Preseason football is back, and with it comes the opportunity for the Ravens to extend one of the most unusual streaks in franchise history against New Orleans on Saturday night.
No team hangs banners for summer football success, of course, but Baltimore has won 17 straight preseason games, a streak dating back to 2016. To appreciate just how long it’s been since the Ravens last fell in a preseason tilt, their 20-19 loss to Atlanta at the Georgia Dome on Sept. 3, 2015 was two days before current star quarterback Lamar Jackson made his collegiate debut for Louisville in the same building.
We know the final score of such games is inconsequential to the regular season, but the streak reflects strong summer preparation as well as impressive back-end roster depth, especially on the defensive side of the ball. In those 17 consecutive preseason wins, the Ravens have allowed fewer than 20 points a whopping 16 times. Fan attention will likely remain on the limited playing time for veterans, but coaches are more eager to see how young players respond to the bright stadium lights coming on.
“You can’t wait to see the guys in a game setting. It’s time. We’re ready,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “We’ve been ready for a few days. I can’t wait to get out there and watch these guys go. It’ll be electric on the sideline.”
On Thursday, Harbaugh wouldn’t reveal his decision on whether to play Jackson against the Saints, but the fourth-year quarterback has logged just five full practices since returning from his COVID-19 infection at the start of training camp. That limited workload coupled with multiple absences on the offensive line and at wide receiver would lead one to see very little upside in putting Jackson out there.
Not seeing Jackson play would be disappointing to those gathering at M&T Bank Stadium, but the simple fact that fans will be in attendance is worth celebrating after last year, which didn’t even include any preseason games.
“It’s going to be electric, man,” nose tackle Brandon Williams said. “We don’t have to bring our own energy anymore — which gets tiring — and then try to play a game. Having that heartbeat back, it’s going to be alive in there. It’s going to be awesome.”
Saturday marks the sixth time the Ravens and New Orleans will meet in the preseason with Baltimore owning a 5-0 all-time record. That includes a stretch in which these teams played in four straight summers from 2014-17. The Ravens own a 37-12 record in preseason contests since the start of the Harbaugh era in 2008.
Unofficial (and largely speculative) injury report
The Ravens are not required to put out an injury report like they do in the regular season, but I’ve offered my best guess on what one would look like if it were to be released ahead of Saturday’s game.
Most of the players estimated to be out will come as no surprise, but the status of a few will remain in question. Of course, this list does not include any veteran starters who could be held out due to the coaching staff’s decision.
Below is not an official injury report released by the Ravens:
OUT: WR Rashod Bateman (groin), WR Marquise Brown (hamstring), TE Nick Boyle (knee), OT Ronnie Stanley (ankle), G Kevin Zeitler (foot), CB Jimmy Smith (ankle), WR Miles Boykin (hamstring), CB Khalil Dorsey (shoulder), WR Deon Cain, DB Nigel Warrior (knee), OT Ja’Wuan James (Achilles)
DOUBTFUL: CB Iman Marshall (knee)
QUESTIONABLE: CB Tavon Young (knee), OLB Odafe Oweh, G Ben Cleveland, OT Alejandro Villanueva, FB Patrick Ricard (hip), ILB Otaro Alaka (knee)
Five players to watch Saturday night
OLB Jaylon Ferguson
The Ravens always prefer to be patient with their early draft picks, but the 2019 third-round selection was a healthy scratch late last season due to the numbers game and the organization drafted two outside linebackers and recently signed four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Justin Houston, none of which was a vote of confidence for Ferguson to step up to help replace Matthew Judon and Yannick Ngakoue. The Louisiana Tech product is in better shape this summer and hasn’t had a bad start to camp, but he has rarely stood out on defense and doesn’t play special teams, another factor working against his push for a roster spot. The time is now for Ferguson to prove he belongs in the outside linebacker rotation.
WR James Proche
No one has taken better advantage of the opportunities created by injuries at wide receiver than Proche, who has made both routine and highlight catches on a regular basis and is making a push to be one of the top three wideouts with Bateman’s Week 1 status in doubt. After catching only one pass last season, the 2020 sixth-round pick from SMU must show his early success on the practice field will carry over to a live-game setting, regardless of which quarterbacks are on the field on Saturday night. He’s likely to start and play extensively against the Saints, so this is Proche’s chance to eliminate any lingering question about his roster status and keep his camp momentum going.
DB Brandon Stephens
Originally a running back at UCLA before transferring to SMU and moving to corner, Stephens being selected in the third round raised a few eyebrows, but the rookie has flashed the versatility to be an interesting piece in the secondary. Though coaches have stressed that Stephens still has much to learn to play in Baltimore’s system, Jimmy Smith’s ankle injury has opened the door for more reps in certain sub packages requiring a third safety. It’s no secret that depth behind starting safeties Chuck Clark and DeShon Elliott was a question mark entering camp, so Stephens should receive the snaps to prove he can be a viable backup with long-term starting potential.
OL Tyre Phillips
With Stanley and Zeitler logging very little practice time and Bozeman and Villanueva missing some workouts recently, a patchwork offensive line has struggled mightily for much of training camp, but Phillips remains an important player to evaluate in the preseason. Though he’s still in the mix for the starting left guard competition, the 2020 third-round pick is one of the most logical in-house candidates to be the swing tackle backing up Stanley and Villanueva on game days. For that reason, you’d expect to see Phillips play quite a bit to see how he fares at both guard and tackle. The 6-foot-5, 330-pound lineman saw extensive action at both right guard and right tackle in 12 games as a rookie, so the coaching staff will want to see growth going into his second season.
CB Chris Westry
The 6-foot-4, 197-pound defensive back has been one of the surprises of summer, using his impressive length to regularly make plays on the ball in coverage and prompt observers to ask how Dallas let him get away after two years in that organization. Westry has practiced with plenty of swagger and has pretty consistently looked the part of an NFL-caliber outside cornerback during practices. Of course, the 2019 undrafted free agent out of Kentucky will need to show that same confidence and ability in preseason games to prove he deserves a spot in a very talented and deep cornerback group that didn’t appear to have any room for such a long shot entering training camp.
