OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Nearly six months after suffering a season-ending knee injury, and nearly one month after he signed a record-setting new contract, quarterback Lamar Jackson was back on the practice field on May 24 as the Ravens took part in their second of 10 OTA sessions.
Jackson threw passes during individual practice periods, then watched from behind the line of scrimmage as fellow quarterbacks Tyler Huntley, Anthony Brown, Josh Johnson and undrafted rookie Nolan Henderson operated the offense during 11-on-11 periods.
“We want to ramp [Jackson] up a little bit,” head coach John Harbaugh said after the two-hour workout. “His first day was yesterday [which had no on-field activity]. … He’s been working, but with the conditioning here, the running, the lifting, the throwing, learning the offense, just ramp him out there, then he’ll be ready to go.”
Still, this marked Jackson’s first true football action since he suffered a sprained knee against the Denver Broncos on Dec. 4 and represented a major step forward for a rebuilt offense with high hopes for 2023.
Here are five other takeaways from the May 24 OTA session, the first of three that will be open to the media (the others are June 1 and June 6):
1. A relaxed Lamar Jackson is eager for what lies ahead.
Jackson had a relaxed, engaged aura about him as he met with the media after practice, and he admitted that his news conferences are “much more fun” when “we’re keeping it about football, nothing else.”
With his record-setting, five-year, $260 contract settled, Jackson won’t face any more questions about it and can focus on the new offensive system of new coordinator Todd Monken, who has succeeded run-first Greg Roman as the architect of the Ravens’ offense. And after just a couple of days, Jackson likes what he sees — including the new personnel that has been added in the wide receiver room.
“The new offense is smooth. … I’m loving it so far,” Jackson said.
Monken has a crisp pace to his practice, and it’s never heard to locate him. He is loud, energetic and enthusiastically stresses a high tempo.
Jackson, the only quarterback in NFL history with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, said he “absolutely” expects to run less this year in an offense that features the most potent passing attack the Ravens have had in Jackson’s six NFL seasons.
The Ravens added All-Pro Odell Beckham Jr. — who was not present at the May 24 workout — and Nelson Agholor, then drafted Zay Flowers in the first round as they made good on their pledge to overhaul the wide receiver room. Last year, Ravens wide receivers ranked last in the league with 1,517 receiving yards.
They join incumbents Rashod Bateman, Devin Duvernay, James Proche and Tylan Wallace — who had the offensive highlight of the workout as he leaped to make a tough, contested catch down the left sideline against rookie cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly.
Plus there’s a group of talented tight ends led by All-Pro Mark Andrews. (Speaking of tight ends, the offense didn’t win all the battles in the May 24 workout; safety Geno Stone intercepted a pass that glanced off the hands of tight end Isaiah Likely.)
Jackson said he’s looking forward to opening up the offense with more downfield passing.
“Running can only take you so far,” Jackson said, “and I feel like, with this era of teams and offenses in the league, I feel like we need that. … And coach Todd Monken, what I’m seeing in his offense so far is looking tremendous.”
2. Roquan Smith is a prototypical Raven.
Maybe nobody is more grateful that these OTAs are noncontact than running back Justice Hill, who might have been knocked into next week by inside linebacker Roquan Smith as Smith blew up a pass play in full-team drills. Smith, wearing his new No. 0 jersey, was all over the field for the Ravens, and one of the few high-priced veterans taking part in the full-team workout.
Smith was also on the field last week for pre-OTA instruction that the team refers to as “football school,” working alongside younger linebackers such as Kristian Welch, Josh Ross and rookie Trenton Simpson.
“I love the game, and I felt like the game has done so much for me, and [is] going to do even more for me in the future,” Smith said. “So I’m just excited to be out here and bonding with my teammates. I think it’s great just to be out here playing the game that I love and getting better, because no one is ever too good. You can always find room for improvement.”
Marlon Humphrey last year said that Smith assimilated into “the culture” almost immediately upon being dealt to the Ravens at the trade deadline last November, and watching Smith range from drill to drill and work in the middle of the defense, it’s easy to understand why general manager Eric DeCosta called Smith “a force multiplier. He lifts everybody else up.”
In nine games with the Ravens last year, Smith finished with 86 tackles — the third-highest total on the team — two sacks and one interception. The Ravens like to toss around the mantra of “play like a Raven,” but that sure seems to apply here. In an organization known for its defense, and specifically its linebacker play, Smith looks as if he were built for this franchise, and after signing a five-year, $100 million extension last winter, he figures to anchor that defense for the foreseeable future.
It’s also worth noting that Patrick Queen — whose fifth-year option for 2024 was not picked up by the team — was also on the field for the workout, and for all the offseason focus on the Ravens’ offense, Smith and Queen figure to be patrolling the middle of a formidable defense.
3. Finally healthy, David Ojabo looks the part.
The Ravens always took a long view with David Ojabo, taking him in the second round of the 2022 draft less than two months after he suffered a torn Achilles at Michigan’s Pro Day. Ojabo admits last season tested his patience as he rehabbed and finally got on the field for two late-season games, recording one sack.
Now fully healthy, Ojabo looks primed for a big year, and he and Odafe Oweh were an imposing pair coming off the edge in the full-team drills. To be sure, no one should read too much into noncontact workouts in May, when several starters were absent, but Ojabo’s twitch stands out.
He frequently won along the edge and got into the backfield; in a game situation, he would have had at least a couple of sacks or quarterback hits. Even limited in what he was allowed to do, Ojabo was disruptive.
Oweh, Ojabo’s former high school teammate at Blair Academy in New Jersey, was as well. Oweh blew up a reverse that would have gone for about a 7-yard loss. Tyus Bowser also factors in the edge group but was not at the May 24 workout.
Ojabo thrived under Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald at Michigan, and now that he’s healthy, and hungry after a lost rookie season, that long view of the Ravens might start to come into focus.
4. The running back room hasn’t exactly hit its stride yet.
With so much talk about the revamped receiving corps, and Lamar Jackson’s desire to “throw for 6,000 yards,” it’s fair to wonder how running backs might fit in this new, non-Greg Roman offense. Thus far, it’s impossible to get any real indication.
Of the backs expected to stick on the 53-man roster, only Justice Hill was in uniform. J.K. Dobbins was not at the workout, and Gus Edwards and Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard watched from the sideline out of uniform. Edwards did do some conditioning work on a side field.
Dobbins and Edwards are both entering contract years. Both lost the entire 2021 season to knee injuries, and both returned last year in fits and starts, never quite getting up to full speed. They each add a different dimension to this offense, Dobbins with his elusiveness and burst, and Edwards with his no-nonsense power at 238 pounds, but also an underrated zip to the edge.
How Monken utilizes his running backs, relative to Roman, will be one of the fascinating storylines of the season.
Dobbins’ last session with the media came after the team’s playoff loss at Cincinnati, when he voiced frustration that he didn’t get the ball in key situations, the most notable example being when quarterback Tyler Huntley kept on a sneak near the Bengals end zone and fumbled. The ball was returned for a 98-yard touchdown that proved to be the decisive score in a 24-17 Ravens loss.
With a newfound commitment to a revamped passing game, and still just one ball to go around, Dobbins might still have those concerns, but Jackson, speaking broadly about distributing the ball to so many skill players, downplayed any potential problem.
“I feel like if we’re winning, everybody should be happy,” Jackson said. “So we’ll see how it goes.”
5. Absence of some veterans was predictable and left more work for others.
The OTA workouts are voluntary, per the league’s collective bargaining agreement, and it’s commonplace for veterans to work out on their own this time of year before reporting later in the spring or, at the latest, for mandatory minicamp in June.
In addition to Beckham, Dobbins and Bowser, veteran absences at the May 24 workout included tight end Mark Andrews, guard Kevin Zeitler, tackle Ronnie Stanley and cornerback Marlon Humphrey.
Harbaugh said veterans will “be in here soon enough, whenever they’re ready and when they need it. And they talk to me and tell me what they’re doing. They’re working hard.”
Second-year safety Kyle Hamilton missed the workout after he “tightened up,” Harbaugh said.
Other absences included wide receiver Mike Thomas (shoulder), wide receiver James Proche, rookie offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees (knee) and rookie safety Jaquan Amos.
Several other players were in attendance but not in uniform, including running back Gus Edwards, fullback Patrick Ricard, wide receiver Shemar Bridges and defensive back Damarion “Pepe” Williams.
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