Been quite a week for our Luke Jones who reported on the death of Brooks Robinson, the Clinchmas night at Camden Yards and another week of infirmary reports from Owings Mills as the Ravens head to Cleveland. He also reports that the AL East Division title clubhouse celebration was a little more tame than the shower from the 2014 Orioles squad. So far…
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
ravens, brooks robinson, talking, game, orioles, year, team, baltimore, lamar jackson, play, great, good, lamar, fumbles, run, brooks, week, bullpen, postseason, pitching
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Dennis Koulatsos
Dennis Koulatsos 00:01
Welcome back My first guest as always leading off Malita fetter. Mr. Luke Jones Luke, welcome in
Luke Jones 00:07
Dennis How are you my friend
Dennis Koulatsos 00:10
doing well my friend got caught the an Orioles Game Two tonight with a gunner. Henderson leadoff Homer It was also the night that the announcement came at the stadium that the great Brooks Robinson had passed away. I know you have strong feelings about that and sentiment as we all do.
Luke Jones 00:27
No question about it, Dennis. I mean, first and foremost, full disclosure. I mean, I never watched Brooks Robinson play. I mean, I was born in 1983. I was technically in Cooperstown, for his Hall of Fame induction that summer. My mom gave birth to me about two months later. But yeah, no question about it. But I think anyone and as I wrote a Baltimore positive.com, I think anyone with any kind of meaningful Baltimore roots, whether you’ve lived here, whether you’re from here, whether you’ve spent time here whether you know, people from Baltimore, I think, chances are you either Brooks Robinson was your hero, or he was the hero to at least one person that’s meaningful in your life. And I think for me, you know, and why I was emotional about this. I mean, I’ve encountered Brooks a few times. I mean, my story is not unique to anyone else who’s encountered Brooks, I mean, just an absolute gentle gentleman, a gem of a human being. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad story about him, you know, with any fan or person interacting with him. But you know, he was my father’s hero, my grandpa, both sets of grandparents adored him. My mom adores him to this day. And I think what made this difficult what made it bittersweet not just because the Orioles, the current club is in such a great position right now. But I think when you lose someone like Brooks Robinson, I think it was personal for so many people, because it’s not just thinking of him. It’s also remembering our loved ones who aren’t with us anymore, who loved him so much. I mean, I had a chance. My very first Orioles game that I covered as a media member is 2010. The home opener, the Orioles, were recognizing the 40th anniversary of the 1970 World Series, which of course, was the Brooks Robinson World Series, he was MVP in that brilliant series against the reds, and, you know, I felt compelled. And maybe now looking back at it, maybe a little overzealous, as a media member, try not to, you know, act like a fanboy or anything like that. But I felt compelled to go up to Brooks and one introduce myself just as a media member, but more so it was about just wanting to say to him, thank you, you were my dad’s hero. And my dad meant the world to me. At that point in time, he had passed away six years prior to that. And I just wanted to say to Brooks, that how much he meant to my dad and how much I appreciated that. And my goodness, Dennis, that’s, that’s a sentiment that he’s probably heard from people in various shapes and forms 1000s of times, you know, I mean, you’re talking about someone that was in the public eye for nearly seven decades and, you know, became an iconic figure midway through his career, if even that long. You know, he could have brushed that off and just said, a polite thanks and been on his way. But he stopped, you know, he looked me in the eye patted me on the shoulder as we were old friends, and that’s how Brooks treated anyone when when you met him. And he thanked me for sharing that and expressed his condolences to my family. And, you know, that’s something that, you know, I get a lump in my throat thinking about that, you know, even before this week, I would have said that, uh, but, boy, we’re gonna miss them. And I think Jim Palmer said it best prior to Tuesday night’s game where he said, you know, we’re not really going to lose Brooks Robinson from the standpoint of the memories, the impressions just the way he treated people. And he said it as one of those young Orioles in the mid 60s That came up and you know, the Orioles were on the cusp of becoming, you know, a dynasty for the better part of close to two decades. He said that they all wanted to be like Brooks Robinson. And I think from a character standpoint, just from a human being standpoint, I think that was you know that that was kind of a telling statement. And I think the world would definitely be a better place if we all acted a little more like Brooks Robinson every day.
Dennis Koulatsos 04:22
Yeah, I think a lot of people feel the same way that you do the connection that he had with with our parents, and still, I’m a little bit older than you but I’ve met him several times, I had the pleasure of speaking to him several times. Got some autographed baseballs from him. Not sure where they are these days. But being in the car business, I missed a lot of opening days because of work obligations. But Luke, but years ago, probably about 20 years ago, I was in a suite and he’s stopped in for an opening day and signed some autographs and spent some time with the kids. Just a phenomenal, humble, genuine human being and I even listen when he goes on now. To games, who could forget him saying fastball agonists FA ZZ ba ll the only way that Brooks could say it and the nice thing is he was able to on his way out. Before he got his wings, he was able to see an Orioles team that’s very much the the talk of baseball. I saw a report not sure who the writer was. Not that it means much. But he gave the ORS A plus heading to the postseason, and gave a half a dozen teams A’s, but they’re well regarded. They’re respected. They’re They’re fun to watch. And they’re making a difference. So it’s just a nice if he’s gonna go out at least it’s not when a team is doing terrible because he loved the game. One thing that I do recall now Luke thinking back on it, as he was signing up baseballs in our suite. When the game was going on, like whenever something was happening, like when a player was up, he would stop. He would watch the pitch the play, and then he go back to signing. He’d love baseball that much.
Luke Jones 05:54
He really did it. And Brandon had talked about this a little bit after Tuesday night’s game where as you pointed out, they won one nothing. And I think Brooks, I saw what the factoid that he had been drove in the solo run in more one nothing games and anyone in baseball history. What do you know, it’s a bit of a random fact. But sure, I thought it was kind of neat, though, that the Orioles won won nothing then on Tuesday night in the wake of that, but Brian and I talked about it. And you know, the last time Brooks had been around the club was last year, you know, in the flesh. But but it was late it was later last year and Hyde said how books knew all the players, you could tell. And think about it when public figures you know, whether we’re talking about politicians, celebrities, you know, actors, whoever. There are times they’ll act like a fan, but then you hear them talk and you just you know, okay, they don’t watch a whole lot. And look, that’s fine. I mean, I’m not I’m not trying to even be disparaging saying that. But in the case of Brooks Robinson, until you know, and in recent months, it’s since come out that, you know, his health hadn’t been great. But, you know, so recently, who knows, but he certainly was following the rebuild and saw them turn the corner last year, from the moment that Adley rutschman arrived, have you and I’ve talked about so many different times. And you know, all the players, you could tell that it meant something to them in luck. I mean, these guys are all in their early to mid or late 20s. I mean, and certainly most of them not from Baltimore. So you can’t expect them to have that much of a deep knowledge of Orioles history. But if you’re someone that loves baseball, if you’re someone that’s grown up around baseball, you know, Brooks Robinson, I mean, not not to shift gears, but John Harbaugh even talked about how when he first arrived in Baltimore, he took his daughter Alison, out trick or treating. She was like six at the time. Brooks Robinson answered the door at his home, just for trick or treaters. I mean, it just speaks to me. And John being a baseball fan that grew up a Tigers fan. You know, he, he knew who Brooks Robinson was obviously. So, you know, I think it meant something to these players. And while they didn’t know Brooks intimately, he had been around them last year and had told them how excited he was to see the team, having turned the corner being on the other side of the rebuild knowing that so many great things were in store. And I think certainly, you know, they’re gonna be wearing a number five Jersey patch on their sleeve for the rest of the regular season and postseason. I’ve added the number five banner up on the warehouse, immediately Wednesday nights. So there gonna be plenty of reminders of books that the team will have. And I think again, more so for individual fans thinking about Brooks thinking about loved ones who loved Brooks, and, you know, those emotions, which can be bittersweet, especially when you’re talking about maybe the Orioles making the World Series for the first time in 40 years. I mean, that’s where we are. We’re talking about a division winning team, you know, as you and I talk, they haven’t clinched yet. But magic number one. So you hope by the time people are listening to this, maybe later on in the weekend, they’ve already popped the champagne and know they’re going to be the number one seed and all that. I mean, it’s going to happen at this point in time, just when is the question, but just knowing that this team is this is where the Orioles are right now is where the Ravens were where we thought the Ravens were in 2019 with Lamar Jackson when they went 14 and two, which is probably a good lesson, a good lesson to say, don’t take this for granted. No, that doesn’t mean that that the sky is falling if they don’t win the World Series this year, but my goodness, seize the opportunity, seize the chance to be the number one seed and you get the spy and a little bit of rest here over the course of the next week. To set up your pitching staff get guys off their feet a little bit and you know roll the dice and see what happens because See if nothing’s guaranteed next year or the year after that, or the year after that, as much as it looks like the window is wide open, and I do think it is let’s be clear. You never know what’s going to happen in the future. But boy, exciting times for the Orioles but also the bittersweet, you know, feeling that that accompanies that with the loss of the late great Brooks Robinson.
Dennis Koulatsos 10:21
Certainly look and as the Orioles barrel into the playoffs, you have to feel good in the playoffs on nights where Kyle Bradish is pitching Grayson Rodriguez, but BB beyond those two, starting lineup, the starting pitching rotation rather, your bullpen they have to make some decisions about who they’re going to carry into the postseason with them. And who’s going to be left out?
Luke Jones 10:49
Yeah, I mean, I that’s part of it. And let’s be clear. I mean, all teams are facing these decisions to varying degrees, right. I mean, whether it’s on the pitching side, whether it’s certain position, certain positions, you’re you have a little more uncertainty. But that’s why, again, get this thing clenched and sewn up officially, and then you have a few you know if you can do that, and you know, through that, for the opener against Boston, you’ve got a few days then to look at your bullpen to evaluate this a little bit. I mean, as you said, I mean, Kyle Bradish has been fantastic. As things stand. And he’s he’s in line to start on Sunday. I’m guessing he’ll pitch but you probably won’t see him very long, maybe just pitches a couple winnings, because you don’t want him to go without pitching too long. assuming he’s going to be the game one starter in the Division Series as he should be. He deserves it. He’s been there ace. But it’s pretty wild to think pending what happens in his potential final appearance that he would be the first or real starter to go as many innings as he’s gone. Finishing with an era below three since Mike Mussina way back when I mean, that just shows. One, it shows that Oreo starting pitching hasn’t been very good for a long time. But it also shows what kind of year Kyle Bradish has had. And then you look at what Grayson Rodriguez did on Wednesday night. I mean, didn’t go as long into the game, you know, five and two thirds. But he he pitched well, and you look at where he’s finished with an era of what 4.35 When his era was, I believe 7.35 When they sent him down in late May, I mean, what a turnover. So as much as we talked at the trade deadline and last offseason and starting pitching Do they have enough? And look, they’re still questions to your point. You know, I, I think John means is going to be in the rotation based on how he pitched in Cleveland. And I think he’s kind of deserved that. And he’s looked, I wouldn’t say peak John means but he looks like he’s on his way. You know, he’s looked to me he’s looked progressively better in each of his starts since coming back to the major league rotation. You know, Kyle Gibson, I would think he’s probably the fourth starter but you still have Dean Kramer, you know, where does he fit in? If he’s not in the rotation, he’s probably in the bullpen. So what does that look like? So, you know, they have beyond Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez giving them that that high end upside that you’d like to think you’re going to going to have again, they’re young guys, I mean, second year guy and a rookie, so you don’t quite know how anyone’s going to respond in the postseason and part of that has to do with you’ve been at this for six months now got guys are tired. I mean, we’ve seen we saw that with the bullpen. It was painfully obvious on the last road trip how tired the bullpen was. So, but you don’t know what’s going to happen. But those are the upside guys, but you know it. In the meantime, what’s the rest of the rotation look like? What’s the bullpen going to look like? You know, I mean, the guys like Cano and Coulomb. Yeah, you know, they’re gonna be in the bullpen. But where does Felix Batista potentially fit into this again, I again, I think it’s a long shot, but we’ll we’ll continue to continue to monitor that. But you know, you have Jack Flaherty, you have Tyler Wells, who looked good pitching the ninth inning on Wednesday night, I think he can factor into the bullpen. So even whenever they clinch whether it’s Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, or heaven forbid it goes into the final game of the season. I mean, you hope it’s not that kind of scenario when your magic numbers one, they do have a few games here, Brandon Hyde does and Mike Elias to evaluate a little bit here, you know, take a look at who you think is going to one just be part of your bullpen and two, how do they fit? Where do you think they can fit in best? So there are a lot of moving parts to this. A lot of uncertainty a lot of unknown, but I’ll remind everyone, those are great questions to have. Because right now, the Boston Red Sox are in town for the last series of the season for them, and they’ve already fired their general manager. They’re playing out the string so you know the Orioles just two years ago, it’s incredible to think they were a 110 loss outfit, you know worse his team in baseball, understanding Yes, some pieces were on the way but it still felt like this, you know what where they are right now still felt like it would be a little bit further away than what it ultimately ended up being. So to go from 110 losses two years ago to on the cusp of 100 losses, and the Al East title and the number one seed in the ATL boy, it can’t be more exciting. If you’re an Orioles fan, especially if you suffered through these last several seasons where they weren’t just bad, they were historically bad. So for those fans who endured, that I’ll remind everyone enjoy this because it’s a heck of a lot of fun. And again, nothing’s guaranteed in the future. So the Orioles need to try to seize the opportunity to the best they can.
Dennis Koulatsos 15:47
And look, of course, it’s not only the pitching staff, they have to look at the 12 player, they’re going to carry you there, but also the hitters, right? There’s some guys toward the bottom, that they have to make some decision on whether it’s McKenna Kierstead, or somebody else maybe missing here. Yeah,
Luke Jones 16:03
no question about it. I mean, they just activated Ryan mountcastle off the aisle. So he he’s, you know, he’ll he’ll get the start against Chris sale, and hopefully the shoulder. The shoulder issue is behind him. I know, he took batting practice a couple days ago, to really test it out, and really let that shoulder go, so to speak. And he hit the ball really hard, you know, exit V lows of over 100 miles per hour, which that’s Ryan mountcastle. Like, so. Yeah, we’ll see how that looks. But but you just brought it up. And I think it’s a fascinating discussion. I mean, there’s not nearly as much drama overall with the position side, right? I mean, you know, who the, there’s at least starting eight every night, and then you can kind of talk about, you know, Frasier or Westberg or, or Maria’s kind of fitting into that other spot, but, but but at the same time, you do look at the back end of the roster. They’ve clearly prioritized Jorge Mateo, because we’ve talked about that for three months about, well, they clearly want him on the postseason roster. And we saw that on Wednesday night he stole a base and scored so you get that kind of that kind of potential with him coming off the bench as a pinch runner. But I think Heston curse dad’s a really interesting one for me. I mean, you mentioned Ryan McKenna, you just look at those two and McKenna was just option but with the timing of it, he would be able to come back in time for the division round if they want to have him on their al DS roster and keep in mind they reset the roster for each series. But I think you know, what does Brandon Hyde want there? Do you want that speed defense guy which McKenna is but you know, very, very limited with the bat, or do you want to Heston curse? That’s power potential coming off the bench now. You know, it’s interesting to look at it because it’s not as though the Orioles have a ton of guys in their lineup that you’re going to pinch hit for and depending on the night, depending on the matchup, you know, if it’s a lefty starter, oh, Hearns not in the lineup, usually because he’s a left handed batter. So curse dad would be the same deal. So but we’ve seen him swing the bat pretty darn well, for a rookie and considering how far he’s come and everything he went through the last couple of years, just to get to this point. So it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. And part of that is also Dennis, because you’re talking about specifically talking about the Al DS it’s best to five do you need to carry as many bullpen arms for a best of five knowing that there are a couple off days built in there? Or do you carry one fewer bullpen arm? And then you maybe you carry both those guys, you know, we’ll have to see how it plays out. But these are all the questions that Brandon Hyde and Mike Elias, the coaching staff, the front office, you know, there’ll be crunching the numbers, you know, whether they’re you know, you assume Tampa, Tampa Bay, which is going to be the number four seed, so that’s who they would face if Tampa Bay wins. But could it be Toronto or we’ll see how the other wildcards shake out here over the final weekend. So you know that there’s a little bit of flux there. But you’re you’re trying to project what the matchups are, which teams are a little heavier and left handed starting pitching right handers? You know, what, what did the bullpens look like? I mean that all factors in and certainly, you know that the Orioles have decisions to make. But as I said these are good decisions. These are exciting decisions that you have to make and for them to be where they are right now. And for us to be talking about a postseason rotation, postseason bullpen postseason bench. I mean, that is really, really exciting, especially knowing that they’re the number one seed not not a team that, you know, like I thought might have been the case. If they had been in the postseason, maybe sneak in as the last wildcard and maybe win, I don’t know 88 games or something like that. So they have exceeded expectations to such a dramatic degree and they are so fun to watch. And I think they are a team that, you know, the rest of baseball has taken notice. And yeah, they’ve got their imperfection. wins. But they also have areas of their team that are so strong. And a big reason why we’re talking about the, you know, as the weekend ends, I assume the first 100 Plus win team that the Orioles have had since way back in 19/81. In my lifetime, Dennis, which is saying something as I turned 40 Next week,
Dennis Koulatsos 20:21
there you go. Speaking of 40, as we segue into football, it’s been 40 years since the coach left Baltimore and I was at the stadium Sunday as a hugely game for home games. And I’ve got to check with the betters that I’ve had over the years about the earth a family what happened back in 1983, and being without football for 13 years is starting to subside. For me I don’t have the same hatred. However, having settled that this was a game that was clearly there to win. In fact, I feel like the Ravens snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in many instances, and boy, oh, boy, we can we can plenty of blame to go around. No shortage of that loop.
Luke Jones 21:02
No question about it. I mean, it’s just disappointing. I don’t think there’s any it’s a that’s a bad loss. I mean, let’s let’s not sugarcoat it. I mean, we can talk about the injuries and look, perhaps because they played so well in Cincinnati. You know, we kind of forgot or, or guys like me, and I you know, I picked the ravens to win 2413 Whatever it was, I was wrong. You know, I
Dennis Koulatsos 21:25
saw what they were looking for exactly. Eight and a half point favorite and it was a nip and tuck game. Look. It was entertaining. I was happy with the overtime. I always love extra football. I just didn’t love the outcome.
Luke Jones 21:38
Yeah, exactly. But I think you’d look at the number of injuries but on the flip side, I mean Indianapolis is without their starting quarterback or without their with their without their pro bowl center. I mean, we’re not talking.
Dennis Koulatsos 21:49
Let’s run the run it back to All Pro running back to that, Jonathan.
Luke Jones 21:53
Yeah, on the PU. P list with something related to money. But yeah, I mean, you just you look at it. And I mean, I can’t help but feel and and obviously, so many people have focused on the end of regulation, and ze flowers calling the fair catch and the breakdown in communication and why the heck didn’t John Harbaugh use a timeout there. But I keep coming back to the Kenyan Drake fumble where I agree. It looked at that point in time they had marched down the field and they’re opening drive they had forced to Indianapolis punts on the Colts first two possessions and you’re moving down in the field. Again, at that point in time, if I just freeze frame, midway through that Kenyan Drake catch and run. And I asked you, Dennis, what’s more likely, this is gonna be a one point game or a tie game in overtime over the Ravens blow them out right there. In that moment, you’re saying the Ravens can blow them out? I mean, this is looking like, you know, a little 2019. Like, early on, he fumbles in the game completely changes after that the offense was for the most part pitiful for the rest of the game. You know, not just with the fumbles, but you know, they couldn’t they were inconsistent running the ball. They did not push the ball downfield whatsoever. I mean, look at Lamar Jackson’s average depth of target, as a flowers had eight catches, but for 48 yards. I mean, really, I mean, that’s, that’s not what you’re looking for. Let
Dennis Koulatsos 23:17
me ask you this other recall a single deep pass. Now I get it the replaying of two deep zones ahead, the Safety Act, but in sharp contrast of prior week, Lamar Jackson’s true a deep ball to a double covered as a flowers. It was a great pass and a great catch. So just because you’re playing a deep zone, there, they’re double covering your best receiver. Doesn’t mean you don’t take a shot. You can get a pie, sure the block and get picked off as well, but not a single deep shot. Another one here, we didn’t have to start in lineman. There were times when Lamar Jackson didn’t have time to throw the ball downfield.
Luke Jones 23:49
Yeah, I mean, the past protection, what was not as good as in Cincinnati. But right, it’s not as though he had someone in his face on every single play. The past protection wasn’t great. It’s not going to be when you’re missing two linemen, Indianapolis would love to have Brian Kelly at center. Yeah, I mean, that’s that’s just the reality. And but, and for me, it doesn’t even necessarily need it doesn’t have to be a bomb like that. Like it wasn’t a flowers. I mean, just where was Mark Andrews in this, you know, in a cover to you should be testing the seam down the middle of the field right over the linebackers, and in front of the two deep safeties. And I mean, in the show different looks. I mean, they were uncovered three in different looks at various points. But, you know, it just was not a downfield passing game whatsoever. And I mean, the running game other than Lamar, himself, and we’ve talked about this so many times, and this was one of the tropes and common themes in the later years under Greg Roman where it was just kind of Lamar putting on the cape scrambling. But we saw how that worked. Yeah, he ran for 100 yards and that’s great, but they scored 19 points, you know, what do you care about? More of them are running for under yards or scoring into the 20s or 30. You know, something like that and let alone talking about the Miami Dolphins taking 70 on Denver, which which was just crazy, but you know I, I think it’s a reminder. It is a week to week League. as disappointing as Sunday was I think you do need to keep it in the proper perspective. As great as week twos when was as bad as a week three losses that was playing at home. They’re a work in progress. I think for the most part, you’re pleased with where the defense is, especially considering some of the injuries. They’ve had their Yeah, I get it. Zach moss leaked out a couple times. Some of their run fits for bad. And that’s why he ran for over 100 yards. But by and large, I mean, they held Indianapolis to one touchdown and five field goals. Even the Colts and I get it, you know, it’s Gardner Minshew. Generally speaking, you’ll take it you’d sign up for giving up 19 points a game every week, right? I mean, you’d sign up for that. So the defense wasn’t perfect, but it’s certainly of all the blame, you can try to spread around, they get they get the smallest portion of the pie for me. I mean, it’s the offense. Certainly, John hardball with the gaff, on the kick return following the safety with the fair catch, Todd Monken just run in Melvin Gordon into the backs of offensive linemen over their last couple drives and not being able to do anything at all with great field position in overtime. And, you know, again, the offense being the biggest culprit, the entire offensive production. I mean, you know, Lamar was great with his legs, not so great as a passer. You know, they had some critical drops. Especially the Isaiah likely, you know, they’re dropping in overtime. You know, the, the, the special teams, you know, Jordan stout, had some great points. But when he needed to have a really good point, he gave him the great field position on their final drive of regulation to tie the game. So they just came up really small at some moments where they didn’t even need to come up huge, but just don’t come up small, you know, just do what you need to do. Don’t beat yourself. And boy, they really beat themselves on Sunday. So you turn the page and you look ahead then to Cleveland, and let’s face it, I mean, this is a Browns team that I’m I want to see if I’m convinced that Deshaun Watson has turned the corner which he played easily his best game is the brown this past Sunday against Tennessee. But we know how that’s looked, you know that we know how it looked in week one and week two and the end of last year, but their defense and I get it they haven’t been you know, they haven’t played the Miami Dolphins or the San Francisco 40 Niners or, or any offense that you want to view as a juggernaut. But the numbers are still the numbers and you’re talking about a team that’s only given up what 10.7 points per game, and there are even some, you know, they’re some of their offensive miscues in Pittsburgh the week before contributed to that ad. I mean, this is a team that, you know, their teams are struggling to even just get into the red zone against them, let alone trying to score a touchdown. So this is gonna be a test for the Ravens. And you know, the good news is Ronnie Stanley’s back on the practice field, I’m not ready to say he’s going to play because we know in the past, Ronnie has been a guy that takes a while to ramp up for whatever reason. But Linda BOMs back, that’s good to see. Marcus Williams on the other side of the ball. Yeah, we’ll see if he’s available. But, you know, this is a team that, boy, they’ve got to protect Lamar Jackson, you know, whether it’s Stanley and Linda bond back or Macquarie and Mustafa being out there for another week. I mean, when you’re talking about miles Garrett, and that front, you know that area Smith, yes, that that is that is quite the pass rush there. And this is going to be a week that that group coupled with the fact that you know, they’re also number one in pass defense, I mean, they’re given up 111.7 passing yards per game, and I’m much more of a poor attempt guy, you know, I want to see the rate stats, rather than just the volume stats, but you still look at that and say, well, 111 passing yards per game. So, you know, this probably isn’t the week that that we’re going to see the major offensive breakthrough, although I certainly think not saying the Ravens can’t fare well enough to win the game by any stretch of the imagination. But you kind of look at that. This is probably going to be another game where Lamar Jackson is going to probably his legs or rest up his legs over these next few days because he’s probably going to need to be using them whether it’s escaping pressure, or it might just be no one open downfield knowing that Yeah, back I’m still not practicing Rashad Bateman is dealing with a hamstring now so you know, they might be limited in what they can do offensively. They’re banged up at running back as we know with Justice Hill. Although Gus Edwards looks like he’s okay and should be good to go with the Bayonetta concussion protocol. also, I think it’s gonna be an AFC, a typical AFC North game, Dennis, I think it’s gonna be a lot of ugly, a lot of physicality, a lot of defense being played on both sides. And we’ll we’ll see how it plays out. But certainly a big challenge for the Ravens going on the road for the second of these three AFC North Road games in a four, four week period. So this is a big one for the ravens and really big one, I think for the Browns to, you know, they beat the Ravens on Sunday, you’re talking about a team that, you know, at the very least, and we’ll see what happens with Cincinnati. We know what they’ve been dealing with, with Joe burrow and the calf and them getting off to an Owen to start hall that they got the win against the Rams, but the Browns win this week. I think you can maybe not fully officially 100%. But you start to look at them and say, Hey, there, they might be right there with for the division and we’ve talked about their talent, but maybe, maybe just maybe, and again, it is still the browns. But maybe that’s a team that’s starting to put it together a little bit. I hope
Dennis Koulatsos 31:06
the Ravens realize that this is a game that the Browns have have had circled on your calendar, right. Grant Delpit, one of their safeties, he tweeted out the other day, we’re going to need the crowd to be very, very vocal very loud to help us out. They understand the magnitude of this game in terms of I mean, they’ve been the punching bag for the Patriots for many, many years now. And they’re trying to turn the tide. What concerns me, Luke, in addition to all the talent they have on defenses, the additional gems towards us as coordinator. Now Swartz didn’t do a great job as a head coach. And some guys are better coordinators than head coaches. And we know who they are the usual suspects not to take him for life. But he has shown an ability to to be able to come up with great defensive schemes and to get the players to buy in and play at a very high level. That does not bode very well for the Ravens offense.
Luke Jones 31:55
It doesn’t and I mean, again, for me, it begins with that pass rush. I mean, Myles Garrett is on his way to being a Hall of Fame player. I mean, let’s call it what it is. Darius Smith is a very, very good player and the Ravens are intimately familiar with, he should
Dennis Koulatsos 32:07
be very motivated to play against the ravens to no doubt,
Luke Jones 32:10
especially how all last year played out the contract and whether they had an agreement or not. And you know, that the initial agreement being leaked and getting getting panned, and it was
Dennis Koulatsos 32:23
very team friendly. They almost got it.
Luke Jones 32:26
He wanted more money, and then it fell apart from there as so. But I think you look at it. I mean, Lamar Jackson has really struggled with pressure in the pocket this year. And let’s be clear, most quarterbacks do, but he’s been on the more extreme side of that so far this year. So that’s, you know what Jim’s wore shorts, though. You have that front four. He doesn’t have to blitz now. That doesn’t mean he will blitz that doesn’t mean they won’t mix it up and try to give Lamar all kinds of different looks. But you know that this offensive line however it’s constructed on Sunday, that they’ve got their work cut out for him, there’s no question about that. And for Lamar Jackson, you want to get the ball out quickly and on time but at the same time and this is where we saw this kind of swing in the extreme. You want to be able to push the ball downfield some you know you don’t want to throw it to Z flowers two yards beyond the line of scrimmage I mean even ze flowers is going to struggle to be overly productive like I said eight catches for 48 yards against the Colts and it’s not a knock on zay himself it’s just the operation there that sounds more like a Dennis Pitta Lake career Dennis Pitta statline right there you know a catch his six yards per catch. I mean, that’s not what you’re looking for. It was a flowers he’s to speedy, to athletic to settle for that. So they’re gonna have to balance using quick game getting the ball out hoping Lamar gets in an early rhythm as he did so well against Cincinnati, but also needing to be aggressive and having some some longer drops. And, you know, times where Lamar holds the ball a little bit longer in the pocket. They gotta hold on just long enough. And Lamar has got to stand in there and take a hit. And the other factor, Dennis, and this is where not gonna lie. I was a little disappointed to hear his answer. Lamar was asked on Wednesday about the fumbles early in the season. And he kind of said, well, they were in the pocket. So, so no, and look, that’s gonna happen. If someone has an incredible rush from your blind side. Every quarterback is prone to getting the ball knocked out. But he has, he has four official fumbles, and a fifth one that was wiped out by the penalty and Cincinnati so that’s too many for three games and the past run. You know, the past protection hasn’t been so bad that that’s an acceptable number. So he’s got to clean that up. They need to do it across you know, Kenyan Drake can’t fumbles and mustard. Okay.
Dennis Koulatsos 34:49
They had Sunday’s game they had four fumbles, they recovered two of them, but they still have four fumbles, right didn’t have that. That’s not good. The other piece of this Luke is that you as a fella draft Nick, you remember Jay? Okay out of Notre Dame, Jeremiah awasu como me the Browns draft for this guy 2021 For this specific reason to spy on Lamar Jackson so that you know you build your team and rightfully so, to win your division right? For years, the Ravens built her team to beat the Steelers while the Browns have built a team to beat the Ravens. So you’re going to have this this j okay guy Spangler Marlo over the field as well. Yeah,
Luke Jones 35:24
no question about it. I mean, Jim Schwartz, say what you like you said, Say what you want, what about him as a head coach, but he’s a longtime established quite high quality defensive coordinator. And that doesn’t mean that he’s going to figure out how to stop Lamar Jackson, because we’ve talked about this so many times over the last several years where you know, this the finance or that defense, or they’re going to do this, I mean, think back to the Chargers running, what the diamond quarter defense against the Ravens Lamar, his rookie year, and we saw how, you know that that never really turned out to be the, you know, that that worked on occasion. And some teams still use some of those elements. But, you know, the Mars bars are legit, you know, top shelf high quality quarterbacks. So they’re going to have to mix and match. But you’re right, in the same way that the Ravens have built their defense to stop Cincinnati, you know, with the way that they transition from WINC with corners on an island to go into a lot more to high and more zone and enforcing the Bengals to dink and dunk down the field. You know, you’re you’re right. This is a Cleveland defense that you know, they built, having in mind stopping not just the Bengals but of course, Lamar Jackson in the ravens, so we’ll see how it plays out. Yeah, again, I think this is going to be a probably a relatively low scoring game. It’s AFC, North football, both teams right now Let’s call a spade a spade. Both teams are stronger on the defensive side of the ball. The Ravens might have all this potential upside offensively. But they’ve done it one time in three games. The other two games, you know, Houston was kind of up and down. It was behind but certainly not overwhelming. And the offense after the first two drives on Sunday against the Colts was pretty bad. So you know that the jury’s still out? Look, that’s, that’s okay for them to still be a work in progress. You know, you’re not, you’re not peeking in week three or week four, right. You want to be the best possible version of your team late in the season, but you want to make progress and playing on the road against another AFC North team whose defense has been absolutely lights out through three weeks, I get it, it’s only three weeks, but it’s still three weeks, and that’s all we have to go off of right now. And, you know, you want to you want to be able to overcome, you know, some of the injuries that they’re still dealing with, you know, it’s looking like they’re gonna be light at wide receiver, you know, I’m guessing there’s a decent chance we’re gonna see a Laquan Treadwell elevated from the practice squad because you know, Beckham’s not practicing this week, and Bateman’s dealing with the hamstring and also they have four wide receivers on the practice squad right now to me, that’s a towel that they’re probably not expecting back home and Bateman to go and maybe I’m wrong on that. That’s just I haven’t heard that. But why else would you have four wide receivers on the practice squad suddenly so you know, it’s not ideal. They’re not. They’re not fully healthy. You know, the looks like they’re getting some guys back this week. But they’re still waiting on Marlon Humphrey and some of the guys I just mentioned, but you gotta go out and play and the Cleveland Browns are not going to feel sorry for you on that front. So you need to go out and play good football. The play way cleaner football on the offensive side. You know, they need their defense to rise to the occasion, as they did against Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago, you know, Deshaun Watson played really well this past week, but did not play very well. weeks one and two. So I’m sure Mike McDonough as much as we’re talking about Jim Schwartz, Mike McDonald will have plenty drawn up to try to confuse and and throw Deshaun Watson off rhythm so that’s why I said I expect this to be a drag it out. I don’t have my official score prediction just yet. You can check that out at Baltimore. positive.com. But, you know, I’m feeling 1713 One way or the other, you know, that kind of a game and, you know, we’ll see. I you know, we’ll see what the weather forecast looks like, Come Sunday. You know, I wouldn’t expect it to be as ugly as playing in Cleveland in December but you’d never quite know I guess on the lake but I think this is on paper very much looks like a defensive minded football game. And yeah, we’ll see how it plays out which probably means we end up seeing the game. Kind of like when they played on Monday Night Football a few years back when a lot it was 42 to 35 or 42 to 39 Whatever it was, you know the the famous Lamar coming out of the locker room game.
Dennis Koulatsos 39:40
Luke The we talked about injuries at the onset of the over segment here with the Ravens. They don’t have to face Nick Chubb, which is huge. One of the best players in the league that reminded running back for them. Jerome Ford and now Kareem hunt, they don’t offer I don’t think that much of a threat to the Ravens. But with that said I was watching the Pat McAfee show a few days ago on this talk and Kyle van Noy, he was on there. And now he’s on a Ravens practice squad. Because, you know, they have some injuries with the Javo and La as well.
Luke Jones 40:13
Yeah, I’m glad you brought that up. I mean, I I didn’t mention that and I intended to but I mean, always still in a walking boot, from what I understand. So he’s not playing this week, a Javo. He was on the sideline in helmet and full pads and uniform for the duration of Sunday’s game, but he played four snaps, so, you know, he’s listed as an ankle but also the knee. So when you hear an ankle knee designation, Dennis sometimes it makes me wonder, is it a little more of a high ankle sprain? I I’m trying to be football doctor here. I just play one on the radio. Right. So let’s be clear about that. But the fact that they brought in Kyle van Noy, which isn’t shocking, of course, they they visited with him back in the summer and I think he’s someone that was on the radar. I think that would have signed him then but he was asking for more money. That’s typically how that works. And I can’t blame blame veteran players at a certain stage in their career for wanting that but it’ll be interesting to see if he’s active on Sunday. I think conventional wisdom would tell you oh, well there they probably will need a couple of weeks to ramp them up. But I’ll remind everyone just right around this time last year that they signed Jason Pierre Paul and he ended up playing what 55 snaps or something like that because they were just you know, their numbers were so lighted outside linebacker as they are right now so I would not at all be shocked to see Kyle van Noy on you know, elevated and on the game day roster on Sunday. We’ll see how it plays out of course but you know he’s a 10th year guys 32 years old. Never been a great player but he’s been a solid two really good player and obviously it was on to Super Bowl teams for the Patriots. I mean, that’s kind of where he’s had his most success. But what I like about someone like him is experience coming off the edge has also played off ball linebacker heaven forbid something happens, you know to say a Patrick queen or RO Quan Smith in the midst of the game, you know, you could pivot there a little bit rope I asked ro Quan about van Noy and you know how much he knew about him and was highly complimentary just said he’s a really smart player even in practice on Wednesday was already calling some things out which may have been it’s that right there may have been a tell that they’re they’re looking to get him ready to play because otherwise he’d probably be running scout team as someone on the practice squad. So maybe you tell there that he’s going to be up but was complimentary of him and said that he absolutely believes he can help them and you know what, we’ll see how it plays out. I mean, they haven’t put away or a job on IR so you know, that leads you to believe that they’re not going to be out here too long. But at the same time, you know, their ankle injuries especially for an edge rusher, you know coming off the edge, we’re gonna have power firing out of your stance, you know, that’s, that’s iffy. And you know, next next week Tyus Bowser becomes eligible to return. But as we saw last year with the Achilles, not a guy that necessarily is ramped up quickly coming back from past injuries so I’m not necessarily hold my breath that we see Bowser in week five, so they’re going to need someone like Kyle van Noy because I’m guessing what they saw from TBS Robinson and Jeremiah moon were not saying it was all bad by any stretch of the imagination. You’re looking a little bit higher there, especially these next couple weeks going up against teams that you know, as you pointed out with the browns, even without Nick Chubb team that still wants to run the football and you need to make sure you’re setting the edge need to make sure your run fits are on point and as I said, I mean Zack Moss was able to get out in sec balsa good back let’s be clear about that. But Jerome Ford and what Pierre strong and Kareem Han none of them are Nick Chubb. We understand that but that’s still a that’s a good offensive line you’re going up against so you know certainly you need to be on point you want to have guys that can set a good edge and that I think they’re quite optimistic that Kyle van Noy, even if it’s not this Sunday, certainly in the very near future he’s going to be a factor for them being able to do that and maybe give them a little bit of juice as a pass rusher. Although that’s not as much his forte
Dennis Koulatsos 44:20
look great stuff as always I appreciate your time thoughtfulness and insight please tell our listeners where they can find your wn St. Baltimore positive all the great things you do your blog and everything else.
Luke Jones 44:29
absolutely encourage everyone to follow us at wn st can follow me personally at Baltimore loop check out my blog at Baltimore positive.com sponsored by coons for the Baltimore my latest on the Orioles as they close in on this Ailey’s title and the number one seed for the Al postseason. My thoughts personal thoughts on the passing of Brooks Robinson plenty of great ravens coverage as well injury report I’ll have my 12 ravens thoughts and a prediction for Sunday’s game as the Ravens try to improve Three one as the Browns try to get a huge statement kind of win in the AFC North is they’re off to a good start. But you can check out all of that at Baltimore positive.com You want to be on the wn St. Baltimore positive check service sponsored by coons for the Baltimore. If you are, you will get the final injury report of the week. As we’ve noted a number of ravens players still banged up. You know, another one Kyle Hamilton dealing with the back. I don’t think it’s a big issue, but we’ll monitor that we’ll get the final injury report Game Day inactives. Any notable Orioles roster moves will certainly send out you know once they have their postseason roster sent late next week. Yeah, we’ll send that out any significant local sports news sent directly to your mobile device via the wn St. Baltimore positive tech service sponsored by coons for to Baltimore. And of course, anything throughout the week on am 1570 with Nestor, any ravens players and coaches interviews from Owings Mills. Orioles interviews from Oriole Park at Camden Yards as they close out this final homestand this final series of the regular season and turn their sights towards October baseball for the first time in Baltimore since 2016. First Division title since 2014 Lots of excitement check out all of that at Baltimore positive.com
Dennis Koulatsos 46:15
all right look always great stuff my friend. I’m sure we’ll have a ton of things to talk about one week from now Orioles playoffs hopefully ravens win against the browns and we’ll go from there.
Luke Jones 46:27
Absolutely. I mean we’ll we’ll be talking we’ll talk about ravens so go into steel go into Pittsburgh so it’ll be Pittsburgh week and Orioles. By by the time you and I talk next week we may know who their al DS opponent is or we may not so we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out. But, boy a lot of exciting stuff to talk about and I look forward to reconvening with you next week. DENNIS
Dennis Koulatsos 46:49
You got it my friend there it goes Luke Jones here 15 Seven The am Baltimore positive W NSC. We’ll take a quick break and come back right after this.
