No word yet on status of Jackson for opener
One year ago, when Lamar Jackson was not the Ravens’ starting quarterback, there was no doubt that the rookie would play in the preseason. It was a matter of when he would enter and how many series he would get.
In Jackson’s first game, he had 10 pass attempts. In his second, he had 18. During five weeks last August, he threw 68 times — more than he did over the regular season’s first 12 weeks.
Now, with Jackson as the offense’s most indispensable weapon, the Ravens find themselves asking the same question they did for years with Joe Flacco: How many snaps are enough this early in the preseason?
Coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday that he hadn’t decided yet.
“We haven’t dialed it in exactly,” Harbaugh said after the second of two joint training camp practices against the Jacksonville Jaguars, whom the Ravens host Thursday night. “We have a meeting tonight on [the playing time for starters], where we’ll dial it in exactly. I have my ideas on it. I think I know, but we’ll talk about it as a staff and figure it out and get a plan together.”
Harbaugh acknowledged that Jackson’s desire to play would factor into the staff’s decision-making, but did not say to what degree.
If recent history’s any guide, he won’t be out there for long.
Flacco didn’t take a snap in the Ravens’ preseason opener last season, then attempted just seven and nine passes, respectively, in the two games after that. The Ravens kept winning anyway, running their preseason streak to 13 games by the end of August.
Ingram a ‘complete’ RB
In his first meeting with reporters since the Ravens signed Mark Ingram, running backs coach Matt Weiss did not hold back in his praise for the former New Orleans Saints star.
“I love his versatility,” Weiss said. “I think he’s probably the most complete back in the NFL in terms of his ability to execute any run scheme, to pass-protect, to run routes out of the backfield, split him out and run routes. There’s not a play in football that you wouldn’t want to run with Mark.
“And I think you guys know this, too, but he’s a great person. We all know it’s not church camp. It’s pro football, but at the same time, character matters, and when your best players are great people, it makes the rest of your guys better, and I see that in our room.”
Ingram has lived up to expectations through the first two weeks of training camp, showing soft hands and smooth routes as a receiver, holding his ground as a blocker and running hard between the tackles.
He leads a position with a “lot of different skills,” Weiss said.
“I see a group of future stars, with Gus [Edwards], ‘K.D.’ [Kenneth Dixon], De’Lance [Turner], Tyler [Ervin], Justice [Hill]. Everybody except for Justice has played in regular-season NFL games,” he said.
“They’re guys who are capable of hitting second and third contracts.”