Another offseason of acquisitions, additions and high hopes now comes to the backfields in Owings Mills as the Baltimore Ravens attempt to finally make January become February for local football fans. Lamar Jackson promised a Super Bowl. Luke Jones and Nestor open this purple training camp with high expectations and open eyes for a long season of twists and turns.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the start of Ravens training camp, highlighting the team’s high expectations and the challenges ahead. They noted the importance of Lamar Jackson’s health and the potential of the secondary, particularly with the addition of Jair Alexander. Concerns were raised about the durability of key players like Marlon Humphrey and Mark Andrews. The conversation also touched on the NFLPA’s leadership issues and the impact of guaranteed contracts on player relations. They emphasized the need for the team to stay healthy and start the season strong to avoid a January slump.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens training camp, Lamar Jackson, Kyle Hamilton, Jair Alexander, secondary depth, injury concerns, NFLPA, guaranteed contracts, player relations, media access, preseason games, offensive line, defensive line, Super Bowl contender, mental grind.
SPEAKERS
8
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T am 1570 tasks of Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, happy summer. Everybody out there. I am wearing my curio wellness. Oh, purple gear because it is football season. It’s our 27th anniversary. As of next week, August 3 is our official 27th anniversary. I’m going to be featuring my 27 favorite things to eat throughout the month of August, one a day, every day for 27 days beginning on August the fourth. In the meantime, the baseball team mired in last place and selling off, and the football team selling the hope of a Super Bowl, the optimism of a playoff team and the reality of a long Weston, grueling training camp, at least, according to Joe Flacco and our Luke Jones, we’re gonna get to Maryland crab cake to our back out on the road. I have some fresh scratch off, some love lucky sevens doublers, some pressure locks. I’m not going to put the whammy on the Ravens here this week, Luke, but you’re out there. You’re seeing things. Fill me in. I mean, it’s early, early, early. And when we have no baseball to talk about, this is what we have to do. I
Luke Jones 01:17
was just going to say, let me start by saying we made it because of how disappointing, how frustrating the Orioles have been. I mean, the number of spirited conversation and spirited is a nice way to put it that you and I have had, or many fans have had, about what this team has been. It’s nice to get to football and look, there’s always the hurry up and wait a little bit when you get to training camp, and you get to the first couple days of training camp and you realize, oh, they don’t even have another they don’t even have a fake football game for another two weeks, and they’re not going to be playing in Buffalo for another what, six, seven weeks, whatever it is. So we still have a ways to go, but it is nice to get into the routine to have daily updates, to hear from players on the regular, to hear from coaches on the regular, and to your point. I mean, you know, you’re not it’s not even putting the whammy on this team or anything like that. I mean, this is the same space they’ve been in for several years now, with a healthy Lamar Jackson upright and on the field and playing this team is a contender now, has that manifested to great success in January? No, it hasn’t. But getting there and being the kind of team that they’ve been in the regular season, I have ever every expectation that they’re once again going to be one of the very best teams in football in the regular season. Question is getting to that point and then breaking through in January. And I, you know, the headline at Baltimore positive.com this past week was the Ravens can’t win the Super Bowl in July. And that’s just, that’s the truth, and that’s part of the the mental challenge of navigating a full season, and that’s where you have a group that, yes, you have some young players and guys that are still, I mean, it’s funny, we think of Kyle Hamilton now as someone who’s been around and, you know, because of the maturity that in the way that he conducts himself, you think that he’s like, 30 years old. And go, look at how old Kyle Hamilton is. Yeah, this is still a guy that’s not even what 25 yet. So, I mean, it just speaks to the talent that they have. But you’re hoping that the veterans on this team, who all have to wear it. To your point, I think the expression you’ve used is nude ring fingers. They have to wear that. And everyone on this roster, you know, with Justin Tucker
Nestor Aparicio 03:39
waiting on those Eagles ring. Speaking of news, I just have to interrupt you on this date, the wings
8Luke Jones 03:46
were wild, right? I mean, just wings, yeah, they’re wild, wild. I mean, it’s, I
Nestor Aparicio 03:51
see these guys that I know are six foot five and 290 pounds, with a ring that’s as big as my head. And I remember how big flaccos Ring is, and I know how big the 35 ring is, yeah, compared to like, Super Bowl five on my finger. You know what? I mean, like, literally. And it’s just something that the one I have from 25 years ago is gaudy and big enough, and then I see these things that take wings, and I’m like, it’s not even like a ring. It’s like a watch. It’s I it’s just bizarre because I, say nude ring finger. Now I didn’t nude hand, right? Literally, yeah. I
Luke Jones 04:26
mean, it really is wild. But you know, with all these guys, especially these guys that have been around when we’re talking about the lamars, the Marlin, Humphreys, the mark, Andrews, Ronnie Stanley, I mean, go down the list, you have to fight the mental grind that is really once you get into the season, that’s a different mindset, obviously, but over these next seven weeks where you’re preparing but you don’t have a real game to play, you’re answering questions from media and you’re seeing fan chatter on x. It on social media as far as expectations and how great this team could be. I mean, there’s been so much hype about the secondary, for example, since they signed Jair Alexander a month ago and and understandably so, are they going to live up to the hype? I mean, for me, the big question with the secondary living up to the hype is, I hear Alexander has to stay on the field. Marlon
Nestor Aparicio 05:20
8Humphrey going to play 14 games this year, and Wiggins 15, and gyre Alexander 12. Or is Marlon Humphrey going to play nine, and Alexander going to play seven, and Wiggins get hurt in week five and be gone for the year? You know? That makes this team very, very susceptible.
Luke Jones 05:39
Well, I mean, it makes any team susceptible, susceptible in that scenario, just understanding that deep depth is great, and it looks good on paper in July, but then when the bullets start flying, whether you’re talking about practices, you know, where, even if it’s not full blown contact, you’re still competing out there. And then you get in the preseason games, and you get into the regular season. I mean, you know, for and it’s not to paint any individuals as injury prone who haven’t really been. I mean, Marlon Humphrey had one year where injuries were very much an issue for
Nestor Aparicio 06:10
him. He’s older now, but he’s older, right? Family, the same thing would be for Mark Andrews and
Luke Jones 06:15
anybody that’s old, and that’s fine, right? And that’s fine. And look Kansas City at the same thing can happen air. The same thing can happen in Buffalo, right?
8Nestor Aparicio 06:22
I mean, all they put that on Derek Henry this time last year and three years ago and five years ago. How much longer can he do this? Sure, sure. No question. And so they all got a chip. I mean, they got plenty to prove. You know, hardball is backpedaling from going in, in hanging out with shittler down in DC. So, you know, they, they’re all going to come into this with their own. You know, haven’t won, haven’t won. Nobody hears one, right? I mean, meanwhile, did you catch the Marcus Williams act?
Luke Jones 06:49
I did. I did. What do you
Nestor Aparicio 06:51
got to say there?
Luke Jones 06:54
8I think, look, it’s very important to always recognize as media, even as media, members of the media, who have played the game at a very high level, you know, talking about former NFL players, former college players. So, you know, I’m not talking about someone like me who played in high school. Big whoop. But there’s when you’re on the outside looking in, there’s always, there always needs to be an understanding that we don’t have the full picture, right? We don’t know what the call was. We don’t know what every of the 11 players that are on the field. We don’t know their individual assignment. So fully acknowledging that, fully acknowledging that, no, I’m not going to put everything that happened with their past defense on Marcus Williams last year. However, the correlation between him being benched and not just improvement, but market improvement from their secondary and their past defense, I mean, and the fact that he hasn’t been signed yet, on top of that, says a lot in terms of his criticism, what what he did last year and what he didn’t do last year. He is frustrated. I’m sure. You know, were there some, you know, and when you have situations like this, keep in mind they had some, some changes as far as their defensive coaching staff. And you know, like Doug Mallory was coaching in the secondary. He was a newcomer. He’s gone after one year, so it kind of tells you what they thought about him, right? Maybe he didn’t clash with Marcus Williams, for example, and I’m spitballing there, right? I mean, I don’t know for certain, but, well,
Nestor Aparicio 08:30
man, comes back and plays three more years in the league and is okay. Then, you know, you’d say, well,
Luke Jones 08:34
then you say, Okay, well, maybe it just wasn’t a good fit, right? Sure. And that and, and look, there have been examples of that, and I’m not saying Marcus Williams can’t catch on elsewhere and be a good player again. But man, when you look at how strongly that correlation was, as far as it almost felt, as simple as bench him, put our Darius Washington on the field, you switch from these three safety looks. Keep in mind Eddie Jackson was also in that picture, and he got, he was caught, you know, he only broke it through season, right? Yeah, he was caught halfway through, you know, two thirds of the way through the season. So you just look at that change. And, yeah, Hamilton moving back to a more conventional safety spot to kind
Nestor Aparicio 09:15
of, well, they were trying these other guys, and they’re like, we got a guy who can play this position at a higher level, but it’s going to change the way we disguise our defense. And
8Luke Jones 09:23
it did, but they played so much better over the final six games. Where you just look at this and say, yeah, if you if you wanted to give me six reasons for why they improved, you know, some people wanted to talk about Dean P Some people wanted to talk about, you know, Hamilton moving to a more conventional safety spot. Ardarius Washington played very well. Keep in mind, Trenton Simpson was benched after the bye week, and they had issues with their linebackers in coverage. It wasn’t roquan Smith’s best season, but man, if you want me to somebody called him fat, right, didn’t they? I mean, someone said he needed to be in slightly better shape. I think. That was the ESPN what Jeremy Fowler did a poll around the league, I guess, with executives around the league, coaches and executives around the league, but,
Nestor Aparicio 10:08
but they’re not going to play for seven weeks. That’s just stir it up. Man, that’s what I do. I’m a poop stir asking the banking executives, but, but it
Luke Jones 10:18
just comes down to man, if you ask me to rank everything. Gosh, it’s really tough not to just look at the correlation of Marcus William benched their past defense, stopped giving up big plays, and it looked better. It looked more cohesive. They had fewer blown coverages, and it wasn’t just him. Brandon Stevens didn’t play very well last year, as I mentioned. Their linebacker play left something to be desired, and
Nestor Aparicio 10:41
8they didn’t have Jade Clowney either. Talk about like what they did the year before, which really would help them, in a general sense, to get after the quarterback. They got after the quarterback better two years ago. They just did and that that makes things but this but,
Luke Jones 10:58
but at the same time, Kyle van Noy had a career high in sack. So Dave away had a career high in sacks. It’s not as though it was barren, right? Again. Long story short, if you ask me to spell out eight different reasons why they their past defense had the issues that it had, and then it got better. Number one would have been benching Marcus Williams. I mean, it just would have been so I get it, he’s frustrated. There’s, there’s probably deep down disappointment in himself. And I think when you do that, there’s sometimes a human tendency to to try to deflect, you know, you get defensive. But yeah, I kind of heard those comments. I’m like, I mean, all right, man. Like, yeah, they got rid
Nestor Aparicio 11:39
of you, and they played, came one play away from going to, you know, yeah, I mean, championship.
Luke Jones 11:43
This wasn’t a this wasn’t mind you. This wasn’t someone who had a diminished role. He was inactive every week down the stretch. I mean, he wasn’t even on the field. They said, even if our Darius Washington or Kyle Hamilton get hurt on game day, we don’t want you on the field.
8Nestor Aparicio 12:01
Different world. Here we had a guy tap out and say, I’m not going into the game. Oh, sure. I mean, I don’t you know the kicker and everything that happened in the off season. And then there’s Ben Cleveland and and then there’s Mike Green, who we talked about a lot in the zero tolerance policy. But more than that, as much as we’ve talked baseball, labor war, that Mr. Rubenstein doesn’t understand and went through that last week, the football side of this is football, player relations, associations and contracts and how much we give guaranteed. It’s not just a lottery pick issue the way it was 15 years ago with quarterbacks and how much Steve Bucha he was willing to give unproven talent, this thing’s bled into the second round, right? Like, I mean, this is where the battle lines are drawn, between players and agents and ownership and value of players, right? Well,
Luke Jones 12:59
and, I mean, the second round pick thing was interesting, just from the standpoint of this all stemmed from back in May. I think it was a May 8, something like that, you know? I mean, this was a couple months ago. At this point in time, Houston gave the 34th overall pick, which was wide receiver Jaden Higgins. They gave him a full, fully guaranteed deal. Now, let’s be clear, there’s a rookie slot system, right? All these deals from the moment you draft players, you know what it’s going to be. It’s going to be a four year deal for X signing bonus and x total. The only wiggle room is the guarantee, right? I mean, are you going to, you know, first round picks at this point get fully guaranteed deals. I mean, that’s kind of how it works at this point in time, roughly. But when Houston does that, and then the I think it was the next day Cleveland, who had the 33rd pick, which was what Carson schwesinger, linebacker, they said, Okay, well, if Houston just fully guaranteed the guy right after him, it’s tough for us to not fully guarantee the guy right before him. So they did that, and then we just had this stalemate. Domino’s literally, until the beginning of last week, the the other 32nd round picks had not signed. Finally, the dominoes start to drop. And then basically, you have a new slotted system of, okay, whatever you know, the the 41st pick, the 48th pick whatever the percent of guarantee, guaranteed money these guys are getting. It kind of settles in. And you’ve seen the dominoes fall very quickly there. But it’s funny, and I don’t want to get into this too much, because honestly, I’m not going to sit here and say I’m extraordinarily well versed on it, because, full disclosure, I’m coming back off vacation. I was getting caught up on the Orioles and preparing in terms of just looking at the rate, it’s a new controversy too. Oh, well that. But I was just talking about, I mean, just this NFL pa mess. I mean, with the executive director fixing deals, Treader just resigned on Sunday. I mean, I mean, just, you
Nestor Aparicio 14:53
know, selling out the players was the thing that you That’s the code number one. You represent the players. How
Luke Jones 14:59
8about the. Arbitrator rooting ruling that it was collusion, but kind of just shrugging shoulders. And, I mean, just a mess. So it’s collusion, it’s just the way we do things, isn’t it? I mean, just the whole thing is just really, really messy, I mean, and that’s, that’s about the nicest way I can paint it, and that’s where you look at this thing and, and you say, Let’s No wonder the NFL pa has never been able to to make really meaningful strides in terms of, you know, put aside the second round discussion for a second, just the idea of getting fully guaranteed contracts on a more universal level in the way that baseball and basketball have them, right? I mean, you think about how crazy it is if you didn’t know anything about sports, right? And you just thought about the physical demand that baseball, basketball, hockey. I’m going to put aside just for a moment, because I’m going to plead ignorance, because you know me, I’m not a hockey guy, but just baseball, basketball and football, which sport is the most physically demanding sport in terms of long term ramifications and the injury rate and all that. It’s easily football, right? I mean, we see how many guys with knee replacements, hip replacements, even before getting into more.
Nestor Aparicio 16:10
Let’s ask the next question here. Let me be the smart essay. Which one of these leagues is making the most money? It’s number one rated and had 97 to the top 100 times which which league is flush with money, just falling off the tree, so much,
Luke Jones 16:25
you would say, from a very simplistic standpoint, well, it sounds like those guys should get the guaranteed contracts, if anyone should get them, because they’re putting the most at stake. You know, in the way that you think about, like, I don’t know, coal miners are, like, some of the hardest jobs that you could think of.
Nestor Aparicio 16:41
I remember going down and watching these Arena Football League guys fall on Play on concrete Ted Leons for for 800 bucks a game, or whatever, and having Leons in his his smart alec kid, Fredo, you know, saying to me how this was the next future of the next future of the next future. And I’m like, people don’t want their children playing this game because of that. And when they get to this level, the fact that if you’re a fourth round draft pick right now and something bad happens to you, you’re going to get a couple of 100 grand and they’re going to tell you to go home, is crazy. I mean, it’s crazy, and I’m glad you brought that up, because these guys getting their pie going to Alabama and Maryland and Penn State and transferring out because Ball Coach is making $8 million a year, and Bemidji State wants mere Texas A and M is going to give me more money. Can’t be grudge the door standard. The whole thing’s a circus, dude. I mean,
8Luke Jones 17:33
that’s crazy. I mean, it’s a Wild Wild West, but I can’t begrudge them either. But it’s funny that you mentioned that, because, you know, we’re obviously getting in the weeds here a little bit. Now. We’re allowed to No, but I’m just, but I’m just saying in terms of our topic of the Ravens reporting for the start of training camp,
Nestor Aparicio 17:48
and I’ll get back to the second round draft pick into sexual So, but you get,
Luke Jones 17:51
but you look at the NFL PA, and part of what has made them so weak in terms of when they do have a labor fight is what we just laid out there. You have guys that, compared to any other sport, they might have an earning window of a year, two years, three years. So when you come up on a new CBA or anything that you’re trying to negotiate, whether it’s going to be going to an 18 game schedule. And obviously the NFL, in a couple years, the big thing is going to be that TV, you know, with opt outs and, I mean, we’re going to see more games on Netflix and things like that. I mean, that’s that’s going to happen. But anytime you look at the NFL, PA, when you look at a sport where you say, Okay, we need to dig in for a labor war here, it’s tough when so much of your membership, if you would, heaven forbid, if there would be a work stoppage where you’d lose a season. I mean, you’re talking about a lot of guys that that might be their only season where they make money playing in the NFL. So
Nestor Aparicio 18:53
8it’s, it’s a different any of the guys that were ran in 82 and, you know, I remember 82 well and how scabby it was and crazy and crossing picket lines or not, and like, we haven’t had that in sport, in in the kids haven’t seen that recently. They might see it in baseball before. It’s all over with, but I’ve seen it too many times. It’s been the story of my career. Yeah, in 35 years of being on the radio here, through all the sports where hockey cost itself a season. You know, I wound up drinking with Muggsy and and Charles Barkley out in Vegas because they were on strike, and Barkley bought me beer all night. So I, you know, I, I’ve got memories made through strikes and, you know, Don fair era and having Marvin Miller on my show back when I was syndicated 25 years ago, talking about all of these issues and how it got to the point that Steve Bucha he can sit on a verandah and smoke cigars while these bozos that run his company can treat anybody any way they want, because they’re just making so much money, there’s so much money in the NFL that they can get away with literally anything they want to get away with. Meanwhile, the you know. Know the girls at the WNBA, you’re watching that act. To throw that in a little bit. I mean, I’ll bring that in to show you that when Mr. Big gets a hold of the money, he doesn’t give it up. Yeah,
Luke Jones 20:11
sure. I mean, but at the same time, when you look at the NFL, PA, I mean, they’ve got to, they’ve got to get their own house in order before you can try to take how
Nestor Aparicio 20:20
are you going to go fight with these billionaires? Right? You don’t care about anything. They don’t hear about anything when
Luke Jones 20:27
your leadership instills no confidence, you know, right? I mean, it’s just
8Nestor Aparicio 20:32
when your leadership is selling you out and your head trauma and your CTE and your future and your insurance and your salary and your guarantees and your bonuses, and literally, your body, and the 18th game that’s coming, and the European teams that are coming, and just like all of that that’s happening. I mean, I’m not saying they’re going to stop it, but they better drink from it well. And
Luke Jones 20:54
that’s but that’s where it’s so crazy to me, where, I mean, I think back to last fall, and I’m going to use this as an example. And obviously it’s something that impacted me. So I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m, you know, completely impartial to it, but it’s why I look at it and I say, you know, last last fall, when the NFL PA is picking this fight about media in the locker room, it’s like, don’t you have way, way, way, way more significant fish to fry as a membership, as a leadership you know what I would say to that’s just kind of crazy like that feels like, if it’s Matt Stover, I can get some Zeke’s coffee through my teeth here.
Nestor Aparicio 21:32
My thanks to Thomas Rhodes for coming out last Friday and being part of it with damn this is if I’m with a union man in the NFL, be it Matt Stover, be it Kyle Richardson, or if I’m with that, Trumper and fraud, John Harbaugh, if, if I’m with any of them, I’m like and Billick knew this game because billet came from it. Kevin Byrne knew this. Rick Vaughn knows this. John maroon knows this. Smart people know this. Greg Bader doesn’t know this because he’s not he’s not smart enough. Chad Steele has whatever the hell he is. This is why you need the media. This is why you need the media. When you throw the media out and now you’re getting your ass kicked by Steve Bucha tea and 31 other billionaires and Roger Goodell and all their money and all their sponsors, when you’re getting your ass kicked by them, the first thing you want is the truth printed. You want allies all of a sudden, Mike Florio and Peter King and, you know, Albert, they all become useful to you, like when John Harbaugh was texting me last year on the Friday the week they’re oh and two, media becomes useful to you when, when you might get fired, right? Like that’s when it having relationships. If Mike Elias had any relationship with anybody, maybe the three days that he sat and pouted and hid after he fired his manager in last place, and now he’s going to go making deals and shine up his turd of last place that having sources and having media people that are fair across the middle that you can call whenever you want, like a John Feinstein, like a John Steadman, like a whomever that you know they reached you to write and write the truth that you can’t get out if you’re Jim Palmer and you’ve been thrown out of your own locker room and you’re pushing 80 years old, and you’re being told what you can and can’t say on the on massen and like it’s the portrayal of their media, all of them, I don’t mean the Orioles or the ravens, I mean, and this reality television show that they want to put on their websites where everything is sanitized and the players thinking they want us out, that there’s a benefit to us being out, and their bosses get To create the image of everything while silencing them. Or they’re out on Twitter doing stupid things, like telling fans in Pennsylvania to perform fellatio on them and leaving it up for five days. Or the Justin Tucker getting allegations and then smearing the media, smearing the media and then having to run back to the media when he wants to get his side of the story told it’s juvenile. It’s juvenile on the for Greg Bader, it’s juvenile for Chad Steele. It’s juvenile for the league and for the Players Association to want us thrown out. There’s my grown up having done this for four decades, since I was a 15 year old kid. Haven’t seen them all, all the sports, all the changes. Colleges. Covered Navy, football, you know, covered military, all of it. There is a point where the me. Has value. And Roderick said something to me Friday over Zeke’s Luke. He said, I don’t know how this country became so engrossed in hatred of the media on every side and distrust of the media, when 99.8% of the time against AI the media has been a beacon of light until it’s been bought by frauds like this Smith character, throwing guys like Cal out that i Are you going to wind up hearing a lot about political discourse this week and Colbert and who, who’s allowed to have a voice and who isn’t allowed to have a voice, and who’s allowed to have access and who’s not allowed to have access what the Players Association when they’re getting their ass kicked, throwing the media out, you gotta find out that was a really bad idea. That’s my long, long way of saying that.
Luke Jones 25:48
8Well, and they haven’t. I mean, to this point, they haven’t succeeded with that. I mean, again, more. So my point was that’s what you’re focusing on. I mean, really, you know when you kind of again, and it speaks to the disarray that internally that there is. I mean, they don’t have an executive director. As teams, as players are reporting for training camp, right? I mean, then they’re going to do an interim one. And I mean, even some of the reporting over the weekend was JC Treader potentially being the interim it’s like, and then he resigns 24 hours later. I mean, it’s
Nestor Aparicio 26:19
just, it’s a big job. And you know what the job is? Hey, you see the richest men in the world who locked in four called him oligarchs. It really pissed off the shoddy apparently, that’s that. That was the time once Bucha de got called an oligarch, even though he behaves like one. But the job is to go corral the oligarchs who have all of the money living up on the hill, surrounded by fleets of Chad steals and Sashi Browns of varying levels of competence and confidence, and go, go beat them. Go, go beat them. At whatever they want. They’re going to get whatever they want. Just get as much that you as you can, and bring it back to these idiot athletes and who are getting hit in the head, and just give them, give them their taste and make it look good, because that’s what this guy did. This guy was just standing in the middle riding the wave, and that’s not the job, I mean. And look, I go back to Upshaw getting beaten up as a former player that he was, he gave in. He gave in because he couldn’t get any guaranteed money for anybody and the baseball, I mean, it kind of wrecked the sport for your dad and mine. You know, the fact that they could never get on the field. They could never get on the same page, collusion. They hated each other. They shut the game down. They canceled the world. You know, they did all of that in baseball, but in football, that hasn’t happened in 40 years, because the owners always win. So that is a thankless job, being de Morris, you know? I mean, tomorrow’s with a thankless job, really, it
Luke Jones 27:56
is because of what I said a few minutes ago. It’s because the average career is so brief for so many of these guys. Look, you can sell Gunnar Henderson on what could potentially be a 12 month lockout or strike, or illegal, you know, a labor dispute, because he’s looking at it realistically, that he’s got at least another 10 years to play, if not 15 years to play right and even your average ball player
Nestor Aparicio 28:27
who doesn’t want to strike right now, Ramon Laureano, you know, Ryan mountcastle, half of the rest of the guy, and I’m just like, I’m trying, but that’s when the vote comes in as to, are we gonna fight over there? So we’re just going to play baseball. We’re all making $3 million a year like that’s that’s where it is different than with Andy Messersmith 50 years ago, really is. But the little guys always get chewed up because the big guys speak up. And I don’t know that they have that kind of leadership in the NFL right now, really.
8Luke Jones 28:57
But the point I’m trying to make, and maybe gunner Henderson was, was a poor example, because, obviously he’s a premium, premium talent. But in the NFL, you’re going to ask 23 year olds out of college who, maybe they were a sixth round pick, maybe they were an undrafted free agent who made the 53 man roster the previous year to give up a year of might, what might only be a two year career or a three year career. They’re not, they’re not going to go for that, right? Whereas in baseball, because it is not as physically taxing, you can sell someone on a year, or you’ll be able to sell more players on a long digging your heels kind of fight, and I think that’s what the the NFL, Pa leadership has dealt with to try to stick up for them a little bit now, you know, specifically with Lloyd Howe and what’s going on here the last couple of years. I mean, that’s that’s a different animal, but generally speaking, that’s what they’ve dealt with. So I don’t know, like we veered off on this topic, but I mean, it’s just, it’s kind. Wild that all that’s gone on as all these players are starting to report, and I’m guessing most players aren’t going to have a whole lot to say about it, because these guys are going to be focused on getting, you know, getting on the field, starting practice. You know, you know guys that are competing, or competing Well, labor
Nestor Aparicio 30:15
just towards one thing, but having their having their leaders sell them out. Yeah.
Luke Jones 30:19
I mean, it’s messy. I mean, it’s really messy. And again, it speaks to, you know, what, where are your priorities? What? What have you prioritized? And that’s why I just brought up the media thing last fall, where it was just like, really that, like, that’s the, that’s the battle you’re choosing to pick a fight over, compared to 15 other issues you could bring up. I mean, it’s just kind of bizarre to me.
Nestor Aparicio 30:42
8Luke Jones is here. He will be there in Owings most. What are you looking for this week? Just give me a little quickie. You know what? You’re just trying to get uniform numbers. I mean, obviously, right? And seeing who’s in shape, who’s handling the heat, yeah, Lamar stolen the ball, whatever. But, I mean, what are you looking for in gym shorts?
Luke Jones 30:59
I mean, yeah, obviously you have a slower ramp up, you know, they will probably not be in pads. And I think it’s like the fifth day, something like that. I mean, it’s, it’s different. So you’re looking, you know, the practices the first couple days will be a little bit shorter. I mean, it’s obvious. I mean, how anyone that’s coming back? And they really don’t have too many guys coming back from injury. I mean, that’s kind of the again, the frustration up 2024 was how healthy they were. But you know, what’s the offensive line look like initially? We assume it’s going to be Voorhees at left guard. You know, I think everyone’s, I think everyone’s just excited to see Jair Alexander on the field. Keep in mind, he was signed on on the literally, the last day of mini camp. So he didn’t practice that day, so you’re going to see him. Think we’re all fascinated to see what that secondary potential is. If they can stay healthy, it’s got a chance to be one of the greatest secondaries in the history of the franchise. And that’s a high bar, mind you. But you know, what does that look like? You know, I think you’re always, for me, you’re always looking to see what the rookies look like now, where the entire roster is out on the field, all the vets are out on the field, as cam Cameron famously said years and years ago, you are now introducing the threat of contact, which you did not have at all over the spring. So what does that look like? I mean, you know, I want to see Malachi Starks continue the momentum that he built over the spring. I mean, they love this kid. I mean, they absolutely do. He’s got to continue that. And part of that is he doesn’t have a safety net. When our Darius Washington went down with the Achilles back in May. You know, there was a thought before that, that, you know, Starks would be the number three safety they’d bring them along slowly, like they were able to do with Nate Wiggins this past season. But no, he’s going to play every every down, at least as they’re currently constructed. Malachi Starks is going to be a starting safety playing 100% of the snaps. Now, will they add a veteran safety at some point? I think that’s very much on the table, but I don’t think that’s necessarily someone that’s going to be a starter, per se. I think that’s going to be someone that says, hey, when we want to go three safeties with our sub package, then we need to add that guy, because we don’t know if Sanusi Kane or beau braid can be that guy. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 33:14
know who’s still out there from a pass rush perspective, from a defensive that that Kyle van Noy lane, oh, sure. Of players that it’s a pool of veteran guys that they’ll sign, somebody we’ve heard of. You know, well, I’m Jair Alexander
Luke Jones 33:29
fixes, hey. I mean, clown, for what it’s worth, clown still out there is that area. Smith is still out there for me. I’m looking a little more at the safeties right now that are out there. I mean, you have guys that are guys that have been starters and aren’t necessarily, you know, like 35 years old, completely at the end of their career. I mean, Justin Simmons is a little bit older. I think he’s 31 I want to say I might be wrong on that, but Julian Blackman, who started a lot of games in the league, he’s still out there. I think he’s only 28 I think so. Will they add someone like that, you know, someone like that will be looking at this thing and saying, Okay, how much am I going to play? Do I want a complimentary role where I’m a sub package guy, or do I want to go somewhere else and I’m an every down kind of guy? You know? I think there’s always some of that that goes on this time of
8Nestor Aparicio 34:17
year. You want to win. And You sure think I’ll accept my role, and if one of these kids gets hurt, I’ll play, you know, I’ll come, yeah, well, I mean,
Luke Jones 34:25
that’s, that’s what’s in to me. Jair Alexander is so fascinating, because you’re talking about someone who, universally, is regarded as someone who can play at a really high level. I mean, his last two healthy seasons, he’s been in the Pro Bowl, right? Problem is he’s had three other seasons where he hasn’t been healthy over that stretch. So
Nestor Aparicio 34:44
and we watched Tyler O’Neill play bass. No
Luke Jones 34:46
8question, no question. But that’s also why he’s a bit he was available in mid June and available for $4 million so that’s absolutely a swing that I take 10 times out of 10. I love the signing for for that amount. So. Well, for me, the question is, how do you, how do you deploy him? You know, Is he someone? Do you look at it through the lens of, he kind of becomes your number three corner, with the understanding that Humphrey is going to move inside when you go nickel package anyway, and then you say, okay, you know what? We love Jair Alexander. Our hope is to keep him healthy all year. And maybe that means, instead of point being a 65 snap a game guy, maybe he’s a 40 snap per game guy as our number three corner. And maybe we’ll rotate him in with Adobe Woozi a little bit, and we’ll kind of play that. Hope
Nestor Aparicio 35:33
everybody’s good enough that you can do that. Sure. That’s a lovely that you’re talking about.
Luke Jones 35:37
Because let’s face it, this is not about Jair Alexander being on the field in September or October or November. This is about December and January and early February. You’re hoping, I mean that, you know, I, I’ve talked about that a lot. When they signed Derek Henry a year ago, you and I, you know, had different philosophies, different opinions on that. It was never that I hated the signing, or didn’t like this, Derek Henry, or anything like that, but it there was a question of allocation of resources, and for me, it was handle this guy in a way that he’s still going to be 100% full throttle in mid January, because that’s all that matters for this team. So I would say that as it pertains to Jair Alexander, I don’t need him to play 17 games, you know what? If he plays 12 games, but, but he’s healthy come mid January, when the real season starts, and I have him full go, and he’s good to go. I don’t care if he misses four or five games over the course of the season, and that kind of lends itself to what I was just saying. And not so much in terms of like that you just randomly, arbitrarily sit them down, but in terms of, maybe you keep him on a little more of a pitch count with the idea that you want to keep him healthy. I mean, they did that with Jimmy Smith late in his career, for example. And if you actually look at it, Jimmy Smith had a couple years later in his career where he actually stayed a little bit healthy. Little bit healthier than he did at different points early on. So I don’t know. I mean, we’re going to see how it plays out. The secondary on paper looks like it has the potential to be amazing. And a lot of that is you have Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey leading the way, right? I mean, you’re talking about multi, multi Time Pro Bowl selections by roquan Smith, yeah, well, but, but more specifically, the secondary I’m talking about, yeah, but you have Wiggins, who I thought had a good rookie season as a first round pick. I’d like his trajectory. You add Alexander now, I mean, I already said they love Malachi Starks, but I will also fully acknowledge even Kyle Hamilton, who is widely regarded now as the best safety in football. He had his growing pains as a rookie. I remember that Miami game where the ball was going over his head and the Ravens were blowing the big lead in the fourth quarter. Kyle Hamilton was one of the guys right in the middle of that. So that’s not to say that Starks is going to be bad or anything like that, but there could be some growing pains. But all that being said, whether we’re talking about the O line, whether we’re talking about the pass rush, whether we’re talking about health in the secondary, which is, it’s not my it’s no performance issue with the secondary. I mean, on paper, it looks phenomenal. It’s about those guys staying healthy. You know, I have a little bit of relative concern about their defensive line depth. I mean, you love Matt abika, you like Travis Jones, Broderick, Washington’s a perfectly fine rotation guy. What do they have behind that? You know, they signed John Jenkins, a 35 year old nose tackle, to replace Michael Pierce. So he’s played in the league a long time. I’m not saying he can’t be solid. Is he going to be Michael Pierce, though, I don’t know. And he’s also 35 He’s older than Michael Pierce was, right? So, so there’s a little bit of a question there. You know, they Aeneas Peebles. People have talked him up. He’s an intriguing pass rush, interior, kind of weird body defensive tackle, that maybe he can be an interesting prospect for them, but he’s also a sixth round pick. Are you really counting on him to play a whole lot this year? So there’s a spot where I would say, I wouldn’t completely dismiss the possibility of adding an interior defensive lineman between now and the start of the season, and let me get don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying like a high profile signing necessarily, but someone who’s played, you know, someone in the vein of a Michael Pierce Brent urban kind of veteran out there. So Heck, it might be Brian urban before it’s all said and done, he’s unsigned.
Nestor Aparicio 39:35
I remember when they brought Lawrence guy in, and that guy, you know, he got 50 snaps a week, every
8Luke Jones 39:40
week that guy ended up having a really nice career, went on to New England and played there a long time. So, so, yeah, so, but, but all that being said, Man, these issues that I bring up compared to most teams around the league, where they’re talking about, oh my gosh, like, you know, think about how the Ravens were with their offensive line a year ago for. Example. I mean, we talked about that over and over and over, and to their credit, it worked out fine. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked out fine. Well, half
Nestor Aparicio 40:10
the teams in the league don’t have a quarterback or, well, yeah, of course. And then you take it from that level all the way down, that they don’t have Kyle Hamilton or Marlon or right? So
Luke Jones 40:22
it’s, this is what? And you just said it. This is why people are so hard on them about the whole January thing. Because you look at this thing on paper, I’m not going to sit here and say that I know with 100% conviction that they have the best roster in the league, but Nestor, I am completely confident that they have one of the two, three or four best rosters in the entire NFL. On paper, I
Nestor Aparicio 40:46
8was gonna say five guarantees. Yeah, make that easily, easily from with the quarterfin top five expectations
Luke Jones 40:54
so but it’s got to come together. You’ve gotta navigate the season and you gotta stay healthy. I mean, for
Nestor Aparicio 41:01
me, the top five expectation. Two years ago, they were in the top four. Last year, they were in the top eight, right? Yeah. So, like, they are exactly what we think they are, right? I mean, then once you get there, then is, is it you? Or is it Josh Allen, or is it Patrick mahomes, or is it the kid up in Philadelphia? It’s going to sneak in underneath of all of you, even though he wasn’t a one one, or, you know, celebrated in that way because they had a running game, and they made an off season signing that really changed things for them last year. And I don’t mean benching Jason Kelsey, but in regard to the ravens, these pieces of Derrick Henry, that I thought would win them a championship, maybe it’s the secondary that does. Maybe it’s signing a second round draft pick that had sexual allegations, and this year, he’ll have 14 sacks and be a sensational player that they found. You know, like they need, they need to keep everybody healthy, and they cannot win the Super Bowl this week, next week, any week. And that expectation on them is really heavy. Man, that’s a heavy. You know, a lot of organizations that just bogs them down, and we can name them. The never was never could weigh the Eagles down for 30 years. They never won the Super Bowl. They were good. The bill still haven’t won. It’s heavy.
Luke Jones 42:15
It’s tough. I mean, it’s tough. And to their credit, they’ve, generally speaking, they’ve handled that really well in the regular season. So putting aside the January narrative, which is there, and it’s not narrative, implies that it’s like something that’s contrived. It’s just the January reality. Let’s call it of what it’s been putting that aside, that’s why I look at this thing, and I say my only real concern beyond, just like again, some of these more peripheral kind of things, yeah, you got to figure out left guard, you know, got to make sure Voorhees can be that guy you know, you you know, defensive line depth, you know, pass rush is still something that you say, okay, because being always a year older, always in a contract year, what’s going to happen there? We got a wide receiver going to the Hall of Fame. You sign, yeah. I mean, we haven’t even talked about DeAndre Hopkins, I mean, and I love DeAndre Hopkins as your number three guy that’s making $5 million for me. I My and this, this, this sounds, I don’t say this to be like, flipping or arrogant about this team. For me, I come back to gosh, they just, they stayed so healthy last year. And I get it, the zay flowers thing
8Nestor Aparicio 43:27
that hurt, beating up the Orioles about not staying healthy, the Ravens had their goodness. The last time Harbaugh talked to me in the Garden of Eden down there in Florida, all injuries, injuries, if we didn’t have injuries, if Humphrey and Stan Lee had stayed healthy. You know, they they had that
Luke Jones 43:43
last year. That’s where I right, and that’s where it’s so frustrating to me that they didn’t take advantage of that aspect of their team last year. And look, they love their sports science, they love their player recovery, the changes they’ve made since they threw Steve Saunders out the door a couple years ago, and tweaks and everything. And look they they’ve done better on the injury front the last couple years. There’s no question about that, but that’s where that that’s where I take a little bit of pause and look the same. The same can apply in any market, right? But that’s where I look at this and say, if there’s something that could hurt them in the regular season, putting aside January, it’s maybe that that worm turns a little bit and you’re not as fortunate injury wise. And we, I mean, we talked about that back in May, when our Darius Washington went down, that was already a more significant injury than any injury they had last year. Other in terms of severity, the zay flowers timing of his knee injury was was bad, but that was only a three or four week injury that wasn’t like, oh, he tore his ACL in weeks, week 18. So that’s the only when, when. That’s the biggest thing that makes me take pause in terms of their regular season chances. Boy, you got something, and I think they’ve got something here. But to your point. Right? The mental grind of taking every day every week for what it is, not looking ahead, not getting complacent, not becoming too satisfied with yourselves. Look, you and I can talk about January. Those guys in the room right now, as they’re reporting and they’re in their meetings and everything, they’re not talking about January.
Nestor Aparicio 45:19
You practice today. Assignment, alignment, it’s the whole get
Luke Jones 45:23
81% better every day. You’ll hear John Harbaugh say that, how many times over the course of the next six weeks, it’s get 1% better every day. That’s the mindset they need to have. And look that sounds great from a cliche and a T shirt standpoint, but this team being where they’ve been year after year after year and falling short, there is a mental grind that that I’m not concerned about, like that in this dire way. But I always kind of wonder, how do you handle that? And if you handle that well, and you get through, you got to start fast. If there’s one thing you point to, last year, September, they were two and two, right? They got off to an O and two start. Look how that changed the trajectory of where they were. Then come January, that’s that to me, if you’re going to talk anything about looking ahead, it’s just looking ahead to the first few weeks of the season where you say, man, we got to come out of the gate fast.
Nestor Aparicio 46:14
Well, I’ve said that all the minute the schedule came out. I’m like, Boy, you better not have training camp injuries. Yeah, you know, you better be ready to play against buffalo, Detroit and Kansas City, because you don’t want to find yourself at one and three. Yeah, you don’t want to find yourself at two and two. But given that, you know, that animal in September, that wouldn’t be unacceptable to me. Three and one would be great. Four and Oh, would be, you know, outrageous, um, them, they would be a real Super Bowl contender, which they already are, you know what? I mean. So a four no would just say, hey, it’s September. Call me in January, another beat down of the bills in September. Would mean what? Maybe a lot more up there, I don’t know. But look, it’s all set up. I mean, this is delicious. You and I are after this. Even got some union look for the union label. And, yeah, we’re going to figure it out. And I tell you what, it’s a couple of weeks out from fake football and the biggest mistake I ever made once the century turned because I really was into those eagles and packers preseason games and thunderstorms and Memorial Stadium at Brett
Luke Jones 47:19
Favre. I was at that game. That was my, that was the first NFL game I ever attended where it’s very was just, it was a monsoon, very first half. Yeah, crazy.
Nestor Aparicio 47:27
We had a bus. We ran from loonies and we ran it from clada in in Canton that night. It actually had some some Packers fans on it, because there were no Ravens fans here at that point. Was all new Brit four. He’s going to Hall of Fame. Starters actually played back, I know, actually walked on the field through a pass or something.
8Luke Jones 47:46
And now you’re looking you’re not going to see Lamar. You’re not going to see any of the seven. You know,
Nestor Aparicio 47:50
any you kids out there? Google a Brett Favre Memorial Stadium, monsoon, and it’ll show up out there. And, oh, you can also Google veteran stadium. Brian Billick, Tony, Sarah goose and artificial turf. Oh, gosh, if you want so Oh, those great memories of Bobby Rainey and and other Wally Richardson,
Luke Jones 48:09
Nate bowling. Nate bowling was a preseason all star.
Nestor Aparicio 48:13
8Next week on our program Baltimore, Luke and I will go through all the names of the preseason heroes. We should do that. 21 game winning. How many games did they win in a row? It was 23 I think, right. Oh, my God, I’ll get it wrong. You’ll never come on the show. The funniest, the funniest thing I I’m
Luke Jones 48:30
gonna pull back the curtain a little bit with you. And you know, I have, I’ve mentioned my high school buddies, like football buddies, a Text group that we have, and it’s very active during football season. More specifically,
Nestor Aparicio 48:43
I remember, like, beer drinkers, or IPA guys, your buddies, just
Luke Jones 48:47
like, light beer, yeah,
8Nestor Aparicio 48:48
good guys,
Luke Jones 48:49
yeah. But I still remember the Ravens put out a graphic when they were at, I think, 20 straight preseason wins, and it was, to me, just the funniest thing ever. It’s just like, we’ve got a graphic for like, and it was an NFL record, it was, but it’s a preseason football record, like, so I remember we got to the point where there was that graphic was made that someone would like Photoshop and like, put the new number over top of it when they won a preseason game. And it was just the funniest thing ever. And then when it finally ended, you know what it was? It was akin to, like a factory that has, it’s been this many days since we’ve had a mistimed injury here at the workplace, and that’s kind of what it was for their preseason win streak. And I don’t know, like, maybe it wasn’t that funny to anyone listening, but it was something that just cracked me up, because it was just something that, you know, it sounds fun at the time, and then you completely forget about it two weeks later, and that’s what the preseason, preseason winning streak is. That’s what
Nestor Aparicio 49:51
preseason is all about. Right now, Luke and I, Luke’s out on that hill and asking them questions out there, and I’m here doing what I. Doing, which is the Maryland crab cake tour heating up and to August, and we’re going to be doing our 27th anniversary. I know it’s amazing. They said this would never last over WPL, they said we didn’t have the I don’t they said that we didn’t have a lot of things, but we had them, and we still have them. We’re still here, having them, and we’re appreciative everybody that’s following along on our journey. Here’s what I’m going to do to pay everybody back. I’m going to give you 27 awesome places to go eat something awesome next month. And these are my 27 favorite things to eat around town. So I figured that make August fun, because it’s either that or I subject you to you and Luke and I talking about Bobby Rainey and things like that and meaningless winning streaks or a diminished version of the Orioles after the trading deadline. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stopped talking Baltimore positive in our 27th anniversary. Brought to you by curio wellness at foreign daughters, stay with us. You.
