After more than 20 starters and key veterans sat out last week’s preseason opener, the Ravens will do much of the same in Saturday’s exhibition game at Dallas.
While confirming two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and a host of others would again sit out, head coach John Harbaugh does plan to give more playing time to backup quarterback Cooper Rush, who will be facing the Cowboys after spending parts of eight seasons with them. Rush’s first pass attempt against Indianapolis was intercepted last week, and the 31-year-old finished 2-for-4 for 16 yards before No. 3 quarterback Devin Leary took over.
With roster cut-down day now less than two weeks away, pressure is mounting for young players and veterans on the bubble to make their best impression with coaches. Sometimes, that’s easier said than done.
“Whenever I’m talking to guys and they’re talking about it, I just try to tell them, ‘It’s just another day; treat every day the same,'” said running back Justice Hill, who was once a reserve whose roster spot wasn’t assured. “If you start thinking too far ahead, sometimes not the best things happen for you. Just trying to stay focused [and] locked in. At the end of the day, it’s a game. It’s a game you’ve been playing your whole life.”
This will mark only the second time these teams have met in the preseason with the Ravens winning the first in 2014. Baltimore bested the Cowboys in a 28-25 final at AT&T Stadium in Week 3 last season.
Unofficial (and speculative) injury report
The Ravens are not required to put out an injury report like they do for regular-season games, so I’ve offered my best guess of what one would look like if it were to be released ahead of Saturday’s game.
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The players estimated to be out will come as little surprise, but the status of some will remain in question. Of course, this list does not include the many healthy players who will be held out by the coaching staff.
Below is the unofficial injury report:
OUT: S Kyle Hamilton, OT Emery Jones Jr. (shoulder), TE Isaiah Likely (foot), RB Keaton Mitchell, S Ar’Darius Washington (Achilles tendon)
DOUBTFUL: CB Jaire Alexander, LB William Kwenkeu
QUESTIONABLE: CB Jalyn Armour-Davis, OLB Adisa Isaac
Five players to watch Saturday night
G Daniel Faalele
The gap between how the organization feels about its 6-foot-8, 370-pound right guard and how fans view him is immense, but some nuance is necessary. No, Faalele isn’t going to make anyone forget Marshal Yanda or Kevin Zeitler, but the Ravens trusted him — something they’ve never felt with Ben Cleveland — to start every game last season and Pro Football Focus graded him 45th of 77 qualified guards in the process. Even if he is a below-average starter, the reality is there are no perfect lineups in a sport with a salary cap, and every contender has at least a couple positions it’d like to upgrade. That said, Faalele definitely needs to be better than he was against Indianapolis last week.
S Sanoussi Kane
8While all eyes will continue to be on impressive first-round pick Malaki Starks, Kane is trying to win the No. 3 safety job and has received every opportunity with Hamilton missing the last 10 days or so with a minor injury. That the Ravens haven’t signed a veteran safety to this point in summer — though they recently worked out former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Jordan Whitehead — doesn’t mean they won’t, but Kane has apparently shown enough to continue a serious evaluation. To maximize Hamilton’s versatility and truly be able to play “position-less” defense in the secondary, coordinator Zach Orr will want to deploy three-safety looks at times and not solely depend on cornerback-heavy sub packages. Kane is the only one seriously challenging for that job.
WR/RS LaJohntay Wester
While the highlight 87-yard touchdown in the preseason opener was perceived as a definitive knockout blow in the competition to be Baltimore’s punt returner, Wester is much more like a boxer way ahead by points and needing to be smart for the remainder of the fight. The sixth-round rookie eliminated any doubts about his big-play upside, but now he needs to show the consistency to take care of the football and make good decisions as a returner. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken also had nice things to say about Wester as a receiver, alluding to him being a potential insurance policy if something were to happen to Zay Flowers. The Ravens have to be very pleased with what they’ve seen from him so far.
ILB Jay Higgins
If there’s one position in franchise history where undrafted rookies have come out of nowhere to make the 53-man roster, it’s inside linebacker. At 6-foot and 230 pounds, Higgins certainly made a strong impression in the first preseason game with an interception, a tipped pass, and impressive physicality. The Iowa product must be strong on special teams to have any practical chance to make the team and not settle for a spot on the practice squad, so it’ll be interesting seeing whether the Ravens increase his reps in that department after he played just five special-teams snaps against the Colts. Baltimore keeping a fifth inside linebacker is hardly out of the question, but Higgins needs to build on his first game.
NT C.J. Okoye
Trying to figure out exactly what the defensive line depth looks like behind base starters Nnamdi Madubuike, Travis Jones, and Broderick Washington isn’t easy when considering sixth-round rookie Aeneas Peeble’s lack of size and the advanced age of both John Jenkins and Brent Urban. That leads you to look at young options like Okoye, who is a massive 6-foot-6, 370-pound nose tackle from Nigeria who only began playing organized football a few years ago. The 23-year-old would ideally continue developing on the practice squad, but he’s garnered enough attention for his performance against Indianapolis to wonder if a couple teams might be waiting for him to hit the waiver wire. Of course, we could be getting way ahead of ourselves, but Okoye is a fun summer story nonetheless.
