With the Ravens holding their 15th open practice of training camp on Monday afternoon, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Marcus Peters became the latest key player to return to practice, participating in some positional drills before working individually on a side field. In addition to noting his elite play, Calais Campbell praised Peters as Baltimore’s “most vocal defensive back.” The defense sorely missed his leadership and swagger last year.
2. J.K. Dobbins practiced after sitting out the weekend with John Harbaugh saying he looked “a little better” than last week and was “back on track.” It’s worth noting he completed roughly 45 minutes of on-field work before leaving the field, which was a shorter duration than last Monday or Tuesday.
3. Needing to trim the roster to 85 players by Tuesday, Eric DeCosta released running back Corey Clement and cornerback Robert Jackson. The timing of Clement’s exit was a bit surprising, but the 27-year-old not receiving a carry until the fourth quarter of the Tennessee game was telling about his standing.
4. Despite rookie outside linebacker Chuck Wiley being absent Monday and a Pro Football Network report of his pending release, the Ravens elected not to pull the trigger on that move just yet. That didn’t feel like a coincidence with just-signed outside linebacker Trent Harris exiting early with an apparent injury.
5. Isaiah Likely has become no stranger to highlights, but he delivered arguably the day’s two most impressive plays with a leaping catch over Malik Harrison and Marcus Williams on a Tyler Huntley pass and a diving grab against Geno Stone in a 1-on-1 drill. The rookie isn’t slowing down.
6. After Lamar Jackson overthrew a wide-open Devin Duvernay who had beaten Kyle Fuller in deep coverage, the two got together to discuss what happened as they try to strengthen their chemistry. Jackson later hit Duvernay perfectly for a touchdown on a post route. That was encouraging to see.
7. Though Mark Andrews made an array of plays on Monday, Chuck Clark won two 1-on-1 reps matched up against the All-Pro tight end and later forced an incompletion against him during an 11-on-11 period. You rarely see an individual have that much success covering Andrews in a single practice.
8. A scary moment occurred near the end of practice when Nick Boyle blocked Odafe Oweh to the ground and the second-year linebacker got up favoring his back as he walked to the sideline. The good news is Oweh still did post-practice work with some teammates and appeared to be fine.
9. Morgan Moses appeared to be in some pain after jamming a finger or two on his left hand. After a few minutes, however, he put his glove back on and returned to practice without incident. That’s just life as an NFL offensive lineman who hasn’t missed a game since 2014.
10. Peters wasn’t the only player to come off the physically unable to perform list as Ar’Darius Washington returned Monday. It’s a moot point, but I wondered if the second-year safety might be stashed on PUP into the regular season since he doesn’t have a clear path to a roster spot.
With the Ravens and the rest of the NFL required to cut from 90 to 85 players by tomorrow afternoon, here is my latest look at the potential 53-man roster: https://t.co/iL0HDYIqV3
11. The training camp highlights have been few and far between for former Navy inside linebacker Diego Fagot, but he batted down a Huntley pass during an 11-on-11 period. Though Chris Horton and Mike Macdonald praised his physicality upon being asked about him Sunday, Fagot faces a steep roster climb.
12. Harbaugh donned an Orioles hat at the post-practice podium and started off his press conference complimenting Brandon Hyde and his playoff-hopeful club. “It’s been fun to watch that team. They’re never out of it, coming back at the end, always fighting — exciting baseball.” Cool stuff from the head coach.
