BALTIMORE — The Ravens weren’t happy with their special teams play last season, and that surely stuck in the craw of head coach John Harbaugh, who came up through the NFL ranks as a special teams coach.
Harbaugh and the Ravens made special teams a significant focus this offseason — and to be sure, the tumultuous departure of Justin Tucker had a large role in that — and they have to be pleased with the early returns.
Rookie LaJohntay Wester returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown, running back Rasheen Ali returned a kickoff 69 yards to set up a touchdown, and rookie kicker Tyler Loop hit a 52-yard field goal as the Ravens beat the Indianapolis Colts, 24-16, in the preseason opener at M&T Bank Stadium on Aug. 7.
The Ravens needed those special teams plays, too, to compensate for an offense that accomplished little without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson.
As expected, the Ravens held out Jackson and nearly every other starter. The only projected offensive starters who saw the field were offensive linemen Andrew Vorhees, Daniel Faalele and Roger Rosengarten, each of whom played roughly one quarter.
Quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Devin Leary struggled to find any rhythm, but the Ravens’ defense — which played just two projected starters in linebacker Trenton Simpson and rookie safety Malaki Starks — held the Colts to three field goals in the first half as the Ravens opened a 21-9 lead.
Mitchell scored on a 22-yard run to give the Ravens the lead for good at 7-3 midway through the first quarter, and Wester’s punt return score made it 14-3 about six minutes later.
After the Colts had trimmed the Ravens’ lead to 14-9 with 2:14 left in the first half, Ali took the ensuing kickoff and scampered 69 yards up the left sideline. Six plays later, he scored from 2 yards out for a 21-9 lead.
Playing with none of the Ravens’ top three receivers, neither Rush nor Leary got much traction at quarterback. Midway through the third quarter, the Ravens had as many interceptions as completions — two.
Rush finished 2-for-4 for 16 yards in roughly one quarter of work. Leary misfired on his first five attempts and finished 3-of-12 for 43 yards.
The passing game “wasn’t very good tonight,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh said that Leary has stacked some strong practices lately but “It really didn’t fall in place for him tonight, for whatever reason. … That’s pretty surprising to have that kind of a night throwing the ball.”
The Ravens view Rush as an upgrade over veteran Josh Johnson as the backup quarterback, but it’s clear that this team’s future hinges on Jackson’s health.
Here are five other quick observations from the Ravens’ preseason opener:
1. Keaton Mitchell should find ways onto the field.
Derrick Henry and Justice Hill are entrenched in the backfield, meaning there might be only one more roster spot for a running back, not including fullback Patrick Ricard. Against the Colts, Keaton Mitchell made a strong case that the third back should be him.
In the first quarter, Mitchell took a handoff to the right side, and with no apparent hole, he bounced outside for a gain of 23. Two plays later, Mitchell slashed through a big hole on the right side — thanks in part to a good block by pulling left guard Andrew Vorhees — and weaved his way for a 22-yard touchdown.
Mitchell, who got the start against the Colts, finished with nine carries for 68 yards and averaged 21.3 yards on three kick returns.
Mitchell has said that he felt tentative last fall when he returned from his 2023 ACL tear, but he looks explosive and assertive again, and with his vision and burst, the Ravens should find ways to get him onto the field.
Rasheen Ali, also competing for a roster spot, got off to an inauspicious start against the Colts. Ali dropped a first-down pass, then got hit for a 1-yard loss and missed a chip block on a play in which Cooper Rush was sacked.
But late in the first half, Ali reeled off a 69-yard kickoff return, then gained 19 yards to set up his 2-yard touchdown run. He finished with 37 yards on nine carries, though head coach John Harbaugh implied after the game that Ali sustained an injury during the game. Injuries cost Ali last year as a rookie, as he began the season on injured reserve and played sparingly in six games late in the season.
Both Mitchell and Ali bring possibilities as kick returners, and Harbaugh has noted that the new kick return rules tend to favor running backs. But on a 53-man roster, it seems prohibitive, especially with the Ravens’ desire to bolster the secondary and other areas, to keep four running backs plus Ricard.
2. LaJohntay Wester showed a badly needed punt return spark.
Both John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta made clear at the end of last season that the punt return unit needed an upgrade. The Ravens cycled through four punt returners last year with middling results.
When the Ravens drafted Wester in the sixth round out of Colorado, DeCosta praised his “return ability. … If you watch him, we think he’s a twitchy, explosive punt returner.”
Wester showed that in the first half. Fielding a punt at the Ravens’ 13-yard line, Wester started left, made a little juke, then cut right, found a seam and outran everyone for an 87-yard touchdown — just like he said he would do.
Running back Keaton Mitchell said Wester told him at practice this week that “he was going to take one to the crib, and he did it.”
Wester also finished with two catches for 41 yards, but his path to the roster is on special teams. Sixth-rounders are no lock to make the roster, and Wester’s mission this summer has been to show the Ravens that he can be what they were missing in the punt return game last year.
“One of the reasons why they brought me here,” Wester said, “is to become a game-changer in the special teams department. I am taking that role head on.”
3. Despite a miss, Tyler Loop “passed the test.”
The Ravens have said all the right things about rookie Tyler Loop, building him up and recognizing the tremendous pressure that comes from following Justin Tucker as the team’s kicker.
Loop has shown off his big leg throughout the summer, but the team has also been eager to see him when the lights come on. In his first game action, Loop hooked his first field-goal attempt wide left from 46 yards, but he later rebounded to make a 52-yarder.
The Ravens released undrafted rookie John Hoyland last week, seemingly handing the job to Loop. There are always veteran, experienced free-agent kickers ready to compete for a roster spot, but this job is definitively Loop’s now, and Harbaugh said one miss doesn’t change that.
“I know what happened on the [miss], and I just thought the way he responded was really good,” Harbaugh said. “I would say tonight, he passed the test. It might not have been A++, but B+.”
4. The young edge rushers showed promise.
With Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy sitting out, edge rushers David Ojabo, Adisa Isaac and rookie Mike Green had extensive opportunities to state their case for playing time once the games count, and each had an impact in this game.
Ojabo, who is set to become a free agent after the season, could be playing for a roster spot after three seasons slowed by injuries. Against the Colts, Ojabo fired off the left edge untouched and dropped quarterback Anthony Richardson for a sack that also knocked Richardson out of the game with a hand injury.
Isaac, the second-year, former third-round pick whose rookie season was derailed by hamstring injuries, also recorded a first-quarter sack. In fact, LaJohntay Wester’s punt return touchdown came on the next play. Isaac finished with four tackles, the most among the Ravens edge rushers.
If Isaac hadn’t sacked Colts quarterback Daniel Jones on that play, Green might have. He was coming off the other edge just as Isaac got to Jones. Green officially was credited with two tackles, but his speed did show up, and while he figures to be a situational pass rusher as a rookie, the Ravens at times used him in their base defense, presumably to get a look at him against the run.
The Ravens are set with Oweh, Van Noy and Tavius Robinson, whose spot in this rotation is secure enough that he didn’t even dress for this game. But if the Ravens were looking for their young edge rushers to step up in these preseason games, they came away from this one pleased.
“I thought Mike Green was really, really active,” Harbaugh said. “And it wasn’t just Mike. I mean, Mike was physical and active in the run and pass, but all those outside backers … did a really nice job.”
5. The season ended before it started for Bilhal Kone.
Rookie sixth-round pick Bilhal Kone broke up a pass near the goal line, but he came down clutching at his left leg, and teammates immediately called for the training staff. The trainers quickly put Kone’s leg in an air cast and he was carted from the field.
After the game, head coach John Harbaugh confirmed that Kone suffered a knee injury that will be season-ending. That’s just a brutal break for someone playing in his very first NFL game.
Kone, who was drafted out of Western Michigan, was trying to carve out a roster spot, and that wasn’t going to be easy in a secondary that might be the deepest area of the team.
Now, Kone’s season is over before it starts, and in a best-case scenario, he’ll be back on the roster bubble next year.
Harbaugh, who was on the field with Kone as trainers put his leg in a cast, said he told him, “The sun will come up tomorrow. If the sun doesn’t come up tomorrow, we will have much bigger problems. So, the sun will come up tomorrow, you’ll get this taken care of. You’ll be rehabbing. You’re part of our team, and you’ll be back.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox