It’s not often one would suggest the preseason opener means more to the coaching staff than it does for players, but that’s where the Ravens find themselves against Philadelphia on Saturday night.
Jesse Minter has never been a head coach before.
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle is a first-time play-caller and will use these summer contests to determine whether he’ll be on the sideline or call plays from the upstairs booth on game days.
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver acknowledged his game-day responsibilities are still “to be determined” and “a work in progress” since Minter himself will be calling the defense.
Anthony Levine is a special teams coordinator for the first time.
In other words, Saturday’s meeting with Philadelphia carries real weight for a coaching staff navigating plenty of new and needing to get its bearings by the Sept. 13 opener in Indianapolis.
The coaches will do that with most of the starters remaining on the sideline, a list headlined by superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson. All signs point to Minter taking a very similar approach to that used by ex-Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, who have shied away from playing established veterans in recent preseasons.
8
This will mark the 16th all-time preseason meeting between the Eagles and Ravens with Baltimore enjoying a 9-6 advantage and a 7-2 mark at home. These teams met in their preseason opener two years ago with Philadelphia prevailing in a 16-13 final at M&T Bank Stadium.
Unofficial (and speculative) injury report
Teams 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.
The players estimated to be out should come as little surprise, but the status of some will remain in question. Of course, this list does not include the many healthy starters who will be held out.
Below is the unofficial injury report:
OUT: ILB Teddye Buchanan (knee), CB Marlon Humphrey, LB Carl Jones, DT Travis Jones (pectoral), DT Nnamdi Madubuike (neck), CB Nate Wiggins (leg/knee)
DOUBTFUL: RB Rasheen Ali
QUESTIONABLE: DL Rayshaun Benny, OL Corey Bullock, WR Zay Flowers (thigh), OLB Adisa Isaac (elbow), NT John Jenkins, CB Bilhal Kone (knee), C Ethan Pocic (Achilles), S Jahquez Robinson, WR Octavian Smith Jr., WR Dayton Wade
Five players to watch Saturday night
8WR Ja’Kobi Lane
Any experienced reporter will warn you not to put much of any stock in performance during training camp practices, but the third-round rookie has done as much as anyone in recent memory to test that discipline. Yes, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Lane has made highlight catches throughout the summer and appears to have the early edge over Devontez Walker for the No. 3 wide receiver job, but the next step is carrying that over and showing the same playmaking ability in live-game action. Though that won’t be as easy with Jackson on the sideline, I want to see Lane stand out against backup defensive backs.
K Tyler Loop
No Raven will be under a brighter spotlight than Loop, who has had a good start to the summer and appears to have the full confidence of the organization since no competition has been added to the mix. But that could change with a couple misses in a preseason game, which would lead to murmurs from even the most optimistic of fans. There’s no way of knowing whether Loop has truly moved past the Week 18 miss and will become the high-quality kicker the Ravens believe him to be until the next big kick he tries. It’s only a preseason game, but it’ll be the most pressure he’s faced since that night in Pittsburgh.
G Vega Ioane
Few first-round picks have garnered as little summer attention as Ioane, but that’s just the nature of the position as even the best guards go largely unnoticed. The Penn State product has manned the right guard spot since arriving in Owings Mills in the spring and has looked the part of someone who will remain there for years to come. Minter confirmed the 6-foot-4, 326-pound Ioane will get some snaps for the purpose of “getting his feet wet,” but he didn’t make it sound as though the rookie will be out there very long, which says plenty about how pleased the Ravens are with his progress.
CB T.J. Tampa
8Ideally, Nate Wiggins, Marlon Humphrey, and Chidobe Awuzie will play every game this season, but the injury scares of this past week reminded that’s very unlikely, especially with Humphrey and Awuzie being on the wrong side of 30. Tampa has had a good camp and has flashed potential in the past, but it’s time for him to remove any doubt that he can be a trustworthy contributor at corner with that position nearing a transition phase as Humphrey is scheduled to become a free agent in March. If Tampa isn’t up to the task, one wonders whether Eric DeCosta will need to seek out veteran depth.
S Keondre Jackson
Though Jackson wasn’t one of the three rookie free agents to make last year’s initial 53-man roster, he arguably made the biggest impact of any undrafted first-year player as he became a standout special-teams performer. Considering how often Minter deploys three-safety packages, the Ravens need some quality depth behind Kyle Hamilton, Malaki Starks, and Jaylinn Hawkins. Veteran K’Von Wallace is in the mix, but Jackson is flashing more and more on defense and is a favorite of Levine, who also excelled on special teams before eventually earning a meaningful role in defensive sub packages.
