With the Ravens holding their first full-squad practice of training camp on Wednesday afternoon, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The defense won the day with more passes hitting the ground and being swatted away than usual for a practice without pads. Jaire Alexander had a strong practice debut that included a breakup of a deep pass intended for Dayton Wade, which prompted a celebration that got the crowd going.
2. Alexander was on the wrong end of the highlight moment of the day when DeAndre Hopkins made a leaping sideline grab over him. It was tough to tell whether Hopkins got his feet inbounds, but the catch prompted a bow from Alexander and a fun interaction between the veteran newcomers.
3. Lamar Jackson was asked how he approaches camp compared to his earliest seasons, and the quarterback admitted to experimenting more. “I pretty much just try to hit passes that I might not get in the game, and I try everything.” Jackson said Todd Monken’s responses to that mindset are mixed.
4. Zay Flowers made some standout plays, but he experienced an injury scare when he came out of a 7-on-7 rep favoring his ankle. He took off his shoe and had a trainer tend to him before returning to practice minutes later. Fortunately, Flowers looked fine the rest of the way.
5. Reserve linebacker Jake Hummel was the only unexpected absence as John Harbaugh said he’s recovering from a cut on his hand suffered before camp. He has joined rookie offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr. on the active non-football injury list, but he’s expected back “in a week or so.”
6. Tyler Loop had the better day over John Hoyland with the sixth-round rookie going 6-for-6 with his longest coming from 40 yards. The undrafted kicker was 4-for-5 with a miss wide left from 40. There were no tries beyond 40, so they weren’t exactly thrown into the fire right away.
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7. The kicking reps also included a bad snap when Loop was lining up a try from 36 yards. Needless to say, the rest of the operation from long snapper Nick Moore and holder Jordan Stout needs to be excellent to give the rookie kickers the best chance to succeed.
8. While making clear the need to live up to expectations on the field, Roquan Smith said, “This is probably the most talented defense that I’ve been on.” That’s saying something considering he was the leader of the 2023 unit that led the NFL in points allowed, sacks, and turnovers.
9. Given the lack of back-end depth, I’m expecting to see the likes of Jalyn Armour-Davis and undrafted rookie Reuben Lowery taking some safety reps. Armour-Davis is definitely on the roster bubble after Alexander’s signing, but he had a nice breakup on a Cooper Rush pass intended for Devontez Walker.
10. Aeneas Peebles flashes nifty inside pass-rushing moves, but there’s little denying how undersized he looks at defensive tackle. We’ll see how the listed 6-foot, 289-pound Peebles holds up when the pads come on next week. The sixth-round rookie is certainly a unique prospect.
11. Asked if he altered anything about his offseason, Jackson said, “I watched more TV. That’s about it. Usually, I don’t watch that much TV, but I watched a lot more TV, movies.” I’m guessing that’s not what the inquiring reporter had in mind, but that’s just Lamar being Lamar.
12. Camp observations are fun, but this is my annual reminder not to overreact to what we see — good or bad — as we’re often lacking context of what players and coaches are aiming to accomplish. We’ve seen future Pro Bowl selections struggle and easy cuts look like studs early on.
