Fake football and real cuts as final week of preseason looms with Washington

After watching another preseason NFL game from Minnesota over the weekend, Luke Jones and Nestor recap the real Ravens agenda and schedule as all eyes remain on seeing the starters excel on September 13th in Indianapolis when it counts.

The discussion centered on the Ravens’ final preseason week, especially the unresolved starting center job and how ready the offense and new coaches look before Week 1.

Center Battle

• Luke said center is the biggest roster issue after Danny Pinter’s torn patellar tendon.
• Ethan Posick and Javon Gwyn are the main options, and the Washington joint practice plus the final preseason game should shape the decision.
• Luke still thinks Posick is the likely Week 1 starter, but readiness remains the key question.

Offense Outlook

• Luke said the defense has looked better than the offense in camp, with the offensive line driving most concern.
• He expects Declan Doyle to run a more multiple offense with more under-center work, more play action, and more 11 personnel.
• The Washington joint practice is the last major chance to see the starters look more fluid before the opener.

Open Questions

• Can the offense look more consistent against Washington before Week 1?
• Which fringe players win spots at edge, along the defensive line, and possibly at quarterback?
• How will Rashod Bateman’s off-field issue affect his availability or standing?

• Host the Maryland Crab Cake Tour event at Koco’s on Wednesday of this week, including welcoming guests Max Weiss, Ron Cassie, and John Allen, discussing Nestor’s reinvention and Best of Baltimore Award, and covering music topics. (@Nestor Aparicio)
• Create and publish 28 ‘musical memories’ segments over the next 14 weeks as part of the station’s 28th anniversary celebration. (@Nestor Aparicio)
• Plan a larger, comprehensive music-focused initiative for the early part of next year, assuming there is no baseball season. (@Nestor Aparicio)
• Provide real-time coverage of Ravens final cuts and any related breaking news (including injuries or positional changes) via WNST Text Service when final cuts occur on Sunday at 6 p.m. (@Nestor Aparicio)
• Send updates via WNST Text Service about Ravens final cuts, focusing on notable players rather than obscure roster moves.

Roster Questions

• Starting center is unresolved after Danny Pinter’s injury, with Luke focusing on Ethan Posick versus Javon Gwyn.
• Fringe roster debates included Ethan Burke, Adisa Isaac, young defensive linemen, and whether Joe Fignano is worth protecting.

Offense And Practice

• Luke said the defense has looked better than the offense in camp.
• He wants the offense to look more fluid in the Washington joint practice, especially along the interior line.
• He expects Declan Doyle to use more under-center looks, more play action, less fullback usage, and more 11 personnel.

Receiver Status

• Luke and Nestor discussed Rashod Bateman’s off-field arrest news alongside concerns about his limited return on the field.
• They noted that younger receivers such as Jacoby Lane could affect that position group’s outlook.

Kicking And Coaching

• Tyler Loop had a better preseason game, but Luke said confidence will come only after he makes high-pressure kicks in real games.
• The preseason also serves as rehearsal for Jesse Minter, Declan Doyle, and overall game-day management.

Schedule Ahead

• This week includes practices Monday and Tuesday, a Washington joint practice Wednesday, a walkthrough Thursday, and the final preseason game Friday.
• Final cuts are due Sunday at 6 p.m., followed by a quieter buffer week before regular-season preparation.

Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Tallis in Baltimore. We’re Baltimore Positive, positively getting the Maryland Crab Cake Tour back out on the road this week. We were at Fishmonger’s Daughter last week with a bunch of sponsors. We had Damian with us from Fadeley’s, and now Fishmonger’s Daughter. She is the Fishmonger’s Daughter. Bill Cole was also with us from Cole Roofing, and of course, if you’re on the WNST Tech Service, you know Cole Roofing brings that to you, as well as Gordian Energy. We also had Dennis Collazos, Koons Ford, stopped out and hung out with us, and Zach Dermer from Farnand Dermer there of the Comfort guys. They also put us on the road along with GBMC. We will be at Koco’s on Wednesday of this week doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. I’m looking forward to having Max Weiss and Ron Cassie come out. We’re gonna talk about my reinvention and Best of Baltimore Award. Also, gonna talk some music. John Allen’s gonna come out. We’re celebrating our 28th anniversary here, and I’m gonna do 28 musical memories here over the next 14 weeks. We’re getting up on 35 years on the air, and I’m planning something big for music for the early part of next year because, as Luke and I have discussed, there might not be any baseball. But I know there’s going to be a football season. I know because Kyle Humans and Rod Woodson told me at 1o’clock on Saturday afternoon, Minnesota, another preseason tussle that you know it really is hard to watch. I think or come together with you and discuss things because none of the starters play, and it has really very little to do with september 13. Anything you see in these preseason games, but the center position and I guess the depth and fleshing out the roster is what we’re going to figure out. Final cuts are this week, so I know you’re going to be busy this week as the Washington Commanders practice on the backfields out in Owings Mills.

Luke Jones 1:42
Yeah, it’s a big week. I think it is not not necessarily in terms of entertainment value of the third and final preseason game Friday evening. I know, right? That that ship has long sailed of even being able to say that in the way that we could 10 years ago or 15 years ago. But there are certainly some interesting questions here. I mean, none more intriguing at this point than the starting center. Of course, we know Danny Pinter with a torn patellar tendon, not going to be in the picture for that. So, Javon Gwyn, the guy that came along with Dwayne Ledford from Atlanta, got the start on Saturday, and then we saw more extensive time for Ethan Posick, the guy that I think at the beginning of training camp we all assumed was going to be the guy, right? And hasn’t necessarily played out that way. Also, providing the caveat that he’s coming back from a torn Achilles that he suffered last December. But I think this is a really big week in the sense of we’re now three weeks out, less than three weeks out from the start of the season, right? I mean, it’s it’ll be here before you know it. Like it’s not here quickly enough because we’re going to have another lousy preseason game to sit through, but it’s coming, right? The the light is at the end of the tunnel, and as you pointed out, final cuts are going to be on Sunday, so we’re less than a week out from that, but I was really starting to wonder before the Pinter injury. You know, when Pinter was just the number one center going through the first three weeks of practice, I was really wondering and beginning to, you know, just ask around. Never got a definitive answer, of course, because I mean it’s competitive and you know, but but just speculating with some other people as well, I was starting to wonder if there was a scenario where Pinter was going to be the week one starting center, with the thought that maybe Posik goes on short term IR, keeps ramping up, keeps getting himself back to full strength, and maybe you revisit that in I don’t know week four, right? October. Obviously, that’s even if that were even if that had been the plan, that’s not the plan anymore. When Pinter is out of the picture now with the knee injury, so the question becomes: Is is Posick ready to be that guy? And he played a lot more against Minnesota, albeit he played with the second team. You know the second team in that within the game, right? Not the more like the third string when you you kind of think about it in in that way. But did they like what? Did they see enough from him to say, all right, let’s start having him work with the ones. Him they’ll we’ll have him and Gwyn kind of rotate a little bit. We’ll see what this looks like. They’ll both play against the Commanders. You know the joint practice will be big. Obviously, they’ll get some run on Friday night at the stadium, and then we’ll, you know, maybe not be at a final decision at that point. But we’re starting to lean one way or the other. So I think this is a really big week in that way. Look, in a big picture sense, do I think it’s going to be Ethan Posick? I think so, right? I mean, there’s a reason why they gave him, you know, they gave him some real money. It’s not wasn’t $10 million or anything crazy, but he’s not at the league minimum either. So, you know, they they signed him with the thought that he was going to be the guy. But at the same time, I do. Think they liked what they saw from Danny Pinter, and Hosk is not that far removed up from the Achilles. I mean, that was what mid-December, I think, when that happened. So, would they do the same thing with a lesser-known player, even than Danny Pinter, and have Jovan Gwynn start the year as the center? I don’t know. I mean, that’s that’s a lot to ask of someone who has, you know, right around a dozen career snaps offensively in the NFL. I mean, this is a guy who hasn’t played at all.

Luke Jones 5:29
So, in that way, that’s where okay, who’s lining up with with the first team? Are they rotating at all? What does it look like? What does it look like against Washington’s D line in these in this joint practice? It’s one joint practice, and then presumably both those guys will still get some run on Friday night because you know neither one are an established starter at this point, and you’ll see what that looks like. So that’s easily the biggest question. Are there other roster decisions? Sure, you know, but but they’re much more in the line of depth questions, right? D line, you know, the number of corners they’re going to keep. I think one name, you know, the undrafted name that really came out of Saturday’s game, acquitting himself very well, Ethan Burke. I mean, really, really good performance. I mean, Forrest Fumble made a couple plays in coverage. You know, kind of has the you know a little bit of a underdog thing going for him. But at the same time, you look at the Ravens edge rusher room. Number five on that depth chart is Adisa Isaac. Adisa Isaac’s been nothing but hurt so far in his career. So could Ethan Burke steal that that fifth job from him, I think that’s something that you know is at least an interesting question right now. So there are certainly some questions, you know, some other roster moves that you know that you kind of wonder about. You know, the D line, they have these older guys like Kaleus Campbell and John Jenkins, but you also have guys like Aeneas Peebles and Rayshon Benny and C.J. Acoye that are young and developmental types, where you say, do you want to run the risk of losing them if you don’t keep them on the 53-man roster? So, not that that’s going to be a make-or-break kind of decision. You know, again, center is the biggest one by far, but you know, you’ve got some relative intrigue when it comes to some of those other groups and making some decisions, and I know a lot of fans have really liked what they’ve seen from Joe Fignano, the the undrafted rookie quarterback. He’s played pretty well, you know, so far. Do I think you know? I certainly wouldn’t say that he’s in contention for the number two. I I don’t see that. But do you like him enough? Do other teams like him enough, where you start to feel, hey, do we want to keep this guy around? Will he make it to the practice squad, or do we have to look at that? I mean, I’m not there, but I think it’s at least enough to say, hey, he’s done a nice job. I mean, he’s made some really representative throws for a guy that was an undrafted quarterback. I mean, he he he looks like he understands Declan Doyle’s system, which is impressive for a rookie. So, you know, I mean, again, I’m spitballing here. I’m not saying these are terribly captivating questions, you know, beyond the center, but I think there are some, at least some, there’s some relative intrigue as we get into this final week and get into final cuts, which again are required by 6 p.m. on Sunday evening. Here’s Luke Jones. The football season’s almost here. We’re we’re waiting and waiting. We’re we haven’t talked much

Nestor Aparicio 8:30
about any of the Lamars or the Zay Flowers at the Derek, other than them being in street clothes in Minnesota. But there was some hitting last week out on the field. So for that, I guess the most important thing. Will it be a little bit more full on with Washington? I guess maybe.

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Luke Jones 8:46
I mean, not. I don’t expect it in the game. I mean, unless no, no. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio 8:50
on the backfield. Oh yeah,

Luke Jones 8:52
but for Wednesday, yeah. I mean, that’s. I think that’s big. I think the the thing that you’d like to see, and again, look, man, it’s preseason, right? I mean, these are all relative talking points. These are all relative concerns because we have nothing else to talk about, nothing off else to go off of. I’ve said it throughout the summer. If I were to size up how the Ravens have looked in practices, the defense has looked better than the offense. I mean, there’s no disputing that. Anyone who’s been out there would agree with that. Does that mean I’m worried about the offense? No, not really. But there are relative concerns, right? I mean, I am, you know, until we see what the center looks like, until we see what the interior line looks like, until we see what Ronnie Stanley looks like another year older. Yeah, I’m still, I still have some concerns about the offensive line. But I think what I want to see from the offense from that group collectively against Washington compared to against Minnesota by all accounts at the joint practices and obviously what we saw in the game, albeit it was backups in the game, the defense is ruled. Right, Minnesota with Brian Flores, they threw the kitchen sink at. Lamar Jackson and Declan Doyle in this offense, which, by the way, I think is a great thing to be able to get that in a practice environment a couple weeks before the season starts. I mean, a Brian Flores defense. I mean, that’s about as challenging as it gets from a schematic standpoint. They blitz. There, there’s you know there’s muggers, all kinds of stuff to try to throw you off, so I thought. Even though Lamar and the starters didn’t play on Saturday, I thought that was a great experience for Declan Doyle to deal with a coordinator that’s that isn’t just playing this as super vanilla because it’s a preseason game. So, so you have that. But what I want to see specifically to bring it back to Wednesday for for this joint practice, which is going to be the last legit serious work that the starters are going to get before it’s week one and they’re kicking it off for real is I want to I want to see the offense make a few more plays and look a little more fluid and and move the ball a little more consistently. I mean, you know, I expect

Nestor Aparicio 10:57
the offense to look a little sputtery on September 13. I I

Speaker 1 11:00
mean,

Nestor Aparicio 11:00
right? We’re not expecting 37 points and four touchdowns. I mean, I mean, let

Luke Jones 11:06
me be clear. I’m not high on the Indianapolis Colts, so if we see that kind of performance in Week One, it won’t surprise me. Like it is, it’s

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Nestor Aparicio 11:15
the weakest schedule they’ve ever had to look at it and say when are they going to get tested. And I mean, you never know if they’re a good. You never know, right? They’re going to freight train these teams. If they’re a good team, they’re going to be five and one, four and one, five and a. They’re going to be really good. You would hope so. Out of the game,

Luke Jones 11:32
but but that said, like so, so it’s not even for me like a week one thing, just an early season thing in general. Yeah, I could see a little more chopiness relative to who they’re playing, right? And it doesn’t mean they won’t win the game, right? It doesn’t

Nestor Aparicio 11:43
cost them.

Luke Jones 11:43
Yeah, exactly. But but I could see some of that. Sure. I I think I’ve said it to you for a while now. I mean, what they’re doing with Declan Doyle’s offense. I mean, I think you’re going to see a more expansive, multiple offense than the Ravens have ever run in the Lamar Jackson era, and and and look, I mean, Todd Munkin expanded things substantially from where they were with Greg Roman. So, yeah, you kind of look at it, and and obviously they’re different offenses. So it’s not a perfect comparison, but it’s kind of the next logical step, right? We’re going to see them running under center way more, lot more play action under center. They’re not going to be using a fullback as much. I think you’re going to see more 11 personnel than they’ve used in certainly in a long time. But that said, you want to. I think Declan Doyle still wants to use these tight ends, but the young guys got to show that they’re ready for it, right? I mean, Hibner and Cuevas have have to show they’re ready for it because 12 personnel, if it’s Mark Andrews and Durham Smythe, which you’ll see that I’m not saying you won’t, but Durham Smythe is-he’s a blocker. He’s a blocking tight end, right? I mean, he’s-he’s not. Go look at his career numbers. He’s not someone who’s going to catch a lot of passes in this offense. So, so you’re still looking there. I mean, obviously, with wide receiver, you know, we haven’t mentioned it yet. the The Rashad Bateman news, you know, with TMZ and you know an arrest back in June and all that. What is his availability going to be? Is is he going to be facing a suspension at some point in time? Who knows. But you know, your Jacoby Lane’s been a big story. He was

Nestor Aparicio 13:18
about Bateman. He hadn’t been very good. Well,

Luke Jones 13:21
sure. Yeah. I mean, and that’s part of the lane. Now you have built all the headlines until Bateman had whatever he had going on in Florida back in June, right? Yeah. Yeah. And and well, back in it was in Georgia. But yeah, it. You know, Bateman wasn’t having a bad. Hasn’t been having a bad camp. But yeah, it’s just something else that you kind of wonder, and like, and you wonder, will he face discipline from the league at some point in time over the course of this season? Look, I I wrote it in, I included it in my 12 Ravens thoughts coming out of Saturday’s game. I mean, the this Bateman news, which you know, of course, the the arrest was in early June. It now explains why Bateman wasn’t there for some of the final OTAs, as I’d kind of brought it up at the time, and others were asking questions about it at the time. But let’s face it, the the return on a pretty substantial investment that they’ve made in him in terms of a first round pick, in terms of a con couple contract extensions. Now, not insane money, but real money nonetheless, and the return they’ve gotten on that investment, and now you add the off-the-field disappointment-a troubling, you know, very troubling story here with, you know, the situation with Zay

Nestor Aparicio 14:32
Flowers had his troubling story too, and now he’s doing credit card commercials. It’s unbelievable. These guys could get accused of this stuff credibly, and their football players getting. I understand

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Luke Jones 14:43
that it’s sick, but we, but we also we also understand that the the threshold of what you tolerate for players is also different, right? For Ray Lewis, Jamal Lewis, you know Ray Rice, until a video comes out, and then you can’t hide from it anymore, right? I mean,

Nestor Aparicio 15:00
even if you try to make it go away, sure,

Luke Jones 15:02
sure. But but in the case of Bateman, I mean, he’s had one good NFL season. Now, 2022, I think he would have had a really good NFL season. He got hurt though. Got hurt in week four, right? I can’t I can’t project that out and say, oh well, that counts, right? I mean, they’ve invested a lot in him. So yeah, now having off the field shame to go with some disappointing, you know, really disappointing. I don’t think they

Nestor Aparicio 15:26
care about off the field shame. I think that’s just something we talk about and pretend that they care. There’s no.

Luke Jones 15:31
It’s tough for me to argue otherwise. You know

Nestor Aparicio 15:33
what, dude? You you say about Elias all the time, and so does Allen. The defense shows that he doesn’t care. The defense shows that that they doesn’t care. Sure, the fact that that they draft these cretins and they can do anything they want to women and anybody in the building. I mean, you can grab reporters’ phones and go through it if you’re chatty. You can do whatever you want. I mean, there’s there’s there are no repercussions for anything that happens there. Justin Tucker, nothing. So they’re just going to kick the football, and that’s all we really care about, right? But when it comes to Bateman, if we’re going to talk about him, the productivity is not the highlight either.

Luke Jones 16:11
Yeah, and that’s the point. I’m like, you know, you you look at those allegations, and they’re allegations. I’m not, I’m, I’m not convicting him. They’re allegations, but you can go read the report, the arrest report, all that. If you read the Zay

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Nestor Aparicio 16:25
Flowers thing, it’s unbelievable that M and T Bank would put their name with him. I was stunned to see him walk in with a credit card, doing some shopping on my tele, like that they’ve made him the spokesperson. It’s it’s incredible,

Luke Jones 16:39
but I’m not going to. I’m not going to dispute that. I’m not going to distract

Nestor Aparicio 16:43
Rice. It’s incredible that M and T Bank would want a piece of that.

Luke Jones 16:47
But I will say, at the very least, in the case of Zay Flowers, you’re talking about someone who’s a really good player. Yeah. Rashad Bateman has not proven to be that consistently good player, right? He flashes. Nestor, I don’t

Nestor Aparicio 16:59
want to talk about how good a player there if they’re beating women. Nestor, come on, better

Luke Jones 17:04
put me in an unfair. No, but what I’m saying is, I’m not disagreeing with you. They’re going to put up

Nestor Aparicio 17:08
with more. Was a correct, and

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Luke Jones 17:10
that’s and that’s the point I was making, right? I and and again, I wanted to be clear about. I’m not making light about any allegations, right? I, I’m just saying that’s

Nestor Aparicio 17:17
unacceptable, but that’s the way the world is, so I get it, but

Luke Jones 17:20
but in the case of Bateman, like, man, especially coming off of a really bad season, I mean, termination could have been warranted there. I mean, even from the from the threshold of thinking back to Chris McAllister 20 years ago, right, where you tolerate certain behavior if someone’s a really good player, whether you should or not, we see teams do that. But we’ve also seen a

Nestor Aparicio 17:43
tick they had at safety, Earl Thomas.

Luke Jones 17:45
We’ve also seen the Ravens then say they’ll get rid of players, right? When it’s when it’s a fringe guy that embarrasses them. In the past,

Nestor Aparicio 17:52
had a lot of money and they got rid of him.

Luke Jones 17:54
I mean, that was that was a little bit different from a standpoint. I mean, that was him literally getting in a fight with a teammate during practice, right? I mean, that was now he had off the field stuff. That was what was that after the fact? But point is, there’s a threshold for any player, and in the case of Rashad Bateman, that threshold coming off. Why keep bringing in

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Nestor Aparicio 18:18
players where there’s thresholds and they need to make excuses after Justin Tucker and Zay Flowers, and now they have this. It just, it it’s,

Luke Jones 18:27
I

Nestor Aparicio 18:27
it’s a part of who they. I’m not going to

Luke Jones 18:28
defend them morally. I’m not. I’m I’m just I’m not. I’m not going to sit here and defend it. But I, I, look, it’s a. I guess my point

Nestor Aparicio 18:36
is the morals don’t matter. If he if Bateman could catch the football, he’d play. I don’t think they’ll cut him just because he’s got a this or a that, or you say termination could be warranted. Termination will be warranted when Jacoby Lane can outplay him, right? And I mean that that might be the case. That might be the case

Luke Jones 18:52
a year from now, right? I mean, like that might be what we see in March, but but no, I mean I just you know it’s they’ve invested a lot in Rashad Bateman. I mean, a first-round pick, contract extensions. I mean, even even contract extensions where you’d kind of say, “Oh, I didn’t. Okay, I was stunned

Nestor Aparicio 19:09
when they extended him.

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Luke Jones 19:11
Yeah, and and again, I mean, you know, they didn’t give him 30-plus million dollars like Zay Flowers, you know, to make him amongst. I was just

Nestor Aparicio 19:17
shocked that they still wanted him.

Luke Jones 19:18
Yeah. So you know, but but yeah. Now the the latest thing where you bring disappointment and shame off the field, and you know, we’ll see. Jacoby Lane is is you know we’ll see what that looks like. We’ll see how that position group evolves over the. Well, these young guys put it that way.

Nestor Aparicio 19:37
Do two tight ends and Lane. These young they’ve had a chance to go out and play. They’re running around a little bit, right? Sure. These couple of weeks. So if we are watching these games, and I did give it an hour and a half on Saturday afternoon just to smell it and see what’s going on, it’s hard to get lubricated up for the season watching any of them. Oh, I know. And I’ll come to terrible product. We’ll, you know, we’ll fall in. We’ll fall in at that point, and the Orioles will still be a game back in the wild card at that point. So you know,

Luke Jones 20:07
you know what? I mean that that could probably that’s probably the best prediction you could make. I mean, they’re always

Nestor Aparicio 20:13
watching the game Saturday in a little bit of a delay because I was grabbing lunch. It was 1o’clock, getting ready for yoga, and I’m just kind of getting myself together, and I was behind in the game, and I sped up. I accident, and I saw the field goal team come on, and the ball went up in the air. And I’m like, oh, I want to go back. Not often that I want to see field goals in preseason or care much about them, but you know, the kicks going through is something that last week we we gave some oxygen to, and we gave it late. And you’re like, that might be the lead story, the kicker. Yeah, and we haven’t talked about that here.

Luke Jones 20:50
He had a good day. I mean, it was good to see it. Does it

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Nestor Aparicio 20:52
get stabilized?

Luke Jones 20:53
And and that it’s kind of unfair, but it’s not because it’s just the reality of the job. the The idea for Tyler Loop now is to not make headlines. No, and you know what doesn’t make headlines? Making picks at this point. You know what I mean. It’s like an umpire, right? Like you know, it’s like good officiating. You don’t talk about it. I will say this. You know who I came away most impressed by on Saturday? The rookie punter. He had 259 yard punts and 260-yard punts. I mean, there’s no no shortage of leg on him. I mean, so, but that says it all. When I come away most impressed by the punter, that that speaks to what kind of preseason game it actually was. But, but, but yeah, with Loop, I mean, it was an indoor stadium, right? If you’re not going to have a good day kicking it indoors, I don’t know if there’s a whole lot else to say then, as far as just being completely concerned by it. So it’s a good day for him.

Nestor Aparicio 21:47
Windy in Pittsburgh that night. Let’s just make no. I understand, but but it is

Luke Jones 21:51
a little bit different. Kicking outdoors at night. It’s cold. All that compared to the climate controlled. And it was

Nestor Aparicio 21:57
the ins. It it was the interior field goal in Pittsburgh. It was the closed

Luke Jones 22:02
the closed end zone. The closed end,

Nestor Aparicio 22:04
yeah, yeah. Which

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Luke Jones 22:04
you know, that’s the the other end zone is notorious for being really challenging for kickers. So, look, we get it. I mean, it’s he’s got to. He he just needs to make kicks. It’s going to be a question. This sounds really like kind of like a no duh kind of statement. It’s going to be a question until it’s not anymore, right? And the first preseason game that was the most pressure-filled situation he’s had until Saturday. He’s kind of got to be perfect in

Nestor Aparicio 22:29
September, right? He just missed couple three. He can’t miss two kicks in Rio de Janeiro in couples. Oh, of course, 1917 loser from from yeah.

Luke Jones 22:38
Well, and and it’s going to come down to this, the next truly big kick, right? Where can he

Nestor Aparicio 22:43
win the game, lose the game? Exactly. If

Luke Jones 22:46
he if he can notch a couple of those on his belt, then you start to say, all right, maybe this guy can be. I don’t remember

Nestor Aparicio 22:53
him winning a game yet. Well, that’s the problem.

Luke Jones 22:55
I wrote about no, he hasn’t. I wrote about this last week, and we talked about it. You can go back. I even I I linked in my article that I wrote@baltimorepositive.com last week. In my 12 Ravens thoughts at you know I do one before every game and after every game during the season. There were at least three or four instances where I pointed out Tyler Loop just hasn’t really been tested yet. Tyler Loop just really hasn’t been tested yet, and that was the difference, right? He had not had a really true high-pressure situation all year until that night in Pittsburgh. I went back and looked. I looked at every game log. I looked at every kick that he made. I looked at the game situation of every kick. The closest he came. Remember the game in Cleveland? What was that? November when I mean that game was a slog. They were trailing. They they committed some turnovers. They were down. I think they were down two scores even, and he made a kick with 459 to go in Cleveland to tie the game. It was like a 44 yard field goal, something along those lines. That was that was the closest he had come to something that I would say is high leverage, until that night in Pittsburgh. So, in contrast, I went back and looked at Justin Tucker’s rookie year. He had the win against the Patriots on Sunday Night Football, the Torrey Smith game. He had the overtime winner in San Diego. He had some other kicks that tied the game or put them in position to to win the game, and then my goodness, I mean the the high leverage kicks of a high of high leverage kicks for especially for a rookie, he made the the winner in Denver in double overtime in the divisional round, right? I mean, we came out of Justin Tucker’s rookie year very much recognizing this kid’s good. You know, like this kid’s really good. Tyler Loop, and this is where I’m not picking on him. He just did not have, he did not have a subset of opportunities to really prove himself. I mean, statistically, until the Pittsburgh miss. He was very capable and competent, and it came across as high floor. Like he didn’t miss a bunch of kicks, he didn’t miss easy kicks, any of that. But he didn’t have the high leverage, and he didn’t have the the number of kicks beyond 50 yards. I mean, his first kick of the year was a 50 plus yard field goal in Buffalo. Like that was the first kick of his career. He made a 50-plus yarder. He didn’t make another 50-plus yarder all year long. Now he only attempted three others. So, and by the way, you know, to give you context of the modern NFL, I mean, Harrison Butker just made a 69 yarder in the preseason the other night. You know, so it speaks to what kickers are expected to do in the modern day. Not that you want to go out there and have to make a bunch of 50 and 60-plus yard kicks all the time, but you want to have that in your tool belt if you need it, right? So see

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Nestor Aparicio 25:49
how Minter is going to run fourth down. Oh sure, sure to Lamar and the offense and Declan Doyle and play calling and I mean, this this was a four down offense for long stretches with hard ball. Even though they had the greatest kicker on earth, they weren’t quick to run him out. They were quick to say it’s fourth and four. We can make it. We

Luke Jones 26:10
can get it right, especially from the 36 yard line, right? I mean, so, but yeah, I think I think that’s interesting. But the other interesting wrinkle in that discussion, Jesse Minter’s calling the defense. Jesse Minter’s a defensive mastermind, so I do think there will be times where he’ll be aggressive, and rightfully so, when you have Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in your backfield. But I also think there will be some times where maybe the offense isn’t humming in the way that you’d like it to, but your defense is playing at a really high level where you’ll say no, hunt the ball, or no, let’s let’s make a seven-point game, a 10-point game, and then rely on our defense, right? I do think you’ll you’ll see Jesse Minter pick pick his spots and do that at times. Which, if the defense is as good as it needs to be to warrant that kind of strategy, then by all means do that, right? So yeah, we’re gonna find out. I mean, it’s you know, I mean, even just you know, this wasn’t all that interesting. But one of the things we’ve talked about this summer is Declan Doyle. Is he gonna call the plays from the sideline or upstairs in the coach’s booth? Right. Well, he he had originally said he was gonna be upstairs in the booth for the preseason opener, and then he’d be in the on the sideline in Minnesota. Well, he liked calling plays from the booth so much that he called plays from the booth again in Minnesota. So, you know, not that that’s that interesting. I mean, it’s you know you like to know it just because you want to know it, but but but we’re fine. We’re going to find out about all these coaches. I mean, what’s Anthony Weaver’s game day role going to be? You know, is he does he sit there and give Jesse Minter a suggestion? At times, you know, is it something situationally that he kind of hones in on, or does he kind of, you know, he’s kind of just the ombudsman and, you know, every once in a while remind Jesse of something, and otherwise he’s just talking to the defensive players between drives, right? I mean that’s why this preseason, as much as it’s a tap, a total dog from an entertainment standpoint, I mean, not very entertaining whatsoever when you’re talking about resting upwards of 25 starters and established veterans and all that. I’ve said all along these games are really probably more important for the coaching staff than anyone, when you’re talking about a first-time head coach and a first-time play caller at offensive coordinator, and you’re trying to vibe out how it’s going, you know the dynamic between Minter and Anthony Weaver on game day. What does that look like? But you don’t want Anthony Weaver just sitting there with his hands in his pockets all game, right? I mean, this is a guy who’s been a defensive coordinator in the league. Like, he’s not. This isn’t the first time he’s done it, but it’s the first time he’s been the coordinator. But he’s not calling the plays. So, yeah, you’re trying to iron out all of your game day processes. You’re trying to figure out the the challenge system. You’re trying to make sure you’re managing the clock. I mean, I know some people were making fun of Minter for icing the kicker at the end of the first half in a preseason game, but I was okay with that because Jesse Minter he needs to be in that frame of mind that oh yeah you’re the head coach so you’re responsible for all that yeah you’re calling the defense but you’re not just the defensive coordinator on game day you’re the head coach so you have to manage all of this. So yeah, as as dull as these games are from an entertainment standpoint, they they’re very important for these coaches to iron everything out. So not saying you’re gonna you know take a lot of entertainment away from that, but you’re hoping that some lessons are being learned now that will help mitigate some of the growing pains that they’re going to have.

Luke Jones 29:43
Jesse Minter is going to mess up a clock management situation mainly because every coach in the league messes them those up as much as as much as everyone crushed John Harbaugh for it. Andy Reid, even to this day, still notorious for not being, you know, for being a Hall of Fame coach. Not being someone who necessarily managed the clock well for large, large stretches of his career, they all mess things up. So the point is, with Minter and with Doyle, especially considering the newness there, you’re trying to iron out as many of the kinks as you can right now to try not to have too much of that. You hope it doesn’t cost you a ball game, right? Especially early in the season when these guys are still establishing themselves. So you know, I mean, that’s it’s part of it. That’s why, as much as there’s excitement and optimism, and if this team is healthy, if Lamar Jackson specifically is healthy, there’s no reason to think the Ravens aren’t going to be there in January and having a chance to break through, but it is challenging with a new coaching staff. I mean, it it it is. That’s just there’s a lot of new that they’re navigating collectively. That I want to see how that looks. But as you pointed out, the fact that the schedule does look as forgiving on paper as it does in the first six, seven weeks of the season, that should really help their calls to put them in a position that they can have a really, really good season in Jesse Minter’s first year.

Nestor Aparicio 31:10
We are-we’re not this close. We’re this close. We’re getting there. More preseason football this week. If there’s any breaking news or breaking bones, or maybe we bring in centers or get centers to the field. We’ll get it first on the WNST Tech Service. It’s all brought to you by Coal Roofing and Gordian Energy. Final cuts Sunday, correct?

Luke Jones 31:32
Yes, Sunday at 6p.m. So you want to be on the WNST Tech Service? We’ll we’ll send out no. We’re not going to send out cuts on guys that you you never heard of right? So they cut,

Nestor Aparicio 31:42
and then next week is sort of a chill, and then it’s a game install. So what they will do,

Luke Jones 31:47
as I said, so so they’re scheduled this week: practice Monday, Tuesday, joint practice Wednesday, Thursday is the walkthrough day, Friday is the preseason game. Off Saturday, Sunday they will practice, and then they’ll make final cuts, and then next week, yeah, they’ll get a little bit of work in. They’ll probably, I’m guessing they’ll practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then probably what you’ll see is, for for one, they are required to give players a few days off at the end of the preseason before the season starts. So they’ll give the players a long weekend, and then they’ll be back in the building, and then you know for Labor Day, it’s game week at that point. So you know there there’s kind of that buffer week where yeah things will be a little bit slower. They go into regular season mode, so we’ll only watch the first 20 minutes of practice long enough to take attendance. But at that point there’ll be a 53 man roster. We’ll see if there are any tweaks, right? We’ll see if they have any handshake agreements.

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Nestor Aparicio 32:44
Yeah, things are going to get real quiet next week for football, right? It does this time in to get kind of that time off and the Labor Day.

Luke Jones 32:51
It’s kind of the week for college football to shine. And in the case, I mean, how about we’ve got NFL players going back to college now, right? I mean, that story is just what’s going to be a great

Nestor Aparicio 33:02
week for me to to do the 28th anniversary around here and talk about some music and some stuff that because it is kind of quiet and the and the Orioles are out on the West Coast through the weekend. They’re in Sacramento of all places and then Colorado after that to start next week. So yeah, I I would say that this is nice and quiet. We don’t want any breaking news. We don’t want any breaking bones. We don’t want any of that. Get through this slog with the Commanders this week, and then we can get focused. I mean, this is great. Little downtime will will do me good for the last week of summer.

Luke Jones 33:33
Yeah, I have no problem with that. In the meantime, we could see the Orioles and all these other teams.

Nestor Aparicio 33:38
Iwas gonna say, just don’t make me watch the Orioles. Oh my God! Well away in this wild. You didn’t let me finish. I just said this. Give me a down week where I don’t have to watch the Orioles. Well, they are

Luke Jones 33:46
playing late nights, so that that’s a little bit different. Just

Nestor Aparicio 33:49
wait till next March or April. You won’t have to worry about watching the Orioles anymore. He is Luke. I am Nestor. It’s almost football season around here, and I don’t know if you can tell, but I saw Getty Lee and Alex Lyson last night, so I’m excited. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with