What is the real message for Lamar from the “new” Owings Mills?

In the aftermath of a unique press conference amongst an entirely new coaching staff in Owings Mills, Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Baltimore Ravens new regime with old faces and new spaces in the hierarchy who must hold all of the players accountable to improve upon last year. Starting with Lamar Jackson.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the recent press conference of the Ravens’ new coaching staff, including Jesse Minter, Anthony Levine, Anthony Weaver, and Declan Doyle. They highlighted the significance of having a new head coach and three new coordinators for the first time since 1996. Minter emphasized the importance of player attendance in OTAs, particularly Lamar Jackson, who has been inconsistent in his participation. Doyle acknowledged the challenge of play-calling for the first time and the need for collaboration. The conversation also touched on the potential impact of Lamar Jackson’s contract situation on team dynamics.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend and represent the show at Costas on March 6 (public appearance and promotion)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend and represent the show at Gertrude’s on March 4 (public appearance and promotion)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend and represent the show at Missoni (new Perry Hall location) on March 10 (public appearance and promotion)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host O.J. Brigance’s executive director on the ‘big event’ program next Friday the 27th (confirmed guest booking/promotion)
• [ ] Communicate expectation and encourage player attendance for voluntary OTAs and spring work so the new regime can build shared language and prepare for training camp
• [ ] Provide breaking news updates first on the WNST tech service and deliver breaking sports coverage as needed
• [ ] Coordinate and meet together (Jesse Minter, Declan Doyle, Anthony Weaver, Anthony Levine) to identify roster priorities and three points of focus per player for the spring

Ravens Coaches Press Conference and New Staff Introduction

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning upcoming events and sponsors.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the new coaching staff, including Jesse Minter, Anthony Levine, Anthony Weaver, and Declan Doyle.
• Luke Jones highlights the significance of having a new head coach and three new coordinators for the first time since 1996.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones reminisce about past coaching changes and the impact on the team.

New Faces and Familiarity in the Coaching Staff

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the new coaching staff, noting the familiarity with some members like Anthony Levine and Anthony Weaver.
• Luke Jones mentions the excitement and novelty of having new faces at the press conference.
• Nestor Aparicio compares the current coaching changes to past changes in other sports teams.
• Luke Jones reflects on the generational shift, with younger coaches like Declan Doyle having no recollection of the Ravens’ previous head coaches.

Jesse Minter’s Role and Coordination with Anthony Weaver

• Luke Jones discusses Jesse Minter’s role in calling plays and his communication with Anthony Weaver.
• Minter acknowledges the importance of good communication and preparation throughout the week.
• Luke Jones compares Minter’s dynamic with Declan Doyle’s role in Chicago, highlighting the similarities in their responsibilities.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the excitement and familiarity of the new coaching staff.

Anthony Levine’s Transition to Coaching

• Luke Jones shares a story about Anthony Levine’s influence on young players, particularly LaDarius Webb.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss Levine’s journey from special teams to coaching and his impact on players.
• Luke Jones highlights Levine’s relationship with Jesse Minter and his ability to connect with players.
• Nestor Aparicio reflects on the importance of mentorship and influence in the NFL.

Declan Doyle’s First-Time Play-Calling Challenge

• Luke Jones discusses Declan Doyle’s candidness about the challenges of play-calling for the first time.
• Doyle acknowledges the difference between his previous roles and the new responsibilities as offensive coordinator.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the importance of preseason games for new play-callers.
• Luke Jones suggests the need for a virtual reality system to help coaches practice game management and play-calling.

Lamar Jackson’s Contract and Offseason Attendance

• Luke Jones discusses the importance of Lamar Jackson’s attendance at OTAs and the potential impact of his contract situation.
• Doyle emphasizes the need for players to be present for OTAs to build relationships and set the tone for the season.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones debate the significance of Jackson’s attendance and its impact on the team.
• Luke Jones highlights the potential complications if Jackson’s contract is not resolved before the start of the season.

The Importance of Preseason and Training Camp

• Luke Jones discusses the importance of preseason games and training camp for new coaches and players.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones reflect on the challenges of integrating new coaches and players into the team.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the need for a smooth transition to ensure the team is prepared for the regular season.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential impact of preseason injuries and the importance of player health.

The Role of Veteran Coaches in the New Staff

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the role of veteran coaches like Rick Minter and Joe Lombardi in supporting the new staff.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of experienced coaches in guiding the new coordinators.
• Nestor Aparicio reflects on the balance between new energy and experienced guidance in the coaching staff.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the need for a collaborative approach to ensure the success of the new regime.

The Impact of New Coaches on Team Dynamics

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential impact of new coaches on team dynamics and player relationships.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of building trust and rapport among coaches and players.
• Nestor Aparicio reflects on the challenges of integrating new coaches into an established team.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the need for clear communication and a shared vision to ensure a smooth transition.

The Future of the Ravens Coaching Staff

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the long-term prospects of the new coaching staff and their potential impact on the team.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of continuity and stability in coaching to ensure long-term success.
• Nestor Aparicio reflects on the challenges of managing high expectations and the need for patience.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of a collaborative approach and a shared vision to achieve success.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Ravens coaches, Lamar Jackson, Jesse Minter, Anthony Levine, Declan Doyle, new coaching staff, press conference, OTAs, contract negotiation, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, player attendance, training camp, NFL expectations, coaching transition.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive. We get the Maryland crab cake tour back out on the road. I do promise. We will be at Costas on March the sixth. It looks as though we’re going to be a gertrudes on March the fourth, working that out. And then we’re going to be at the Missoni new location. We up in a beautiful Perry Hall. I always did my son went to the hall, Perry Hall. We’re going to be there on the 10th of March. That’s a Tuesday in Perry Hall. All are brought to you by our friends at farming and Dermer. They are the comfort guys, as well as our friends at GBMC. And I had Dr oscari on this week talking about the colonoscopy. This is where I wag my finger and tell all of you I did it. You need to do it if you’re 45 Luke’s on the list. Soon. Luke Jones joins us now. He has lived long enough and been my dude, long enough to see the administration change in Owings Mills. He has seen the lavender plumes of smoke arrive from the with the dungeon. I think that’s what my friend called it out in Owings Mills and the new coach and Jesse Minter bringing in familiar faces. I mean, two of these three guys are in my phone. I’ve text them. I like them a lot. Anthony Levine, Anthony Weaver, I’m calling in the two Tony’s. Although nobody really called Anthony Levine Tony, I don’t believe but the two Tony Award winners, as well as Declan Doyle, the decorated youngster, young enough to be not my son’s son, but pretty young. And Luke was on the scene out there for questioning the new brigade a new day, right? Something different you’ve you’ve not experienced anything like what you experienced on Wednesday, right?

Luke Jones  01:50

No, no. In fact, it was brought up, and I know you and I talked about it at the time, but this is the first time since 1996 that the Ravens have a brand new head coach and three new coordinators, right? Think about Billick, kept Marvin Lewis as his defensive coordinator, John Harbaugh kept Rex Ryan as his defensive coordinator. So, right off the bat, I mean, and to your point, of course, three of these four, and the two Anthony’s, to your point, and I would say Tony and CO cap, right? I mean, Levine’s nickname was co cap with, you know, co captain of the special teams with Albert, Albert McClellan. Those two very familiar with right Levine, you know, left for five minutes to go. You know, test out his coaching chops in Nashville, but he’s back, and Weaver was here just a couple years ago. Of course, this is his third stint now between playing career and two as a coach. So it was fun in that way. But, yeah, I mean, there’s, there’s an excitement to it. I mean, it was, it was funny just to see the four of them sit up there and, you know, typically, most of the press conferences in the auditorium, I think, over the years, like back in the day when bishati would do the state of the ravens, you know, be bishati, Dick Cass horrible, and Ozzy, and then it was, then it would be di Costa, and then you do the pre draft luncheon, and certain faces are there, and it’s four new faces, though. I mean, even

Nestor Aparicio  03:10

I mean horrible, missing is really weird, right? It is always weird, right? Definitely, it’s like, Where’s Daddy? What happened the daddy? That’s literally strange.

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Luke Jones  03:19

I mean, it is, and, you know, that’s not good, bad or indifferent, it’s just it, but it’s just different, right?

Nestor Aparicio  03:25

So I’ve been doing this 40 years. Every time there was a new coach. Imagine when it was Brian Murray getting fired. It was his brother, Terry Murray, took the job the next day. I mean, I’ve been involved in some weird stuff, and certainly, you know, we had parades of managers here with the Orioles. Where was Johnny Oates, Ray Miller, Phil Regan, Davey, John, you know, Mike argrow. Just go on and on and on. The Ravens haven’t been that, you know. I mean, like the Ravens have been. It was kind of like the day after Gary Williams left, we’re like, whoa. What happened to Gary, you know, right?

Luke Jones  03:59

I mean, it’s, it’s different. It’s different. I mean, think about it. I mean, you have individuals now who are going into senior year of high you know, they’re in senior year of high school. You have individuals in college. You have young adults out there that have no recollection of the Ravens having any head coach but John Harbaugh. I mean, think about

Nestor Aparicio  04:18

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it, by the way, just to date you a little bit because you were born in 83 when Earl Weaver did the ride off in 82 after the Milwaukee game, the Sutton Palmer game, I was 14. I just turned 14. I knew no other Earl Weaver was the only manager I knew. Like, I couldn’t believe there could be another manager. You know what I mean? Like, so there definitely is. I mean, hardball is even longer than that, right? I mean, you could be in college and leaving Joe Enoch’s kid is the only coach he’s ever known. So, like, these are grown ass men drinking, you know? So, like, it’s crazy. It really is. It’s it’s been a long time, like the Boston song, and that just doesn’t happen anymore. Else, so you’re gonna be weirded out for a little while

Luke Jones  05:03

in the building. Well, and think about it, how much you can point out Declan Doyle’s 29 he wasn’t born when the ravens, when the Browns arrived and became the ravens, he hadn’t yet been born. So like it does speak to Yeah, we’re dealing with some different Colts. Logo means Indianapolis to him, sure, sure. I mean, think, I mean, for me, I, I was a few months old when the Colts left right, so, and I’m 42 now, so you’re talking about a long time ago, but, but just to bring it back full circle, to talking about the press conference, I mean, Jesse Minter was there. It was helpful having him there to answer some questions about his assistance. I mean, one of the things that, one of the earliest questions I was able to ask was, hey, you already said you were going to call plays, you know, on the on the defensive side of the ball, how much discussion was there with Weaver during the interview process? And, you know, how will that work? And, you know, he didn’t go into intimate detail about that, but he acknowledged that, yeah, there’s, there has to be good communication, there has to be good preparation throughout the week. He’s, he’ll be, of course, he’s going to be in the defensive room a lot, right? I mean, John Harbaugh was in the defensive room. John Harbaugh spent time in the spent time in the offensive room, special teams, right? I mean, the head coach floats, and you would think if you were going to divvy up the percentages, he’s probably still going to spend a little more time on the defensive side, because that’s his area of expertise. That said he has other responsibilities. So that’s where Anthony Weaver does become, of the utmost importance, to lead the players, but make sure all the details are fine tuned with the defensive game plan every week to get to Sunday, and then you kind of hand the reins to Minter, who’s going to call the defense then on Sunday. So, you know, there’s a dynamic to that. And one thing that Minter brought up when I asked him about that, where it was kind of interesting, you know, he made mention that Declan Doyle was in the midst of that same kind of dynamic in Chicago on the other side of the ball, right? I mean, he was doing laying all the groundwork throughout the week and helping Ben Johnson, you know, put together, you know, the the offensive game plan and the script and all those different things, and then He hands the reins. So there’s probably some perspective that he’ll be able to give them, just in a general sense, sense of how that works, but it’s one of the questions, right? In the same way we have questions about Declan Doyle calling plays for the first time. So, you know, I’m not sure there was anything earth shattering that comes out of, out of this press conference. I mean, the biggest thing that, you know, I don’t think is a, you know, a bad thing, but, you know, maybe from the Ravens perspective, from a PR standpoint, the juice and the excitement has waned, because, I mean, Declan Doyle’s been on the job now, what, two and a half weeks, and Weaver’s been on the job a couple weeks, and Levine has even, you know, been on the job for a little while. So, so you don’t necessarily have the the juice, from an enthusiasm standpoint, that would have been there a couple couple weeks. Couple couple weeks ago, which, in the big picture, is not a big deal, per se, but it was just interesting hearing their voices, right? I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  08:10

and they’re not strange to the building. I keep saying that like there’s no part where you look at them and you don’t know Anthony Weaver a little bit about him, right? And certainly Levine, in your case, in almost everybody’s case in the room, really, like, if there’s anybody in the building that doesn’t know Anthony Levine,

Luke Jones  08:27

yeah, I covered his entire time in Baltimore, right? I mean, so So it’s definitely but that said it’s the first time I’ve ever asked Anthony Levine a question when he was a coach, right? I mean, he was an assistant special teams coach last year. Yeah, they don’t put an assistant like that at the podium.

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Nestor Aparicio  08:46

So what did he have to say? Did he have a different demeanor in any way? He’s the same guy, right?

Luke Jones  08:51

Well, not. I mean, he could be a pretty goofy guy, if you recall, so that part of him is probably toned down a little bit. But, yeah, I mean, I mean, it was talking to Levine. I mean, it’s so funny. I I had a chance to chat with him briefly after the press conference. I didn’t get a chance to to recall this story, but I remember, I can’t remember where we were, but you and I had a we did at least one live show with him at one point in time, and I remember vividly him talking, and this is what this was at a point when la Darius Webb was still on the team. So this was not extremely early in his tenure as a player, but first half of it, at the very least. And he made the point that him being known as the special teams guy, you know, co cap, along with Albert McClellan, how he would talk to young players, you know, players who didn’t know any better when they’re in their first OTA, you know, the first set of OTAs, early days of training camp, and all those guys in that defensive back room, they’re all focused on defense, right? You know, even, even the undrafted rookies, because they’re all thinking that they’re, they’re, you know, what doesn’t stink, and they’re gonna carve out a place as you. You know, the dime back, or, you know, the third or fourth corner, whatever. And he’d say that, you know, early on, he tried to give guys advice, and, you know, but guys would gravitate to and I remember the player he mentioned at the time was Larry’s web you know, la Darius Webb, who, at the time was one of the Ravens starting corners. And he’d but he made the point that it get later and later into the preseason, and guys knowing that they’re on the pub or not. Guys know, I mean, they know where they stand on the depth chart. They know who’s taking the reps with first first team Raven defense, second team Raven defense, all that kind of stuff. And he made the point in saying that it’s funny how you get to the third week of August, and more and more guys are trying to pick his brain about special teams and everything. And he made the point that he joked, it’s like, Oh, why don’t you go to ask Linda’s web about that? How’s that gonna work out for you so and I just, it’s one of those stories that just you wonder at that. I remember the

Nestor Aparicio  10:54

conversation we have because we said, he said he was a dog. Yeah, you know, that’s part of doing it, man. That’s the job. That’s special teams.

Luke Jones  11:00

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But it’s one of those things where you you wonder how much thought he might have given at that moment in time, right, when he’s five, six years into the league, to the point when he got to the point when he was a roster lock, right? I mean, he joined the Ravens during the 2012 season, played a couple games, ended up on IR I mean, he was on the bubble at least the next year or two. You know, at least from outside perception wise. But you know, by the time he gets to, you know, 2016 2017 2018 you do wonder those experiences that he had as a guy that was a leader on the special teams. You do wonder when the thought of coaching starts to creep into your mind, right? I mean, probably not at the forefront. But you know, it’s certainly someone that you know. You think about it in those terms. And the other thing you know, I had a chance to ask him about this, you know, during the press conference, was, keep in mind, he was in that defensive backs room when Jesse Minter was a defensive backs coach for the Ravens. You know, when he, you know, he wasn’t running the show, so to speak, but he was kind of slowly working his way up the ladder, you know, from just a kind of a general assistant the first couple years, and then, okay, at that point, he was coaching the defensive backs, along with Chris Hewitt, and you know, some other guys that they had in there over over his time. But, you know, I asked Levine, you know, what kind of stood out about mentor at that point in time, like, what resonated with him? And, you know, was there anything about him that didn’t necessarily scream that you knew he was going to be a head coach one day, but, but that he had some, you know, he had an aptitude for being a coach and working his way up the ladder and working his way into a more prominent role. And, you know, he kind of just said he just connected with players. Well, you know, he said he made sure that you knew what you needed to do. And he said that certain coach, you know, certain players, you know, he talked about it, you know, thinking about it as a player. He said, a lot of times players, you know, they’ll go to coaches because they want a pat on the back, right? They want a reassurance. And he said that, yes, Jesse was the kind of guy that instilled confidence in you, but he also held guys accountable, and would flat out say, like, you’re not, you’re not good enough at this right now, or like, you need to do this specific element better. And he said that that’s something that just resonated, that he connected with players in a way that he could goof off with them and, like, have have fun with them. But there was also like, all right, this is, this is not one of those times we got to talk and we got to have a tough talk. So I just thought that was interesting, because how often do you have a first year head coach who sits there with a first year, first time special teams coordinator who played for him, right, or who played under him?

Nestor Aparicio  13:38

Both were in the building five

Luke Jones  13:40

minutes ago. That’s what I’m saying. It wasn’t long ago as really

Nestor Aparicio  13:43

Junior guys. I mean, you’re talking really Junior guys. We’re talking about the guy, you know, next to the janitors making the teams as a special teams guy as a rookie that would had no there was no thought that he had to make the team or he was a special like, he really did it the hard way. Anthony Levine, like I, you know? I mean, I feel the same way about Zach Orr. I mean, I sort of for those guys that that care that much or involve that much. But Jesse Minter, you know, he was a coach’s kid who was the assistant to the assistant guy. And now he’s John Harbaugh in the building running power through the building. You saw hard boss power played in you up there with a Ponte and the whole deal, but and trying to figure it out with people he really likes and trusts and knows, right? I mean, first time in, he brought his guy up from an apple. I mean, you’re really trying to get your bearings on all of this, and you’re wanting to ask what kind of defense he’s going to run. And Dicas is trying to figure out what’s going on with Lamar Jackson. She can get $40 million back on the cap. So it’s just, there’s just this, everybody turns the fire hose out there, really, right?

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Luke Jones  14:54

I mean, there is, and I mean they talked about it. I mean they’re, they’re about six weeks out. From the start of the spring program. Keep in mind, when you have a new head coach, we’ve, we’ve been accustomed to, not that people pay a lot of attention to this. But if you have an incumbent, returning Head Coach, your offseason program begins like April 15, 16th, 17th, that Monday. You know, on an annual basis you can start, you start. I think it’s two weeks earlier, right? So it’s like it’s April 5, sixth, whatever, something, something in that neighborhood. Point is we’re six weeks out

Nestor Aparicio  15:26

from that. So John tried to get away with it. I don’t know

Luke Jones  15:31

if it was quite that extreme. They had those in the past, but yeah, I’ll be talking about April 6. They need to have their ducks in order, right? And the idea of, you’re hoping to have most of your guys in there, you know, especially once they get to the second phase of the offseason program. You know, first phase is lifting weights and stuff like that. I mean, that’s where the veteran players still probably aren’t going to be in there quite as often, but once you start doing the on field stuff, and then obviously when you get into OTAs and all that. I mean, you want everyone there, Lamar Jackson, included, and that’s why, you know, I’ll get to Declan Doyle here in a moment.

Nestor Aparicio  16:06

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All the protocols are going to change, right? Be has a whole different strength and conditioning team, like, right? I mean, I don’t know, like it feels to be hardball is a hard ball, is a hard ball. And that’s part of the reason he brought him in, is the systems probably aren’t all that different, or what he wants to do, he’ll say John probably did a pretty good job with some of this stuff. Let’s leave it alone, right? Yeah.

Luke Jones  16:26

I mean, I don’t think it’s all like, I don’t think you’re starting everything a new because keeping, keep in mind, it’s not as though they cleaned house and fired the entire front office, you know what I mean, like, so, so you’re going to keep some of that stuff in place, but, but I think what is important is for Jesse Minter, Declan, Doyle, Anthony Weaver and Anthony Levine to all sit down. And obviously this includes all the assistant you know, all the positional coaches underneath them, to really have the best possible grasp you can have for your roster. And the thing, I think it was Doyle that mentioned this, when you know that he said that at least. And I would assume this applies for the other phases of the game as well. But their goal is to kind of identify three points of focus for each player in the spring, to kind of be, hey, this is what we want to get better with. And you know, from Lamar Jackson on down to key Andre Jackson, who, by the way, you know, rookie special teams guy called up Anthony Levine, think it was yesterday, you know, the day before the press conference, and he flew into town to be there for it, sat in the back. You know, no one bothered him. I thought that was cool. And then, let me be clear, that’s not a commentary on any players who didn’t do that. But keandre Jackson, undrafted guy did not make the 53 man roster, was on the practice squad, got called up, made such a mark on special teams. We, you and I mentioned him at least in passing a few times. Got made some made some plays. Was elevated to the 53 man roster. The fact that he went out of his way. You know, where all these you know the, this is the time of year where these guys are vacationing. These guys are getting some downtime. They’re getting away from the game all that for him to fly in. You know, it’s probably because Anthony Levine made such an impression on him last year as an assistant special teams coach. He probably views it through the lens of, I owe him my football life right now, because I was on my way to, you know, okay, being on the practice squad,

Nestor Aparicio  18:24

I think back to 30 years ago, when I go in the building and Tim goad would be in there, or Anthony pleasant, somebody that lived around or wanted to be around the team, or wanted to be around the coach, or wanted to get better, or wanted to use the facility, or had a girlfriend here, whatever would Be that would that would tether a player to Baltimore. They, they the team always felt like they were less likely to get in trouble here than their hometown, in a general sense that they would want to be in the building and show that they I bet that kid came up because he wanted to have dinner with Anthony Levine. Then, you know, just because they like each other, and this will, they can hang out. And then in April, he’ll, you know, whatever, but that’s the way the 22 and 23 or 24 year old young man, we’ll call him kids, but I call him kids at this point, the kids that that made us that make it. Anthony Levine was that guy, I’m telling you. He came up to Flacco in me, I don’t even like it had to have been a weird time of the year. There was nobody in the building, I don’t think, I mean, and, and he came over and sat with us, because that’s who Anthony Levine was. He’s a rat, right? I mean, he just wanted to be great. And part of being great is I got to stay out of my hometown and be up. They got a billion dollar facility up there, and they’ll, then they’ll pay me more to be there this time of year. John, love those guys. You know, John loves seeing that around the building, but that’s which won’t end me to Lamar, because that’s never been Lamar. That’s never been lar

Luke Jones  19:53

well, just to finish up here, because, and look, I mean, we’re talking about the special teams coordinator, they’re not as as much. Much interest to talk. But we’re going to give Anthony Levine a few minutes here, because it’s interesting enough, but, but think about the pipeline, you know, for him. So OJ Brigance was, of course, already had his diagnosis, but was work still works in the building, you know, so.

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Nestor Aparicio  20:17

But by the way, I had OJS executive director on big event next Friday the 27th absolutely go to Baltimore. Positive. I I did 40 minutes on it this week.

Luke Jones  20:28

Yeah, absolutely. But Levine talked about their relationship that they have to this day, right? And Levine talked about when he arrived in 2012 in Baltimore, a guy that was very influential for him. Jameel McClain, who was cut his same same deal, right? Cut his teeth on special teams, worked his way into a defensive role. And then I think about all the players that that Levine influenced. And, you know, I Geno stone, someone who comes to mind, right? I mean, Geno stone, what seventh round pick special teams eventually carved out a role on defense in the way that Levine was a heck of a dime back for a few years, right? I mean, it’s always kind of interesting just to see the pipeline, you know. And obviously there are others involved in that, but, but now you have keandre Jackson, who was an undrafted rookie. Mean, the Ravens had, remember at the end of the preseason last year, they had three undrafted rookies make the 53 man roster, and yet keandre Jackson did not. And of those undrafted rookies, and you know, Keon Martin played a little on defense, but keandre Jackson made the biggest impact in terms of, I mean, he was one of their best special teams players, already emerging to be that. But, you know, just just the fact that Levine can influence a guy in that way. And he thought, enough of, I want to be in the I want to be here for this. So I just, I just thought that was cool. And, you know, Anthony Weaver talked about the fact that, you know, Travis Jones, Matt ABK guys like that that he worked with in his last stint as defensive line coach, hit him up. You know, some of the vets hit him up, and they’re excited. He said, even guys that he played with, you know, and going back to some of the old school guys, you know, the Kelly Greggs of the world, you know, the guys like that that reached out to him and wished congratulations, but, no, but, but that is what’s kind of cool about this. And you know, you mentioned, you know, what’s going to change and what’s going to stay the same. And you know, Minter alluded to this a little bit in terms of their principles that they have, you know, the whole play like a raven stuff. And I don’t mean the t shirt slogans, right, but I mean the core principles of what the last 25 years have been built on, right? And they’ve had a lot of success, right? I mean, how many, how many franchises won two Super Bowls in the last quarter century? I mean, that’s, that’s still a really short list, regardless of the disappointment of 2025 or not getting break, breaking through in January in recent years. But so, so they’re not going to completely deviate from that, but it’s kind of a, you know, if you want to call it version two or, you know, whatever, right, fresh coats of paint, some fresh perspective, new voices, even if it’s new voices that are sharing similar principles, you know, I think all of that is, you know, kind of what they were going for with this. I mean, as, as I kind of said to you throughout the, you know, the interview process, and then in the immediate aftermath of them hiring Jesse Minter, I think it was, yeah, there was a horrible influence there, but there was also the mike McDonald element, and you know what he thought, what he did, and the area of expertise on the defensive side of the ball that John Harbaugh didn’t have, quite frankly, right? That you know whether you’re talking about the defense, which I think all of us right now, and this is maybe where we’ll transition talking about Declan Doyle, but right now, the one element of the team that I feel the best about, and all of this is pending, that yes, they’re going to go through free agency, they’re going to go through the draft, right? They’re going to have to put the put a roster together, but they have a defensive minded head coach, and they have a defensive coordinator who now is is up being a defensive coordinator with a third different NFL team. They should be like, That’s the area if you’re going to ask me about from a coaching standpoint, I feel best about their defensive coaching right now, right? Because you have mentor and you have Anthony Weaver. I mean, those two guys alone for you know, put aside the rest of the assistance. But on the flip side, Declan Doyle, who I thought was probably the most interesting as far as what he had to say of the three. And I think there was the most curiosity with him because of the obvious factor with Lamar. But you have a 29 year old offensive coordinator who’s calling plays for the first time at any level, and the right off the bat, one of the first things he said, Because he said, because he was asked about that element, and he acknowledged it’s a very different job for him than even it was last year. The last thing I’d want to hear first time play caller at a coordinator job say is, oh, well, you know, that’s no big deal, right? And, and I’ll say this. This. We all were that young guy in our first, you know, our first opportunity doing something that we love, right?

Nestor Aparicio  25:07

And you can watch Luke on our YouTube channel back there slowly, not at Jersey.

Luke Jones  25:12

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And there’s such a well, and I’m even thinking back to being a first year teacher, even like, you know, this is any walk of life, there’s such a tendency when you’re young to not give off a vibe that you not and I don’t mean that you don’t know what you’re doing, meaning that you haven’t had education and you haven’t picked others brains, but you really don’t know what you’re doing because you because you haven’t done it before, right? I mean, it’s just the reality of like, why? How would you know exactly what you’re doing because you haven’t done it before. So hearing Doyle say it is a very different job. Because, yes, while I was doing so much of that work to help Ben Johnson in Chicago last year, or in his previous stop, you know, previous work with with Sean Payton, and helping him out in so many different ways and making a good impression, you haven’t been that guy where you’re, you’re the final one checking off on everything right in real time. You’re and that’s the big you know, it’s one thing talking about the game plan

Nestor Aparicio  26:11

and all those talk about the preseason games not meaning anything to any of us. Oh, my God, critical for them. Yeah. Cuz monkey had trouble with the operation around here, and he got a head coaching job out of the gig.

Luke Jones  26:24

Everyone does, everyone. It’s funny. I don’t know if any anything like this exists, but there is money to be made in the coaching ranks. For some, someone that’s way more tech oriented than I am, to build a full blown simulator that allows coaches to practice game play calling, and head coaches to practice game management situations. And you would just, you know, it would be a giant, you know, virtual reality. It’s, it’d be like, part Madden, part virtual reality, you know what I mean, like and to go through and just sim simulate that as much as possible. There was a great thing. I don’t know if you had a chance. I think I might have brought it up to you at some point, because it was during the season Chase. Daniel did a video where he simulated, I think it was Chase Daniel, I could be wrong. I’m pretty sure it was him, but he simulated exactly what you hear in a headset, and that the play caller and quarterback interaction, you know, in real time he simulated that like you can go check it out on Twitter. It’s out there. Nestor, I think we all have an expectation that it can be hectic. I got anxious just watching this video, let alone if I were the play caller, or I’m the quarterback getting the play and then needing to relay.

Nestor Aparicio  27:46

Imagine Joe Flacco turning that around in three days and running the Bengals.

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Luke Jones  27:50

I mean, it’s just that. Or imagine a rookie, rookie quarterback, right? Or a first time play calling offensive coordinator,

Nestor Aparicio  27:57

or somebody studying in five months, and then Joe Flacco coming into doing it in three days. That’s, that’s, I mean, it’s just insane. It’s the amount it takes the process to do that job.

Luke Jones  28:07

So that’s where I look at that thing, and that’s, that’s why I’ve said all along. And look, I’m not anti Declan Doyle, he checks a lot of boxes. Yes, he’s young, but I think there are ways that that can be to his advantage, depending on how it all works out, but there’s a lot of new there and that. And you know, the biggest thing I’ve said about this coaching staff, you know, kind of looking at it from a universal standpoint, is there’s just a lot of new to navigate. You have a new first time head coach. He’s got a lot. He’s got more on his plate than some first time head coaches, although, as we’ve talked about it, you’re seeing more and more around the league head coaches that are either calling the offense or the defense, right? So he’s not unique in that way, but that’s just a lot to navigate. And again, with Doyle, first time that he’s called plays, and you can prepare for that all you want, right? And he talked, he talked about one thing that he’s done over the years, you know, from the time that he was a, you know, quality control coach, you know, going back to when he was in his early 20s, which wasn’t that long ago, mind you, which just speaks to how crazy it is. But he said that one of his weekly routines for every game as something that he just did that that help, that he hopes has helped prepared him for what he’s about to embark on, is he’d walk the just walk the field three or four hours from the game, or three or four hours before the game, and in his mind, he would simulate three or four drives, like, play calls, you know, okay, like, what would I do in second, you know? Like, and again, how? How much is that like a real situation? It’s not, but at the same time, there’s only so many things you can do in that space, and that’s why I’m glad you brought up the preseason part, that’s where you look at this thing. And that’ll be very that’ll be very interesting to see. Well, it won’t be Lamar either. Sure. Well, well, do we know that for sure? I mean, let me be clear. Susan, me suggesting Lamar is going to play six quarters of preseason action, but because, one, it’s a new regime. Two, they’ve gotten off the bad starts each of the last two seasons. So maybe these, maybe the vets do need to play in the preseason a little bit. I don’t know, right? I mean, it’s, it’s kind of

Nestor Aparicio  30:22

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you and me the night after he gets injured, dude in August, but you also

Luke Jones  30:26

don’t want to be one in five again. So you know what I mean. But there is something to be said about how that they will handle that element of it. And I think I’m guessing what the primary solution will be for that, because, no, I’m not certain that we’ll see the veterans play in the preseason, and even if they do, it’s probably going to be very minimal. But I’m guessing what you’re going to see is a lot of work during training camp, where they’re doing a lot of game, you know, mock scrimmaging, so to speak, to practice that as much as possible in terms of, hey, you know, you have Declan Doyle on the other side of the field, far, far away, Lamar, you know, you know the radio and the play in. They’ve got the play clock. They pipe in some crowd noise. In addition to the fans being there for training camp, I’m guessing they’re going to do a lot of that stuff, because they’re going to have to, you know, right? Because you’ve got a lot of new that goes on there. But he acknowledged very different job, you know, but at the same time, there’s only so much. That’s why I said, you know, to me there, there’s a million dollar idea out there, and maybe someone’s invented it, and it’s proprietary, and some team actually has it, but, you know, almost like a virtual reality system of like your your head coach or your defensive coordinator, or your offensive coordinator, or whoever’s calling plays to kind of go through that and and by the same token, you know, that sounds like that would be a really good thing for a rookie quarterback to go through, too. And I, and I, actually, I was having this conversation with someone, I think, I think the command Washington had actually done that with Jaden Daniels a little bit the last couple years, where they actually had him use virtual reality to kind of work and practice on some of those elements of the game. So I have no idea if they have anything like that in place. And I’m not saying that that would simulate it exactly because, you know, I don’t know if there’s anything that simulates that anxiety, right? I mean, because, you know, if you’re not doing it for real, it’s not going to be the same as when you’re doing it for real. So, so I just thought that was an interesting, you know, it was an interesting element, but I liked that acknowledgement of, yeah, this is a very different job. It’s one of the reasons why I was excited to take it. I mean, I I enjoyed my time in Chicago. I enjoyed working with Ben Johnson, you know, like all that, but this is, yeah, this is me having the final stamp of approval, me putting my fingerprints on it, and me calling plays for the first time. So I thought that element of it was certainly interesting, and I think that’s going to be a major, major factor that we’ll talk about a lot here over the next six months, but we won’t really have an answer until they kick it off week one, and then at that point, we’ll start to see how it goes.

Nestor Aparicio  33:10

If you’re tuning in at a W n s t am 1570 Luke Jones and I together, you can find him at Baltimore, Luke, any breaking news you get first on the W n s t tech service brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy, and, of course, all of our sports coverage now this year brought to you by Farnan and Dermer. They are the comfort guys trying to make me and my wife a little more comfortable with our H back. They can do the same for you now that the thaw is out there before we get to the elephant in the room and number eight in the contract and all that. Joe Lombardi, offensive assistant, former Peyton guy, offense coordinator, Declan Doyle guy, the notion that there’s a dad in the building because there is a dad in the building. Jesse Minters fathers in the building, and Rick Minter trying to add color to the to not color, but age wisdom amidst all these young, young neophyte guys, some of them I knew the day they were drafted. And you know all this 29 year old guys, and two guys I knew as rookies, you know, running around with Jesse Minter, who was the assistant to the assistant, something, something that nobody knew him. It’s total new regime. But like, I wear the grown ups in the building, Ozzie, Eric, they’re comfortable with this. They’re comfortable with all of this. Obviously. What gets Jesse Minter comfortable probably some lieutenants around him. Who’ve, I know, You’ve been big on jumping on like he needs a head coach. He needs somebody that’s done this. He needs some you know, I don’t know who it would be. We’ve named all sorts of weird names. Jim Schwartz is available all of a sudden, but there are names of people out there that could give Jesse Minter. Help.

Luke Jones  35:00

Yeah. I mean, obviously Rick Minter is going to be a huge part of that, and you fully expected that to be the case. You know, Joe Lombardi should be a huge resource for everything I just talked about with Declan Doyle. I mean, yes, there’s only so much you can do until you actually do it yourself. But that helps?

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Nestor Aparicio  35:20

Well, Chuck pagano got brought in last year. It didn’t help the secondary, if the players, and that’s a factor too.

Luke Jones  35:25

I mean, and you and I talked about this, you know, through the coaching search, right? I mean, you know, there was an argument to be made that the Ravens hire a more experienced head coach, but at the same time, it’s like, Well, John Harbaugh had more more experience than just about anyone you’d hire. And, you know, so there are different ways to look at it. And you know, there serves guys that fail in their first job and then succeed in their second job. And then there have also been guys you can point to that failed everywhere they went as a head coach, right? And guys who had multiple chances. So, but yeah, you kind of, you do look at the staff, and I know, you know one thing that Minter said that will probably be something that’s brought up if they have some issues in this way. But he kind of said that, you know, he didn’t have, you know, he kind of downplayed the idea of coaches with college experience versus NFL experience first, how much experience they had, right? And, you know, and I follow where he’s, he’s coming from on that. And to be clear, I mean, John Harbaugh had different waves of this. I can remember periods of time where, where horrible tended to have some hiring pockets of some college coaches that came in. I mean, you know, there was, it is

Nestor Aparicio  36:33

amazing how the games blended like that in the last 15 years, right? I mean, that never happened in the Billick era, yeah.

Luke Jones  36:39

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I mean, but you look at how the game has changed as much as it has with, frankly, having more quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, like Patrick mahomes, like Caleb Williams. You know, one thing that Doyle talked about was, like the number of quarterbacks in the league now that their second play quarterbacks to play quarterbacks, the design play, and then what that quarterback does when the play breaks down, right? You know, Ben Roethlisberger did this for a long time as well. I mean, it’s also hash hash marks changed the game in college. One foot changes just changed the game in college. There’s no doubt that said, as much as you might find similar similarities, the games are still very different. There’s no doubt about that as well. So that is where it’s interesting, and that, that is where you do look at this thing and say, certain areas, you know, certain positions, they’ve trended a little more with college guys, which can be a good thing. But again, there’s a newness to navigate, right? There’s a lot of new to navigate here, and that’s where it is going to be interesting for a team, and Buffalo’s dealing with the same exact thing right now, for a team that has very high expectations, right? The difference of Jesse Minter compared to, let’s, let’s keep it simple, compared to even John Harbaugh right now, as far as expectations for 2026 if har ball has the Giants at nine and eight, whether they make the playoffs or not, considering where the Giants have been in recent years, that’s going to be viewed as like, Hey, nice job. We’re absolutely on the right track. Jesse mentor goes nine and eight, not saying he’s getting fired. Let’s be clear about that. But there are all kinds of questions of whether this thing is

Nestor Aparicio  38:28

this time next year when baseball’s on strike, we’re going to be saying what happened, right?

Luke Jones  38:32

So, like, just that, I mean, and that’s such a simplistic way of viewing it, but that’s tough for a first time head coach. That’s tough for a staff that has a lot of new in terms of guys coming from the college level. So I’m not saying that, saying it’s going to fail, but it’s an acknowledgement of there’s going,

Nestor Aparicio  38:53

well, let’s be honest, dude, this is, let’s transition to Lamar here, right? This is where Lamar has got to turn his hat backwards and come in and be the Superman, making $60 million a year, guy, leader, guy, big man on campus, adult on campus. No longer the young guy, new coach in him. Or, you know, lock step got to be lock step first, 36 months here, and it’s got to have a trophy involved, right, right? Yeah.

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Luke Jones  39:23

I mean, I mean the trophy is, the rest of it has to be there, right? Because it’s, it’s tougher to envision that

Nestor Aparicio  39:31

comes at the end, that comes when everything else goes, right? That’s what I’m saying. Like, you

Luke Jones  39:34

kind of need everything else for that to be there. So, and this is where I thought it was. I thought this is where Declan Doyle, I’m not sure, from Jesse Minters perspective and the organization’s perspective, if they necessarily love this now, from my perspective, from your perspective, from I think from fans perspective, because it was honest, because it was open, because it was forthcoming. I thought it was interesting. You know, one thing that he. Was asked about. And then I’ll get to spring and OTAs, and this will be where Declan Doyle was a man after your heart, Nestor. But he talked about, you know, because he had already made a comment, I guess, to the team website, you know, with their podcast, talking about Lamar, there being an even higher ceiling. So he was asked about that, and rightfully so, right? I mean, if you’re going to talk about a guy that easily could have been one is a two time MVP, easily could have, should have been a three time MVP. If you’re going to say that that ceiling could be even higher, we’re going to ask you about that, right? We’re going to say, well, how then, you know that’s saying a lot, right? That that shouldn’t just be lip service and and what he said, which I thought it was interesting to hear him say this, because part of me would wonder, wonder how Lamar feels about him saying this publicly. And I don’t, you know it wasn’t, let me be clear. I’m not trying to stir the pot here and say that it was inflammatory, but it was just open. There was candor to this. Where he said, going back to what I just said, Lamar is a to play quarterback, right? Monk and talked about this to a lesser extent. Greg Roman, anyone who’s a quarterback guy would say that Lamar Jackson, same with Patrick mahomes, same with Ben Roethlisberger back in the day. Go, go through the list any dual threat quarterback that has the ability to scramble and improvise, play street ball, make a play out of nothing, but say he’s a two play quarterback. He made, he I’m going to read this quote verbatim, and obviously he said a lot more to it, but he said, he said, with Lamar having studied him, that first play could be more consistent at times. I just thought that was interesting to hear a first time he’s not wrong, right? Anyone could be more. Patrick mahomes Could be better in ways like that, right? Josh Allen could be better in ways like that. And I, I don’t think neither one

Nestor Aparicio  41:52

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of them has Derek Henry, but go ahead, no doubt, well.

Luke Jones  41:55

But the point is, whatever the play was called in the huddle, right? The play that’s executed before you get to the second play, which is Lamar making three guys miss, and he finds a flowers down the field for a touchdown in Pittsburgh, right? But I just thought it was interesting to hear him say that on the record, right? I mean, you, you think of most coaches, and I’ll, I’ll use Anthony Weaver as a direct contrast. Weaver was asked about the pass rush. He was asked about the blown fourth quarter leads. He was asked about the secondary, all things that faltered, you know, with Zach Orr the last two years, Weaver talked so carefully and really didn’t say anything about that in the process. And I get it. And you know, this isn’t his first rodeo as a coordinator, and and all that, and, and Zach or someone he has a relationship with, right? So he he also wasn’t going to throw Zach order or under the bus, but I just thought it was interesting to hear Doyle say that, not that he’s wrong, not that it isn’t true, not that these aren’t things that he has probably already said to Lamar Jackson, and certainly will say to him, but I just thought it was interesting to hear him put that out there that I do wonder, you know, how Lamar, or any player in that kind of a, you know, any veteran player, would think about a, you know, putting that out there. So to be clear, for my purposes, as someone who’s out there listening to it and writing about it and talking about it on the radio. I love that kind of candor, but just knowing how the Ravens coaches typically talk, I just thought that was interesting. The other, you know, the other factor, and this is where we get into OTAs daclin Doyle was asked about it. And look, I mean, the question could apply to anyone, but we know the the elephant in the room, right? Lamar Jackson, one, knowing that the contract situation is there until it’s not. And two, knowing, in recent years he has been, you know, his attendance has been pretty scarce during the voluntary part of the offseason program. And I thought it was really, really interesting. And I’m going to read the quote for you verbatim, because I just, you know, he was asked, this is mentor? No, no, this is Declan Doyle. Declan Doyle, okay, yeah. So he was asked about, and just in general terms, you guys start OTAs, you talked about how a lot of this offense will be new. What are your expectations for attendance, considering just how much is being built here from players, considering it is voluntary. So that was the question. I didn’t ask the question, but it was asked Good question. It was a question on everyone’s mind, so he wasn’t asked specifically about Lamar here. So I want to make sure that, but everyone’s going to think Lamar, you know, because he’s the leader of the offense, right? He’s leader of the football team. It’s hard to get anything done when he’s not there. I mean, it’s, you know, you can get things done, but from an offensive standpoint, sure, you know? I mean, it’s different if it’s going to be Tyler Huntley or Cooper rush or Robert Griffin the third, you know, going back, you know? I mean, Lamar back then was. There for all of OTAs. But so here was this quote, yes, we would expect the players to be here, and certainly it is voluntary, but if you want to say that you’re going to win a championship, you want to say that you have championship standards, and those are your goals and your expectations. Certainly that’s going to take work. That’s going to take collaboration, and that’s going to take the beginning of building the relationship with coaches and other players, starting off this next regime on the right foot, and so that would be those guys getting in here us, being able to work with them, hands on, to be a be able to kind of get this thing going in the direction that we want to and making improvements, so that we set ourselves up where, when we come back in here for training camp, we hit the ground running, and we already have kind of a shared knowledge, shared language, and we’re able to go right to work. So, you know, again, honest, candid, open, you know, he, he got the requisite, certainly, it is voluntary in there in the first sentence, but everything else he said after that was, we need our guys here, so I just thought that was interesting. And you know, whether it’s Declan, Doyle, Jesse, Minter, Anthony Weaver, you know Levine, even though, you know fans aren’t going to care quite as much about special teams work and OTAs. But that, that is where this is interesting, because you know, you and I have had quite a few debates, if not flat out arguments, over OTA attendance, but they need Lamar Jackson there this spring. You know, it’s a different story when you’re talking about a first year head coach who’s trying to set the tone, and a first first time play calling offensive coordinator who’s trying to set a tone and trying to teach an offense, and you’ve got a brand new quarterbacks coach, right? I mean, they need everyone there, you know. And look,

Luke Jones  46:49

if guys miss a day or two in the midst of, you know that six weeks or whatever, that’s a difference. You know, it’s not as though it has to be 100% every single day or the season’s ruined, but it’s certainly there’s a different expectation than the same head you know, the eighth year with the same head coach and your third year with the same offensive coordinator and your third year with the same quarterbacks coach and your wide receivers are all the same. And you know what I mean? Like, that’s different. It just is. So, yeah, I think the expectation is going to be way different. Now that said how this contract negotiation goes, you know, in terms of whether it’s a full blown contract extension, or if it, as I’ve said to you, if it comes down to it, and they aren’t getting anywhere with an extension, then they restructure his deal. I mean, he’s not playing on a $74 million cap number. He’s just not. And I don’t know, I, in fact, I saw you reposted it, so I know that you saw it earlier in the day, you know, of the day of the press conference the Chiefs restructured Patrick mahomes. Now, mahomes has a deal, you know, with so many years and like, that’s kind of baked in, right? I mean, a lot of times with these long term deals for your quarterback, for the top five or six, you know, your top five or six Highest Paid players that are on these premium, lucrative contracts, it’s kind of baked into, you know, restructure things, take a base salary, turning it, turn it into a signing bonus, and you lower the cap number all that. So, I mean, Steve a shot, he said it, you know, at the in the January press conference, if it comes down to it, the Ravens will take, you know, on lamar’s base salary is, you know, 50. I can’t remember what it is. Off the top of my head, it’s 50, some million. They’ll take most of that, and they’ll turn it into a signing bonus. They’ll add a couple more void years on to the end of the deal, and they’ll lower it down to, I think his cap number this past year was 40 something million. So they’ll create cap space. But if that’s, if that’s the way they have to go with this man creates a brand new set of questions. One, is Lamar going to be happy with that, and does that impact his spring attendance? Two, what happens if Lamar has another year where injuries are an issue and he’s missing four or five games? Three, on the flip side, what if Lamar Jackson has a good year this coming year, but isn’t necessarily in love with the coaching staff, and a year from now, guess what that means? Lamar Jackson’s only a year away from hitting free agency, and the Ravens can’t, you know, they have there’s a no trade clause, and there’s also no franchise tag. And by the way, if you restructure his deal now, Nestor, his cap number next year is probably 90 million or something. So, man, you’re getting my point here. Yes, you can restructure his deal if it comes down to that, and they’ll do that if they have to. But that is not that is, to say, the least sub optimal in terms. Of, of how you want to play this out, because it just creates new questions for this season, next off season, and so ideally, and even from lamar’s perspective, and this is where you look at this thing and say, you know, because Mike Florio has talked about this, and we’ve cited Florio talking about, you know, the idea if, hypothetically, if Lamar won it out, or hypothetically if Lamar just said, Hey, I want to play this out, and I can be a free agent in two years at the same time, for any player who is entering his age 29 season, and then you’re looking ahead to your age 31 season. That is an eternity in the NFL. For some guys, that’s the difference between being a pro bowl player and maybe you lose in your starting job, right? I mean, go, look at how Cam Newton, who was a former MVP, kind of look at how the end of his career played out in Carolina to then him basically being out of the league or just being a backup, you know, kind of viewed through that lens. It, you know, a lot of times we think of, you know, we think of, we think of development as linear with a trajectory that’s just going up. And sometimes we think of decline as, you know, kind of a gradual thing. Doesn’t always work that way. And I’m not saying that about Lamar specifically. I’m saying that about any player, from the standpoint of, if you’re Lamar, you don’t want to wait, like you wait, okay, you waited until your age 26 season to get paid. And you know, you you put that off a year or two. And like, you know, we don’t need to rehash all that. We all lived it and talked about it, but you know, from his perspective, you don’t want to wait two more years to get another bite at the free agent Apple, because there’s no guarantee you’re going to be that same guy two years from now. So you know, that’s where it just makes all the sense in the world for the ravens and for Lamar to sit down and to knock this out. And I’m not saying it’s as simple as doing it in half an hour. You know, it’s not quite that simple, but if both sides are motivated to do this and to be fair, and you know, for the ravens to show Lamar love, for Lamar to show the Ravens love, there’s no reason this thing shouldn’t be able to be knocked out and and look, you know, let’s be practical and realistic about it. You know, the starting point to me is the average annual value is just north of $60 million Dak Prescott’s right now, he’s the highest paid quarterback in the league in terms of AAV at 60 so whether that number needs to be 60.5 61 whatever. And then you get creative in terms of, you know, what’s the first year payout, what’s the signing bonus, what’s the two year payout, right? How much guaranteed money goes into the third year, year of the deal, and that’s typically, you know, and that’s where bashadi kind of said, you know, a month ago, where he said, you know, in his mind, it would be as simple as, kind of taking the structure that they have and just adjusting the numbers to account for all that that said as much as me, As much as me or you, or Joe, average fan, or, you know, Adam Schefter, or whoever you want to talk about that’s looking at this as an outside, from the outside looking in, wants to say that it should be cut and dried. Well, we also are saying similar things a few years ago, and it never was cut and dried. So until, until it’s done, it’s a question, it’s an issue. And I don’t say that to be fatalistic about it. I think when it’s all said and done, though, they’ll get an extension done, because to me, that’s the that’s the option that makes the most sense for both sides. But until it’s done, it’s a point of discussion, it’s a talking point, it’s something that is a hurdle, until it’s not anymore. So I did think it was interesting, though, with Doyle being as up up front about how important it is for everyone to be there, and can’t help but, you know, it’d be naive Not, not to think about Lamar Jackson being number one right there. But yeah, it applies to everyone because they want to make sure they’re hitting the ground running as much as they can come training camp that, you know. You don’t want to be teaching, you know, things that you could have taught back in the spring. You don’t want to be rehashing that in August. You want to be trying to get, you know, be the absolute best you can be to start the season as fast as you can, knowing how these last couple years have gone. In that regard,

Nestor Aparicio  54:16

he is Luke Jones. He was press conferencing in the beginning of all press conferencing. Thumbs Up on the press conference. Then you’re, yeah, yeah.

8

Luke Jones  54:26

I mean, I thought, I thought all three guys handled themselves well. I did find it. I don’t know if you had a chance to see some of the comments mentors look, he went with the hoodie and the blazer over top of it, which is not, you know, that is a very polarizing look. Young people seem to really like it. And I saw a lot of people absolutely hated it. I guess the first time I saw that in football space was what Andrew Whitworth on the Amazon pregame crew like that. That’s kind of his look. But yeah, Jesse Minter, you know, we kind of talked about it at the time. He didn’t look comfortable in the. Full blown suit. So, you know, he’s, this is where you’re seeing him, kind of, I guess, settle into who he’s going to be, right? Which is fine. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and comment on anyone else’s fashion. I mean, I’m the guy that wears a ball cap and a T shirt and jeans to most other than church, you know, that’s where I’m most comfortable. So, so, yeah, so, but I thought that was interesting. A lot of the commentary I saw coming out of it, but, but, you know, in all seriousness, I thought it. I thought all three coordinators handled, handled themselves well. I thought Doyle was just the most interesting in certain in terms of that candor that I loved, and I know you appreciated it, and fans will appreciate it, but, you know, a couple of those things, I can’t help but wonder if, if they kind of thought, oh, you know, we don’t want to quite be that forthcoming about it. But if I,

Nestor Aparicio  55:45

you know, if I knew him, I asked him who the audience is, his players, or the fans, or just honesty, for the sake of being honest, which is always refreshing.

Luke Jones  55:53

No, no question. And like, like I said, had a chance to chat with, didn’t get a chance to talk with Tony, but talked with Levine for a few minutes, and and Doyle. And, you know, obviously I’ve known Levine, but you know, even just talking to him off the record, just chatting and formally getting to know each other, he’s an impressive guy, you know, for he doesn’t carry himself as though he’s 29 let’s put it that way. He seems like, if I just know, didn’t know who he was, I would have guessed he was in his mid 30s, you know, I would have guessed he wasn’t that much younger than me. He’s confident. But also, you know, he you could tell he’s personable. You can tell he’s someone that is related to players well in the past, and think it’s a big reason why he’s where he is, despite the fact these are very successful young people who’ve taken on very big jobs all at the same time. Here we go. Here we go, right? So, yeah, here we go. No doubt, try to have some fun with it. You know? You know that right now they’re in a vacuum, but once those players start to arrive, that’s what it’s like all right. Now it’s time to get to work, and you’re managing a lot of summer camp

Nestor Aparicio  56:57

until it’s preschool. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Here’s Luke Jones. He’s Baltimore Luca. All of our sports coverage now, brought to you by friends at Farnan and Durham. Are there the comfort guys? You can find them out at Baltimore positive. Certainly find them anywhere around the beltway for HVAC, AC, stuff around the house. Man, the plumbing I got this whistle comb is from my toilet driving my wife crazy. So I got to call Farnham and Durham, or they’re going to come out take care of it for us. They’ll take care of you as well. I am Nestor. He is Luke. We’re taking care of business here in February, which will lead to march, and will lead to baseball. And there’ll be drafts and there’ll be combines next week in underwear Olympics. We are W NSD. Am 1570 to Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore. Positive. You.