We welcome the start of another Ravens training camp in Owings Mills as Luke Jones and Nestor go beyond the offensive line questions to discuss the changes in personnel and who is being counted on to perform on September 5th against Kansas City.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
year, play, talk, ravens, eddie jackson, lamar jackson, training camp, field, games, terms, quarterback, roster, player, bateman, good, hamilton, step, practice, preseason games, sacks
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor J. Aparicio
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are wn st am 1570 tasks in Baltimore and Baltimore positive we are positively welcoming. Finally, this is our first segment of its football season for real it’s football season we’re gonna be giving the Maryland crabcake tour. Get it back out on the road courtesy of our friends at the Maryland lottery of the Gold Rush sevens doublers really lucky batch of these last time data faith these two weeks ago. We’re going to be at state fair on the 13th of August with our friends at Jiffy Lube Balti care as well as liberty, pure solutions, keeping my water crystal clear. And we’re doing that on the 35th Angela also Brooks, Prince George’s County. Gotta make sure I don’t say PG County because I drove through there the other night on the way to DC Prince George’s County Executive, Angela alsobrooks, who was running for Senate we will also have Larry Hogan on I have invited the former governor on I have not heard from his people but all things political. I can’t imagine politics would be in anybody’s brain here this weekend. Luke Jones joins us now we’re going to try to make you forget about politics for at least a couple of minutes here. As Raven season begins. I’ve got my curio wellness, purple zero once in a row, Quan Smith, look here for me. How are you? How was vacation? I hope you didn’t think anything about football or worry about Lamar Jackson, because you have all of that to worry about now, in addition to the trading deadline, Luke,
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Luke Jones 01:21
I will I must admit, I thought about training camp a little bit mainly because I got back very late Saturday night. And the Ravens hit the field Sunday for the first full team workout of training camp a little bit earlier start to training camp, keep in mind, they open up the season in Kansas City for the season opening NFL game, but a lots of excitement. You know your typical early camp headlines of who’s in good shape who’s on the field who’s not. And lo and behold, Lamar Jackson dealing with a little bit of an illness at the start of training camp was sent home on Sunday and started feeling not so great on Saturday. So we’ll see what that is. But that’s not even a blip on the concern radar. Six and a half, six plus weeks before the opener, but no, he’s not ideal.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:11
I know that much. Yeah, I’m
Luke Jones 02:13
sure so yeah, but I mean, it’s look COVID or not, this is something we’ve seen from Lamar, at least once or twice a year, he’s missing a practice because of being sick. You know, I don’t know, immune system diet, whatever it is. I
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:27
8mean, I’m not saying it’s some major problem, although we did miss the Bears game a few years back anymore, because I stay six feet away from people and I don’t shake hands with people. And Cal Ripken never shook hands with people 35 years ago. And I used to remember that and I and he never got sick. And I used to get sick all the time shaking hands with people at the bar. I think, you know, I think it’s literally as much as to stay away from people. That’s, there’s my little thing is that we get each other sick. Don’t touch as many people as you should. There. Okay.
Luke Jones 02:55
Okay. Yeah, I guess there are plenty people that shake hands and everything and don’t get sick, though. I mean, it’s just to get sick, I don’t know. But not a big deal other than felt bad for the fans in attendance on Sunday, who are waiting for number eight to run out of the Fieldhouse, and lo and behold, he never ran out there. So they got a heavier dose of Josh Johnson, which look, Josh Johnson, I looked at it, he’s made two starts since 2018. And he’s their primary backup quarterback. So even if lumbar misses a couple, he missed a couple of missing OTAs, as we talked about back in the spring, if he misses a couple practices here in late July, certainly not going to alter the trajectory of the 2024 season. So you want to see what Josh Johnson looks like with the ones you know, you don’t want to see him playing with the ones come September and beyond. But I say
Nestor J. Aparicio 03:49
I’m a Josh Johnson guy.
Luke Jones 03:53
I mean, I guess Sure. I, I would say I’m not anti Josh Johnson. I’m not being a guy that have anyone that’s not Lamar Jackson for the Ravens right now at quarterback. I mean, that’s just you know, we’ve talked about this. We talked about this with Joe Flacco a decade ago, you lose your franchise, quarterback and things change. But I think I don’t think this is anything that a little bit of rest and some fluids and all that won’t remedy. I assume. John Harbaugh certainly didn’t sound too concerned as he was expressing and laying out his vision for Lamar Jackson becoming the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Certainly some fodder for the talking head shows and all of that, but it reminded me a little bit of Joe Flacco on our very airwaves what 12 years ago at this point in time, talking about thinking he was the best quarterback in the NFL. Joe, Joe was never the best quarterback in the NFL, but someone’s gonna think that right? You want someone to think they’re the best. You want someone that had the vision that they are going to be the best or the greatest of all time. But as the crew I would point out and as you and I have talked about, they gotta win a Super Bowl for that conversation to have any weight to it, you’ve got to have championships. And Lamar understands that John Harbaugh understands that as he’s saying that to the media, this entire team, you know, that’s been so accomplished in the regular season over the last five, six years, and awards and Pro Bowls and regular season number one seed in home field advantage and all that. Yeah, they’ve got they’ve got a breakthrough. We’ve talked about that. So I don’t have any problem with what John Harbaugh said in terms of putting that out there. But it does put a target on your back to be mocked, if you continue to fall short in January, and they know that so I assume they’re okay with putting that target on their back in the same way that Flacco put a target on his back 12 years ago, and then went out and backed it up and won a Super Bowl and got paid and all that so so we’ll see how it plays out. But for day one on what was a pretty underwhelming day one in terms of highlights and buzz when you don’t have your best player out on the field. John Harbaugh certainly provided a headline that I’m sure, again, all the talking heads and all the the aggregate sites out there certainly appreciate it. offensive
8Nestor J. Aparicio 06:16
line, we’re going to talk about that it’s going to be a constant source. What else are you looking at? What when you’re out there other than who’s playing left guard who’s playing right tackle? What’s that rotation going to look like? How are the feet moving? Because there’s no physical activity going on out there at the Battlezone of the offensive and defensive lines. It’s more about alignment assignment technique and knowing where you’re supposed to be at this point. offensive line, that’ll be the focus. That’ll be what we talked about for six weeks. What else are you looking at? Yeah,
Luke Jones 06:51
I mean, I think went a big name that I’m going to be watching. And right now with Lamar being sick at the very start of training camp and not knowing if you know, Does he miss one day, two days, whatever it is, you know, there’s obviously plenty of time. But where’s your shot Bateman fitting in? Well, we’ve talked so much about his injuries. And last year, it being so apparent that he and Lamar Jackson, were just not on the same page on the field. I don’t think it’s, you know, I’ve said this, so I’m going to tread carefully here when we talk about lacking chemistry, I think there’s a a quick, a quick snap judgment to say, Oh, well, they don’t get along, or they don’t like each other or anything like that. And I you know, I don’t get that kind of a sense. I don’t I’m not suggesting that. But I think in terms of just them to own the field. It just hasn’t, you know, it hasn’t manifested to consistent success. You know, I mean, we go back to Bateman where he was at the beginning of 22 where it looked really good for three weeks and then he got hurt. Last year he missed a miss much of the spring missed the start a training camp and he just never got on the same page with Jackson as Lamar was trying to get on the same page with a flours and Odell Beckham and obviously had the chemistry with Mark Andrews and even Isaiah likely, you know, with Bateman it’s just always felt a little off. So you know, the Ravens get Bateman the very modest contract extension was about circumstances much as anything else you know, you know, kind of deal that a Bateman takes a step forward that the old deal bargain, you know, even if he doesn’t take a step forward, that deals not going to be a disaster. You know, it’s not like they’re giving him $15 million a year or anything like that. So how’s that looking? how’s that coming along, you know, is Rashad Bateman consistently getting the ball in practice? And that doesn’t mean as the number one receiver, I think Zaid flowers is their number one wide receiver. But are we seeing progress there? Because I think from a physical standpoint, I think from a talent standpoint, even looking at the metrics, you know, pro football focus and all the football nerd type sites will tell you that Rashad Bateman separates Rashad Bateman runs pretty good routes. And it just hasn’t translated to him and in Jackson connecting. So I’m watching that, you know, I think running back is interesting, but behind Derrick Henry, in terms of Yeah, I think Justice Hill is going to be the number two but Justice Hill is our as also been one of their best special teams players over the last four or five years is he does he take a step back from that involvement because he’s your number two back and someone’s got to run the ball when Derrick Henry isn’t on the field you know, he’s not going to run the ball every single carry that running backs get so you know, what’s that look like? You know, do they have a number three running back, you know, is it a Lee the rookie? You know, is he ready? Is he showing much, you know, to be a factor so, so you have that and on the defensive side for me now that they have added Eddie Jackson, you know, the former two time Pro Bowl safety from the bears who row Quan Smith obviously teamed with and gave the Ravens some good intel i think That’s a good number three safety option for them. So I think that’s that question has settled a little bit at this point in time just wanting everyone to question
Nestor J. Aparicio 10:08
right. Like, literally, that was a question going into the draft coming out of the draft and saying, Where are they going to be with that position? And especially, it’s a position that they’ve been trying to fortify for years and signing players. And even when we talk about Kyle Hamilton, doesn’t play like a normal safety position. Well, I
Luke Jones 10:25
8mean, you don’t want Kyle Hamilton to play like that. You want Kyle Hamilton to move around? I think Kyle Hamilton could play off the ball at a very high level, if that’s what the only thing you wanted him to do. But why would you heat he’s a position less player, he really is I that’s a position list. Defense has become a buzz term. You know, with analytics, I mean, I started referencing this, you know, when you and I would talk, three, four years ago, something like that. But Kyle Hamilton’s the ultimate position this guy because you don’t want to pigeonhole him into just being you know, a strong safety or someone who’s playing off the ball, if you’re playing too high. You want to move him all over the place. I mean, we saw him at the nickel so much as a rookie, a little less last year, but still plenty. And I think what you’re gonna see this year, I could see Kyle Hamilton being more of a dime at times because I think I was gonna say with a linebacker the way they used, but I think what you’re going to see and we saw this a few years back remember when the Ravens had all their issues and inside this was even pre Patrick queen that the issues they had an inside linebacker the year they brought in Josh Bynes and LJ Ford in like week four, because Patrick awasu and Kenny young couldn’t get the job done like they, they missed CJ Mosley, and they were they were really stuck there. What did they end up doing? They played a ton of dime. And Chuck Clark would come into the box and basically be a linebacker in those situations. I think, with Patrick Queanbeyan gone, and this is not an indictment on Trent Simpson whatsoever. I think the ravens are optimistic about his ability to step in to that will spot next to row Quan Smith. But that said, I don’t think that necessarily means they’re expecting Simpson to be a three down linebacker all the time. And Patrick Queen wasn’t that you know, at the start, you know, or shouldn’t have been from the start, let’s say. So what that means is I think you have some opportunities here now that you’ve added Eddie Jackson, and you have improved depth that corner, you still have Arthur Mallette, who had an interception on Sunday, you know, someone who the Ravens brass, Eric Acosta, and Harbaugh are very quick to remind everyone, hey, yeah, we have all these guys. And we, you know, we added Wiggins, and we added TJ Tampa, and we just signed Eddie Jackson. But don’t forget about Arthur Mallette. He played well for us last year, and they’re not wrong, you know, he didn’t play well for them. So you have all these pieces. And you have a question mark as your, your other starting inside linebacker, again, they’re optimistic about Simpson, but I think you have to be realistic as well. I think there’s opportunity for them to line up and play more time. You know, whether it’s melodic nickel, and Hamilton at time, whether it’s moving Marlon Humphrey inside and getting Nate Wiggins onto the field, I think they have so much, so many pieces to be multiple and to do so many different things that I wouldn’t be shocked to see more time and I think that’s a role Hamilton could play at a very high level, but he’s gonna do everything. You know, we’ve seen this he can blitz, he obviously covers he hits. I mean, he is such a dynamic football player that, you know, I say this with no disrespect to ro Quan Smith, who’s still the heart of the defense, and is still such a tremendous player inside linebacker, but I expect Kyle Hamilton to be their best defensive player this year. And I think you can make an argument he was becoming that even last year, you know, again, no disrespect to ro Quan. It’s a testament to just how talented Hamilton really is. So, I think but I think with adding Eddie Jackson replacing Geno’s stone in that role, because we know they’ve used so many three safety looks, knowing that Marcus Williams has had some injury issues the last couple years. You bring in a guy that outlook Eddie Jackson, let’s be clear. He’s several years removed from being a pro bowl player. He’s not a pro bowl safety anymore. But I think in the role that he’s going to be asked to play. I think it makes sense on paper. You know, you never know what Father Time and battery
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:20
dies, right? But this is such a this is a horrible as he kind of now with the constant kind of move to fortify with veterans. I mean, look, we talked about what happened last year with clowny. He’s gone. We talked about what happened last year, we Vannoy who’s here. And this is another one of those sort of darts to find that kind of a player who’s a veteran.
Luke Jones 14:40
Yeah, and you didn’t even mention Arthur Mallette or Ronald Darby who played starting caliber kind of cornerback for them last year, in a year where Marlon Humphrey couldn’t stay healthy. So, you know, so I went through safety and that has kind of been solidified on paper again, you’re one injured You’re away from that equation changing then you know that and that’s the case that most positions. So for me, I’m looking at outside linebacker, you know, you just mentioned it notes Davey on clowny. David a job Oh, looks like he’s full go at this point in time. I’m not saying he’s an IS, but he certainly has the talent to be a factor. If buddy’s got to develop, you know, he’s got to stack practices. You know, the best thing that could happen for David A Jabo. Is not that he’s starting week one opposite adopt a Oh way. It’s that he is practicing every day and out there every day and stacking and developing and getting reps. You know, one thing that we kind of forget because it’s been lost because of all the injuries is as talented as talented as a job. Oh, was at the University of Michigan, there was a perception that he was a green prospect at that point in time that he needed some more seasoning, that he would be a guy that, okay, he could be a situational guy for you from day one, but he still needs to develop he didn’t play a lot of photonic. Yeah, exactly. So So that’s the kind of player that he just needs to practice and play. So I’m not saying you put all your eggs in that basket, I think Oh way. And Vannoy you’re going to be the guys doing the heaviest lifting and I think Malik Harrison as an early down Sam, outside linebacker for you. But, you know, they need a job to step forward. You know, they’re gonna need, you know, you look at someone like, like TV as Robinson, you know, in his second year, who played quite a bit as a rookie, you know, can he take a step forward as far as being a more consistent edge player so offensive, your point offensive line is going to take so much of the oxygen in terms of what we’re really watching, you know, I mentioned Bateman. I think they still want a blocking tight end to emerge. That isn’t Patrick Ricard. So you’re not quite as predictable, as far as some of the fronts are using, you know, some of the formations you’re using there. You know, I mentioned number two, number three running back, How’s that look, but on defense, I think the defensive line is pretty much set. You know, maybe Travis Jones pushes for more snaps, you know, maybe take some snaps away from Michael Pearson, who’s a year older. But the defensive line I think, for the most part is set inside linebacker I mentioned Trent Simpson. I mean, you know, they’re, they’re gonna let him sink or swim. I don’t think there’s an obvious alternative if he struggles. That’s why I said they might just the alternative might be that they play a lot more dime, you know, especially in passing downs. But for the most, I mean, oh, yeah, exactly. I mean, and that’s my point. I mean, step that production has to come from someone and yeah, you can be confident that adopt AOA is going to take that step forward. But keep in mind adopt AOA was already part of this rotation. So there are snaps to be one whether it’s a job to you,
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:44
Adolfo. Oh, wait.
8Luke Jones 17:46
Um, yes. And no, I think for me, I thought he was better last year than he was in year two. Keep in mind year two he had what the shoulder surgery and that that hurt him in the offseason in terms of training. He was a little thinner than I think they wanted him to be on
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:06
him. Right. Um, wait. Yeah, no, I
Luke Jones 18:08
hear Yeah, like, right. I don’t think he’s let me be clear. I don’t think he’s been a bad player. I think plus would be too strong for him. Because what he was the 31st pick, you know, you’re not talking about this isn’t Suggs or bowl where someone like that it was picked in the top 10. You wanted
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:24
8to love that centered on production? Right? Yeah.
Luke Jones 18:26
Yeah, I think CoA is an interesting case study. Because what you’ll hear a lot of coaches and football analytics types talk about is pressure, no pressures getting putting heat on the quarterback, and what that does, in terms of what that does itself. And also, from a predictive standpoint, you’ll hear nerdy or football types who look at data, look at trends, look at other examples in history, recent history of the game, let’s say. And they’d say, if someone has a lot of pressures, and is getting close to the quarterback very consistently, they often say that’s more predictive of getting sacks in the future than if someone just has an out of nowhere kind of year where circumstantially that comes together, and they have 10 sacks, but they’re not really putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback otherwise, right? I mean, hypothetically, you could be deemed a great pass rusher. If you get to the quarterback one time every game, right? If you bring them down 12 Out of those 16. Then you’ve got 12 sacks and people were talking about you go into the Pro Bowl. But if you honestly only get heat on the quarterback 16 times all year, you’re not very good. So sacks can be circumstantial, sometimes oway has not recorded a ton of sacks. That’s obvious. But if you look at his pressure rate last year, it really bumped up big time from where it was in previous years. Now, that still has he has to continue that right that that can’t just be oh, well, you get close to the quarterback. And that’s it, you know, that’s they want more they want him to get to the quarterback more he wants to get to the quarterback more. So this is a huge year for him, they picked up his fifth year option. So they clearly are betting on him taking a step forward. Because, you know, a fifth year option is not obviously not something that’s terribly prohibitive long term for your salary cap, especially in this day and age where TV money has the kept going up and up and up every year. But at the same time, to me that showed that they’re betting on him having more than four or five sacks this year, I think they’re betting on him being a guy that is at least in that eight to 10. territory, at least, which is where cloud he was last year, you know, so, you know, I’m not saying it’s a one for one, again, you’re gonna need a couple of those younger guys that are even less proven than Oh, way to step up. And, you know, people have asked me, could they add a veteran pass rusher? I’m just not I’m not sure from having talked to some people in the organization, I’m not sure there’s a whole lot out there on the open market that they feel is markedly better than what they have. And I think there is a sense of wanting to see these young guys play and wanting to see wanting to see a job or develop wanting to see TV as Robinson develop. I haven’t even mentioned him because he’s on an IR right now at this Isaac their third round pick out of Penn State, you know, he’s dealing with the hamstring still, you know, it sounds like he’s, you know, trying to get back trying to get close, you know, but but that was a pretty significant hamstring that he was dealing with back in the spring. And he’s still not fully right. So for him, it makes it tough. He’s another guy, like a Javo, for example, who you want to see him play and practice and get wraps and develop. So, you know, they’ve got a lot of inventory at that position. You know, buckshaw, Walter always talked about this. I’ve cited this over and over over the years where you can talk about inventory, but how much depth is actually there, they have a lot of young inventory at outside linebacker, but how much depth is really there. And to your point, look, I’m not saying I’m necessarily I would have matched what Carolina is giving clowny. But that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be difficult to replace what he did for you last year, because he was really, really good for them. And it was a really good fit. So
Nestor J. Aparicio 22:16
and this last year, it wasn’t how much can you really write? So I mean, there’s some there’s something out where somebody we’re not talking about who’s going to make a difference, and it may be no job. Oh, like most of us have forgotten about, like since Draft Day.
Luke Jones 22:32
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And like I said, I mean, look, I’m not saying they won’t add a veteran player. But I think there is a sentiment within the organization it look a year ago, at this time, we were talking about Justin who Houston still coming back, I don’t think he had signed with the Panthers at that point. So we were speculating whether that would happen for the third year in a row where they’d sign him later in the offseason. So So you know, we’re gonna see how this plays out. But I definitely get the sense that they really want to see one of these young guys step forward. They really do. And frankly, they need that you can talk all you want about everything you do in the secondary. And look, I think, Zack, we’re still going to do a lot of the same pressures and the unpredictability that Mike McDonald did that week, Martin Hill did before that, you know, in terms of blitzing guys from different spots on the field, they’re gonna manufacture a lot of that that’s not going to change. And that’s why it’s nice to have guys like Kyle Hamilton and Arthur Mallette, who can blitz from the secondary and blitz very effectively from the secondary. But that said, there’s still a time in place where you need your Four man rush right you need someone and that’s where Mata BK from the inside helps immensely because you’ve got something as an inside pass rusher that a lot of teams don’t have. So that hypothetically should help your edge rushers. But you still need to be able to get pressure from the edge. And, you know, Kyle van Noy, even him, I mean band noise coming off of a career year, you know, his nine sacks that he had last year. I mean, that was career high for him. And, you know, the thing I’ll point out with Van Noy, you know, he’s at this point, he’s 33 years old, you know, is he going to continue to fight off Father Time, and I think that that right, there is also more reason to have young guys because then you can keep Vannoy on more of a pitch count. You don’t want to have to play him too much. I think that’s evident as well. So I think outside linebacker, and the whole edge picture is still very much to be determined. We know always gonna play a ton. Oh, he’s gonna start. We know Vanoise going to be very meaningful in the rotation even if he’s not going to be on the field on first down in the base defense. Again, I think Malik Harrison, will be that early down Sam linebacker as he was last year, but you know, hey, TV is Robinson David a job. Oh, Malik, ham, a decent Isaac. Anyone else any undrafted rookie? You know, there are snaps out there to be one. I mean, there’s no question about that. So I think that’s going to be very interesting to see how that plays out. And also interesting from the through looking through the lens of the, you have an offensive line that’s in such such a state of flux in terms of what that’s going to look like. So you’ve got a pass rush that you’re evaluating, and an O line that you have guys trying to win jobs. It does make for a really interesting camp, maybe not on day one, when you’re still ramping up in day two, when you’re still ramping up. But these days, when they’re in full pads, I think you’re gonna see a lot of competition because there are, there are jobs to be won, there are snaps, rotation snaps to be one on either side of that offensive line. So I think it’s going to be or either side of the line of scrimmage on net. So it’s gonna be really interesting to see how that plays out. But yeah, that outside linebacker, I think that’s still very much up in the air, what the rotation is going to look like, come week one, and especially what that rotation is going to look like over the course of the season. And in a perfect world, David Jabo stays healthy, in a perfect world. At this Isaac gets on the field and is healthy and can contribute as the year goes on. But you need a way to take another step. You need Vannoy to fight off Father Time another year, and be as productive as he was last year. And, you know, that’s, it’s not that’s not impossible, let me be clear, but that is asking a lot. Because, you know, typically, when someone has a career year, at age 32 They’re probably not doing that again at each 33 You know, history would suggest so that’s all the more reason for it being go time for OAE and especially those young guys who really aren’t proven whatsoever. 25
8Nestor J. Aparicio 26:37
training camps I did, I never liked any of them. I for people that talk about Westminster or Owings Mills. And they they both were incredibly wasteful for me you go out there a lot you watch them run around, it’s hot as balls out there. Kids all screaming wanton autographs people line up to get tickets to go out there to watch this. I don’t. Whenever I’ve been out there, I look at the people and I think other than an autograph and some pictures where you get close to the players. i It’s certainly you like it more than I ever did. One of the reasons Chad steel threw me out because I’m not gonna go out there and sit there eight hours a day and watch them run fungos. But the one thing I would say that maybe has changed. And I don’t know, because I’m not there anymore. They used to really have this timing for these preseason games, where the first game starters don’t play much or a minute second game play a little bit more third game. That’s the real run out fourth games a joke. We all know that that went on for 25 years. I don’t know this new cadence for any of this, or how seriously they actually took the preseason games when starters were playing pieces of them. So we could see it on a test drive. And I guess the greatest example, and you and I’ve covered college football forever is we could always say well, the Terps go out and play Kent State week one or whoever they’re playing. There’s no practice games, nobody knows anything. It’s all a big mystery. They still play these preseason games, they don’t really expect anybody to go, they don’t care much about it. They’ve gotten rid of them. They now do the scrimmage thing that we’ve talked about a little bit with Green Bay, and but the cadence and the timing of everything, to me feels like Kansas City on the fifth. And that’s all that matters. And we used to think about preseason a little bit differently when they were to into Home and Away. players playing I don’t expect anybody named ro Quan Smith, or Lamar Jackson, or anybody we’ve heard over like to be any part of any of these games. And that’s changed the whole dynamic at this time of the year for me to be like, well, games on Friday, nobody will be in Atlanta, but it’ll be on and we can watch it for a couple of minutes and see something. I think all that kind of went away when when the kid ripped his knee up in Washington a couple of years ago, sort of the end of the end of the end of any of that. And for that reason, I’m glad we have baseball, I’ll say that that baseball happens in the games matter. And there’s a trading deadline. But I don’t mean to say and I used to have a friend who was a former Washington football team fan. And he used to laugh at me with the Ravens back in the 90s in the arts, that we would sit here and do all this and take phone calls and all that. He’s like I’m a Redskins fan. 30 years nothing matters till they kick the ball. All this pre It’s garbage. You Ravens fans, you go to these priests nobody in the league cares about and is well we’re now there. And nobody really cares about any of these games. If you have a ticket for one of them or whatever. You don’t expect anything out of the actual games. At least I don’t anymore. I don’t. They’re unwatchable. I’m just glad I’m not saying dusky and have to figure out how to say everybody’s names and all the numbers and all that stuff in these games. But there really is something about the preseason being devalued from the fan base perspective in that way, that it’s almost like why they even bother playing them. To some degree, they make some money and whatever, you know, they get a band to come and play all time low plays halftime or something. And that’s cool. I’ve long since stopped giving them money PSL money for this crap. But this is a loan. Almost seven weeks getting ready for a football game. And not a lot happens in terms of bright light shining other than injuries.
Luke Jones 30:26
Yeah, I mean, look, everything you just said through an entertainment lens through a wins and losses lens through a established starter lens is true, right. I mean,
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:41
judgment standpoint that yeah, used to just put these games on say, oh, Bobby Rainey can play a little bit or look at Snoop run around. But the second team or hey, we found the guy in the second half. It looks like he might make the team. I mean, just a little bit of that. Even that part of the it was always awful. I’m not like it was you and hey, the Games Friday to get and then the game would be all to be like, Oh my god, I forgot how awful this is. And then Harpo streaming it Brent Harris in the middle of the preseason game. So I know they take it seriously out there. It’s one of the reasons they threw me out because I don’t take all this all that seriously. But I just think from a fan’s, this is a long slog of seven weeks of not a whole lot anymore, that it starts we shoot the gun and say, try it again. Go out there look, and then well have they look and then these real start with Bobby Trosset of who made the best catch on a practice field to try to get clicks. It’s insane. I mean, I’ve always hated this time of the year, but I really pay less attention to it now because there’s less to see from a fan’s perspective, I think.
Luke Jones 31:48
8Well, I mean for the games themselves. Yes. I mean, training camp. Look, I mean, training camp, is has always been about process more so than results and interpreting. And when I say results, you know, the highlight play, like I can go through so many different receivers over the years who make the highlight, catch or have a good few days of practice. And then they’re never heard from again, I can talk about the guy that was great in the preseason opener and all the fans are talking about him. But then at the same time guys like me who are out there everyday tell you, Oh, it’s nice to see the kid made a play because I haven’t seen him make a play over the last two weeks of training camp. So you have that’s always been there, right? You know, the games themselves. None of the established starters play. I do think you’re gonna see the offensive line. You know, guys that are starting week one on the offensive line. They’re gonna play in the preseason. Now, Linder bond is not going to play. I assume Ronnie Stanley’s not going to play. But beyond that, I mean, my goodness, that those guys are gonna have to play because they’re trying to figure out who’s who’s going to start. But you also, you also always have to remember to take all this with a grain of salt. And I’ll give you my most recent example, Nestor. So the Ravens win. They signed Eddie Jackson, officially on Sunday. They had to make a move to make faster space for him. They released Jordan tolls, undrafted, rookie safety from Morgan State Baltimore kid who you can go back and look at my 12 ravens thoughts from OTAs and mini camp. I thought he had a pretty nice spring. I thought he practiced well, I’m not saying I had him on my 53 man roster, but I thought he played well enough that it’s like, hey, you know if he has a good spring or has a good training camp and a good preseason? Yeah, maybe I’ll stick around on the on the practice squad. Maybe if someone gets hurt, he gets the 53rd spot on the roster. Well, they cut them on Sunday. So that’s a reminder right there. Again that reiterates anything that happens in the ring really does matter. It’s a reminder that what happens this first week or two really doesn’t matter. And when I say it doesn’t matter, not from John Harbaugh’s perspective, or Todd Monken perspective, or Zach Gore’s perspective, or any of these players who are preparing for the season. We know that it matters through that lens. We’re talking about through the lens of observation, and what guys like me, and that was another example I know Eric to caster or Ozzie Newsome when it comes to evaluating players because a guy that I thought looked pretty good in the spring just got cut and didn’t even make it to the second full day of training didn’t even make it to the first full day of training camp was amazing city. If it really is here or up there all about your role in the roster at this time of the year. Right. Like literally it’s hard to get caught this time of year. You can’t make the team they let a lot of guys around. Make the team. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean. I mean, if you had told me that they’re gonna have to cut someone for Eddie Jackson. I probably could have given you 10 other names that I would have thought would have been cut before Jordan toes. Again, I’m not this isn’t to belabor the point about Jordan Holt told her that Luke Jones thinks he’s a good player, or worse. The abandon the roster, it’s to illustrate that just because someone looks good in May doesn’t mean they’re going to look good in August. Just because someone looks good in late July, doesn’t mean that they’re going to look good in the preseason. Just because someone looks good in one of these fake preseason games that no starters play doesn’t mean that there wasn’t even going to make the roster and to if they do that, they’re going to make an impact in September, and October, and December, and so on. So it’s all about process it from an entertainment standpoint, from an entertainment value, much of what you said about the preseason game specifically now, as a kid, even as you know, someone in my early 20s, before I was in the media, I like going out to practice, like, I didn’t do it every day, of course, you know, I had a summer job and all that, but I liked going out and see what the team was going to look like. But to your point, there is always a sense of excitement when training camp starts, especially in years where the Orioles are 30 games under 500 At this point in time, but there is a sense of once it starts, then it’s like oh, wait, this is kind of hurry up and then wait for real stuff to start happening. So that’s part of it. And that’s where, look, I’m not going to sit here and say, you know, I’m not going to make observations. You can go read my 12 ravens thoughts from day one at Baltimore. positive.com. Right now, please do. But I always offer that caveat that look, take this for what it is. It’s a little bit of a football fix. It’s a little bit of conversation. But in a big picture sense. Joe Schmoke catching a touchdown on July 21. On the backfield, you know, the far field and Owings Mills. That doesn’t mean he’s making the roster, it doesn’t mean he’s on the roster bubble, it doesn’t mean he has any shot at being on the practice squad. But if that same guy starts doing that every day, and then it shows up in the preseason games, and then it’s a different conversation. So just so we all understand the proper context, then yeah, we can talk about this stuff. And yeah, there’s interest in Yeah, there’s, there’s important stuff to watch. Uh, but you have to understand, and that’s why I’ve always said that with the preseason games themselves, that those are just tiny snapshots within the whole scope of what you’re evaluating. And for those players who show up in a preseason game, when they haven’t made a darn play in three weeks of practices before that, you know, it’s probably not going to move the needle in terms of their chances. So, yeah, we just have to understand that. And if we do, then we can have the proper amount of discourse, which is some and understanding position battles. But to your point, the only thing of consequence that could happen on Sunday, when they were out on the field for the first time, was not Lamar Jackson missing the first day of practice, because he was ill, or, you know, some rookie free agent making a touchdown catch or anything like that. It’s what staying healthy, get your work in, and then get out. I mean, that’s really what it is. So, you know, with that understanding, yeah, you know, you, you get to a point where the season starts, and yeah, there’s some preseason starts and training camp starts. And there’s excitement, obviously, because we love football around the here seems won a lot of football games over the last close to three decades now, which is crazy to think about. But, you know, at the same time, we know that September 5 is a really long way away. And we know that January is even longer, in terms of waiting for what’s really going to matter. But in the meantime, yeah, can talk about who looks good and helmets and shorts the first week and who looks good when the pads come on. But we just need to remember to take all that with a grain of salt, because lots and lots goes into who exactly is going to be on the team. And we know that the preseason games themselves not going to see many of you’re not going to see any of your established talent really. And really, you’re just at best going to be looking at some position competitions and see how they play out.
Nestor J. Aparicio 38:51
Yeah, Luke, you said something about your fandom and your 20s and going out there to see how the team looks. I’m just gonna go and see how the team looks. They look purple is what they look in July in August, July for crying out loud, loose got 10 more days of July out in Owings Mills. They do not allow me they allow him. I’ll let you figure out why that is. Same thing with the baseball team. I’ll be writing about that as we get up on Labor Day. And as the season starts, we have a very exciting trading deadline this week. We have a very, very exciting a roster of folks here to talk about it this week as well. Luke is out at Baltimore positive we’re gonna be taking the Maryland crabcake tour on the road, beginning August 13. That is our next big day. We’re going to be with Angela also approach running for Senator over at State Fair in Catonsville. We’re also going to be failures in August and then the oyster tour is going to be in September. Lots and lots of cool places and lots of new sponsors too, including pizza John’s back on with us as well. We want to crab cake tour over there. Yes, they have a crab cake and it’s legit, but I’ll be getting the pizza over there as well. Our friends at the Maryland lottery giving us the Gold Rush sevens doubles and we get back out on the road. Also our friends at Jiffy Lube multi care getting us out on the road. Make sure Luke gets out Have Owings Mills and down to the ballpark as well as our friends at Liberty pure solutions, keeping our water crystal clear. And I did have a plumbing issue last week and had to call then I had a leak and an old drain. 40 year old drain came out less than an hour fixed. I got hot water. I’m ready to go. So Liberty pure solutions. I am Nestor. He’s Luke. Lots of football, lots of baseball ahead trading deadline and the Ravens back out on the field. We’ll let you know how they look. Stay with us for Baltimore positive
