl seasons here. It still hurts seeing that old horseshoe and blue and white colors on a team from Indianapolis, even though former Ravens owner and the late Art Modell tried to purchase the name back before moving his Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore before the start of the 1996 season. Harbaugh likes to talk about history, but here is one lesson for him: In Week 12 of the 1998 season, his younger brother Jim completed 16 of 25 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns as the Ravens beat the Colts, 38-31, in Indianapolis’ first trip to Baltimore. Afterward, Jim presented the game ball to Unitas, who was standing on the sideline. It was a great gesture, and it doesn’t get any better than that for old Baltimore Colts fans. By the way, one of the people on the field Tuesday was Carlie Irsay-Gordon, who is football executive and co-owner and CEO of the Colts. She is the granddaughter of former Colts owner Robert Irsay and the eldest daughter of late Colts owner Jim Irsay. Rookie gem? Keep an eye on Ravens rookie fullback Lucas Scott, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound undrafted free agent from Army. This kid can play. If he does well in preseason games, he could make the team in some capacity, even on the developmental squad. He’s tough, plays extremely hard and looks a lot like current starting fullback Patrick Ricard. The assumption here is that Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken got a nice tip from his cousin, Jeff Monken, the coach at Army. Penalty problems The Ravens will probably have problems jumping offsides because of changes in the cadence for the rest of the preseason, but it’s not a big deal. Not yet, anyway. Harbaugh said before training camp started that they were working with Jackson on different variations of the cadence, and that always causes confusion, especially early in training camp. The Ravens had several high snaps Tuesday and it threw the timing off. Now, if the flags keep flowing once the regular season starts, then the Ravens have big problems. The alternative isn’t good, like going on the first sound or using hand motions. Those tricks are only good on the road, and for just an abbreviated period of time. Leaving a legacy The Ravens recently brought back defensive end Brent Urban, and he is the kind of player most fans root for. The 34-year-old played at the University of Virginia and was drafted in the fourth round by the Ravens in 2014. Urban hasn’t been a star player, but he’ll make a play occasionally, such as knocking down a pass with his long arms. Urban has 169 career tackles, including 10 sacks and 16 pass deflections. He played well against the Colts. His legacy to survive this long in the crazy world of the NFL is amazing. Plus, he is wearing No. 58, the old jersey of nose tackle Michael Pierce who retired at the end of last season. Another Ravens great once wore that number: outside linebacker Peter Boulware who finished with 70 sacks during his eight-year career in Baltimore and is in the team’s Ring of Honor. Traffic nightmare Here’s hoping that the Ravens and city officials make some modifications for fans traveling to M&T Bank Stadium during the regular season. Right now, traffic is a mess getting in and out of the facility and the roads on Russell Street are closed. In addition, there is currently construction going on at the stadium, so it’s a total mess, much like the parking situation over at the practice facility in Owings Mills. Familiar face One of the former Ravens who attended practice Tuesday was cornerback Chris McAlister, a first-round pick by the team in 1999. McAlister played for 11 seasons in the NFL, his last one in 2009 with the New Orleans Saints. He was part of the feared duo of cornerbacks on the record-setting 2000 defense as he teamed with Duane Starks, both of whom could play in press coverage. McAlister finished his career with 431 tackles, 137 pass deflections, 26 interceptions and seven defensive touchdowns. He should be in the Ravens Ring of Honor, but the team has yet to give him that nod. Special teams signs Harbaugh has spent a lot of time lately working on special teams. In particular, he seems to be aligning the splits between offensive linemen in preparation for field goal attempts. The Ravens, though, could use a little help after scrimmaging the Colts. Indianapolis would have scored one touchdown on a kickoff return and came close to scoring another. The Ravens did score on a punt return with LaJohntay Wester as the specialist. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. Contact Josh Tolentino at jtolentino@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200, x.com/JCTSports and instagram.com/JCTSports. View the full article Quote
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