With the Ravens conducting their first padded practice and fifth full-squad workout of training camp on Monday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. As the intensity increased, the defense dominated with pressure in the pocket and downhill play while the offense lacked rhythm and struggled to move the ball until late in the workout. John Harbaugh said that’s often the outcome when contact is first introduced, which matches my memory of past camps.
2. Odafe Oweh excelled rushing off the edge, giving right tackle Morgan Moses problems and getting to the quarterback on multiple occasions. The 2021 first-round pick is fully recovered from offseason shoulder surgery and drew congratulations from veteran teammate Calais Campbell on a couple occasions.
3. In addition to enduring heavy pressure and blitzing during 11-on-11 periods, Lamar Jackson struggled with accuracy even in 7-on-7 drills and often settled for check-down throws. He settled in some late, but you know the star quarterback is off when he’s even misfiring to favorite target Mark Andrews.
4. Rashod Bateman separated from Marlon Humphrey on a couple deep routes during 1-on-1 drills, but a Jackson underthrow allowed Humphrey to recover for a breakup and then an overthrow spoiled a potential touchdown. Again, it was just one of those days for the offense.
5. Despite having his ankle taped up and appearing to favor it somewhat, Kyle Hamilton had his best practice of camp with pass breakups against Andrews and Isaiah Likely and a run stuff at the line of scrimmage. You figured the 6-foot-4, 220-pound rookie safety would flash more in pads.
6. While Ja’Wuan James missed practice with “a little nagging thing,” according to Harbaugh, Ben Cleveland participated after finally passing the conditioning test. Thrown into the full-contact fire, Cleveland held his own against Brent Urban in a 1-on-1 blocking drill battle. As Harbaugh said, “He’ll sleep well tonight.”
7. The 305-pound rookie Tyler Linderbaum was up and down matching up against the listed 345-pound veteran Michael Pierce — who looks a little bigger than that — and 327-pound rookie Travis Jones. How the talented rookie center matches up against big nose tackles is the big question he’ll face.
8. Marcus Williams got to experience the difference between hitting Nate McCrary and Patrick Ricard on consecutive plays. After impressively standing up the backup running back, the free safety bounced off the 300-pound Pro Bowl fullback in a collision during an 11-on-11 thud period.
9. As expected, Daniel Faalele looks the part of a developmental right tackle with much work to do, but the fourth-round rookie won his 1-on-1 battles with undrafted rookie edge defenders Chuck Wiley and Jeremiah Moon. The 6-foot-8, 380-pound Faalele definitely has massive potential.
10. After being picked on quite a bit in recent practices, Kevon Seymour rebounded with a strong showing in coverage and broke up multiple passes. He has plenty of tough competition for a 53-man roster spot, but the veteran corner will help his chances with his special-teams contributions.
11. Harbaugh acknowledged Ronnie Stanley’s return to practice isn’t “imminent” while adding that he “looks good right now.” There’s no need to rush the franchise left tackle with Week 1 still almost six weeks away, but that’s why Baltimore wants to take a long look at James playing left tackle.
12. James Proche entertained the fans with a one-handed catch during individual drills and later gestured to the bleachers to elicit cheers from the many local youth football players in attendance. The pads coming on made for a much better atmosphere after last week’s ramp-up workouts.
