Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome into the Lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan Mink
here with Shelby Lasso, who is filling in for Cliff,
who's filling in for Garrett.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Shelby, you know what this is like.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
You know, not all the starters play in the preseason, right,
but like you're like the second string, third string.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I don't know, but you're gonna dominate, just like the
Ravens backups dominated.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Hey, I'll take it. I'll take it. Happy to be here.
Thanks for having me on this episode of SNL.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
And for our listeners, just so you know, And Garrett
gave me clearance finally to announce why he's not here.
Garrett the his second child has been born, so little
baby boy. So congrats to Garrett and the whole Downing family.
(00:57):
Very exciting news. So it's about about a week ago,
so very exciting news. Garrett's you know, he's he's dealing
with it. He's in the throes of two children now,
so now borne, yes, and a newborn. We're on level
playing field now, he and I. So great stuff there.
(01:19):
But other things to talk about tonight, other great stuff
to talk about. The Ravens beat the Dallas Cowboys, thirty
one to thirteen for their second preseason win. And Shewby,
this this really was kind of top to bottom. I thought,
a very dominant performance. I mean, the score says it all.
And a lot of good takeaways for the Ravens tonight.
(01:41):
And let's start with the hometown story the field. Good
story of the night, Tyler Loop making five field goals
tonight on his six attempts back home. It was it
was his first NFL road game, but it was kind
of like a homecoming because he grew up in kind
(02:01):
of the Dallas suburbs, you know, about forty minutes away.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So had a lot of family there. The Loop Loop
there it is. Signs were out in full force. I
give you, Shelby.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I don't know if it was you know during the
training camp live when you I think you might get
some credit for that.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Hey, I'm just glad. It's everyone's kind of jumped on it.
And obviously you saw the signs tonight. Rod Woodson kept
promoting T shirts being made, so I'm just happy that
it's being used.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So great night for Tyler Loop.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And afterwards, John Harball officially announced that he has won
the kicking job, which is no surprise. I mean, he's
the only kicker on the roster right now, so you
know that's one indicator, and he's just performed very well,
and so he will be the Ravens kicker in twenty
twenty five. You know, I'm sure there will be a
(03:02):
lot of ups, there will be some downs, but you
gotta like what you've seen from the rookie kicker, even
responding to some of those tougher moments which he had tonight.
You know, he missed a fifty yard field goal that
was kind of the one blemish on the feel good story,
but then came back after that and made a fifty
plus yarder. So really good performance from Tyler Loop.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yeah, we saw that resiliency in that first preseason game two.
He had two field goal attempts, he missed one, made
his second one, so being able to come back from that,
and I was so glad he got that other chance.
He missed that fifty yarder on attempt number five. He
had already made four field goals on the night, so
to see him come back, get the chance to kick
(03:45):
from longer from fifty three yards and then to make it,
it was just really good to see again his longest
of the night was fifty three yards. It was a
cool night for him. And you know, it is a
hostile environment. It is the preseason, so you know, this
isn't Buffalo in Week one, this isn't Kansas City in
week four. But still really good to see him go
(04:06):
out on the road in an atmosphere he well, technically
he has been at this stadium before when his high
school played there, but he never kicked a field goal
in that game, never kicked an extra points. So to
see him go out tonight in his first road game
gain some confidence again. Five made field goals, was perfect
(04:27):
on extra points. It was really good to see from
from the rookie kicking.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
You make five field goals in a game, it's a
good night for a kicker. It's as simple as that.
And and and I agree with you. I think you know,
I'm not gonna I'm not gonna sit here and call
Dallas preseason game hostile, but I think that, like, you know,
you're in a road stadium, your site, your you're aiming
points are different right than at M and T Banks Stadium.
(04:52):
You know, you don't get to go out there the
day before and take a bunch of practice kicks in
that stadium, and so you know that that's just a
new exp sperience for any rookie kicker and you're on
the big stage that is Dallas, you know what I mean.
Like it's just it's just a new environment. And so
I think for him to kick that well is a
very good sign. I'm sure he wants a perfect night,
(05:15):
you know what I'm like, right, the way it kind
of works for you know a kicker is like you
miss one and you're bombs, especially when like he's been
making ninety percent of his kicks in practice, right, Like
you have a miss, you're like, dang. But so I'm
sure that like there's still more to reach for, you know,
for Tyler Loot. But overall, I think you got to say,
(05:35):
really great night for the rookie kicker.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
It'll be interesting to see two if because they came
out and said he kind of stubbed his toe on
that one in the in the first preseason game. If
there was something mechanically that went wrong in that one,
it was wide left. You know you're inside there's not
gonna be wins. So I will be curious to see
if if once they watched the film if they figure
(05:59):
out what they can fix there.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
And honestly, like, I think this is just kind of
what we're gonna get from a rookie kicker, right like
and and honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if the guy
is one of the leading field goal percentage you know,
has some one of the highest field goal percentages in
the league when all of a sudden done. But like,
you know, I think that we in Baltimore have been
spoiled for a long time by Justin Tucker, the greatest
(06:23):
of all time. And like it's hard to expect that
Tydle Loop's gonna come in and instantaneously be the goat,
you know, like be the best kicker in the league.
Like he's gonna have some misses. The way he responds
to this misses is critical for him early in his
career and and I think he's gonna have a very
successful rookie season. So another guy who had a good
(06:43):
night tonight in another homecoming, Coop Cooper Rush going back
to Texas. You know, he played seven seasons for the Cowboys,
spent eight years there and uh, you know it was
it was a tough first preseason game for Cooper and
had the pick on his first throw and just didn't
get many opportunities in that first preseason game against the Colts.
(07:05):
Came back tonight and had a full half's worth of action,
played the entire first half, went twenty of thirty three
for one hundred and ninety eight yards, one touchdown, two interceptions.
I think his knight honestly was better than the stat
line shows.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah. Absolutely. I mean for him to come back, we
talked about Tyler Loop being resilient, and for Cooper to
come back and do something, I mean, you just look
at the numbers and in that first preseason game, the
Ravens had forty nine total passing yards in the entire game,
two hundred and twenty six total yards. So then for
Cooper to come in in just the first half and
(07:43):
have one hundred and ninety eight passing yards two hundred
and seventy three total yards for the Ravens in just
that first half, I mean, you liked what you saw.
Cooper was connecting with tes Walker a lot. The run
game was going and it was just a really bad attack.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I thought that it was important for Cooper rush because
you know, the Ravens a they made a pretty big
investment in him this offseason to say like you're gonna
be our guy, and we're gonna invest more than we
have and at backup quarterback, and you want to come
in you're new to this team. You want everybody to
have the confidence in you. And you know if Lamar
Jackson goes down, that the Ravens are still in good hands,
(08:24):
that they can still win ballgames. And and I think
that Cooper had performed well enough in training camp to
for coaches to say like, yeah, you know he's a pro,
Like we know what this guy is.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
He's a proven winner as a backup quarterback.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
But until you really do it in front of your
teammates and in front of your coaches with your new
team like that, it hasn't been done, you know what
I mean. And so I think this is an important
game for Cooper Rush, not only just going back to
Dallas and having a good performance back in his old
stomping grounds, but really for more what he showed his
current team in that like you know what, if something
(08:59):
knock on wood, nothing happens. But if I'm forced into action,
like I can play at a at a good high level, right,
like play well enough to win games that's the job
of a backup quarterback. We're not asking to go in
late the world on fire, you know you're not. You're
not expected to play to Lamar Jackson's level, but go
in and play well enough to win football games. And
(09:20):
like with the talent around you, with the defense the
Ravens have. I think the level of play that Cooper
Rush played at tonight, like that's winning football, to be honest. Now,
the winning part of it wasn't. Was the non winning part.
I should say the two interceptions, but I honestly like,
don't put a lot of that on Cooper Rush.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
The one definitely wasn't right.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
The one bounced off Rushi, not Lee's hands, I mean
definitely not the other one. I think it was a
third down situation. He was trying to make a play
and made a throat to Lejonte. Western Western was blanketed.
But the cornerback Andrew Bruth for the Cowboys, really made
a better play on the ball than Lejonte did. You know,
Lejonte just never got his head around, didn't seem to
(10:02):
locate the football. The cornerback did picked it off pick six.
Like that one. You can put as much on Western
you know, Western really did not separate at all. Now,
should Cooper have you know, he kind of gave his
receiver a chance. Should he not have thrown that ball
given that he was kind of blanketed. Sure you can
make that argument maybe, but.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Like that, that one kind.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Of goes in both players ledgers. To be honest, all right,
you mentioned tes Walker. I thought, I think Devantees Man.
I mean, we've been talking about him all summer long,
and now you get to preseason games and the dude
just keeps on ball and six catches for sixty one yards.
I mean the first Ravens first offensive play, Cooper Rushian
(10:44):
Devantees Walker, Like, it was clear they wanted to after
the passing game was pretty anemic last week. They wanted
to get the passing game going.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
And yeah, yeah, Devonte's Walker didn't even have a reception
last week, so this was that was his first reception
of the preseason, a seventeen yard catch, and then he
had six more catches, six total catches for sixty one
yards in the first half. So I think getting that
(11:13):
passing game going was important. But also seeing tes who's
had a really good camp and has had some highlight
reel plays it was exciting to see him do that
in a preseason game and show that, yes, this is
a stacked wide receiver room that the Ravens have, but
he you know, he's he's making a name for him.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
I like too, that we saw from devontees is just
a very varied types of plays.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
You know.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
The out that he caught on third down was a
really great catch, tight coverage, good sideline catch. It's not
just like, all right, you're just seeing Devonte's run past
people because we all know he's fast. And it's not
just that like the nuance the route running that we're
seeing from him making a contested catch like you know,
we're seeing the total package, honestly from devontees Walker. And
(12:00):
and I think that it naturally leads to the question
of how do he get this guy involved? You know,
I mean, you have the clear top three wide receivers
and Zay Flowers or Shot Bateman and DeAndre Hopkins. But
the more that Devontes Walker makes plays in practice and
now in preseason games, the more you think does Todd
(12:21):
Munkin look in that playbook and say, all right, these
four wide receiver sets do we want to call these?
Do we want to dial these up a little more often.
How do we how do we get some plays in
there and some opportunities for Devontes Walker. You know, another
position group here that I think Todd Munkin is gonna
have to look at is his running backs. You know,
I think you talk about depth at wide receiver, at
(12:43):
running back, it's looking extremely deep. Obviously you have Derrick Henry,
Justice Sillier one two. Keaton Mitchell's really almost like your
two B. You know the way he's been playing. Uh,
he would take up the third roster spot there, and
then Rashena Lee and Deannest Johnson with Miles Gaskin kind
of the end. They really handled the duties and Rashina
(13:05):
Lee got a lot of run in this game. Nineteen
carries for sixty two yards, had e eleven yard long.
I thought it was a good night for Rashine overall.
We talked about the one interception off his hands, that's
the blemish, but in terms of him as a runner,
I think the guy's got good vision, a number of cutbacks,
you know, found the open lane. I think that he
(13:27):
runs with some power, gets downhill, gets north south. I
thought it was overall a good night for Rashine.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah, you know, he finished with sixty two rushing yards
and that first drive it just seemed like it was
Cooper and Tez or Cooper handing it to Rashene to
run down the field. He had twenty eight yards on
that first offensive drive and really just building off the
momentum from last preseason game for Rashina Lee. I think,
you know, he had a touchdown in that game. He
(13:57):
had a great return in that game. So to see
him come in a way environment and have another good performance.
And coach Harbough actually maybe not made an announcement, but
said in the postgame press conference that right now the
plan is to carry four running backs.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
The question I have about that is, I'm not sure
how Pat Ricard is classified. So if Patrick Ricard is
included in the running backs group, that's always the question
with Pat whenever you're doing your fifty three man roster predictions,
do you put him with the running backs or do
you put them with the tight ends? Right, So, are
we carrying four tight ends or are we carrying four
running backs? Or you know, if you include him in
(14:38):
the running backs, are you keeping five?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Like John Harvel said, the plan as of now is
keep four running backs. I think that keeping four guys
plus Pat, that's a lot like that. I would be
a little bit surprised if that ends up being the case.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
But who knows.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Maybe I I just don't know how he's defining that.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
That's That's what I'll throw out there.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
It's but Rashina Lee, I think he's he's making a case,
you know what I mean? And uh and so I
think it'll be interesting to see how all that goes down.
All right, Shelby, let's take a break now. When we
come back, we'll flip it over to the defensive side.
We've been given the offense a lot of love here
so far, but it was a dominant defensive performance for
(15:27):
the Ravens tonight in Dallas.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Thank you for listening to Lounge. We're coming to you
from the seat Geek Studio.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
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(15:54):
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Speaker 2 (16:03):
So Shelby.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
The defense tonight for the Ravens I thought was really spectacular.
You know, again, you still had the same players playing
this week as last week. The only starters were Malachi
Starks because he's a rookie and you want to just
get him as many reps as possible within reason. And
then Trenton Sipson at inside linebacker. There's the only projected
(16:27):
starters that played. And yet the Ravens totally put the
clamps on the Dallas Cowboys. They only had one hundred
and seventy six total yards and in the first half.
What was the stat here, I'm pulling it up. Thirty
one yards for the Dallas Cowboys in the first half
of this football game. That is pretty spectacular. It's just
(16:50):
a really two things for me. I see like the
confidence and the swagger of this group and under Zach
Orr in his second year, like I just I just
see it coming together and it's like from top to bottom. Like,
I just think that this whole unit has like a
good mojo and that that's beyond just like the talent
of the starters.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And I think part of it's like Zach Worr.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
You know, you dial up a blitz that gets an
unblocked safety, that's a good thing for example. And then
like secondly, I think that the Ravens do have just
a lot of talent and depth in their defense, Like
you see the levels that they have, and so I thought,
a really good night for them.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Shelby.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Yeah, absolutely, I think that's what I really like about
this Ravens defense is, yes, obviously the starters are not
playing in this game, but even in these preseason games,
it's not like you're only hearing the names of Malachi
Starks and Mike Green. There have been a lot of
unsung heroes, which has been really cool. You mentioned Dallas's
offense in the first half. I mean they were starting
(17:53):
their third offensive drive and they had negative five yards total.
So that just tells you how good this defense was,
especially in the first half. And to get things started
with a safety, I mean Keon Martin, you know, he
makes the five yard lost tackle and then he goes
untouched on the blitz just to get that safety in
(18:14):
the end zone. And it was really exciting to see
him come up with that play. He's an undrafted rookie
out of Louisiana Lafayette and I think you tweeted out
tweeted it out, Mink. But just seeing how excited zach
Or gets for these guys is one of the best
parts of.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Watching these to really agree.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yeah, And then later in the game, Ruben Lowry, who
we've talked a lot about on this podcast, you know,
the undrafted rookie from Tennessee chat Nuga with the interception
really kind of the you know, the Ravens had the
interception off of Alli's hands, and then very next play
you can see John Harvell on the sideline he's kind
of all right, you know, this is a change of possession,
(18:52):
like here we go, Like this is kind of it's
something that they test their defense on. Is like sudden change.
How do you respond to sudden You're thrust onto the
field unexpectedly, how do you respond? And oftentimes the other
team will use that opportunity to take a shot, like
you'll see them go try to go deep on you
in sudden change and Ruben Lowry sniffed that out and
(19:14):
the undrafted rookie from Tennessee Chattanooga just perfect spot leaping interception.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Great play.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
You know, we've talked about him a lot, like I said,
because he's just made plays like this all summer long.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Just a guy that seems to have a nose for
the football.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
And at this point, I feel like Ruben Lowry has
a very good shot at making the fifty three. I'll
just a preview my final roster predictions. Now I'm gonna
put him on. Like I think that the versatility and
you keep making plays like there's something to it, Like
you can play the numbers game all you want, and
(19:50):
then sometimes at the end of the day you just
come down to it and you're like, you know what,
this guy played well enough over the summer, Like he
made enough plays. He earned it, And to me, Ruben Lowry,
it's made enough place. And so I think that he's
I think he's in a good position.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
And you also have to think in just a week,
the Ravens lost two six round draft picks in that secondary,
and so for guys like Lowry and Kean to step up,
and I mean, that's what the Ravens are all about
next man up, and so it was really good to
see them come up with some big plays in another
preseason game.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Then we'll look at inside linebacker. I thought Teddy Buchanan,
the fourth round pick flashed for me tonight, had several tackles.
I thought noticed him on special teams, four tackles, one
quarterback hit. He was good in coverage on one play,
and I thought it was a good night for Teddy.
(20:48):
And then also undrafted rookie inside linebacker Jay Higgins the
fourth and another strong game for him. I mean, he
closed out the first preseason game, he had an interception
as well as a past deflection that really kind of
sealed that win for the Ravens against the Colts. And
now coming up with a sack strip tonight in Dallas.
(21:11):
You know, is he playing well enough where you have
to say, can we find a spot on the fifty
three for Jay Higgins?
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I think that's a question that remains me seen.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Well to quote Rod Woodson because he kept saying it tonight,
but I don't know what better way to put it.
Teddy Bucannon just looks like a football player. He is smart,
he's communicating, he's all over the field. So it's really
good to see Teddy continue to grow and learn in
the NFL. And yeah, Jay Higgins has has been impressive,
(21:42):
and like you said, is he making a name for
himself to make it on this fifty three man roster year.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
There's obviously a long history of undrafted inside linebackers that
make the team, and you don't necessarily have to, like,
you know, I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
I think that we all kind of get called.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Up and making these fifty three man roster predictions and
we get a little carried away and like you forget that. Okay,
there's there's other ways to make the team. You can
make the practice squad and guys can go for the
practice squad to the fifty three. Like you know, if
you don't make the fifty three, that's not the end
of your football career by any stretching imagination. And so
like the guy like Jay Higgins even if he if
he doesn't make it, because I think, you know the math,
(22:23):
it would be tough to see more than four inside
linebackers there with Roquan Trent and Simpson, J. Cummell the
Veterans special team's ace, and then obviously Teddy Buchannan. I mean,
the question is can he force him to keep a fifth.
I think it's it's gonna be a number scrunch. I
think that'd be tough. But like, even if he's on
the practice squad, I think that that's a guy that
maybe can develop and become something. I mean, heck is
(22:44):
defensive coordinator, was undrafted, you know, and so you know,
Jay Higgins keeps making plays. This is a highly accomplished
college football player at Iowa. I mean, this stude was
an All American and so he's certainly showing that he
can play at this level and I'm excited for his
potential now. Shelby to the negatives of the night, the
(23:09):
Ravens did have an injury. Outside linebacker Desa Isaac, the
second year player, suffered a dislocated elbow. Like good Sean
Harball said he will miss a few weeks at least,
and so it's just a tough blow for a guy
that you know, missed the vast majority of his rookie
(23:30):
season with multiple injuries, including a hamstring injury predominantly, and
you know, to see him suffer the setback after I
think he's had a good summer. I think that he's
like proven himself this summer, but to have this setback,
it's a tough blow for him.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
It is, and we saw him he got a sack
last week and that was exciting to see. And so
he's a young player and you hate to see injuries.
But hopefully we see him back sooner than later.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
I mean, you look at it from a fifty three
man roster composition, as we'll have a lot of these
conversations over the next week. I think that it does
kind of solidify David Ajabo's path to the to making
the fifty three. I think there was a little bit
of a question still there. You know, beyond your top
four guys obviously Kyle van noy at off Aoa, Tavius
(24:23):
Robinson and the rookie Mike Green or you're kind of
your top four, and then beyond that, how many outside
linebackers can.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
You keep five? I would think I would certainly think five,
but could they keep six?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
You know? So the question was Kenna Desa and David
Ajabo both make the fifty three. I think with the
Disa going down, you know they'll he'll be put on
one of the injury lists and then we'll see most
likely David Ajavo, who I think probably would have made
it anyway, but it's certainly I think clears the spot
(24:55):
for him. And and then does it does that open
up you know, a spot It doesn't necessarily have to
be Okay, another outside linebackers takes that, is that another
defensive back is that the Ruben Lowry spot is the
fourth running back spot that we talked about earlier. You know,
I mean like there's kind of these ripple effects that
(25:15):
happen when you unfortunately have injuries, kind of like the
two cornerbacks, the six round corners. You know, what's the
ripple effect of that? And so you know, another guy
that bleek Ham does, does it open a spot for him?
I Mean, here's a guy who season ending injuries the
past two years, maybe the fifty three as a rookie,
as an undrafted rookie two years ago. Is one of
(25:37):
the best stories of training camp. Baltimore kid Rams are
his favorite team. You know, grew up coming out to
the stadium practice, you know, like it was awesome and
then like suffers this injury and now he gets a sack.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Toite and looked really good.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah, and so could he make it. I don't know,
we'll see, so a lot of questions to be answered
over the next week. Sticking on injuries, Shelby Keaton Mitchell.
He's been out of practice all this week, which I
think fans were kind of wondering what's going on with
Keaton didn't play in tonight's preseason game. John Harwell after
the game said Keaton's dealing with a hamstring injury doesn't
(26:15):
seem like anything major. Said that he has a chance
to return to practice this week and if he doesn't,
even if he doesn't return this week, that he'll be
good for Week one in Buffalo. So I think that's
a little bit of relieving news. I mean, you'd never
want to have a hamstring injury, especially for like a
guy who relies a lot on his speed.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
You know, hammys aren't good for speed.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
But good that it's minor, Good that he'll be back,
and kind of a relief in that regard. So Shelby,
a very fun night. Ravens wim Big, you stepped in,
performed amazing. You are on my fifty three man roster.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Wow, I don't think. I don't think there are fifty
three people in our department who do podcasts. But thank you.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Well done, well done.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
You know what, if Garrett's listening even better than Garrett
even better.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Kind of, he's probably listening.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
He's up with the probably listening. So I apologize, Garrett.
You know, I'm just kind of raining on the bird,
your second child. It's kind of rough anyway.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Good night, Thank you, Shelby, Thank you for all of
our listeners out there. As always, you can read us
at the lounge at Ravens dot NFL dot net and
we'll be back with you next week