Maryland’s OWINGS MILLS When Eddie Jackson officially signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, he was well-versed in the defense he was joining. He spent a portion of five seasons in Chicago as the starting middle linebacker alongside Roquan Smith. He was cornerback Marlon Humphrey’s college teammate at Alabama. He keeps up with what other safeties in the league are doing, so he was definitely aware of Baltimore’s starting duo of Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams.
But after working with the squad for two days at training camp, he is taught much more. The depth the Ravens have in their defensive backfield is his main takeaway.
“Man, it’s crazy,” Jackson said after Monday’s practice, conducted mostly in a rainstorm. “I feel like this is probably the deepest and (most) competitive DB room I’ve had since Alabama with Minkah (Fitzpatrick), Ronnie (Harrison) and Marlon. Just to be back there with Kyle and Marcus and those guys being able to help me, you know, teach me things, answer any questions I have. Even with some of the younger guys — I’ve been looking to them for help just learning the playbook and things like that, so it’s definitely special.”
It is important to remember that the first week of training camp is usually a period for overreactions, so it is best to keep your expectations in check after two practices at the Under Armour Performance Center. The Ravens will have to make some extremely tough roster decisions in their secondary and have a variety of looks they can throw at offenses, assuming health cooperates. Rookie fourth-round cornerback T.J. Tampa has already missed several weeks due to abdominal surgery.
During Monday’s practice, Humphrey, who was celebrating by raising his helmet, and Hamilton ran after Jackson after he returned an interception for a touchdown. Half an hour later, cornerback Nate Wiggins, selected in the first round, broke up an Emory Jones pass.
Veteran cornerback Arthur Maulet made his camp debut interception on Sunday. Humphrey also intercepted a couple passes; he appears thinner and healthier than he did during the injury-plagued season previous year.
Zach Orr, the defensive coordinator in his first year, could easily envision the possibilities by watching the practice footage. With Maulet back on board and Wiggins and Tampa selected in the draft, the team’s depth at cornerback behind expected starters Humphrey and Brandon Stephens has strengthened dramatically. With Jackson and Daryl Worley signed recently and Williams back to full health, the team may be able to turn a safety worry into a strength.
“What you’ll see is personnel groups, with different guys in different spots,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “The basic personnel group with Arthur at nickel is a group, and you’ve got a group with Marlon at nickel. You’ve got a group with Kyle down there in that spot — Kyle could be over at the dime. That’s the beauty of what we have an opportunity to do, and a lot of guys to play at a starter level and be on the field and mix it up a little bit and create problems for offenses.”
Prior to cutdown day on August 27, it might cause issues for the team’s decision-makers as well, but those are what football fans like to refer to as “nice problems to have.” And the Ravens would gladly accept the alternative after witnessing years of injuries erode away their defensive backfield.
Defense dominates
As is customary this early in camp, the defense has outperformed the offense thus far, which is not surprising considering that quarterback Lamar Jackson missed the first two practices due to sickness. Jackson’s condition remained undisclosed on Monday; Harbaugh simply mentioned that the quarterback was not well enough to practice.
The full-team session began with these three offensive plays: Josh Johnson threw incomplete to wide receiver Rashod Bateman, who was well covered by Humphrey; Odafe Oweh beat left tackle Ronnie Stanley inside to stop Derrick Henry for a loss; and wide receiver Zay Flowers was touched down for a loss by Trenton Simpson on an end around, a play that would have been reviewed anyhow due to a flag on the offensive line. On the fourth play, running back Justice Hill cut back inside for a small gain, giving the offense its first positive yardage.
The defense was flying around during that drill, which began with that opening sequence. Eddie Jackson, Wiggins, and rookie defensive end Tramel Walthour all had interceptions; if the play had been allowed to go further, at least two of them would have probably resulted in pick sixes. Within a span of around five plays, Kyle Van Noy scored a sack by beating Patrick Mekari on the edge, while Hamilton and Simpson were unaffected by a blitz. Devin Leary’s pass was batted away by David Ojabo. To make the stop, Travis Jones close-lined Henry and beat guard Ben Cleveland inside. In order to record a tackle for loss, Justin Madubuike got the step on guard Andrew Vorhees.
Although the offensive increased its intensity, the defense won the day. Although Johnson was not solely to blame for the offense’s difficulties, having Lamar Jackson return would undoubtedly level the playing field.
Other thoughts, observations
• About 30 minutes into practice, it began to rain, but the players continued their workout on the field instead of going inside the building. It was indeed harder to do things because of the rain. Jordan Stout lost control of a snap during special teams play, requiring kicker Justin Tucker to pick it up and discard it. Johnson and center Tyler Linderbaum exchanged a clumsy word. A couple drops and pre-snap penalties were also observed. Pre-snap fouls forced Vorhees, guard TyKeem Doss, tight ends Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely, and wide receiver Sean Ryan to run laps. Harbaugh thought it was an excellent chance to get ready and rehearse in the rain.
• The Ravens cut defensive back Tre Swilling, who was a member of the practice squad for a portion of the previous campaign, to create space for Worley. Swilling made a few plays throughout the team’s various spring sessions, much like undrafted rookie Jordan Toles, who was dismissed on Monday because Baltimore needed a roster place following the official announcement of the Jackson transfer. The fact that the Ravens dismissed him in the first week of training camp speaks much about how strong their defensive backfield is.
• Oweh disclosed following Monday’s exercise that he underwent minor surgery during the offseason, although he did not state what was fixed. Undoubtedly, Oweh does not seem to be hampered in any manner. He has been one of the most influential players through two practices. He is made a few rushes that, had pass rushers been permitted to make contact with the quarterback, would have probably resulted in sacks. He has also dominated a couple running plays. Oweh’s progress is a key component for the Ravens this season. The team’s pass rush problems and inability to replace Jadeveon Clowney will eventually be forgotten if he can maintain his health, become more reliable, and convert some of his pressures into sacks.
• Rasheen Ali, a rookie fifth-round running back, submitted the offensive play of the day. Leary executed a flawless deep pass down the distant sideline. Simpson was in a fantastic position, but Ali not only outran him to make the grab, he also made sure to get two feet in before going out of bounds. Two highlight-reel plays came from Bateman as well: he extended to make a brilliant catch in traffic with CB Trayvon Mullen in tight coverage, and he adjusted to catch an underthrown Johnson pass just before it touched the ground.
A little rain didn’t slow down @R_bateman2 pic.twitter.com/Q8adD8X3kD
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) July 22, 2024
• Wiggins’ interception of undrafted rookie Emory Jones was a welcome comeback after the first-round pick had been penalized earlier in practice for snagging wide receiver Tylan Wallace on a deep pass and allowing Nelson Agholor to complete a sideline pass. Nonetheless, Wiggins looks the part. The Clemson rookie’s performances over the offseason have pleased the Ravens coaches. They will devise strategies to get him onto the field as soon as they can.
• Third-year player Jalyn Armour-Davis is another cornerback who is off to a good start. In the first two practices, he has broken up passes and been tight in coverage on multiple other incompletions. Armour-Davis, an Alabama native selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, is having a great camp and preseason. from there are not many positions in the secondary to win, Armour-Davis must stay away from the health problems that have dogged him from the beginning of his NFL career. It would be difficult for Armour-Davis to recover from even a minor injury in order to make the team.
(Photo of Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey: Michael Owens / Getty Images)
