Monken’s offense provides some glimpses of explosiveness
Don’t count out Simpson
With an offense that is still being described as a “work in progress” by coaches and players, the first day of joint practices between the Ravens and Washington Commanders provided quarterback Lamar Jackson and his group with a litmus test as they get ready for the regular season.
“We got a lot of work done,” coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday in Owings Mills. “Joint practices are a challenge because you’ve got two teams out here, and there is a lot of pride. I thought it was a really good practice.”
With left tackle Ronnie Stanley sitting out for the second straight day to protect his surgically repaired ankle and the returning duo of running back J.K. Dobbins and wide receiver Rashod Bateman not participating in team drills yet, the offense still offered a glimpse of how explosive it can be under new coordinator Todd Monken.
“We’re just taking it a day at a time,” Jackson said. “We never know where we are until we’re out there actually in a real game, but we’ll just keep getting better with that. As far as what I see at practice, each and every day, we’re getting better.”
Of course, you can’t talk explosiveness without mentioning wide receiver Zay Flowers. The rookie got the show started in one-on-one drills, beating cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. on a deep ball from Jackson in a matchup of first-round draft picks.
Along with Flowers, Odell Beckham Jr. continued to look like his old self, beating cornerback Kendall Fuller deep.
The Ravens defense was also hard at work, with outside linebacker Odafe Oweh putting together a string of disruptive plays and the patched-together secondary delivering a solid performance against the Commanders’ offense.
Here are some observations from the first joint practice:
Shortly after being drafted in the sixth round in April, it became clear that rookie offensive lineman Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu had the upper hand on Ben Cleveland to start the season at left guard.
In recent weeks, however, John Simpson has been given an opportunity to prove he belongs with the starters, and the fifth-year lineman has taken advantage.
Simpson began another stint with the first team Tuesday— a predetermined switch by the coaching staff — and looked good following a solid performance in Saturday night’s preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
While Aumavae-Laulu has earned the praise of Harbaugh all summer, Simpson’s play hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“John is making a good case for himself,” Harbaugh said. “He was very solid; [that’s] a good word for it. His footwork, fundamentals, assignments were all good. He was physical.”
While Harbaugh said he doesn’t mind if the competition takes a littler longer to to determine a winner, one thing has been made abundantly clear: Don’t rule out John Simpson just yet.
Hamm, Oweh continue strong summers
It was a slow start for the Ravens defense, with the 9:30 a.m. start time perhaps needing some adjusting to. But all it took was one spark to seemingly wake up the defensive linemen as they matched up one-on-one with the Commanders’ offensive line.
That spark came from Malik Hamm, as the Baltimore native and City College graduate continued a solid training camp by showing both power and finesse in fighting past blockers.
When full-team drills started, however, no one was more disruptive than Oweh. Against the first-team Commanders offense, he registered four sacks and at least two more pressures that forced second-year quarterback Sam Howell out of the pocket.
The pass rush will be critical for a Ravens defense that is still looking for answers — and healthy bodies in the secondary. The feeling around the defense is that Oweh will have a lot of success this season.
“We have some guys that can really rush the passer,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “Oweh and [David] Ojabo have really taken some strides. I’m ready to see them do it on Sundays and kind of be able to become household names for themselves.”
Jackson’s accuracy still the key
Despite all the weapons given to Jackson via the draft and free agency, one question remains for some of his biggest and loudest detractors: Can he be a consistently accurate passer down the field?
Jackson hasn’t completed more than 65% of his passes since his unanimous NFL Most Valuable Player season in 2019, a statistic often cited by those who still doubt him. In The Athletic’s 10th edition of Quarterback Tiers, which surveys 50 NFL coaches and executives, Jackson ranked seventh overall and was placed in Tier 2, which is for quarterbacks who have “a hole or two in his game.”
After hitting running back Justice Hill on a wheel route for one of his best throws Tuesday, Jackson overthrew Flowers, underthrew Beckham and overthrew tight end Mark Andrews.
Despite that stretch, it was still a pretty good day for Jackson, who has been able to consistently connect with Andrews and show more command of the offense at the line of scrimmage all camp.
Jackson wants every pass to be perfect, since he knows the offense has the potential to attack the entire field.
“To be honest, I want every pass to be on point throughout this season, but especially down the field,” he said. “We can hit a big play here and there [to] back the defense up and let our running backs get the ball [or] throw the ball short and let those guys get YAC [yards after catch]. The sky is the limit right now.”
Tuesday showed that while the offense is still a “work in progress,” so is its leader.
Injury report
Wide receiver James Proche II returned to practice Tuesday after missing Monday’s session with what Harbaugh called a contusion on Proche’s hip or lower back that he suffered against the Eagles.
Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, who Harbaugh said “tweaked” his hamstring in the team’s preseason opener, did not practice for the second straight day. Cornerbacks Jalyn Armour-Davis, Rock Ya-Sin (knee) Arthur Maulet (hamstring) and Damarion “Pepe” Williams (ankle) and outside linebacker Tyus Bowser (knee) remained sidelined, as were rookie safety Jaquan Amos and tight end Isaiah Likely.