The Ravens have held organized team activities for the past two weeks, and the vast majority of their players have participated in at least a portion of the voluntary practices. The mood is positive as coaches instruct position groups, rookies gel with veterans and the team starts to take form.
While we’re more than a month away from padded practices and grueling conditioning tests in the peak summer heat, some key takeaways can be had from the early going. Here are five observations from the open media portions of OTAs thus far:
1. Lamar Jackson is participating in voluntary workouts.
After making some headlines due to his absence from last week’s OTAs, Jackson has been at the facility this week working with the team. He spoke to the media after OTAs on March 27, calling the new coaching staff “a breath of fresh air” and speaking highly of head coach Jesse Minter and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.
When asked about his increased participation in voluntary OTAs this year versus other years, Jackson acknowledged the need to learn a new system and new terminology and communicate with the coaches. While attendance at OTAs doesn’t have a direct correlation with future success, the coaching staff is likely thrilled Jackson is demonstrating his buy-in to the new regime.
As for any talk about a contract extension, Jackson emphasized he would keep those discussions with the team private. He has two years left on his current deal, but his cap number balloons to about $84 million in 2027.
2. Both Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt are impressing.
The Ravens invested back-to-back mid-round draft picks to improve the wide receiver group in April, and both Lane and Sarratt are working hard and making the most of their practice reps. Lane has shown the ability to snatch passes away from his body. Sarratt has made plays with his route-running and quick cuts. It’s early and no one’s wearing pads yet, but signs have been positive so far from both receivers.
3. There are no new injuries to report so far.
It’s rare to see many players hurt at non-padded practices, but the Ravens have had their share of offseason noncontact injuries that impacted seasons before they even started. OTAs have been clean thus far, with the only injury scare coming last week when Derrick Henry was down for a moment after banging knees with another player. He was back in the lineup shortly after and later confirmed to the media that he was fine.
The other positive regarding health is the status of defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike. Minter wouldn’t confirm his full return to the field when speaking to the media Wednesday but said Madubuike has been working at the facility most of the offseason and “is trending in a great direction.” Recovery from a serious neck injury is never easy and without potential setbacks, but Minter’s words were some of the most concrete that the team feels positive about his return.
4. The starting center spot is up for grabs.
The team has rotated multiple centers throughout different portions of OTAs, so much so that there was a different center with the first team at each practice session open to media. Minter said last week he planned to give different players opportunities at the position, and this week noted there were “three guys I can think of” to which he wanted to give starting reps. Optimists will see this as a healthy competition to bring out the best center, and pessimists will see no definitive starting option currently on the roster.
5. Trey Hendrickson looks the part.
The Ravens paid top dollar to bring Hendrickson’s pass-rushing ability to Baltimore, and he has impressed so far. He was constantly in the backfield during 11-on-11 scrimmages, beating different tackles with inside moves, quick burst off the line and bull rushes.
“He’s a really well-defined technical rusher, so he uses his hands really well, he can bend really well, he’s really good at seeing the snap count, he knows how to attack different tackles based on how they set,” Minter said of Hendrickson. “Very, very, very pleased with Trey up to this point.”
Odds and Ends:
– The offense seems to be intentional about playing with tempo, breaking out of huddles with urgency and pace during scrimmages. The Ravens have had trouble the past few years with dying play clocks preventing clean execution of motions and snap counts, so they may be emphasizing a better operation this year.
– Adam Randall and Zion Young’s size and length show up on the field. Randall needs to work on refining some techniques as a running back, understandable for a rookie still learning a new position, but he has popped at times, especially in the open field. Young has thrived setting the edge with his arm length and power.
– Veteran quarterback Skylar Thompson has looked in control of the offense and completed several passes downfield during scrimmages. Tyler Huntley is locked in as Jackson’s backup, but Thompson has shown reasons to stick on the roster as the team’s emergency quarterback.
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