The Ravens find themselves embroiled in drama this week, and it doesn’t even involve quarterback Lamar Jackson’s status.
In a since deleted tweet, wide receiver Rashod Bateman took exception to general manager Eric DeCosta’s assessment of the team’s receiver group, and that came a day after the team’s strength and conditioning staff was slammed in a survey released by the players’ union, an assessment backed up on social media by several former players.
It suggests plenty of tension has simmered beneath the surface for the Ravens, who made the postseason this past year with a 10-7 record but failed to reach their potential after significant injuries to Jackson, Bateman and others in each of the past two seasons.
The Ravens are in the midst of talks with Jackson on a contract extension, but if one cannot be reached by March 7, the team is expected to use a franchise tag on the quarterback.
Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on March 1, DeCosta said, “Lamar and I are talking. We met recently. It’s an ongoing discussion. We both understand the urgency of the situation. … I’m optimistic.”
It was something else DeCosta said, though, that drew the ire of Bateman.
Asked about the team’s evaluation process with wide receivers in the draft, DeCosta said, “If I had an answer, that means I probably would have some better receivers, I guess. We keep trying. I think there are a lot of things that go along with that position. Sometimes it is tied to the quarterback, and I think it’s tied to things like durability. It’s tied to a lot of things.
“We’re going to keep swinging,” DeCosta continued. “There have been some guys that have been successful players for us that were draft picks. We’ve never really hit on that All-Pro type of guy, which is disappointing.”
Bateman responded with a tweet, deleted later, which read:
Bateman later issued another tweet: “My apologies.”
Incidentally, earlier in his news conference DeCosta had said Bateman’s recovery from foot surgery was going well and added, “We’re very excited about him as a player. I can’t wait to see what he can do this year.”
Bateman, the Ravens top draft pick in 2021, missed the final 11 games this past season with a foot injury that required surgery. He finished with 15 catches for 285 yards.
Ravens wide receivers totaled 1,517 yards this past season — the fewest in the league. Demarcus Robinson led the group with 458, but young draft picks such as Tylan Wallace and James Proche failed to deliver on the confidence that DeCosta had expressed in them.
In their history, the Ravens have drafted 33 wide receivers, and just two — Torrey Smith in 2013 and Marquise Brown in 2021 — have had a 1,000-yard season with the team.
If Bateman’s tweet was directed at offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Bateman need not worry about him anymore; the Ravens parted ways with Roman after the season and replaced him with former University of Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
But injuries played a major role in each of the past two seasons, for Bateman, for Jackson, and for several other players, and frustration with the team’s strength and conditioning staff boiled over this week as well.
Strength Staff Slammed In Survey
In a first-of-its-kind survey of 1,300 players released by the NFL Players Association, the Ravens received an “F-” grade for the strength coaches.
Once the survey was made public, former players like defensive lineman Carl Davis were quick to pounce.
Former linebacker Bam Bradley replied to Davis’ tweet saying the Ravens strength staff “ruined me.”
Quincy Adeboyejo, a wide receiver who initially joined the team as an undrafted rookie in 2017, piled on. Adeboyejo played one game for the Ravens in 2017, then spent the 2018 season on the PUP list and was released in 2019.
Derek Wolfe, who played one season with the Ravens before missing the entire 2021 season and then being waived with an injury settlement, wrote a one-line tweet.
Head strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders, who had been with the team since 2016, was let go after this past season.
Saunders had been criticized by players in the past — linebacker Matthew Judon used a #firesteve hashtag after safety DeShon Elliott suffered an injury — and he was suspended by the team for a month during the 2020 season for reported violations of league COVID protocols during an outbreak that sidelined several players. But publicly, he had been supported by Harbaugh.
Saunders has been replaced by Scott Elliott, who served as Saunders’ top assistant the past two years.
The Ravens figured to be in the news this week with Jackson’s franchise-tag deadline looming, but this airing of dirty laundry was a rarely seen side of an organization generally praised for its stability and winning culture.
The Ravens, incidentally, ranked 17th overall in that NFLPA players survey. The organization received its “A” grades for team travel and its locker room, and a B+ for the training staff. Other grades were B- for food service/nutrition, C+ for the weight room and treatment of families and a C for the training room.
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