With the Ravens practicing in shells and shorts for their 14th full-squad workout of training camp on Monday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. With the backup quarterback battle essentially over due to Trace McSorley’s injury, Tyler Huntley turned in one of his best practices with several touchdown throws and a beautiful deep ball to Tylan Wallace down the sideline. It was good to see Huntley build on his performance in the preseason opener.
2. Kevin Zeitler returned to the practice for the first time since spraining his foot in the first padded practice. The right guard was held out of a couple drills, but he took reps in full-team work, a promising sight for an offensive line that had its problems against New Orleans.
3. Ronnie Stanley increased his activity level from last week, taking part in some full-team work and facing Odafe Oweh in a one-on-one drill. He handled Oweh’s spin move and kept him well clear of the quarterback. A good sign for the standout left tackle and good experience for the rookie.
4. John Harbaugh revealed Ben Cleveland has been dealing with a concussion, explaining his absence since last Wednesday. The hope is the rookie third-round pick can take part in the joint practices with Carolina. No one is exactly beating down the door for that starting left guard job at this point.
5. It was a so-so day for Lamar Jackson, whose accuracy eluded him several times. He threw an interception to Chuck Clark on a pass that appeared to be intended for Mark Andrews and tossed a pick during a seven-on-seven drill. Jackson did throw a long touchdown to Devin Duvernay, however.
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6. Ar’Darius Washington continued to show an uncanny nose for the football with a leaping end-zone interception in which he managed to get both feet inbounds, an effort that even drew praise from pass game specialist Keith Williams. Washington broke up another end-zone pass moments later. He continues pushing.
7. Rookie tight end Tony Poljan has been quiet this summer, but the Virginia product pulled in a one-handed touchdown catch from Huntley and then caught another score from the backup soon thereafter. Josh Oliver made an impressive one-handed touchdown grab of his own on a Huntley pass thrown behind him.
8. Broderick Washington batted down a pass during Monday’s practice and graded “really highly” in Saturday’s preseason opener, according to Harbaugh. With Baltimore’s three veteran defensive line starters sitting out against New Orleans, Washington made the most of his 48 snaps, the second most of any Ravens defensive player.
9. With Marlon Humphrey in coverage, Jaylon Moore made an impressive touchdown grab on a pass from Jackson during a seven-on-seven red-zone period. Moore remains a long shot for the 53-man roster, but he made a couple nice catches in Saturday’s game and is a good fit for the practice squad.
10. Harbaugh assured it was “nothing serious,” but Sammy Watkins leaving practice early with a member of the training staff was the last thing the Ravens want to see at the wide receiver position at this point. Brandon Stephens also left practice early with Harbaugh applying the same description to him.
11. In more positive wide receiver news, Miles Boykin and Deon Cain joined Marquise Brown for conditioning work and running on a side field during Monday’s practice. It’s the first time we’ve seen Boykin on the field since he injured his hamstring on Aug. 2. He has much work to do.
12. Oweh compared Justin Houston to Yoda for his football knowledge and willingness to share it with the 2021 first-round pick who only began playing football in his junior year of high school. The two have frequently put in extra work after practices. “He just knows everything.”
