When the Ravens shook up their coaching camp schedule this offseason, coach John Harbaugh knew there’d be days like Tuesday, practices the place the teaching workers’s said purpose — “Be fast and be perfect” — utilized as a lot to the tedium of particular groups execution as to the fun of 11-on-11 work.
Tuesday’s follow, carried out in shoulder pads, helmets and shorts, was a changeup in each tempo and function after Monday’s first padded follow. The spotlight of the primary hour of labor may’ve been a 55-yard coffin-corner punt from rookie Jordan Stout. The workforce’s quarterbacks and a handful of veterans didn’t take the follow area till about 2:05 p.m., half-hour after follow was scheduled to start out. A handful of starters had been lacking, both taking the break day or nursing minor accidents.
Even when the Ravens’ offense and protection met on the sphere for the day’s first 11-on-11 session, the motion was restricted to a collection of operating performs, executed behind an offensive line lacking three starters: left deal with Ronnie Stanley (ankle), proper guard Kevin Zeitler and proper deal with Morgan Moses. Quarterback Lamar Jackson’s job within the Ravens’ first workforce interval was to both hand the ball off to a rotation of operating backs, which he did 9 occasions, or maintain it himself, which he did as soon as. Not till later did he have to fret about dropping again to cross.
“A little different tempo,” Harbaugh stated. “You saw a practice that you really haven’t seen here in training camp in the past. So I think we got a lot done from an execution standpoint. It was hot. It heated up. The guys handled it well.”
With J.Ok. Dobbins (knee) and Gus Edwards (knee) caught on the physically-unable-to-perform checklist, the Ravens’ operating again depth chart may not take form till after subsequent week’s preseason opener towards the Tennessee Titans. Mike Davis and rookie Tyler Badie earned many of the repetitions with the Ravens’ first-string offense in offseason exercises, however their competitors has solely intensified within the weeks since.
Justice Hill, who missed all of final season with a torn Achilles tendon, has proven good cut-back skill and comfortable fingers in follow. Corey Clement, who joined the workforce earlier than camp, appears nicely suited to the workforce’s downhill operating recreation. Nate McCrary impressed sufficient in final 12 months’s preseason to land a spot on the Denver Broncos’ roster.
“When the real football comes on,” Harbaugh stated, “I think that’s when you find out about the running backs.”
RPO evolution?
The Ravens’ bridge from their run interval to their first passing interval Tuesday was, naturally, a run-pass-option interval.
Other than a fumble on a mesh-point alternate, backup quarterback Tyler Huntley dealt with the proceedings with precision. Unofficially, he went 5-for-5, spreading the ball round on fast hitters, together with one which tight finish Tony Poljan introduced in with one hand.
The Ravens had been among the many NFL’s finest RPO groups final 12 months, although their utilization lagged behind that of different groups with dual-threat quarterbacks. Coordinator Greg Roman’s offense confirmed seemingly new wrinkles Tuesday, with extra targets accessible for Huntley out huge.
“I think all those things, really, to be honest with you, have been in the playbook,” Harbaugh stated. “We’ve got all those RPO plays in there. We probably haven’t tapped into them all. The principles are all the same. The routes kind of tweak a little bit. We have been a big RPO team. … I thought it was pretty well executed, and part of it was for our defense, too, because we’re going to see some of that stuff early in the season. We’re learning. It’s tough stuff to defend. It’s challenging.”
Hand it to him
After one in every of his closing routes of the afternoon, Rashod Bateman walked again to the Ravens’ offense along with his helmet pushed up, arms akimbo. There was lots for the second-year huge receiver to course of.
Jackson, who completed 15-for-19 in 11-on-11 work Tuesday, had opened his closing workforce interval with a deep shot to Bateman. The cross was thrown into double protection, if not triple protection — safeties Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams and cornerback Marlon Humphrey had been all within the neighborhood — however solely Bateman had eyes on the ball. When he rose for the cross, unbothered, it glanced off his fingers and skipped onto the grass.
A couple of minutes later, Bateman ran a deep crossing route that obtained Tony Jefferson’s consideration. As Bateman ran underneath Jackson’s cross, Jefferson performed the ball completely from behind, getting a hand on the cross earlier than it reached Bateman, then leaving his toes for the tipped ball.
It was the primary interception of camp for Jackson, whose final three picks in workforce drills, relationship to necessary minicamp, have all led to Jefferson’s fingers. The veteran security, who impressed in his return to Baltimore final season, is vying for a roster spot in a deep security room.
“It was a great play,” Harbaugh stated. “That’s a big-play opportunity for the offense. I don’t know how he got his hand on that ball. That was great in and of itself. Then he finds a way to tip it to himself and catch it and make a diving catch. And then he got up and ran.”
Extra factors
- Outside linebacker Vince Biegel continued his sturdy camp, beating proper deal with Daniel Faalele with a pace rush in a single 11-on-11 interval and punching the ball out of rookie huge receiver Makai Polk’s fingers — and out of bounds — in one other.
- Defensive lineman Broderick Washington had a deal with for loss within the Ravens’ run-only interval, slicing by way of the offensive line on a zone-running play.
- Wide receiver Binjimen Victor had his finest day of camp, connecting with Jackson for 3 catches, together with two within the closing workforce interval.
- Rookie outdoors linebacker Zakoby McClain had an interception close to the top of follow, reaching as much as snag a cross over the center.
- Stout, who additionally kicked at Penn State, ended follow early with a confident-looking 28-yard area purpose.
- In addition to Zeitler and Moses, 5 Ravens who’ve been cleared to follow missed Tuesday’s session: huge receiver Devin Duvernay (thigh), tight finish Nick Boyle, offensive lineman Patrick Mekari, inside linebacker Patrick Queen and defensive again Brandon Stephens. Duvernay additionally missed Monday’s session with what Harbaugh known as a “minor thing,” which he suffered in Saturday’s open follow. Other gamers had been held out for veteran days.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com