May 28, 2025 • 37 mins
Team insiders Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing discuss the mood at the first week of Ravens OTAs, including strong attendance from the team's leaders, and who stood out on the field.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome into the lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan mink
here with Garrett Downing, and we are fresh off the
field after watching the Ravens practice for the first time
that we saw during organized team activities, and we are
going to give you the players that stood out to
our eye as well as the news that we heard
from podium afterwards. Uh and I'll start here, Garrett. I
(00:26):
thought that first of all, it's there's a lot of
guys here, really strong attendance for the Ravens. At OTA's
Lamar Jackson's out there. You've got Say Flowers, Rashaw Bateman,
Ronnie Stanley, Mark Andrews, the whole tight end unit. You've
got Pro bowlers, Derrick Henry's out there, DeAndre Hopkins, you know,
(00:47):
Broke flippingever Defense. You've got Broquon No I'm the mad
you know, Marlin Kyle Hamilton. You've got the who's who
out there, basically the Pro Bowl squad day, all Pro
Bowlers come on you, you know, and uh and so
really great to see the attendance. You could count on
one hand the guys that were not here. Yeah, and
some of them followlele Uzier working through just some physical
(01:09):
things or whatever.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, and they're here, they just weren't out exactly practice.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So really great to see the buy in from players
at Wednesday's practice.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, I thought the attendance was really indicative of the
excitement that the team has for the season, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Like, I think, yeah, that's excitement. I think it's the drive.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, I think like I go to sometimes, the Ravens
have historically been a team that has had good attendance.
This was I think particularly good, but they've had good
attendance at these voluntary offseason practices and a lot of
times guys will say, I'm going to be working out anyway.
I want to be there, I want to be around
the guys. Like those are typically the answers that you get,
but in talking to players today that wasn't really the answer.
(01:52):
The answer was we were not happy with how last
season ended. The work essentially started as soon as that
Buffalo game ended, Like that's when that's when the message
was kind of delivered and sent and they felt like
that Isaiah likely is quote to me, I thought was
the most telling where you said everybody got the memo
after that last game exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
It wasn't like they had a group chat saying, hey, everybody,
let's show up to OTA's. It didn't have to be
said yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Like everyone understood it and so like it. And so
I thought that was for multiple players to say that,
like the disappointmental last season is kind of driving the
motivation to even just be here for this portion of
voluntary workouts.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
I thought was pretty telling. Yeah, I completely agree, And
I thought it was a sharp practice. It was indoors.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
That was the bummer.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That was the big bummer of the day. Very rainy
here in Owings Mills today, so had to move inside,
which makes it it's just a chaotic seeding there. We
have some players, it's hard to see a lot of
every of everything. Yeah, but we got it. We have
Keen Eye took her notes and I thought it was
a sharp practice.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I did too. I mean, it is disappointing move aside.
I think everyone prefers to be outside players, coach, media, everybody,
but that wasn't the case because of the rain. And
I thought, look, that's Lamar Jackson was there and he
was leading the way. I mean, I thought he had
he had a good day of work. I thought that
he had the offense when they were doing eleven on
eleven drills performing at a high level. I always I
(03:16):
always say this, I think it's good to like level
set what these practices are. They are not full padded practices,
so there are limitations in terms of what you can
see what you can't. But I think you might see
operationally and skill position wise some things that stand out.
And I thought Lamar had the offense like operating at
a really high efficient level.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I thought the offense was home and and I thought
Lamar Jackson was really sharp. He didn't miss a completion
till three quarters of the way through practice. Uh, and
he threw some dimes. I mean he threw that throw
to Dayton Wade, a bomb to Dayton Wade the double
coverage with Kyle Hilton and Marlon Humphrey and dropped it
(03:53):
in a bucket. Now, again, defensive backs aren't necessarily challenging.
They aren't challenging the way they would in so you
don't know if that would ended up being completed in
the game. But oh my gosh, it was the only
spot Lamar could have dropped that ball, and he put
it in there. There's another throw that he made to
you know, Zay flowers that Zay kind of juggled it
(04:14):
and end up hauling in. But when Lamar let it loose,
I was like, where is this going to? Like I
don't even see a receiver in the same zip code
and Zay comes streaking across. It was an incredible throat.
The anticipation on that anticipation was incredible, really in touch,
and and you know it's just we've seen this before.
(04:34):
But you know, if Lamar misses any throw, you know,
I mean, it's the OTA's week one and he's slapping
the ground and punching the ground, and you know, he
did push ups at one point. Lamar Jackson should have
been a three time MVP doing push ups after he
missed a gimme touchdown throws DeAndre Hopkins, you know, And
that tells you who Lamar is if you didn't already know,
(04:57):
like just how competitive this guy is. And and it
start started OTAs, Yeah, first time back, first time practicing,
you're going to see it from Lamar Jackson that perfection
is the standard and we got to play to that
level to get over the home.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah. I think it was from him. It was both
the level of expectation for himself things like you're talking
about the push ups and wanting to just be really
accurate and efficient, and then it was actually like doing it,
like he just was playing at a really high level.
And so it's like okay, oh okay, Lamar Jackson is
setting the tone here. And like Isaiah likely made that point,
(05:33):
Mark Andrews made that point. When you have your franchise
quarterback here like zipping it around in May, that just
kind of gives you an indication of this is the
work starts now. The expectations are high. No, no slacking
off at any point like that. All of that I
think speaks to where this team is. And it honestly
(05:54):
kind of felt like they picked up where they left off. Yeah,
it did, you know, it felt like.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
They It felt like that it was December and like
they're like training for a game now. It's not the
same you know, kind of intensity, but like it felt
like that was like that they were operating the high
level and that was the expectation. We should be good
right now, especially on offense, like things should be looking tight.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
And I thought back to like when we just sat
down with Derek Henry last week after signing his contract
and he's here he's going through these workouts, and Henry
made the point like, yeah, I want to win a
super Bowl. We've got the team to do it, and
the work stars now, like nobody is satisfied with how
last season ended. Like he's a guy another talk about
a tone setter on your team, he's somebody from a
(06:39):
Like Nope, everybody's going to take notice of what he's doing.
And so like, I just kept thinking back to that conversation,
Like when I'm watching practice and the and the offense
is looking great and operating at a really high level
for this early practice, and I go back to like
what Lamara said with Derek Henry said, and then what
we heard after practice from all these guys like oh,
they're not messing around. They are not messing around.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, you know, I think that's the thing is it's
the vibes, right, and sometimes in OTAs, I feel like
it can feel like all right, we're knocking off the rust,
it's Sonny out, it's nice, it's it's May and you know,
like all right, we're gonna kind of start to get
ramped up. It didn't feel like that today. It didn't
feel like a reacclamation practice to me. It felt like
(07:24):
a mid season practice. Yeah, And I think that that
kind of speaks to the tone and the attitude of
this team going into this year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
And part of that is the veterans that are here.
You touched on that. One of those veterans is DeAndre Hopkins, who,
like I think I've said this before, the signing of
him really has fallen under the radar, I think locally
and even nationally. Even when we posted the picture of
pictures of him out of practice this week, you look
at the comments, people are like, oh, yeah, the Ravens
got DeAndre Hopkins, and and man, I thought he looked
(07:55):
awesome on on today. I just really thought he did.
I thought he made multiple sideline toe tap extended catches.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
First catch is a diving grab.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, Like he makes these catches that I've seen a
million times over the course of his career where he
reaches like big reaches off his arms, extended catch toe
taps along the sidelines. First out, You did that multiple times.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
He looked today exactly like what I hope for when
the Ravens signed up, and the role that I expect
him to play, make tough contested catches, makes make lamar
you know, right outside the numbers, make great catches outside
the numbers, and on the boundary, you know, and red zone.
You know, he's going to be a presence down there
as well. So I thought that everything is advertised, if
(08:39):
not better. It honestly reminded me of Derrick Henry watching
him last season in practice and you're like, oh, yeah,
that's Dereck Henry, you know, Yeah, that's that's the real
deal right there. And a signing that one of these
Ravens thirty plus year old signings that hits, like I know,
it's just day one, yeah, but that's what it felt
(09:00):
like for DeAndre Hopkins that this guy's going to hit.
It's going to be a really good addition. Yeah, I've I.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Was actually reminded, like when what you brought up Derek Henry,
Like and again a little bit of hyperbole here on
the first day, you just we're excited after watching football practice,
you know. But I do think that, like the sentiment
here is genuine. I don't think we're trying to like,
you know, blow smoke here. But I actually was reminded
a little bit of like when the Ravens signed Steve
Smith and who was at a similar stage of his
(09:29):
careers just compared to what DeAndre Hopkins is, and like
when he came in and it was like evident very
quickly that he was going to be a difference maker
for the offense. Now Steve came in, he was wide
receiver number one at that point, but like they had
to re Si Smith.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
De Havebs in a different position. He's wide receiver three.
He is.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
But as I was watching practice, I'm like, man, this
guy is going to get a lot of targets. He's
going to get a lot of targets, and he's gonna
come up with a lot of big catches. And I
think he probably, if today was any indication, is probably
a little bit even. He's going to be even better
than I expected when the Ravens first signed him. That's
my feeling. And watching one day of practice, this guy's
going to be even better. Jue.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
We thought, like he's got plenty of juice left.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
He's got plenty of juice left, and like the catches
that that he's going to make are exactly what the
Ravens need. Yes, move the chains big bodied can test
to catch his awareness is better than anybody.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
To me, it looked like a faster version wide receiver
version of Mark Andrews. Like what Mark Andrews is for
Lamar over the middle of the field, That's what DeAndre
Hopkins can be for Lamar outside the numbers.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah, that boundary stuff for him.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
He's so bad guy that Lamar can trusts to make
that play. And that's what it is. I mean. And
I saw DeAndre Hopkins and Mark Andrews kind of catching
warm up passes and chatting with each other before practice.
I'm like, gosh, how he touchdowns? So this guy's going
to combine for it this year?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Could it be twenty?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
That'd be a lot. That's probably high, but could have Heck,
it's not impossible. I mean, fifteen would be a good.
Twenty would be a hell of a number.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Well, the other thing too about Hopkins, and this is
something you don't always see from receivers, particularly veteran wide receivers.
And it caught the attention of his teammates. But there
was a play. It was a route. I think Tyler
Wallace caught it and Isaia DeAndre Hopkins was then blocking downfield,
the safety blocking downfield and caught the attention of his
(11:24):
teammates kind of laughing. Coming back to the huddle, and
Isaiah likely said after practice, like, this is a veteran
who during a seven on seven passing skeleton is out
there blocking the safety to free up Tyland Walls underneath.
That's like, again goes back to the vibe and the tone.
This is an OTA practice and like and a future
Hall of Famer is future Hall of Fame wide receiver
(11:45):
is blocking Downfield's like that speaks to the type of
player and mindset that DeAndre Hopkins is coming here with.
I just thought it was really impressive for him in
his first week here.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, I mentioned Mark Andrews and the fact that he's here.
I'm I would expect him to be here because Mark's
just a dog who just loves working. But also, you
know he's coming off of a tough off season, right,
I mean, obviously how things ended in Buffalo with the
drop two point version the fumble tough, tough for a
guy like Mark. And then there's all this trade speculation
(12:17):
about the possibility could Mark Andrews be traded That didn't
happen for him to show up day one, like, none
of that all that's in the rear view mirror, and
I'm here to be the best version of Mark Andrews.
And I've trained harder than I've ever trained, and I'm
in the best shape. Like, that's Mark Andrews for you
in a nutshell today today that's Mark Andrews. Pro's pro
(12:38):
like who he is.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
The other the other thing, that's classic Mark Andrews. First
play of eleven on eleven, Mark Andrews.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah. Lamar Jackson's first completion of the twenty twenty five
season went to Mark Andrews. Yes, like the practice season. Yeah,
the practice.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Season, You're the very first one. I'm like, okay, I've
seen that a million times.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yep, exactly. So I thought a really good start for him.
And in this tight end group, you know, that's back
for another bite at the apple. All three of those
guys he Isaiah, like Lee and Charlie Kohler. So another
I want to go back to the wide receiver group.
I thought Davontes Walker, a little under the radar name
here for you. He was active today. He caught a
(13:17):
he just caught a lot of passes, and it made
me excited for what year two could look like for
Davontees Walker. Now we just got done talking about all
these weapons. The Ravens have in the passing game, so
only one ball to go around. I don't know that
he's going to get a ton of opportunities, but like,
could he make some plays this year? Yeah, you know,
I think he could. And I thought Tom Wills a
(13:37):
good practice day too, So the Ravens have a lot
of weapons.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I think you hope that that really he could fill
into the role that Nelson Agalore has played at times,
and being Nelly was.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Really one of your top three wide receivers. I know
I past two years. Now that's DeAndre Hopkins is in
that top three.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
The volume of opportunities is not going to be there.
But could he hit a couple of place sure, I
think that like Nelson did that over the past couple
of years, and so I think that's if.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Don't, I just it's hard for me to see many,
like too many steps for Devance has just given the
players who were in that position. But I think if
he could hit a couple of big plays, well, well
it looks first catch us a touchdown in the back
of the end zone. So just every time you throw
to him, just exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Stepped on my toe. I didn't that one came right
at the reporters. I was a deer in the headlights.
I just froze. It wasn't quick at all getting out
of the way, just athletic enough to not hit the guy.
I don't want to injure him. Right, I'm a big guy.
He runs into me. It's like a brick It's going
to be a brick wall. I don't want to injure.
(14:44):
I didn't want to injure the guy. Why are you
laughing over there? Jumped out of the way just in time,
but my little toozies didn't quite get out of the way.
He got me. Okay, you're gonna be okay, I don't
have to see the trainer.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Okay, you gonna stop by the athletic training room. A
guy another play who stood out to me as we're
working our way through the offense that we haven't mentioned
yet was Keaton Mitchell.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, yep, I agree. I think I talked to him
after practice today too, and he says he feels much
better than he did last year, feels like back back.
And he said he actually told me that he has
set personal like prs, personal records or whatever, like best
times running running. Yeah, exactly, like his speed, his miles
per hour, all those things, like he's setting personal records
(15:30):
and so that's really great to hear. And I thought,
even just the eye tests on the field, seeing him
get to the edge and get the corner, you're like, yep, yeah,
Keaton's back.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
And last year when he first came back, and even
as he worked his way into the lineup over the
course of the year, he just looked to me like
a guy who had a slight giddy up in his step,
Like just a slight like.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
You're thinking too, you know, you're coming off of a major,
major knee. Yeah, it's kind of and and you're thinking
about it a little. Yeah, I think mentally, I mean,
it wasn't it wasn't like the JK. Dobbins hitch that
we saw that was different. Yeah, that was a different hit.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah, But I just thought he seemed to be a
little didn't run as smoothie as he did as a rookie,
And today it looked like it was kind of back
to normal yep. And I felt like it was.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Actually he had a nice wheel route catch yep. It
looked like the Keaton, Mitch and Mitchell that we all
even during his rookie year that summer, were like, man,
this guy's got some juice.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Honestly, even before they got to seven on seven or
eleven on eleven drills, when they were going through individual
running back drills, those were actually right in front of reporters,
and so it was got a good look at it.
And man, I just felt like assume when he when
he put his foot in the ground and went forward
like he had that burst that really we saw from
him as rookie.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And the question for him is can he turn the corner? Yeah? Right,
and Keith Mitchell on those stretch and toss plays and
all those things like that's where he can really be
dynamic and just be a home run hitter. Can he
hit those? Can he turn that corner and that that
linebacker to the edge, you know, can he make guys angles? Really,
you know, just break guy's angles. That's the kind of
(17:08):
running back that I saw today. And again we talk
about this, you know with Devontis Walker and how many
opportunities can he get. You got Derrick Henry by the
way coming back for another year and plus with his extension,
and then Justice Hill was an awesome number two back
last year. I think that Justin's still gonna have again
a huge role. So how much can Keaton get in
(17:31):
this room remains to be seen. I think primarily I
like him as the kick returner. I think he could
be an awesome kick returner. And then if he gets
three to seven offensive snaps a game, okay, I'm interested
to see him potentially hit some home runs.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yeah, threes have a snaps with three to seven touches.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I mean it touches, I guess. But yeah, that'll be
the tough thing I think.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I mean that's I want to find a way to
get the ball in his hands, and I think kickoff
is a natural way to do that. And you want
to keep both Derek Henry and Justice hell fresh. But
also it's like it's all this this challenge.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
And honestly it's depth, right, Like if whatever, somebody tweaks
an ankle for and is out for a couple of games,
all right, Keaton, Like you're gonna be playing a big role,
you know what I mean? Like just because even if
you just because you entered the seasons number three running
back doesn't mean that you're gonna be getting none of
number three running back reps all year long. Yeah, and
so if they can get him up the speed and
have that as like an insurance policy, and and hey,
(18:31):
if everybody stays healthy all year long, like let him
hit a few home runs sounds good than me.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, I'm with you. Uh, Well, in order for him
to hit some home runs, you also want to see
the offensive line balking. And that's one of those things that, uh,
the offensive line basically has one position that's up for grabs.
Left guard Daniel fall Leila is starting right guard from
last year, did not practice today, And as you mentioned
it earlier, John Harbor was asked about that after practice
and he said that he was just where he's working
(18:58):
through some physical things and should be out there soon.
So when that is, we'll see. And and I I've
always said, like during these practices the offensive line, it's
tough to assess how these guys look. I just don't
think any battles are won and lost, but at least
a framework a set, but a left guard, you're basically
you basically have Andrew Voorhees and Ben Cleveland competing for
(19:18):
that starting job there and it'll be interesting to see
who wins it. And Ben Cleveland the Ravens re signed
him this offseason. He's a guy you shouldn't forget in
that mix, Like.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Yeah, yeah, I agree. I thought that seeing him step in.
You know, last year, I think we went into the
off season saying he was probably the favorite for left
guard and then he didn't really practice there. To see
him practicing here at the start of OTHAS and getting
a lot of reps, I thought, all right, you know,
caught my attention.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, so again, I think that the offensive line is
going to be one that like that battle for that
spot extends throughout training camp like that. That is definitely
not going to be decided today. But he's somebody that
we should not forget in that mix. Yep, for sure.
So again, offense, I thought looked good. Anybody else that
you want to mention offensively before we move on to
the defensive.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Jonte Western made a deep, deep grab, kind of jugged
it for a second, but hauled it in. I think
the rookie rookies, he's intriguing.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, he's exciting. I mean, I'm really excited to see
him as a punt returner as you spent all the
time talking about the guys in front of him, like
it's just going to be really hard for him to
craft that lineup, but as a punt returner he definitely will.
And you make plays, you're gonna find your way onto
the field. Defensively, the guy that stood out to me
just right away was a daf Alway.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
As soon as I saw the guy. I actually saw
him yesterday and I was like, whoa, Okay, this guy
looks bigger even before the uniform was on. And then
you see him in uniform and you talk to him
and he said, he's added about fifteen twenty pounds this
offseason and it looks like muscle. Fifteen twenty pounds muscle,
it's all. He's been eating ice cream all off season,
like this guy, and that was a focus for him,
And I thought that he looked really impressive. He looked
(20:59):
more of like when you look at these edge rushers,
like when he's coming to the league and throughout his
career so far, he's a lean edge rusher who has
these incredible athletic traits with the speed that's been his game.
Now he looked more like kind of a physically imposing
edge rusher.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yep. Yeah, I agree, just siding it out. I've been
on the ice cream diet all off since that's my
training regiment. But yeah, I completely agree, and it was
interesting to so he put on twenty pounds. He said,
he went from two forty five to two sixty five.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
It's a major difference. And for a guy that's always
had other worldly athletic traits in terms of explosion and
all those things. I like this move for him because
he's almost you know, his brother is a great basketball player,
and Odafe's almost had this kind of basketball player build
to a degree.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Dafe was a really good basketball player.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
He was, yeah, not quite his brother, but yeah, yeah,
but you know, so I think and he said last
year when he was watching his film that he felt
like he kind of he left three sacks out there,
basically that if he had been more powerful and being
able to finish at the top of his rush better,
that he feels like he would have gotten. And so
(22:11):
for him to add, you know, not just kind of
the speed moves, and we saw him with his rush moves,
and we really saw him kind of build his repertoire
of pass rush moves with Chuck Smith last offseason. I
thought he became a certainly a more refined pass rusher
last year to go along with his talent, which led
to him getting double digit sacks last year. Now, if
(22:33):
you can add even more power to that refinement and
to his get off and all those things, I think
that he could really be a problem problem problem. I mean,
John Harball said he expects this guy to be an
all pro. Yeah, that's the kind of talent that he has,
and yeah, that would be a huge moon for the Ravens. Well.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I think the key one ever guys ad weight lose
weight is that you want to, like, it's really important
to maintain pin whatever it is that you had before.
So going look at look at Lamar Jackson as an example,
he added so he added weight previously, but felt like
he lost a little bit of speed, So then he
ended up losing weight to get that speedback. Always said
that in his career, people who have asked him like
(23:14):
or talked to him about adding weight, it kind of
to your point, like he has more of a basketball
player's build, but he's been a little bit hesitant because
he wants to maintain that world class speed that he
has around the edge. So as he went through this process,
he is making sure that he maintains that speed and
during his training down in Miami this offseason, he is like,
that's been something he's monitoring. He's adding weight, and he's
(23:35):
also paying attention to the speed and explosion to aspect
of things and feels like he has not lost anything
in that regard, but he's added this weight to be
more powerful, which I think is really important. And again,
as we said off the top, you talk about like
the drive and the motivation for this team, a lot
of it goes back to that night in Buffalo, and
he said that after that loss, he felt like he
needed to get bigger, didn't feel like he played his
(23:57):
best game that that day, got moved around more than
he should have. And so as he looked at how
he could improve this offseason, it started there and then
he put in the work to get to add that
weight this offseason.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yep, yep. I'll point to another pass rusher. I thought
of Desa Isaac, the second year edge rusher who the
Ravens sick in the third round. He looks he's got
some good he's got good get off like I like,
I like adisa I think that he's if he can
stay healthy, which was the problem his rookie year. I
think that he could be a good piece of that rotation.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Well, oh wait had good things to say about him too,
which you know they were they were teammates at Penn
State and so their their buddies.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
But I think that I think he's just gassing up
as Nitney Lion teammate.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
No, I don't think he's gassing him up, but I
think that, like, yeah, I just with a desa. Last
year was a red shirt year. He basically missed the
whole year from a really productive standpoint because of because
of his hamstring, Like it just sidelined him and he
wasn't able to be on the field. And so it's
it's I think it's it's I mean, it's a big
hurdle for him, Like, all right, now you're on the field.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
That's good.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Like, let's just make sure that your health, you're getting
practice reps, you know the defense, you have all that
stuff down that you kind of missed out on as
a rookie, and then you can start worrying about making
plays and come up with sacks. But if he if
he turns into the player that the Ravens kind of
hoped when they took him in the third round, that
would be a big boon for this pass rush group.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yep, Roquan Smith quon but gosh, yeah, he's a good player.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
This guy.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
This guy might be honest to tell you. The difference.
The difference was. Do you see the play he made
down the sideline breaking up a long pass to Justice Hill.
I believe it was on a long wheel route down
the sidelight. It was like thirty yards down the field. Yeah,
roquand getting his men on that. I was like, all right, he.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Roll yeah, no, he uh again, he goes into that category.
It's it's good to see him here, and like, as
a veteran player, leader of the defense, I think that
that's all.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
And he's been a guy that's been here and so surprised.
I mean, he was here during the workouts. Yeah, talk
to the media at the beginning of the voluntary workout
portion of this Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
So no, that was a nice play from him. And
then the safety situation is one that we've talked about before,
but definitely bears watching our Darius Washington is is towards Achilles.
Interesting note on that, by the way, is that John
Harbaugh said that our Darius told him that he expects
me back in November December, so they're not closing the
book on our Darius Washington returning this.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Year, which is great news, Which is great news.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
And Harball made the point like he's a fast healer
and so they're they're optimistic about his ability to come
back and play this year. So fingers crossed that that's
able to to come to fruition. But now there's gonna
be that opportunity for Snoozi Kane and Bo Braid and
we talked about that coming into these OTAs, like this
is their time to show the coaches in the front office,
you guys don't need to go out there and get
(26:44):
another safety. You got the you got the replacements in house.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
That's what this time is for. Uh, this time service
as an opportunity for Braid and Sanousie to show that
they have that they have that potential.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
But Brad almost had a pick in the back of
the ends in yep.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
So he was, you know, being around the ball, that's
the first step.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yep. He's the first player that almost struck me.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Who's got a twice today. That's why these inside practices
are risky.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
You want to head on. So this is why this
is why for listeners. They may not know this. There's
no cell phones out during like the op the during
the seven on seven, eleven on eleven portions of practice,
so you don't get clocked, so you don't get run over.
You're looking down on the cell phone whatever, texting your
wife back.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
You get trucks and you're making dinner plans, and you're
gonna get run over exactly.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
So that's the reason that in part.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah, and then the last note that I had before,
we share some of our thoughts from what we heard
from after practice, from the press conferences. Kicking competition, Ye,
the way the Ravens are doing it. John Hoyland kicked today.
Tyler Loop was there in a baseball cap. But they're
alternating days in terms of who's getting the kicking reps,
(27:51):
and so it was Hoyland today, it was Loop yesterday.
They're gonna alternate back and forth in terms of who's
basically gett those kicking reps each day.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
It's interesting. I wonder if they're gonna continue that four Yeah,
you know, that's not what we've seen before. Now if
the Ravens haven't had a kicking competition in a very
very long time. Yeah, but you go back to Justin
Tucker and Billy Condiff, and that's not how it worked.
Was out there every day.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, that was like that was that was almost like
a game of horse.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
It was like I made it or are you gonna make it?
A good description?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yes, yes, uh so, I wonder. I agree. I wonder
if that's how they'll do it over the course of
spring and into I'm.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Just warming up their legs and making sure you don't
put too much on them early on. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, uh, but obviously that's going to be a competition.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
That'd be something to watch.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
And John Harbad talked about that after practice as well,
making it at the point that hey, it's a competition,
and so the Ravens have two rookie kickers and and
they'll see who ends up winning that job. So those
are our thoughts on what we saw from practice. We're
gonna take a quick break. We also heard from some
of the players as well as hed coach Sean Harrible.
We'll share some of our takeaways from those post practice pressers.
You're listening to the launch podcast. We are coming to
(28:54):
you from the Sea Ki Studio. We also want to
mention our partners with Draficking sports book. They are an
official sports betting partner all of the Ultima Ravens Draft
Kings sports book. The Crown is yours. So after practice
today we had a chance to hear from head coach
John Harball, the tight ends, Mark Andrews, and Isaiah Likely
and also a f oh wait. A couple of notes
from that. One thing that is somewhat interesting is John
(29:15):
Harball said that the Ravens are planning to do joint
practices this summer. They're going to do it one day
of joint practices, one with the Colts and then one
with the Commanders.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Working out the details this they're not finalized, yeah, but
that's the aim, yep.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
And we've seen this. We've seen like we've seen it
around the league and we've seen it here in Baltimore.
The Ravens have done these joint practices many times over
the years, especially as we've seen fewer starters, especially high
impact starters play in these preseason games.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
That's essentially their preseason.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
They' getting their reps in practice.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, which is great because the quarterbacks got the red
jersey on, you know, don't touch the quarterback. Yeah, that's
the thing. So don't put them in a live game
atmosphere when your quarterback can get hit, yeah, or in whatever.
So I think that's the way to go. Yeah. So
the Joe practices are fun too. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
It also is a way.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
To like break up like the monotony training camp, going
against the same guy with the same techniques and all
that stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah, so that was that was one note we also
in terms of Mark Andrews, we talked about him a lot,
but he was asked a lot of questions both about
like the future and how he got over the disappointment
in Buffalo last year. And to me, like he said,
he had a great he has great support system around
him with his family and friends and all that. But
the and two main things is set out to me
(30:30):
about hearing hearing from anders One is that I don't
really think like the Buffalo game and the disappointment of
that is going to like rattle him. I don't think that.
I think it was really difficult in the moment, but
I don't think that's gonna be something that like that
brings him down moving forward.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, I would agree with that. I think that knowing
how much Mark cares about his craft and about this
team and about getting over the home. Uh, I'm sure
that one. That one lingered for a while. Oh, I
don't think that's scar is ever gonna go away? Yeah
from Mark. Not when he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. Yeah,
that's when that scar will close.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
He made the point that it's part of the story
and like it's it's a difficult chapter in the story.
But I don't think it's gonna be something similar to
like Zay Flowers the previous year in Kansas City.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Oh that stuff, that's that's that's reporter stuff. That's that.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
I just don't think that's gonna hold him.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
No, no, if if anything the opposite, Like honestly, like
that guy is an animal training in the off season
and and the work that he puts in and the
way he practices. I mean, I was talking about this
practice felt like it's you know, a December practice, Like
nobody embodies that more than Mark Andrews. There's only one
speed to Mark, and that's one thousand miles per hour. Yeah,
(31:42):
and so uh it's just pedal of the metal, I
should say. And so Mark is uh, yeah, he's he
I think he used it to train even harder, he said.
He even borrowed some stuff from Derrick Henry.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I found that. I found that interesting.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Yeah, it took some tips from him that he learned
last season, and and uh, you know that is only
going to push him to work even harder. If you
that could is even possible. And so no, once he
starts playing football, that's that's going He's not thinking about that.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
He also both him and Isaiah Likely, every tight end,
all three of the starting the top tight ends on
the team, are going into the last year of their contract.
We talked to Likely and Answers today and neither of
them seem like the contract is going to be something
that is like that they're pushing for before the season starts,
or it's going to be a distraction, like neither of
them made the contract in issue.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah, both, We're just kind of like whatever happens happens.
But I'm focused on this year and being the best
team at it can be. And you know, I mean,
Isaiah said, like, yeah, the dream is to get a
contract extension. I love it here in Baltimore is where
I want to be, you know, and I'm sure Mark
feels the same way. But we'll cross that bridge when
we get there.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Yeah, I think they're much more focused on just trying
to just win it this year. Like I think that
they want that they would of course, you always want
to get a contract extension, but I think these guys
are so focused on we what they need to do
to help his team win it.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yep, totally agree with that. And then I thought that
it was obviously we talked about always weight gain and
all those things, but I think the fact that, like
I said, John Harbaal says, I expect this guy to
be an All Pro this year, that's up. He set
the bar high, you know, and gosh, if you get
Adeoa playing an All Pro level kyve and no, he's
coming off of Pro Bowl year, his best year of
(33:26):
his career, and then you have up and coming guys
like Tavius is getting better. I'm really excited about Mike
Green and what he can provide. We talked about Adisa,
I'm I'm pumped about this, and then David Ojabo, who
I thought looked good out there today too. You know,
if he can stay healthy. The Ravens have a really deep,
nice rotation at outside linebacker.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
They're honestly pretty deep at almost every position. Like that's
the truth. You look through it and you're like, man,
this team that this is a really good group. And
it's like you can say that just about every position.
I think the one area that they could potentially a couple.
One other note is John Jenkins, who the Ravens agreed
to terms with, announced that recently nos Tackle to basically
be the Michael Pierce replacement. He's not out there, and
(34:08):
it's like, hey, what's going on here. John Harbaugh said
that basically the only hold up there is Michael Pierce
goes on that reserve retired list after June first, which
is a few days away, and then that clears the
roster spot for Jenkins to come in here and he
basically he's the Michael Pierce replacement. Yeah, exactly, so so
that you were going to say, but basically in the secondary,
(34:30):
like that is a position that bears watching over the
course of these practices, just to see how these guys look.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Bo braidj oh. We didn't talk about Malchi starts his
first round pick, which you know, I think obviously you
want to see him make a leaping interception in his
first practice. Story would write itself that did not happen.
John Harball said, you know, he hasn't really like had
a flashy play yet, but a guy who hasn't made mistakes,
yeah either. You know, he's playing a lot of deep safety.
(34:58):
I think that that's probably going to be his primary
role and playing that center field role and you're just
don't get burnt.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Yeah, you know. Well, and he also, like with the
injury to our Darius Washington Harbum at the point, Malaki's
got a lot on his plate. Just step up, like
that's gonna be his responsibility.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
And so it's it's hard to think of a first
round pick in recent years that has stepped into a
bigger position immediately than him. I mean, even going even
Kyle Hamilton is the fourteenth overall pick, didn't have immediate expectations.
I think that Malachi Starks coming in, I think.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Tyler Lenderbomb day Tyler linder Bomb was the starting center.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
From day starting center from day one. That's correct. Yeah,
it's the center is a little bit different, but but yeah,
that's true.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I think that that's probably the one that is most similar.
But I think that's gonna be what Malai Starks. He's
going to be a starting stager from day one, and
there's gonna be a lot of responsibility on him.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
It's similar to Linderbaum in a way that like it's
a lot it's mental. A lot of that is mental,
mental and communication. Those two positions center is like, this
is a lot of prosing and you got to know
that offense like the back of your hand and the
checks and all that stuff, and you're kind of running
the show up there. And obviously Tyler's picked up more
and more of that as you know the years have
gone on. But it's similar with safety. You know, you're
(36:13):
you got to communicate really well. You have to know
what's going on. There's a lot of checks, there's a
lot of understanding the offense and what they're throwing at
you is. It's it's a lot of mental processing for
a rookie. I like Malecki. I think he's a really
smart guy and a really devoted guy who's gonna really
work hard in that playbook and watching film and all
those things. So I'm excited to watch him make some places.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Yeah, So a couple of things that are on the
horizon for us. We're gonna get a chance to check
out some of the upgrades at M and T Bank
Stadium that are taking place there's construction happening around the
clock basically at the stadium to get ready for the
upcoming season, so we're gonna get a sneak peak of
that and share some of the share some of what's
to come at the stadium this year and beyond. We're
also gonna be continuing to break down all these practices
(36:56):
throughout Ota, so stay tuned for a lot more coming
your ways. Always, you can email us at the lounge
at Ravens dot NFL dot net. Thank you so much
for listening, and we'll talk with you again soon.
Welcome into the lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan mink
here with Garrett Downing, and we are fresh off the
field after watching the Ravens practice for the first time
that we saw during organized team activities, and we are
going to give you the players that stood out to
our eye as well as the news that we heard
from podium afterwards. Uh and I'll start here, Garrett. I
(00:26):
thought that first of all, it's there's a lot of
guys here, really strong attendance for the Ravens. At OTA's
Lamar Jackson's out there. You've got Say Flowers, Rashaw Bateman,
Ronnie Stanley, Mark Andrews, the whole tight end unit. You've
got Pro bowlers, Derrick Henry's out there, DeAndre Hopkins, you know,
(00:47):
Broke flippingever Defense. You've got Broquon No I'm the mad
you know, Marlin Kyle Hamilton. You've got the who's who
out there, basically the Pro Bowl squad day, all Pro
Bowlers come on you, you know, and uh and so
really great to see the attendance. You could count on
one hand the guys that were not here. Yeah, and
some of them followlele Uzier working through just some physical
(01:09):
things or whatever.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, and they're here, they just weren't out exactly practice.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So really great to see the buy in from players
at Wednesday's practice.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, I thought the attendance was really indicative of the
excitement that the team has for the season, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Like, I think, yeah, that's excitement. I think it's the drive.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, I think like I go to sometimes, the Ravens
have historically been a team that has had good attendance.
This was I think particularly good, but they've had good
attendance at these voluntary offseason practices and a lot of
times guys will say, I'm going to be working out anyway.
I want to be there, I want to be around
the guys. Like those are typically the answers that you get,
but in talking to players today that wasn't really the answer.
(01:52):
The answer was we were not happy with how last
season ended. The work essentially started as soon as that
Buffalo game ended, Like that's when that's when the message
was kind of delivered and sent and they felt like
that Isaiah likely is quote to me, I thought was
the most telling where you said everybody got the memo
after that last game exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
It wasn't like they had a group chat saying, hey, everybody,
let's show up to OTA's. It didn't have to be
said yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Like everyone understood it and so like it. And so
I thought that was for multiple players to say that,
like the disappointmental last season is kind of driving the
motivation to even just be here for this portion of
voluntary workouts.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
I thought was pretty telling. Yeah, I completely agree, And
I thought it was a sharp practice. It was indoors.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
That was the bummer.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That was the big bummer of the day. Very rainy
here in Owings Mills today, so had to move inside,
which makes it it's just a chaotic seeding there. We
have some players, it's hard to see a lot of
every of everything. Yeah, but we got it. We have
Keen Eye took her notes and I thought it was
a sharp practice.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I did too. I mean, it is disappointing move aside.
I think everyone prefers to be outside players, coach, media, everybody,
but that wasn't the case because of the rain. And
I thought, look, that's Lamar Jackson was there and he
was leading the way. I mean, I thought he had
he had a good day of work. I thought that
he had the offense when they were doing eleven on
eleven drills performing at a high level. I always I
(03:16):
always say this, I think it's good to like level
set what these practices are. They are not full padded practices,
so there are limitations in terms of what you can
see what you can't. But I think you might see
operationally and skill position wise some things that stand out.
And I thought Lamar had the offense like operating at
a really high efficient level.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I thought the offense was home and and I thought
Lamar Jackson was really sharp. He didn't miss a completion
till three quarters of the way through practice. Uh, and
he threw some dimes. I mean he threw that throw
to Dayton Wade, a bomb to Dayton Wade the double
coverage with Kyle Hilton and Marlon Humphrey and dropped it
(03:53):
in a bucket. Now, again, defensive backs aren't necessarily challenging.
They aren't challenging the way they would in so you
don't know if that would ended up being completed in
the game. But oh my gosh, it was the only
spot Lamar could have dropped that ball, and he put
it in there. There's another throw that he made to
you know, Zay flowers that Zay kind of juggled it
(04:14):
and end up hauling in. But when Lamar let it loose,
I was like, where is this going to? Like I
don't even see a receiver in the same zip code
and Zay comes streaking across. It was an incredible throat.
The anticipation on that anticipation was incredible, really in touch,
and and you know it's just we've seen this before.
(04:34):
But you know, if Lamar misses any throw, you know,
I mean, it's the OTA's week one and he's slapping
the ground and punching the ground, and you know, he
did push ups at one point. Lamar Jackson should have
been a three time MVP doing push ups after he
missed a gimme touchdown throws DeAndre Hopkins, you know, And
that tells you who Lamar is if you didn't already know,
(04:57):
like just how competitive this guy is. And and it
start started OTAs, Yeah, first time back, first time practicing,
you're going to see it from Lamar Jackson that perfection
is the standard and we got to play to that
level to get over the home.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah. I think it was from him. It was both
the level of expectation for himself things like you're talking
about the push ups and wanting to just be really
accurate and efficient, and then it was actually like doing it,
like he just was playing at a really high level.
And so it's like okay, oh okay, Lamar Jackson is
setting the tone here. And like Isaiah likely made that point,
(05:33):
Mark Andrews made that point. When you have your franchise
quarterback here like zipping it around in May, that just
kind of gives you an indication of this is the
work starts now. The expectations are high. No, no slacking
off at any point like that. All of that I
think speaks to where this team is. And it honestly
(05:54):
kind of felt like they picked up where they left off. Yeah,
it did, you know, it felt like.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
They It felt like that it was December and like
they're like training for a game now. It's not the
same you know, kind of intensity, but like it felt
like that was like that they were operating the high
level and that was the expectation. We should be good
right now, especially on offense, like things should be looking tight.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
And I thought back to like when we just sat
down with Derek Henry last week after signing his contract
and he's here he's going through these workouts, and Henry
made the point like, yeah, I want to win a
super Bowl. We've got the team to do it, and
the work stars now, like nobody is satisfied with how
last season ended. Like he's a guy another talk about
a tone setter on your team, he's somebody from a
(06:39):
Like Nope, everybody's going to take notice of what he's doing.
And so like, I just kept thinking back to that conversation,
Like when I'm watching practice and the and the offense
is looking great and operating at a really high level
for this early practice, and I go back to like
what Lamara said with Derek Henry said, and then what
we heard after practice from all these guys like oh,
they're not messing around. They are not messing around.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, you know, I think that's the thing is it's
the vibes, right, and sometimes in OTAs, I feel like
it can feel like all right, we're knocking off the rust,
it's Sonny out, it's nice, it's it's May and you know,
like all right, we're gonna kind of start to get
ramped up. It didn't feel like that today. It didn't
feel like a reacclamation practice to me. It felt like
(07:24):
a mid season practice. Yeah, And I think that that
kind of speaks to the tone and the attitude of
this team going into this year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
And part of that is the veterans that are here.
You touched on that. One of those veterans is DeAndre Hopkins, who,
like I think I've said this before, the signing of
him really has fallen under the radar, I think locally
and even nationally. Even when we posted the picture of
pictures of him out of practice this week, you look
at the comments, people are like, oh, yeah, the Ravens
got DeAndre Hopkins, and and man, I thought he looked
(07:55):
awesome on on today. I just really thought he did.
I thought he made multiple sideline toe tap extended catches.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
First catch is a diving grab.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, Like he makes these catches that I've seen a
million times over the course of his career where he
reaches like big reaches off his arms, extended catch toe
taps along the sidelines. First out, You did that multiple times.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
He looked today exactly like what I hope for when
the Ravens signed up, and the role that I expect
him to play, make tough contested catches, makes make lamar
you know, right outside the numbers, make great catches outside
the numbers, and on the boundary, you know, and red zone.
You know, he's going to be a presence down there
as well. So I thought that everything is advertised, if
(08:39):
not better. It honestly reminded me of Derrick Henry watching
him last season in practice and you're like, oh, yeah,
that's Dereck Henry, you know, Yeah, that's that's the real
deal right there. And a signing that one of these
Ravens thirty plus year old signings that hits, like I know,
it's just day one, yeah, but that's what it felt
(09:00):
like for DeAndre Hopkins that this guy's going to hit.
It's going to be a really good addition. Yeah, I've I.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Was actually reminded, like when what you brought up Derek Henry,
Like and again a little bit of hyperbole here on
the first day, you just we're excited after watching football practice,
you know. But I do think that, like the sentiment
here is genuine. I don't think we're trying to like,
you know, blow smoke here. But I actually was reminded
a little bit of like when the Ravens signed Steve
Smith and who was at a similar stage of his
(09:29):
careers just compared to what DeAndre Hopkins is, and like
when he came in and it was like evident very
quickly that he was going to be a difference maker
for the offense. Now Steve came in, he was wide
receiver number one at that point, but like they had
to re Si Smith.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
De Havebs in a different position. He's wide receiver three.
He is.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
But as I was watching practice, I'm like, man, this
guy is going to get a lot of targets. He's
going to get a lot of targets, and he's gonna
come up with a lot of big catches. And I
think he probably, if today was any indication, is probably
a little bit even. He's going to be even better
than I expected when the Ravens first signed him. That's
my feeling. And watching one day of practice, this guy's
going to be even better. Jue.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
We thought, like he's got plenty of juice left.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
He's got plenty of juice left, and like the catches
that that he's going to make are exactly what the
Ravens need. Yes, move the chains big bodied can test
to catch his awareness is better than anybody.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
To me, it looked like a faster version wide receiver
version of Mark Andrews. Like what Mark Andrews is for
Lamar over the middle of the field, That's what DeAndre
Hopkins can be for Lamar outside the numbers.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah, that boundary stuff for him.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
He's so bad guy that Lamar can trusts to make
that play. And that's what it is. I mean. And
I saw DeAndre Hopkins and Mark Andrews kind of catching
warm up passes and chatting with each other before practice.
I'm like, gosh, how he touchdowns? So this guy's going
to combine for it this year?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Could it be twenty?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
That'd be a lot. That's probably high, but could have Heck,
it's not impossible. I mean, fifteen would be a good.
Twenty would be a hell of a number.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Well, the other thing too about Hopkins, and this is
something you don't always see from receivers, particularly veteran wide receivers.
And it caught the attention of his teammates. But there
was a play. It was a route. I think Tyler
Wallace caught it and Isaia DeAndre Hopkins was then blocking downfield,
the safety blocking downfield and caught the attention of his
(11:24):
teammates kind of laughing. Coming back to the huddle, and
Isaiah likely said after practice, like, this is a veteran
who during a seven on seven passing skeleton is out
there blocking the safety to free up Tyland Walls underneath.
That's like, again goes back to the vibe and the tone.
This is an OTA practice and like and a future
Hall of Famer is future Hall of Fame wide receiver
(11:45):
is blocking Downfield's like that speaks to the type of
player and mindset that DeAndre Hopkins is coming here with.
I just thought it was really impressive for him in
his first week here.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, I mentioned Mark Andrews and the fact that he's here.
I'm I would expect him to be here because Mark's
just a dog who just loves working. But also, you
know he's coming off of a tough off season, right,
I mean, obviously how things ended in Buffalo with the
drop two point version the fumble tough, tough for a
guy like Mark. And then there's all this trade speculation
(12:17):
about the possibility could Mark Andrews be traded That didn't
happen for him to show up day one, like, none
of that all that's in the rear view mirror, and
I'm here to be the best version of Mark Andrews.
And I've trained harder than I've ever trained, and I'm
in the best shape. Like, that's Mark Andrews for you
in a nutshell today today that's Mark Andrews. Pro's pro
(12:38):
like who he is.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
The other the other thing, that's classic Mark Andrews. First
play of eleven on eleven, Mark Andrews.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah. Lamar Jackson's first completion of the twenty twenty five
season went to Mark Andrews. Yes, like the practice season. Yeah,
the practice.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Season, You're the very first one. I'm like, okay, I've
seen that a million times.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yep, exactly. So I thought a really good start for him.
And in this tight end group, you know, that's back
for another bite at the apple. All three of those
guys he Isaiah, like Lee and Charlie Kohler. So another
I want to go back to the wide receiver group.
I thought Davontes Walker, a little under the radar name
here for you. He was active today. He caught a
(13:17):
he just caught a lot of passes, and it made
me excited for what year two could look like for
Davontees Walker. Now we just got done talking about all
these weapons. The Ravens have in the passing game, so
only one ball to go around. I don't know that
he's going to get a ton of opportunities, but like,
could he make some plays this year? Yeah, you know,
I think he could. And I thought Tom Wills a
(13:37):
good practice day too, So the Ravens have a lot
of weapons.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I think you hope that that really he could fill
into the role that Nelson Agalore has played at times,
and being Nelly was.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Really one of your top three wide receivers. I know
I past two years. Now that's DeAndre Hopkins is in
that top three.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
The volume of opportunities is not going to be there.
But could he hit a couple of place sure, I
think that like Nelson did that over the past couple
of years, and so I think that's if.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Don't, I just it's hard for me to see many,
like too many steps for Devance has just given the
players who were in that position. But I think if
he could hit a couple of big plays, well, well
it looks first catch us a touchdown in the back
of the end zone. So just every time you throw
to him, just exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Stepped on my toe. I didn't that one came right
at the reporters. I was a deer in the headlights.
I just froze. It wasn't quick at all getting out
of the way, just athletic enough to not hit the guy.
I don't want to injure him. Right, I'm a big guy.
He runs into me. It's like a brick It's going
to be a brick wall. I don't want to injure.
(14:44):
I didn't want to injure the guy. Why are you
laughing over there? Jumped out of the way just in time,
but my little toozies didn't quite get out of the way.
He got me. Okay, you're gonna be okay, I don't
have to see the trainer.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Okay, you gonna stop by the athletic training room. A
guy another play who stood out to me as we're
working our way through the offense that we haven't mentioned
yet was Keaton Mitchell.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, yep, I agree. I think I talked to him
after practice today too, and he says he feels much
better than he did last year, feels like back back.
And he said he actually told me that he has
set personal like prs, personal records or whatever, like best
times running running. Yeah, exactly, like his speed, his miles
per hour, all those things, like he's setting personal records
(15:30):
and so that's really great to hear. And I thought,
even just the eye tests on the field, seeing him
get to the edge and get the corner, you're like, yep, yeah,
Keaton's back.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
And last year when he first came back, and even
as he worked his way into the lineup over the
course of the year, he just looked to me like
a guy who had a slight giddy up in his step,
Like just a slight like.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
You're thinking too, you know, you're coming off of a major,
major knee. Yeah, it's kind of and and you're thinking
about it a little. Yeah, I think mentally, I mean,
it wasn't it wasn't like the JK. Dobbins hitch that
we saw that was different. Yeah, that was a different hit.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah, But I just thought he seemed to be a
little didn't run as smoothie as he did as a rookie,
And today it looked like it was kind of back
to normal yep. And I felt like it was.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Actually he had a nice wheel route catch yep. It
looked like the Keaton, Mitch and Mitchell that we all
even during his rookie year that summer, were like, man,
this guy's got some juice.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Honestly, even before they got to seven on seven or
eleven on eleven drills, when they were going through individual
running back drills, those were actually right in front of reporters,
and so it was got a good look at it.
And man, I just felt like assume when he when
he put his foot in the ground and went forward
like he had that burst that really we saw from
him as rookie.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And the question for him is can he turn the corner? Yeah? Right,
and Keith Mitchell on those stretch and toss plays and
all those things like that's where he can really be
dynamic and just be a home run hitter. Can he
hit those? Can he turn that corner and that that
linebacker to the edge, you know, can he make guys angles? Really,
you know, just break guy's angles. That's the kind of
(17:08):
running back that I saw today. And again we talk
about this, you know with Devontis Walker and how many
opportunities can he get. You got Derrick Henry by the
way coming back for another year and plus with his extension,
and then Justice Hill was an awesome number two back
last year. I think that Justin's still gonna have again
a huge role. So how much can Keaton get in
(17:31):
this room remains to be seen. I think primarily I
like him as the kick returner. I think he could
be an awesome kick returner. And then if he gets
three to seven offensive snaps a game, okay, I'm interested
to see him potentially hit some home runs.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yeah, threes have a snaps with three to seven touches.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I mean it touches, I guess. But yeah, that'll be
the tough thing I think.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I mean that's I want to find a way to
get the ball in his hands, and I think kickoff
is a natural way to do that. And you want
to keep both Derek Henry and Justice hell fresh. But
also it's like it's all this this challenge.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
And honestly it's depth, right, Like if whatever, somebody tweaks
an ankle for and is out for a couple of games,
all right, Keaton, Like you're gonna be playing a big role,
you know what I mean? Like just because even if
you just because you entered the seasons number three running
back doesn't mean that you're gonna be getting none of
number three running back reps all year long. Yeah, and
so if they can get him up the speed and
have that as like an insurance policy, and and hey,
(18:31):
if everybody stays healthy all year long, like let him
hit a few home runs sounds good than me.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, I'm with you. Uh, Well, in order for him
to hit some home runs, you also want to see
the offensive line balking. And that's one of those things that, uh,
the offensive line basically has one position that's up for grabs.
Left guard Daniel fall Leila is starting right guard from
last year, did not practice today, And as you mentioned
it earlier, John Harbor was asked about that after practice
and he said that he was just where he's working
(18:58):
through some physical things and should be out there soon.
So when that is, we'll see. And and I I've
always said, like during these practices the offensive line, it's
tough to assess how these guys look. I just don't
think any battles are won and lost, but at least
a framework a set, but a left guard, you're basically
you basically have Andrew Voorhees and Ben Cleveland competing for
(19:18):
that starting job there and it'll be interesting to see
who wins it. And Ben Cleveland the Ravens re signed
him this offseason. He's a guy you shouldn't forget in
that mix, Like.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Yeah, yeah, I agree. I thought that seeing him step in.
You know, last year, I think we went into the
off season saying he was probably the favorite for left
guard and then he didn't really practice there. To see
him practicing here at the start of OTHAS and getting
a lot of reps, I thought, all right, you know,
caught my attention.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, so again, I think that the offensive line is
going to be one that like that battle for that
spot extends throughout training camp like that. That is definitely
not going to be decided today. But he's somebody that
we should not forget in that mix. Yep, for sure.
So again, offense, I thought looked good. Anybody else that
you want to mention offensively before we move on to
the defensive.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Jonte Western made a deep, deep grab, kind of jugged
it for a second, but hauled it in. I think
the rookie rookies, he's intriguing.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, he's exciting. I mean, I'm really excited to see
him as a punt returner as you spent all the
time talking about the guys in front of him, like
it's just going to be really hard for him to
craft that lineup, but as a punt returner he definitely will.
And you make plays, you're gonna find your way onto
the field. Defensively, the guy that stood out to me
just right away was a daf Alway.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
As soon as I saw the guy. I actually saw
him yesterday and I was like, whoa, Okay, this guy
looks bigger even before the uniform was on. And then
you see him in uniform and you talk to him
and he said, he's added about fifteen twenty pounds this
offseason and it looks like muscle. Fifteen twenty pounds muscle,
it's all. He's been eating ice cream all off season,
like this guy, and that was a focus for him,
And I thought that he looked really impressive. He looked
(20:59):
more of like when you look at these edge rushers,
like when he's coming to the league and throughout his
career so far, he's a lean edge rusher who has
these incredible athletic traits with the speed that's been his game.
Now he looked more like kind of a physically imposing
edge rusher.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yep. Yeah, I agree, just siding it out. I've been
on the ice cream diet all off since that's my
training regiment. But yeah, I completely agree, and it was
interesting to so he put on twenty pounds. He said,
he went from two forty five to two sixty five.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
It's a major difference. And for a guy that's always
had other worldly athletic traits in terms of explosion and
all those things. I like this move for him because
he's almost you know, his brother is a great basketball player,
and Odafe's almost had this kind of basketball player build
to a degree.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Dafe was a really good basketball player.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
He was, yeah, not quite his brother, but yeah, yeah,
but you know, so I think and he said last
year when he was watching his film that he felt
like he kind of he left three sacks out there,
basically that if he had been more powerful and being
able to finish at the top of his rush better,
that he feels like he would have gotten. And so
(22:11):
for him to add, you know, not just kind of
the speed moves, and we saw him with his rush moves,
and we really saw him kind of build his repertoire
of pass rush moves with Chuck Smith last offseason. I
thought he became a certainly a more refined pass rusher
last year to go along with his talent, which led
to him getting double digit sacks last year. Now, if
(22:33):
you can add even more power to that refinement and
to his get off and all those things, I think
that he could really be a problem problem problem. I mean,
John Harball said he expects this guy to be an
all pro. Yeah, that's the kind of talent that he has,
and yeah, that would be a huge moon for the Ravens. Well.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I think the key one ever guys ad weight lose
weight is that you want to, like, it's really important
to maintain pin whatever it is that you had before.
So going look at look at Lamar Jackson as an example,
he added so he added weight previously, but felt like
he lost a little bit of speed, So then he
ended up losing weight to get that speedback. Always said
that in his career, people who have asked him like
(23:14):
or talked to him about adding weight, it kind of
to your point, like he has more of a basketball
player's build, but he's been a little bit hesitant because
he wants to maintain that world class speed that he
has around the edge. So as he went through this process,
he is making sure that he maintains that speed and
during his training down in Miami this offseason, he is like,
that's been something he's monitoring. He's adding weight, and he's
(23:35):
also paying attention to the speed and explosion to aspect
of things and feels like he has not lost anything
in that regard, but he's added this weight to be
more powerful, which I think is really important. And again,
as we said off the top, you talk about like
the drive and the motivation for this team, a lot
of it goes back to that night in Buffalo, and
he said that after that loss, he felt like he
needed to get bigger, didn't feel like he played his
(23:57):
best game that that day, got moved around more than
he should have. And so as he looked at how
he could improve this offseason, it started there and then
he put in the work to get to add that
weight this offseason.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yep, yep. I'll point to another pass rusher. I thought
of Desa Isaac, the second year edge rusher who the
Ravens sick in the third round. He looks he's got
some good he's got good get off like I like,
I like adisa I think that he's if he can
stay healthy, which was the problem his rookie year. I
think that he could be a good piece of that rotation.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Well, oh wait had good things to say about him too,
which you know they were they were teammates at Penn
State and so their their buddies.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
But I think that I think he's just gassing up
as Nitney Lion teammate.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
No, I don't think he's gassing him up, but I
think that, like, yeah, I just with a desa. Last
year was a red shirt year. He basically missed the
whole year from a really productive standpoint because of because
of his hamstring, Like it just sidelined him and he
wasn't able to be on the field. And so it's
it's I think it's it's I mean, it's a big
hurdle for him, Like, all right, now you're on the field.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
That's good.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Like, let's just make sure that your health, you're getting
practice reps, you know the defense, you have all that
stuff down that you kind of missed out on as
a rookie, and then you can start worrying about making
plays and come up with sacks. But if he if
he turns into the player that the Ravens kind of
hoped when they took him in the third round, that
would be a big boon for this pass rush group.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yep, Roquan Smith quon but gosh, yeah, he's a good player.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
This guy.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
This guy might be honest to tell you. The difference.
The difference was. Do you see the play he made
down the sideline breaking up a long pass to Justice Hill.
I believe it was on a long wheel route down
the sidelight. It was like thirty yards down the field. Yeah,
roquand getting his men on that. I was like, all right, he.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Roll yeah, no, he uh again, he goes into that category.
It's it's good to see him here, and like, as
a veteran player, leader of the defense, I think that
that's all.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
And he's been a guy that's been here and so surprised.
I mean, he was here during the workouts. Yeah, talk
to the media at the beginning of the voluntary workout
portion of this Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
So no, that was a nice play from him. And
then the safety situation is one that we've talked about before,
but definitely bears watching our Darius Washington is is towards Achilles.
Interesting note on that, by the way, is that John
Harbaugh said that our Darius told him that he expects
me back in November December, so they're not closing the
book on our Darius Washington returning this.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Year, which is great news, Which is great news.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
And Harball made the point like he's a fast healer
and so they're they're optimistic about his ability to come
back and play this year. So fingers crossed that that's
able to to come to fruition. But now there's gonna
be that opportunity for Snoozi Kane and Bo Braid and
we talked about that coming into these OTAs, like this
is their time to show the coaches in the front office,
you guys don't need to go out there and get
(26:44):
another safety. You got the you got the replacements in house.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
That's what this time is for. Uh, this time service
as an opportunity for Braid and Sanousie to show that
they have that they have that potential.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
But Brad almost had a pick in the back of
the ends in yep.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
So he was, you know, being around the ball, that's
the first step.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yep. He's the first player that almost struck me.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Who's got a twice today. That's why these inside practices
are risky.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
You want to head on. So this is why this
is why for listeners. They may not know this. There's
no cell phones out during like the op the during
the seven on seven, eleven on eleven portions of practice,
so you don't get clocked, so you don't get run over.
You're looking down on the cell phone whatever, texting your
wife back.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
You get trucks and you're making dinner plans, and you're
gonna get run over exactly.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
So that's the reason that in part.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah, and then the last note that I had before,
we share some of our thoughts from what we heard
from after practice, from the press conferences. Kicking competition, Ye,
the way the Ravens are doing it. John Hoyland kicked today.
Tyler Loop was there in a baseball cap. But they're
alternating days in terms of who's getting the kicking reps,
(27:51):
and so it was Hoyland today, it was Loop yesterday.
They're gonna alternate back and forth in terms of who's
basically gett those kicking reps each day.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
It's interesting. I wonder if they're gonna continue that four Yeah,
you know, that's not what we've seen before. Now if
the Ravens haven't had a kicking competition in a very
very long time. Yeah, but you go back to Justin
Tucker and Billy Condiff, and that's not how it worked.
Was out there every day.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, that was like that was that was almost like
a game of horse.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
It was like I made it or are you gonna make it?
A good description?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yes, yes, uh so, I wonder. I agree. I wonder
if that's how they'll do it over the course of
spring and into I'm.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Just warming up their legs and making sure you don't
put too much on them early on. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, uh, but obviously that's going to be a competition.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
That'd be something to watch.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
And John Harbad talked about that after practice as well,
making it at the point that hey, it's a competition,
and so the Ravens have two rookie kickers and and
they'll see who ends up winning that job. So those
are our thoughts on what we saw from practice. We're
gonna take a quick break. We also heard from some
of the players as well as hed coach Sean Harrible.
We'll share some of our takeaways from those post practice pressers.
You're listening to the launch podcast. We are coming to
(28:54):
you from the Sea Ki Studio. We also want to
mention our partners with Draficking sports book. They are an
official sports betting partner all of the Ultima Ravens Draft
Kings sports book. The Crown is yours. So after practice
today we had a chance to hear from head coach
John Harball, the tight ends, Mark Andrews, and Isaiah Likely
and also a f oh wait. A couple of notes
from that. One thing that is somewhat interesting is John
(29:15):
Harball said that the Ravens are planning to do joint
practices this summer. They're going to do it one day
of joint practices, one with the Colts and then one
with the Commanders.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Working out the details this they're not finalized, yeah, but
that's the aim, yep.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
And we've seen this. We've seen like we've seen it
around the league and we've seen it here in Baltimore.
The Ravens have done these joint practices many times over
the years, especially as we've seen fewer starters, especially high
impact starters play in these preseason games.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
That's essentially their preseason.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
They' getting their reps in practice.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, which is great because the quarterbacks got the red
jersey on, you know, don't touch the quarterback. Yeah, that's
the thing. So don't put them in a live game
atmosphere when your quarterback can get hit, yeah, or in whatever.
So I think that's the way to go. Yeah. So
the Joe practices are fun too. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
It also is a way.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
To like break up like the monotony training camp, going
against the same guy with the same techniques and all
that stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah, so that was that was one note we also
in terms of Mark Andrews, we talked about him a lot,
but he was asked a lot of questions both about
like the future and how he got over the disappointment
in Buffalo last year. And to me, like he said,
he had a great he has great support system around
him with his family and friends and all that. But
the and two main things is set out to me
(30:30):
about hearing hearing from anders One is that I don't
really think like the Buffalo game and the disappointment of
that is going to like rattle him. I don't think that.
I think it was really difficult in the moment, but
I don't think that's gonna be something that like that
brings him down moving forward.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, I would agree with that. I think that knowing
how much Mark cares about his craft and about this
team and about getting over the home. Uh, I'm sure
that one. That one lingered for a while. Oh, I
don't think that's scar is ever gonna go away? Yeah
from Mark. Not when he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. Yeah,
that's when that scar will close.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
He made the point that it's part of the story
and like it's it's a difficult chapter in the story.
But I don't think it's gonna be something similar to
like Zay Flowers the previous year in Kansas City.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Oh that stuff, that's that's that's reporter stuff. That's that.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
I just don't think that's gonna hold him.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
No, no, if if anything the opposite, Like honestly, like
that guy is an animal training in the off season
and and the work that he puts in and the
way he practices. I mean, I was talking about this
practice felt like it's you know, a December practice, Like
nobody embodies that more than Mark Andrews. There's only one
speed to Mark, and that's one thousand miles per hour. Yeah,
(31:42):
and so uh it's just pedal of the metal, I
should say. And so Mark is uh, yeah, he's he
I think he used it to train even harder, he said.
He even borrowed some stuff from Derrick Henry.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I found that. I found that interesting.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Yeah, it took some tips from him that he learned
last season, and and uh, you know that is only
going to push him to work even harder. If you
that could is even possible. And so no, once he
starts playing football, that's that's going He's not thinking about that.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
He also both him and Isaiah Likely, every tight end,
all three of the starting the top tight ends on
the team, are going into the last year of their contract.
We talked to Likely and Answers today and neither of
them seem like the contract is going to be something
that is like that they're pushing for before the season starts,
or it's going to be a distraction, like neither of
them made the contract in issue.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah, both, We're just kind of like whatever happens happens.
But I'm focused on this year and being the best
team at it can be. And you know, I mean,
Isaiah said, like, yeah, the dream is to get a
contract extension. I love it here in Baltimore is where
I want to be, you know, and I'm sure Mark
feels the same way. But we'll cross that bridge when
we get there.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Yeah, I think they're much more focused on just trying
to just win it this year. Like I think that
they want that they would of course, you always want
to get a contract extension, but I think these guys
are so focused on we what they need to do
to help his team win it.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yep, totally agree with that. And then I thought that
it was obviously we talked about always weight gain and
all those things, but I think the fact that, like
I said, John Harbaal says, I expect this guy to
be an All Pro this year, that's up. He set
the bar high, you know, and gosh, if you get
Adeoa playing an All Pro level kyve and no, he's
coming off of Pro Bowl year, his best year of
(33:26):
his career, and then you have up and coming guys
like Tavius is getting better. I'm really excited about Mike
Green and what he can provide. We talked about Adisa,
I'm I'm pumped about this, and then David Ojabo, who
I thought looked good out there today too. You know,
if he can stay healthy. The Ravens have a really deep,
nice rotation at outside linebacker.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
They're honestly pretty deep at almost every position. Like that's
the truth. You look through it and you're like, man,
this team that this is a really good group. And
it's like you can say that just about every position.
I think the one area that they could potentially a couple.
One other note is John Jenkins, who the Ravens agreed
to terms with, announced that recently nos Tackle to basically
be the Michael Pierce replacement. He's not out there, and
(34:08):
it's like, hey, what's going on here. John Harbaugh said
that basically the only hold up there is Michael Pierce
goes on that reserve retired list after June first, which
is a few days away, and then that clears the
roster spot for Jenkins to come in here and he
basically he's the Michael Pierce replacement. Yeah, exactly, so so
that you were going to say, but basically in the secondary,
(34:30):
like that is a position that bears watching over the
course of these practices, just to see how these guys look.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Bo braidj oh. We didn't talk about Malchi starts his
first round pick, which you know, I think obviously you
want to see him make a leaping interception in his
first practice. Story would write itself that did not happen.
John Harball said, you know, he hasn't really like had
a flashy play yet, but a guy who hasn't made mistakes,
yeah either. You know, he's playing a lot of deep safety.
(34:58):
I think that that's probably going to be his primary
role and playing that center field role and you're just
don't get burnt.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Yeah, you know. Well, and he also, like with the
injury to our Darius Washington Harbum at the point, Malaki's
got a lot on his plate. Just step up, like
that's gonna be his responsibility.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
And so it's it's hard to think of a first
round pick in recent years that has stepped into a
bigger position immediately than him. I mean, even going even
Kyle Hamilton is the fourteenth overall pick, didn't have immediate expectations.
I think that Malachi Starks coming in, I think.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Tyler Lenderbomb day Tyler linder Bomb was the starting center.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
From day starting center from day one. That's correct. Yeah,
it's the center is a little bit different, but but yeah,
that's true.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I think that that's probably the one that is most similar.
But I think that's gonna be what Malai Starks. He's
going to be a starting stager from day one, and
there's gonna be a lot of responsibility on him.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
It's similar to Linderbaum in a way that like it's
a lot it's mental. A lot of that is mental,
mental and communication. Those two positions center is like, this
is a lot of prosing and you got to know
that offense like the back of your hand and the
checks and all that stuff, and you're kind of running
the show up there. And obviously Tyler's picked up more
and more of that as you know the years have
gone on. But it's similar with safety. You know, you're
(36:13):
you got to communicate really well. You have to know
what's going on. There's a lot of checks, there's a
lot of understanding the offense and what they're throwing at
you is. It's it's a lot of mental processing for
a rookie. I like Malecki. I think he's a really
smart guy and a really devoted guy who's gonna really
work hard in that playbook and watching film and all
those things. So I'm excited to watch him make some places.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Yeah, So a couple of things that are on the
horizon for us. We're gonna get a chance to check
out some of the upgrades at M and T Bank
Stadium that are taking place there's construction happening around the
clock basically at the stadium to get ready for the
upcoming season, so we're gonna get a sneak peak of
that and share some of the share some of what's
to come at the stadium this year and beyond. We're
also gonna be continuing to break down all these practices
(36:56):
throughout Ota, so stay tuned for a lot more coming
your ways. Always, you can email us at the lounge
at Ravens dot NFL dot net. Thank you so much
for listening, and we'll talk with you again soon.
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