Frowning upon all elements of disturbing Ravens effort against Texans

It was as bad as we’ve ever seen in modern Baltimore football, especially during the John Harbaugh era, but the soul searching that the head coach spoke of in the aftermath of a 44-10 beating at the hands of the Houston Texans leaves many questions about the whole operation. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the lack of fire and what the options are now that this once-Super Bowl promising season is on the brink. “Too many injuries” is not a valid message.

Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ 44-10 loss to the Houston Texans, highlighting the team’s significant injury issues, including the absence of Lamar Jackson, Ronnie Stanley, and Kyle Hamilton. Jones emphasized the lack of fight and competitive spirit, noting that the Ravens’ defense has already allowed more points than the 2000 team in five games. They compared the current team’s performance to past seasons, criticizing the coaching staff and questioning the leadership. Despite the bye week, the outlook remains grim, with the Ravens facing the Los Angeles Rams next.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Closely monitor the recovery and return of injured players during the bye week.
• [ ] Evaluate the coaching staff and consider potential changes or adjustments.
• [ ] Assess the leadership and trust within the team, both among players and between players and coaches.
• [ ] Develop a game plan to stop the run and improve the defense’s performance against the Rams.

Ravens’ Loss to Texans and Injury Impact

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the topic of the Ravens’ loss to the Texans, describing it as an embarrassing blowout.
• Luke Jones acknowledges the significant list of injuries affecting the Ravens, including key players like Lamar Jackson, Ronnie Stanley, and Kyle Hamilton.
• Luke Jones mentions that despite the injuries, the Ravens were still expected to win, but the manner of the loss was concerning.
• The discussion highlights the lack of fight and competitive spirit shown by the Ravens, contrasting it with past performances under similar injury conditions.

Historical Comparisons and Lack of Fight

• Luke Jones compares the current situation to past performances under John Harbaugh, where the team showed resilience despite injuries.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss specific games where the Ravens competed well despite having a depleted roster.
• The conversation emphasizes the lack of fight shown by the current team, with players appearing to walk carefully and not believing they could win.
• Luke Jones points out that the Ravens’ performance against the Texans was particularly bad, with no meaningful belief in winning the game.

Offensive and Defensive Performance

• Luke Jones criticizes the offensive performance, noting that even with a backup quarterback and an offensive line, they couldn’t run the ball or protect.
• The discussion highlights the poor performance of the offensive line and the lack of a pass rush on defense.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the impact of key injuries on the team’s performance, including the absence of top players like Lamar Jackson and Marlon Humphrey.
• The conversation touches on the lack of depth and readiness of the current roster, with many players being rookies or inexperienced.

Coaching and Leadership Questions

• Nestor Aparicio questions the leadership and coaching decisions, suggesting that the team lacks trust and cohesion.
• Luke Jones acknowledges the significant role of injuries but also questions the coaching staff’s ability to manage the situation.
• The discussion includes the need for veteran players and coaches to step up and provide leadership.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones express concerns about the team’s ability to recover and perform well in upcoming games.

Future Outlook and Bye Week

• Luke Jones discusses the potential for the team to recover during the bye week and the upcoming schedule, which includes easier opponents.
• The conversation highlights the importance of the bye week for key players to rest and recover from injuries.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential for the team to make a comeback, given the relatively easier schedule ahead.
• The discussion includes the need for the coaching staff to make adjustments and improve the team’s performance.

Historical Context and Comparisons

• Luke Jones compares the current situation to past seasons, noting that the team has faced similar challenges but managed to recover.
• The conversation includes references to the 2025 Orioles, drawing parallels between the injuries and performance issues faced by both teams.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the historical context of the Ravens’ defense, noting that the current performance is particularly bad.
• The discussion highlights the need for the team to address both the immediate and long-term issues to improve their performance.

Fan Reaction and Passion

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the reaction of the fans, noting that many left the game early due to the poor performance.
• The conversation includes the impact of the team’s performance on fan morale and the passion for the team.
• Nestor Aparicio mentions the importance of the team’s history and tradition in maintaining fan support.
• The discussion highlights the need for the team to perform better to regain the trust and support of the fans.

Accountability and Responsibility

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the need for accountability and responsibility from both the coaching staff and the players.
• The conversation includes the importance of the team taking responsibility for their performance and making necessary adjustments.
• Nestor Aparicio emphasizes the need for the team to hold themselves accountable and not make excuses for their poor performance.
• The discussion highlights the importance of leadership and accountability in turning around the team’s fortunes.

Looking Ahead to the Rams Game

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the upcoming game against the Los Angeles Rams, noting the challenges the team will face.
• The conversation includes the importance of the team’s preparation and performance in the upcoming game.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the need for the team to show improvement and compete better in the upcoming game.
• The discussion highlights the importance of the team’s performance in determining their future prospects and the fans’ support.

Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones wrap up the discussion, summarizing the key points and concerns raised during the conversation.
• The conversation includes final thoughts on the team’s performance, the impact of injuries, and the need for improvement.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones express their hope for the team to recover and perform better in the upcoming games.
• The discussion concludes with a focus on the importance of accountability, leadership, and team performance in turning around the team’s fortunes.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Ravens loss, Texans game, injuries, Lamar Jackson, Ronnie Stanley, Kyle Hamilton, rookie players, defensive struggles, coaching changes, bye week, Rams game, fan reaction, offensive line, pass rush, leadership.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:02

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. It is Baltimore positive. We are positively getting the Maryland crab cake tour back out on the road. We are giving away these Raven scratch offs, hopefully a luckier brand than the one in four brand of football that we have. You can find all that, all the of that information up at Baltimore positive. We got a date come up at Cocos in early November, as well as get back at the Costas, not this week, but soon it is my birthday week. It’s a baseball week, and it’s a week we’re going to do everything we can do to not talk about the Los Angeles Rams or this really lousy football team right now. Luke Jones joins us now. This is the beginning of a long conversation we’re going to have about where the franchise is and where the injuries are and whatever that was on Sunday in losing 44 to 10 embarrassment all time low. There’s a new band. They didn’t play halftime, but they could have, I don’t know what to say. I’m going to give you the floor, Luke, I read your blog at it Baltimore, positive,

Luke Jones  01:12

yeah, and I think it’s important, as ugly as it was, as embarrassing as it was, as much as I think the concerns do run deeper than the injuries, it’s important to acknowledge the massive list of injuries that they have had over the last couple of weeks, beginning with Matt abigay out for the year, but continuing with the guys that were on the inactive list on Sunday. I mean, you’re without Lamar Jackson. You end up being out without Ronnie Stanley and Kyle Hamilton, who are questionable, and they end up being down on Sunday, you’re without roquan Smith, you’re without Marlon Humphrey, you’re without Patrick Ricard again, you’re without chenobio Woozi a so that’s a lot. And I think even for Dummies like me, who picked the ravens to win when I found out Hamilton and Stanley were both down, in addition to the guys that were rolled out, I would have flipped my pick at that point in time. But I think because of the manner in which the loss occurred, two hard truths supply here. The first one I’ve already stated, they’re absolutely decimated by injuries over these last couple weeks. The silver lining is that they’re not all season ending injuries, right? And we’re going to talk about this football game against the LA Rams coming into town here this Sunday, and we’re going to talk about the bye week and the opportunity to write themselves help from a health standpoint, and what that can mean for the rest of the season, because there is still a lot of season left over. But the other truth, and this is the more alarming one, this is the more disconcerting one for me because of what I said, because most of these players are going to be back and should be back in the near future, whether it’s this week or the week after the buy, right? It’s the utter lack of fight. I think. I think back to some of the most impressive coaching efforts from John Harbaugh over the years. Often came at times when expectations had kind of gone out the door for any number of reasons, injuries. You know. I think back to Ryan Mallett leading the ravens to a win over the Steelers late in the 2015 season, when the roster was kind of like it was on Sunday, you know, unrecognizable in a lot of ways. And a lot of rookies and backups and guys like that playing, I think back to

Nestor Aparicio  03:32

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they competed with Tyler Huntley for the most part,

Luke Jones  03:35

that, yeah. I mean, go back to go back to the covid game in 2020 right? I mean, in Pittsburgh, the game that was postponed three times, and the the roster looked like a JV roster on both sides of the ball, quite frankly, and the Ravens gave Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers everything they could handle that game. It was a pesky effort where, you know, putting aside all the covid stuff and protocols and all that stuff, there was a it was a competitive football game, still, despite Robert Griffin, the third running around at quarterback and what I believe is his last NFL game, if I’m not mistaken, 2021 they lost, and they lost, you know what? Five six in a row to end that season with Lamar hurt with so many guys on the defense out for the season, but they played the packers to a one point loss. They played the Rams, who ended up winning the Super Bowl. What, five weeks later, six weeks later, in a one point law, or, I don’t know if one point loss or think overtime actually, either way, another close game. And, I mean, I just there was none of that fight on Sunday. I mean, that game was hapless, listless, you know. I mean, guys were tried to walk carefully, tread carefully, in terms of questioning effort of their teammates, coaches, you know, John Harbaugh didn’t want to question the effort, per se. But clearly everyone was, you. Wildly disappointed with the performance. I mean, they took the field and they just they did not play from Jump Street. They did not play like a team that had any meaningful, tangible belief that they were going to win that football game on Sunday. And it’s one thing to lose to the to the chiefs in the way they did at arrowhead last week. It’s one thing to lose to the lions, who we’ve seen at least in the last couple regular seasons. Them be an elite NFC team. Houston was one in three. They had an offensive line that, go look at pro football focuses offensive line rankings. They had them 31st going into the year, and you still couldn’t run the ball and you still couldn’t protect right? And I mean, it’s just it was really, really, really bad. And I think two truths can apply here. Yes, the injuries are 1,000% a factor, and we need we can’t be disingenuous to ignore that, because that’s a major part of this, in the same way that we talked about that with the Orioles for large chunks of the 2025 season, but I can’t ignore that showing. I can’t ignore the lack of fight that they showed, because especially on defense, as you’re talking now, Nestor, believe it or not, and you probably do believe it, but it’s still amazing to think about it, the 2025 Ravens have already allowed more points than the 2000 defense did for an entire season, that in five games, they’ve eclipsed the points allowed that the 2000 ravens finished with, but that was already trending in alarming in an alarming direction. And on offense, you know, I’m not giving those guys a pass either. Get it. Lamar is out. Ronnie Stanley’s out. You’re certainly not expecting anything close to an optimal peak kind of performance. But Cooper Rush is supposed to be a National Football League quarterback, right? And you’re and you’re supposed to have an offensive line that can block. They still couldn’t run the ball. Who was the guy playing left tackle? I mean, Joe, nope, nope. Boom. You know, the replacement for Patrick McCary. I mean, he’s played, he’s he’s not a second year guy. He’s been around in the league. I’m not saying he’s a high quality backup, necessarily, but he started games, and he’s played in the league. But I mean, that offense, they put together a solid opening drive to get a field goal, you know, after Houston had marched down the field. So it’s seven three, and you’re saying, okay, that I can live with that, you know, as long as that’s not it. Well, it was it until late in the third quarter, right when the game was already completely out of hand. So, I mean, it was just bad. It was bad in all three

Nestor Aparicio  07:35

dude on TV to watch the place completely empty out, like when the fans have quit on you, right? Like, just, we’re going home, goodbye. This is not even worth my 78 degree day.

Luke Jones  07:50

Well, I was just gonna say they wasted everyone’s 78 degree day. I mean, quite frankly, I mean that that performance, they they wasted the fans time. I mean that that was bad. It was really bad. And it’s funny, you mentioned that, because I think I said it to someone sitting near me in the press box when it really, really started to empty out. It’s like, Man, I’m kind of surprised as many fans that held on as long as they did. I mean, it speaks to the passion of this fan base and for this football team. But man, you talk about below the bar and look, I mean, John Harbaugh didn’t mince words when it when he said that we got beaten every way you can get beat, just a complete disappointment. You know, we can get into him being asked about Zach Orr and coaching changes, but they all know. They all know how lousy that performance was. And Kyle van Noy said it best, no that that we can’t use injuries as an excuse when we just saw the Niners go to LA last Thursday night, decimated themselves by injuries, and they pulled off a win. The Ravens lost by three, by seven, lost by 10 points, you know,

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Nestor Aparicio  09:03

in a game to lose 2717, that was my pick. And I picked that on Houston radio on Friday, so that I went with it on Sunday.

Luke Jones  09:10

And that’s fine. And if that were the manner in which they lost, not going to sit here and have great surprise or even necessarily bury them beyond just the ramifications of one in four because of how injured they were on I expected

Nestor Aparicio  09:26

them to lose. I mean, you know, from jump, I expect that doesn’t happen much, but I expected them to lose.

Luke Jones  09:33

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And, you know, you could the optimist, and there aren’t many right now, would try to say, well, a loss is a loss. It still counts as one. It doesn’t count as two in the win loss department. But man, the eyeball test, the smell test, all that, boy, that was bad on Sunday. And you start to question when something is that bad, and it’s trended the way it has these last three weeks. Now we think back to Detroit and how the second half played out there. And. And then in Kansas City, how that game was trending, even before roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey and Lamar Jackson left the game. And now to see this against another one in three team that certainly has its own flaws and to get completely blown out on your home field, I am going to question everything. I am going to question the leadership in terms of both the coaching staff and the veteran players on the team. I am going to question and this is where Eric, Eric Decosta, can’t get a pass man, even the the most sugar coated kind of way that you could paint this man that talk about this ravens team having the best and deepest roster in the NFL sounds completely silly when you play like that,

Nestor Aparicio  10:44

when there’s nobody, you can circle. So this Luke Jones is here at Baltimore. Luke, he’ll be out in OAKS bills all week. The rams are coming. The Ravens think, watching them on television in the purple Barney outfits and the you know, like what they are, and thinking that’s the ravens, right. Okay. Now, all the names out. We see Lamar with more gold on. You’re hanging off of him. He’s in the sidelines. Roquan’s got the muscles. He’s next to him. Kyle Hamilton, very clear, got the little earpiece in seeing that. I’m just telling what I’m seeing on television in street clothes. And I’m saying, All right, who’s playing for that guy, who’s playing for that guy, who’s playing for that guy, who’s playing for that guy, and what do they have to do with Raven’s history? The Ravens way, any of that to look any different than what they look like, which were the little magnets on the, you know, you know, on the on the old magnetic football thing, just moving around and saying, Who’s that guy, who’s that guy, who’s that guy, and then expecting them to play. It was kind of like a preseason game in that way. Like all right, guys are flying around and they’re in position and they’re wearing awkward numbers, and what can I expect out of those guys? Now, say this, you talked about days of Raven’s, your where the Harbaugh administration would get an injury. I remember Anthony Levine and Ali bring him up because I saw him on the sidelines, and I kind of forgot he was a part of the operation, because they locked me out. And I can’t even talk to the people that I actually know, including Chuck Pagano. But Anthony Levine, I saw his face, and I’m like, oh, yeah, he must be back from, like, Tennessee. Did he take a gig in 10? I was like, yeah, he’s coaching, right? And everybody down on Zach Orr. He’s got no players, right? So I don’t know who these guys are. You say, coach him up, coach him up, coach him up. But I do remember when there was a depth thing here, where there would be long term special team players and at least know the playbook that you could Greg Madison could grab, or, you know, any of these guys could install them in, at least the guy has played scout team a couple of years, looked around a couple of years, has sort of studied some tape of what Joe burrow might be doing, or the better quarterbacks in the League. This is a pretty green Effort, Right? I mean, amongst the names of the players out there, when I look at who made tackles and who’s out there running around, it’s these aren’t people that have been with the program a long time, and they’re not people that I would say that you always use that Tom Moore. Quote, for those who don’t know, Tom Moore was a longtime offensive line coach and wizard behind the the the Indianapolis Colts and offensive coordinator with Peyton Manning just saying, if, if he’s gone, we’re screwed. Well, dude, if you were to tell me, I would’ve told you, if you lose Stanley, you’re kind of screwed, let alone Lamar, let alone Hamilton, rogue, one, Matt a BK, Marlin, awuzi, a Did I leave anybody out? I don’t know like so you’ve taken the guts of the team, the top six earners on the team, and taking them out. I would say that if you take the top six of any guys out of any team, they might get their ass beat 44 to 10 at home, especially if it includes the quarterback, because it will if it’s the top six guys. I don’t I don’t know what I expect of them, but I do know the HAR ball administration, because he thinks I’ve been a little unfair to him. From what I from the text I’ve been getting lately that I hate him, sounds like everybody hates the defensive coordinator this week. I heard he got booed. Everybody’s getting booed, I just think, to the depth of the team and to their ability, in the past, to have a second squad, you know, be able to come in and play a little bit or a lot. This is a bad time for them to have $25 million players hurt when the Simpsons and the Buchanan’s just aren’t ready to be that player. You know what? I mean, they’re just not. And same thing with Wiggins or any of the younger guys, Starks. Guys they’ve drafted, they’re not ready to be veteran players. And I That’s not me making an excuse. It’s just what my eyes witnessed, which is, Who are these guys running around? And they’re just not ready to play, and that’s accountable, unprofessional. Dre, it’s all of the above, but this is not a fire drill. They’re one in four. They’re getting their ass kicked, and they’re getting exposed for what happens when $25 million football players can’t get on the field.

Luke Jones  15:32

That’s fair. But I would also say their defense was playing at a lousy level, even before those guys had hurt. So I’m not going to give Zach Orr and the coaching staff a pass. I’m not going to give Eric to Costa a pass because, well, how many times in the off season Did you hear me talk about this need, this team’s need for a veteran, number three safety to add to the roster? And I was thinking about thinking about it more so in terms of being able to play three safety looks in sub packages, but I mean, Kyle Hamilton goes down, and you’ve got a rookie, first round pick and an undrafted rookie, I love Reuben Lowry. It’s a great story. An undrafted rookie is your number three safety for a Super Bowl roster. It’s not good enough. If there were one, you know, not one, one of the relative questions and concerns about this football team, really, for years now. But no different, going into 2025 pass rush edge rushers, a second round rookies, the only meaningful addition they made now,

Nestor Aparicio  16:34

they drafted Mike Green now, so this was supposed to be right? I mean, this is what happens when you have the second through six round picks who have to get on the field as rookies. They got to show up a little bit. I mean, they got to show some sort of Spark, right?

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Luke Jones  16:47

So, I mean, but, and, you know, I think the world of Zach, or I like Zach, or a lot personally. I mean, I can remember sending him a text, couple different texts, in the months after he had to retire, you know, just to say, you know, I’m sorry for you. I’m praying for you, and all that, you know, one of the

Nestor Aparicio  17:06

really good but I haven’t talked to Zach in four years, since they filled me out of the building. But I like Zach a lot.

Luke Jones  17:11

We have to call a spade a spade here. Nestor, this defense was a disaster early on last year, and okay, they figured it out, and it seemed, it seemed as simple as Marcus Williams out art areas Washington, in Kyle Hamilton, playing a little more of a natural, conventional safety. And they did call Dean peas along the way too. They did. They did, and it’s, it’s fair to acknowledge, that’s why I asked Zach, or, you know, this past week, I said, hey, it was right around a year ago at this time, where you guys brought in Dean peas. I didn’t necessarily frame it in the sense of, okay, are you going to bring them back? Are you going to bring someone else in? But what are you guys doing in terms of, you know, our is there consideration to shuffling responsibility?

Nestor Aparicio  17:51

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Some fresh eyes on out there running around. Do you see

Luke Jones  17:55

he’s their secondary coach? I mean, and their secondary has been bad. I mean, look, I’m gonna, I’m gonna say something right now that. And again, the injuries have a huge part to deal with this. And I get it. They had five rookies starting on Sunday, right? I mean, that’s you get what you get. But at the same time, roquan Smith wasn’t playing well, Marlon Humphrey might have been the worst player among their starters the first four games of the season.

Nestor Aparicio  18:23

So we’re waiting for a cavalry that’s not going to be such a thing.

Luke Jones  18:25

So I mean, you hope it’s the Calvary, but at the same time, my question is, why are those guys playing so poorly? Okay, are they all collectively washed up at the same time, or is there something bigger going on here in terms of coaching, in terms of the overall vibe of the football team, however you want to categorize it. I mean, this goes back to the fourth quarter of the Buffalo game, which was, by the way, only a month ago. I mean, it’s kind of wild to think the Ravens went from being up 15 with five minutes to go in the Sunday night opener looking Defense Media, mediocre defense for the first three quarters, aside looking like the best team in football that so many thought they were going to be, right the popular Super Bowl pick, and to see what’s transpired since then. I mean, it’s just, it’s shocking. I mean, it really is. But I, as much as the injuries are absolutely a huge factor, here they absolutely are. I can’t put it all on that. And when it’s as bad as it looks, Sunday, yeah, I am going to question what’s going on from a coaching standpoint. I mean, John Harbaugh sent himself that they had a good week of practice in his mind, and he did not expect them to play that way. You know, I flat out asked him, so what do you do as a coach, then when how you’re practicing and what you think about the level at which you’re practicing when that doesn’t align with what you see on the field? How do you marry those two things? How do you adjust? How do you and, you know, I mean, I didn’t really expect him, necessarily, to have. The Perfect answer there. I mean, they’re not trying to go out there and lose, right? They’re not trying to go out there and be the worst defense in the history of the franchise, which they, quite frankly, are on a fast track to being. I think I saw, they’re on track to be what maybe the first team in NFL history to give up 600 points in a season, or whatever.

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Nestor Aparicio  20:18

What curtails it? They have no pass rush. There’s no hope of one. They’re not great at run. Stopping in the secondary is decimated, not very good. So speak up. What’s what’s good about it, right? What’s better than the 44 points that they gave up that could easily have been 60?

Luke Jones  20:33

Yeah, I mean that, and that’s what’s tough right now. I mean, again, on offense. Look, I mean, we talked about this even, even prior to the Kansas City game. We talked about this with, you know, we talked about this, frankly, how they played against Cleveland. Offensively. They weren’t great in that game until second half. They started to make, you know, Lamar made some good throws, and obviously they pulled away. But that was much more a defense and special teams driven game there. But that, that lone exception. I mean, that is the only thing this defense is hanging its hat on right now. It’s Cleveland. I mean, they’ve already benched their 40 year old. I mean, God bless Joe Flacco. He’s gonna be in the Ring of Honor. He should never have to pay for a meal here the rest of the time he walks in the Baltimore even though he certainly has the money to do it. But it was a 40 year old quarterback who’s, let’s call spade a spade. He’s washed up. And they were intimately familiar with, you know, talking about the coaches on this staff, and even some, you know, not too many players left from that era, but so that’s the only performance you can hang your hat on, whatsoever. Defensively, that’s where, no, I’m not going to just point, only point to the injuries and say, Oh well, the defense, you know, they’re just really hurt right now. No, they were bad before, and now it’s worse because of the injuries, of course. So this is, as I said, the silver lining continues to be that Matta BK is the only season ending injury they’ve had. I mean, even ardarius Washington, you know, as of the last update, you know, which has been a while, you know, there’s thoughts that he could be back by December, right? So, I mean, you might even get him back into the mix by then. I mean, who knows, but you’re going to get these guys back, but one in four and looking very distinctly like it’s going to be one in five, you know, unless all these guys make miraculous recoveries here, yeah, you’ll have the bye week and the schedule softens up. And I’ll point this out. This won’t be the first time, nor the last time. I point this out to you. Nestor, the LA Rams were one in four last year, and they made it to the divisional round and gave Philadelphia their toughest game in the postseason on the way to the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. The Rams gave them easily the they were the most formidable out of the four teams that they played, or I guess three teams that they played on their way to winning a Super Bowl. So it can be done. But man, with what we’ve seen, and it getting progressively worse these last three weeks. Now, I’m wondering what’s happening, what’s going on between the ears? I’m wondering what’s under the hood. I’m wondering what’s where’s the leadership, you know, from John Harbaugh on down, it’s not good. I mean, it really is not good. And I just this is where you start to question, you know, are guys going to trust each other out on the field? And I’m not talking like dissension in a personal way. You know where, you know, it gets personal and nasty with guys, necessarily, but more so. Do I trust my teammates? Do I trust my coaches? Do my coaches trust me or my

Nestor Aparicio  23:39

teammates? Well, they didn’t trust Jair Alexander. They never put him back on the field, right? So, you know, there is a point where the coaches look and say, Do we trust? Do we believe? Felt to me like nobody believed in Cooper rush. I’ll say that, you know, like it felt like the level of confidence with him walking out on the field was, we’ve watched this guy practice for six months, and we can’t win with this guy. I mean, I know you didn’t, you wasn’t impressed, and you have not had good vibes about Cooper rush, even though he’s got a great last name and Getty Lee signing books at the Negro Baseball library on Saturday, which I would if I would have known, I’d have

Luke Jones  24:14

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gone, yeah. I mean, it’s and as you’ve already pointed out, I’m I am not the guy that screams and howls about the quality of the backup quarterback, but at the same time, they gave him a little bit of more money than Josh Johnson made last year, right? And this is the scenario, let me, let me pump the brakes a little bit on that. If Lamar Jackson is going to in a vacuum, Lamar Jackson’s going to miss two, three, maybe four games. You signed Cooper rush with the thought that he can help you win one or two and keep the season afloat at whatever point, whether it’s September, October, or, you know, the first two weeks in December, and you’re trying to get Lamar right for a playoff run right. I mean. Whatever the scenario is so, so from that standpoint, yeah, there’s some there needs to be some expectation otherwise, just keep Devin Leary as your backup, as the veteran minimal, or as the minimum for a player you know, and his I guess it would be in his first full season as a pro, you know. So there needs to be some semblance of expectation. And I would say even on offense. I know it’s a big one, but they weren’t missing as many players on offense as they were on defense. Did like to be able to run the ball and this, this is where I’ll go back to the you know, Sunday was supposed to be. That’s another reason why you signed Derrick Henry last year, because he’s supposed to be so transcendent and so great. And stay with me, I’m this isn’t a criticism of Derek Henry when he’s supposed to be so transcendent, so great that I mean, look at the quarterbacks he played with in Tennessee. He didn’t have a Lamar Jackson that was keeping running lanes open a split second longer than what you might be accustomed to. I mean, Tannehill was the best quarterback he played with in Tennessee, and he played with some other, frankly, some pretty lousy quarterbacks there, and still was this amazing 2000 yard rusher and guy that’s on his way to the Hall of Fame, right the offensive line. I mean, they’re not blocking at all the it’s one thing to talk about. Last year they progressed the pass protection. I mean, certainly have there been times where Lamar Jackson’s held on to the ball too long, or maybe not found as hot, or something wasn’t, you know, something was a miss in terms of pre snap, as far as your protection, and how much of that is on Todd monk, and how much of that is on Lamar Jackson, how much of that is on Tyler, Linder, mom. I’m sure there are instances where you could point to any of those three individuals in terms of how a game’s going. But, I mean, they got nothing going. They couldn’t run the ball at all. And then, you know, got to the point where you’re down so many points, it’s not really the practical way of trying to even hope to get back in the football game. But this running game is trended in the wrong direction since week one, even with trended

Nestor Aparicio  27:10

in the wrong direction since Patrick records not been around to to some degree, right?

Luke Jones  27:15

Yeah, sure. But I will say this. I mean, this can’t be that you must have everything perfectly aligned or you can’t function. I mean, that’s not realistic either. I mean, I’ll say this. And this is part of why skepticism is warranted even even if you’re of the thought that, okay, win or lose, on Sunday, they’re going to go into the buy. Lamar is going to have a week to rest. Roquan Smith’s going to have a week to rest. Marlon hump go down the list, and you look at the schedule, and they’re going to play, you know, they’re going to come out of the bye week, and they’re going to play the bears, who aren’t very good. They’re going to play Miami who, okay, has shown a little bit of a pulse here of late, but is not very good. They’re going to play the Vikings, who, whether it’s JJ McCarthy or Carson Wentz, their quarterback play hasn’t been nearly good enough. They’re going to play Cleveland, which, you know, they’re starting a rookie at quarterback now. So go down the list, and you can talk yourself into that. But yeah, these injuries that they’re dealing with right now, they’re not season ending, other than Matta BK, but there’s no guarantee you’re going to go through the rest of the season without injuries. Then right? You’re going to have some of that. And that’s why you heard me lament over and over throughout last offseason, of the squandered opportunity of just how great of health they remained in last year, until the zay flowers thing at the very end of the regular season. And I get it the timing for that, stunk. Maybe they win in Buffalo, if

Nestor Aparicio  28:44

they have safe, yeah, one injured wide receiver reserve, long way from that, right now, right? Yeah, right. I mean, they

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Luke Jones  28:49

their defense was intact. So that’s where I just look at this thing. And, you know, it’s, oh, again, I’ll continue to talk about the injuries in the same way that I continue to talk about the injuries for the Orioles, because it’s absolutely a massive part of the story, but it’s not the whole story. And what’s most troubling is it’s not even for me that I say all the ravens are one in four because they’re injured, right? Because the injuries didn’t really pile up until in game against Kansas City, when it was already

Nestor Aparicio  29:20

they were one in three by the time they got injured. Yeah, yeah, so. But those injuries

Luke Jones  29:25

mean a heck of a lot when you’re trying to climb out of this, you know, when you’re trying to figure out, oh my goodness. I mean, we just got our butts kicked by the Houston Texans. And now the rams are coming in off a week where they’re ticked off with the way they played, and they have extra rest, and they’re a more, you know, not as good of a defense, but certainly a much better offense than what Houston has, at least in my mind, you know, with with their running game. I mean, you know, I haven’t mentioned it, and it’s kind of battle my part. I mean, they’ve got to stop the run. They’re getting pushed around every. Single week. I mean, we can talk about the pass rush and everything else, but they’re not stopping the run at all. And when you talk about that, when you’re not running the ball and you can’t stop the run, that right there, regardless of all the other details in between that, right there is a dangerous formula in terms of you’re not getting many plays and that your opposition is staying on the field and you can’t get off the field. And we saw that again. What? What 1/3 down stop the entire first half?

Nestor Aparicio  30:27

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So well, you know, the other team’s punter doesn’t have to leave the hotel room

Luke Jones  30:31

right midway through the fourth he didn’t punt until midway through the fourth quarter, right? I mean, Houston, Houston and Kansas City each punted once, one time in these last two,

Nestor Aparicio  30:41

by the way, the only stat I heard over the weekend. And not to digress, because we’re going to take a break anyway, Luke’s here. We could talk about the one in four team, the Jets have gone five weeks without taking the ball away. And that’s the first time since 1933 a defensive team has done that. I saw that stat, and I’m like, Wait, what was it again? I’m sorry. This was on, this was on NBC, Sunday night football that the Jets, okay? The Jets, yeah, the Jets haven’t had a defensive turnover in five weeks. It’s the first time since 1933 that a team has gone the first five weeks of the season without taking the ball away. And I’m like, that seems odd, but then I’m thinking, like, you get lucky and punch out a fumble in five weeks. Five weeks is, like, more than 40% of the old seasons that were 14 games, right? So five games is a lot, but I’m like, That’s the weirdest stat ever. But then, you know, we start to get stats here, with the Ravens here, going into this and we start talking defensive stats for this team, if you start adding it up over five weeks, it it’s going to look like the worst five weeks, maybe in the history of the franchise, right? When they give me 40 points up a week, right?

Luke Jones  31:52

Oh yeah. I mean, what? What do we think of and it’s not the gold standard. It’s the opposite of that, the opposite of the gold standard for ravens defense, 1996 right? I mean, Ray a rookie, Ray Lewis and Eric Turner and, you know, Rob Burnett was hurt. You know, go down the list, most of those guys just were bad. I mean, it was a bad, bad defense. Defense giving up way more points per game. Now, 1996 to 2025 it’s a difference. They didn’t

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Nestor Aparicio  32:20

have Vinny to bail him out on Sunday. But, I mean,

Luke Jones  32:22

this team’s given up, giving up 35 points a game. I mean, this that’s so below the bar, and what they’ve given up you when you look at where they are right now, I mean, and they fight Joe Flacco one of the weeks. Yeah, right, that was the one, the one representative effort defensively, but they’ve given up 41 points, 17 points against Cleveland, 3837 44 I mean, that’s as I said, they have already given up. Their total points allowed is already greater than the 2000 defense in 16 games. So one the 2000 defense nod to them, and as the Ravens celebrate their 30th season and two, holy cow. I mean, this is really, really bad. And the my final point that I was making a few moments ago is these injuries make it that much more difficult to try to figure this out. And that’s where I am, a little empathetic towards the coaching staff, but like I said, only so much because, I mean, this is two years in a row with Zach gore and this defense was in a bad place, even before these injuries. If we’re being totally honest with ourselves, all

Nestor Aparicio  33:32

right, Luke, we’ll take a break during the break here, if you’re getting coffee, using the restroom, listening to a commercial break, whatever you’re doing at Lister land accountability, accountability will be the topic of our next subject matter. And because I heard that from the fan base, and I heard that in a pregnant pause in the Kyle van Nestor press conference, Luke Jones is here the Raven still lost 44 to 10 on Sunday to the Houston Texans. The Los Angeles Rams are still coming in. It is still my birthday this week, it was Luke’s birthday last week. I’m going to celebrate enough for both of us here. This week, all of our tastiness is out courtesy of our friends at curio wellness, who made me and my wife their guest at living classrooms, foundations, maritime magic. Over the weekend, we had a beautiful time down there. So a lot of old friends. Even saw the red brick station mob down there, and I just ran into all sorts old rock stars and old friends and Thomas Dolby and just people doing good things for one of the really great Baltimore institutions, living classrooms foundation. You can look that up at living classrooms foundation.org, my man James Bond, so I want to give them a shout out, because not all the news here is going to be lousy this week, because the football team is one and four, but most of it’s going to be lousy, especially as we sit here watch the Yankees and the Phillies and the Dodgers and the rest of these teams play baseball. I am Nestor. He is Luke. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop. Talking Baltimore positive you.