With the Ravens conducting a joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday ahead of their preseason opener, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Tempers flare in these settings, and Nate Wiggins came off the sideline to throw punches with Indianapolis running back Tyler Goodson, who had gotten into a skirmish with Keyon Martin during a punt drill. The brawl cleared both sidelines, but order was quickly restored. Unsurprisingly, Wiggins was tossed from practice.
2. Asked about the fight after practice, John Harbaugh said, “It’s always special teams. It always happens in these practices on special teams.” He’s not wrong, and the special-teams periods were easily the most competitive and intense parts of practice. Of course, those are the guys really fighting for NFL jobs.
3. It was an up-and-down day for the offense that ended poorly in the final two-minute drill period. Lamar Jackson made an ill-advised throw across his body that was intercepted by Indianapolis seventh-round rookie Hunter Wohler. Cooper Rush was then picked by Wohler to end the second-string two-minute drill.
4. Jackson defies conventional thinking that discourages a quarterback throwing across his body back toward the middle of the field. Before that interception, he scrambled right and made a highlight throw across his body to Rashod Bateman for 15 yards. There’s much more good than bad in those situations.
5. That final practice period wasn’t all bad as Baltimore’s first-team defense held Indianapolis to an unsuccessful long field goal try. The second-team defense then stopped the Colts’ backups with back-to-back sacks from Mike Green and William Kwenkeu. The rookie Green continues stacking rock-solid practices.
6. Charlie Kolar and Mark Andrews led the way from a pass-catching standpoint with the former having his best practice of summer. Jackson said Kolar’s “looking like a little Mark and a little Isaiah [Likely] out there,” which the offense will need with Likely currently in a boot after foot surgery.
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7. In his final practice before the preseason opener, Tyler Loop went 6-for-6 with his long field goal coming from 55 yards. It’s been encouraging seeing him perform at a high level since fellow rookie John Hoyland was waived over the weekend, but the first meaningful test will come Thursday night.
8. I mostly watched the field with the Ravens offense Tuesday, but multiple observers noted how the Colts made quite a few big plays against a Baltimore defense that’s heard much hype all summer. That’s hardly concerning, but coaches can use that experience to tighten players’ attention to detail.
9. The defense was without its best player as Kyle Hamilton rested with what Harbaugh called “one of those camp deals,” which is code for a minor soft-tissue ailment. Hamilton seemed to be dealing with a thigh or groin issue that resulted in him sitting out the end of Monday’s practice.
10. Broderick Washington deserved an assist collapsing the pocket on Green’s late-practice sack and has put together a strong camp. Zach Orr offered high praise for Washington on Monday, calling him “one of our top underrated players that nobody really talks about, but he does the dirty work.”
11. With the first joint practice and preseason opener upon us, this is my annual suggestion to reimagine preseason games as a “showcase” that features both a controlled scrimmage for starters and a 30-minute game for anyone coaches want to play. Give paying fans more entertainment value that features all starters.
12. The Colts returning to Owings Mills to practice would have been a big story 25 years ago, but it barely registered a blip on the radar as the Ravens prepare for their 30th season. That Colts franchise has now spent 10 more seasons in Indianapolis than it did in Baltimore.
