Secondary Scorches on a Hot One

The Baltimore Ravens had a hot practice and you have to wonder if it threw the team off a bit. Zay Flowers had a drop running routes early in practice and punished himself with pushups. Later in practice he had to do a lap after a false start penalty. Tykeem Doss also went jogging after his false start. It was very hot and oppressively humid; it’s fair to wonder if that had an effect.

Ben Cleveland left practice early. Reports after camp indicated it was concern of a head injury.

John Harbaugh said Andrew Vorhees and Roger Rosengarten continue to grow and develop since the pads have come on. Rosengarten rotated with Patrick Mekari at right tackle with the starting offensive line today.

Ben Cleveland (head) exited early and is being evaluated. #Ravens pic.twitter.com/x41KEUIjBI

— Luke Jones (@BaltimoreLuke) August 1, 2024

Top Plays of the Day

1. Tylan Wallace: As Jayln Armour-Davis and Marcus Williams collapsed into each other, Wallace hauled in a touchdown with so much balance and grace he could have won a gold medal in Paris, for gymnastics. (Wallace almost had another display of aerial magic in one on one’s but his feet landed out of bounds on that one).
2. Kyle Hamilton: Lamar Jackson threw a ball high for Mark Andrews, who got his hands on it and nearly made an incredible catch. However, Hamilton somehow came away with the ball as the two All-Pros fell to the ground. This was the definition of good vs. good. We could have used that against Travis Kelce on that AFC Championship G…nevermind.
3. Malik Harrison: If Wallace showed off his gymnastics with his highlight, Harrison showed off his high jump. The Ohio State product had a leaping interception in the middle of the field, and looked like a freight train with the ball after the snag.

Position Group of the day: Defensive Backs

There wasn’t a cornerback or a safety who had a bad practice today. The defense had the most fun, largely due to the high intensity of the secondary. From outside the roster bubble with players like Sanoussi Kane and Christian Matthews to the established Ravens this was the hottest position group.

Eddie Jackson had a great performance. He showed great recovery, dislodging the ball from Malik Cunningham’s hands and taking away a sure completion. He had a sack blitzing out of the secondary and nearly picked off a pass from Devin Leary. Jackson is ready to get back to his playmaking ways.

Armour-Davis had a very solid practice. He is showing more confidence than he did last year or something and things are starting to click.

Rashod Bateman looking smooth at #Ravens camp pic.twitter.com/5bgpwYMtlI

— Chris Schisler (@footballman58) August 1, 2024

Things worth mentioning

1. Speaking of Jacksons, Lamar was off on a handful of deep shots down the field. His deep ball seems hit or miss thus far into camp.
2. Josh Johnson hit a deep pass to Isaiah Washington, on which the latter showed off his big frame and boxed out the defender.
3. In one-on-ones, Keith Kirkwood had the meanest double move you’ll ever see for a memorable rep.
4. Rashod Bateman looked very smooth. He keeps impressing me. A healthy Bateman could be a difference maker. You could put a drop on him, but it would have been an incredible catch so I’d lean towards giving him a pass.
5. Rasheen Ali had a fumble, a lone blemish on an otherwise impressive practice where he had four catches.
6. Derrick Henry is going to Derrick Henry. He had a couple of plays where he ran more physically than you’d expect from a 30-year-old superstar on a 93° day. He’s playing with energy and catching the ball out of the backfield.
7. Justin Tucker is as consistent as ever. He nailed his field goals (progressively getting longer). All of them went right down the middle of the uprights. He came close to hitting a window of the castle.

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