ExtremeRavens Posted August 8 Posted August 8 The Ravens couldn’t escape a meaningless preseason football game completely healthy, but they beat the Indianapolis Colts, 24-16, behind two show-stopping ball carriers. Here are five things we learned from the game: It’s officially time to be worried about the quarterbacks not named Lamar Jackson Consider this halftime stat: Two Ravens quarterbacks combined for two completions and two interceptions over seven drives. Neither Cooper Rush nor Devin Leary inspired much confidence that they’d be able to keep the Ravens afloat should Lamar Jackson be forced to miss any time. It started bad and never got better, as the two signal callers totaled 59 passing yards. “Has an NFL preseason game ever been won in 59 passing yards?” Harbaugh said. “We’d like to pass for more than 59 yards.” The second Ravens play from scrimmage in the first preseason game of what is to be a season with February aspirations was a pick thrown by Rush. He dropped back in the pocket and heaved the ball up the right sideline to a streaking Dayton Wade, ignoring safety Alex Johnson engulfing Baltimore’s undersized receiver in coverage. Johnson shed a push and brought the ball into his chest. It was quite the debut for Rush, who threw an interception in his last ball of Tuesday’s joint practice. Rush signed a two-year deal worth up to $12.2 million this offseason. His seven years of NFL experience — in which, as offensive coordinator Todd Monken pointed out, “he’s done an outstanding job — not a good job — an outstanding job” — made him seem like a viable backup. Rush finished his Ravens debut with two completions on four attempts for 16 yards. His passer rating was 20.8. Leary replaced Rush in the second quarter. He threw an interception before completing a pass, the latter of which didn’t happen until past the seven-minute mark of the third quarter. He completed three passes on 12 attempts for 43 yards, good for a 7.3 passer rating. “I feel good about Cooper,” Harbaugh said. “Devin, competitor, fought out there, but just didn’t go his way tonight.” Don’t be surprised if a UDFA makes this roster In 20 of the past 21 seasons (sans pandemic-marred 2020), the Ravens’ final 53-man roster has included at least one undrafted free agent. The organization prides itself on talent evaluation of the kind of gem who might fly under the radar but offer a cost-efficient contributor. Patrick Ricard, Michael Pierce and Keaton Mitchell are a few recent examples. The two undrafted rookies with the best shot to claim a roster spot by the 53-man roster deadline later this month are Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins and Tennessee-Chattanooga cornerback Reuben Lowery. Higgins was the better of the two Thursday night. He grabbed Baltimore’s lone interception in the fourth quarter, picking off fellow rookie Riley Leonard. That’s to say there’s less grandeur in a preseason garbage-time interception. Still, he forced a takeaway to complement his three tackles and two pass deflections. If there’s a UDFA roster spot available, it likely falls to a linebacker. The only certainties are Roquan Smith, Trenton Simpson and rookie Teddye Buchanan. It’s likely that the Ravens carry a fourth into Week 1 and prioritizes them on special teams. Lowery is the other intriguing option because of his flexibility in the secondary. He can play in nickel or dime looks. His versatility fits right in to the stylistic approach of Baltimore’s defense. It’s also a position fraught with injuries, meaning that if the Ravens see a necessity in keeping another defensive back, Lowery should be in the mix. He finished with four tackles Thursday night. Ravens rookie LaJohntay Wester all but secured the role of punt returner with his performance Thursday night. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Keaton Mitchell and LaJohntay Wester bring the juice LaJohntay Wester called his shot this week. He told Keaton Mitchell and any teammate willing to bend an ear at practice that he felt in his bones that he could take a return to the house in his Ravens debut. One of the NFL Network cameras caught Wester on the sideline after the game, letting all that emotion pour out. “I just knew it was coming,” the sixth-round draft pick from Colorado said. “Just by watching film and us practicing against them, I just knew we had them.” Wester and Mitchell were the cornerstone duo of the preseason win. In a game in which the tangible takeaways are few and far between, it’s easy to look at those two and start to dream about how they can inject a new layer of juice into what was already one of the best offenses in the NFL last year. According to Next Gen Stats, Wester traveled a total distance of 115.4 yards on the cutback 87-yard punt return touchdown. He recently told The Baltimore Sun that he grew up watching Devin Hester highlights. Following in the footsteps of his idol, the similarly named Wester’s first punt return in an NFL game went 80-plus yards to the end zone. “That is one of the reasons why they brought me here, is to become a game-changer in the special teams department,” Wester said. “I am taking that role head on.” Ravens vs. Colts in preseason opener | PHOTOS | Photos There was talk all through camp of how that position might be decided upon. Wester was the popular pick for surprise runaway. Tylan Wallace and Anthony Miller made sense as incumbents. Coach John Harbaugh and special teams coordinator Chris Horton assured reporters that how any of them capitalize on a return matters far less than how often they catch the ball. Harbaugh said that he isn’t rushing to carve a Week 1 punt returner’s name in stone. The Ravens entered camp with a fairly wide-open race. “Still got two more weeks, a lot of things can happen,” Harbaugh said. But Wester makes it hard to look away. As for Mitchell, the kid’s still got it. In Week 15 of 2023, Mitchell suffered a season-ending ACL tear that left him on the shelf until the back half of last season. Even then, he never looked like himself: the shifty playmaker fans remembered pre-surgery. Mitchell has been the talk of training camp. That talk all sounds the same: he’s back to his normal self. Back to “being supersonic,” Derrick Henry said. Thursday night, Mitchell single-handedly drove the first iteration of the offense. He carried the ball four times for 52 of a 71-yard drive, including the touchdown. That 22-yard run showcased a fully repaired knee that handled two sharp plants and dive into the end zone with a defender clinging to his calf. “I haven’t gotten to the box in a minute,” Mitchell said. “It took a lot, just trusting rehab, trusting the people that’s putting you through rehab, making sure you follow the right steps. You gotta be disciplined with everything you do. And most importantly, just trusting yourself.” Now, picture that alongside Henry and Justice Hill in a backfield steered by Jackson. Loop gets a ‘B+’ Tyler Loop’s first field goal attempt was a head scratcher. His 46-yard attempt sailed wide left. That was after a nearly perfect training camp and the 60-yarder at a recent stadium practice to cap a perfect week. The crowd that drowned out M&T Bank Stadium with chants of “Looooop” after a point after surely expected a no-doubter on the mid-distance try. Harbaugh said that Loop “stubbed his toe on the ground” on the downswing. It pushed the ball slightly left. The coach was more impressed by Loop’s ability to flush that miss, get pushed back to 52 yards, and connect. “He passed the test tonight,” Harbaugh said. “Might not have been an A++, but B+.” Average out the two grades the coach has given his rookie kicker and it’s clear that there’s enough confidence that his job isn’t in impending danger. The Ravens saw enough in Loop that they were comfortable parting ways with UDFA John Hoyland this week. And Harbaugh dismissed the notion that the one miss introduced any uncertainty to the situation, partly because it was obvious from the sideline what went wrong in the operation. An argument vindicated by the made kick. Ravens cornerback Bilhal Kone is carted off the field after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the preseason opener. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) It stinks to watch a major preseason injury Kone was carted off the field with his left leg wrapped in an air cast, ending his chances at a fight toward a roster spot as a depth cornerback. Harbaugh said postgame that Kone will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ligament in his knee. He was injured on a jump ball in the front corner of the end zone and immediately started writhing in pain — a gutting scene for a sixth-round rookie making his case for a roster spot. Kone had already been through the ringer this training camp. He missed several practices early on because of a shoulder injury. It’s not his first confrontation with adversity. Kone was born in Apple Valley, Minnesota, but spent the first years of his life living with his grandmother in Ivory Coast because of the family’s financial troubles. French was his first language. When he moved back to the States at 6 years old, assimilating wasn’t so easy. Kone told The Sun that his brother Momo once shoved an apple in his face. “This,” Momo taunted, “red. Apple,” carefully enunciating each syllable. English wasn’t much of a prerequisite to play youth football. As a 7-year-old at the Apple Valley Community Center, Kone played for the red team. “First kick of the first quarter, beginning of the game, boom. Took it to the house,” Momo said. “I’m there at the game watching this and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God. You’re gonna be special.’” His household was a clinic in overcoming adversity, his family a well of inspiration. Bilhal’s younger brother, Hamza, endured two bouts with cancer and died in July 2016, the summer before Bill’s freshman year of high school. He writes “Ball for Hamza” on every pair of cleats in the closet. And Bilhal’s mother, Amy Camara, was “the definition of a superwoman,” as Momo called her. She juggled a hair salon and a weekend gig working for Amazon, then took a cleaning job that kept her out of the house from 3 p.m. until 2 a.m. every day. Bilhal was a zero-star recruit who climbed through three schools to reach the doorstep of the NFL. He played at Iowa Central Community College then Indiana State before getting to Western Michigan. When the Ravens drafted him 178th overall, a watch party in downtown Minnesota full of his closest kin swelled with pride. Bilhal raised a glass to the room. Between the heartfelt thank you’s and teary excitement, Bilhal uttered the line that still sticks with his best friend, Davy Hosea, months later: “I’m glad it took this long.” Thursday night throws yet another wrench in his pursuit of an NFL roster spot. But Bilhal has been historically comfortable with a little hardship. It will just take a little longer. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.