A New Journey Begins

Training Camp is Under Way!

And so, it begins. A new journey. The quest for the franchise’s next Lombardi Trophy. The burning desire to get rid of the unsavory taste of the 2024 season’s end. The collective resolve to play to their potential – to perform in the postseason the way they do during the regular season. It all started yesterday, a warm, sunny day upon the fields of the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Maryland. Training Camp 2025 is underway.

These practices are baby steps – building blocks to achieve greatness. These are the days during which chemistry is born. A left tackle develops an understanding with the left guard. They adjust in synch both pre-and-post-snap to the changing environment that envelopes them, all dictated by the moving parts of the opposing defense.

A quarterback identifies a coverage. The corner is playing with inside leverage. It represents an obstacle. It threatens the potential of the play called in the huddle but as a result of these practices, the sweat equity left on these fields, both the QB and the receiver see that the inside leverage represents an opportunity for a successful play along the perimeter. In a matter of seconds, the back-shoulder throw is made as is the catch. Success is achieved, snatched from the jaws of failure.

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“There’s always room to grow, room to improve. That’s why you have training camp.” ~ Derrick Henry

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This was not a padded practice, the early part of which was even executed sans helmets. Lamar Jackson kept his hat on, presumably to stay connected to offensive coordinator Todd Monken who directed the offense from a walkie talkie. Soon thereafter, the helmets were back on, chin straps were buckled. It was time to get to more serious work.

Lamar looked sharp at times. At other times, throws to empty spaces were the result of he and his receiver not being on the same page. But for the most part, Lamar’s throws were darts, on point, even in thick traffic. One throw caught my attention. It wasn’t a big play, but it was one that kept the chains moving. Lamar rifled a pass intentionally low, splitting two defenders. On the receiving end was No. 10, DeAndre Hopkins who secured the catch, popped up and pointed at Lamar as if to say, “nice throw”. Baby steps. Building blocks.

Another very noticeable thing about Lamar is his physique. He has his rookie body back. Sleek and polished only more experienced and a more accomplished thrower of the football. It’s as if he’s dipped himself into a fountain of youth but only better. The quickness was evident on a naked boot that left the entire defense going in the wrong direction as Lamar effortlessly navigated the right sideline, toe-tapping his way to an easy first down.

Yeah, it’s real.

Jaire D-Hop. pic.twitter.com/LXDxdMGGLt

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) July 23, 2025

Conditioning

It’s one thing to express determination verbally. It’s another to show it through the work put in during the offseason. The Ravens as a team, look very fit. Besides Lamar, those who stood out at first glance include Mark Andrews, Ronnie Stanley, Daniel Faalele, Roquan Smith, Odafe Oweh, Andrew Vorhees and Ben Cleveland.

There was a little scare involving Zay Flowers. Zay limped to the sideline after hauling in a back-shoulder throw. The play took place right in front of me and it looked like Flowers was spiked by the defender on the side of the foot. Five minutes later Zay was back on the field making people miss.

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“We’re all more interested in the work, not the hype.” ~ Derrick Henry

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Noticeable Absences

Patrick Mekari is gone. As is Brandon Stephens. But the feeling is that they won’t be missed on the field. Mekari’s departure represents an opportunity for Vorhees. And Stephens replacement, Jaire Alexander, is a huge upgrade over Stephens. The newest Ravens defensive starter moved extremely well in coverage, blanketing D-Hop and Dayton Wade. Alexander took a large number of reps to get him up to speed with the defensive playbook. Chidobe Awuzie took the lion’s share of snaps with the first unit and looked pretty solid. He’ll be a great insurance piece for Zach Orr’s defense but when healthy, Alexander is clearly the better player.

Another very noticeable absence was No. 9, a digit that no other Raven is wearing at this time. This is the first training camp session since the end of 2011 not attended by Justin Tucker. Tucker’s likely replacement, Tyler Loop, has a powerful leg. I counted six successful FGA, all from 40 yards in, most between 32 – 39 yards. His kicks end up high in the net (10 yards behind the goal posts, towards the upper end of the uprights. John Hoyland is the other kicker in camp and his kicks are much less impressive. Given my developing affinity for golf, comparing the two kickers is akin to comparing my tee shots to Scottie Scheffler’s. Hoyland connected on four of five kicks. His miss was from 40 yards out.

[Related Article: Ravens Hot Takes]

Offense

The play of the day was produced by the pitch and catch tandem of Lamar and Flowers. Jackson hit Zay in stride on a shallow crosser and Flowers took it for a ride into the end zone for a 70-yard score. It looked like they caught the defense in the wrong coverage. The play was very reminiscent of crossers executed by Patrick Mahomes and Rashee Rice during the 2024 season opener. And just like that game, this play had Roquan Smith in pursuit. Not the matchup you want if you’re Zach Orr.

Derrick Henry had a couple of runs that looked like they would have produced chunk plays. That said, his first carry during scrimmaging ended quickly as Roquan shot the gap to “stop” the 22 train just behind the line of scrimmage…Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell showed nice footwork and patience navigating space inside the tackles. Mitchell broke off one such run for a big gain inside the left tackle. Mitchell also broke open as a receiver leaking out of the backfield late in practice beating LB Teddye Buchanan up the left hash marks for what would have been a 75-yard score. But Keaton dropped the perfectly placed pass from Cooper Rush.

Rush looked good in his training camp debut. He’s got an impressive arm and was on target for most of practice. His mobility or lack thereof was not an issue on this day…Rasheen Ali looks quicker and more decisive than he did as a rookie. Early prediction – Ali will be a preseason star and it may be difficult to sneak him onto the practice squad.

Tez Walker nearly made a spectacular contested catch, covered by UDFA CB Reuben Lowery. Walker put his 4-inch height advantage to use, leaping over Lowery and initially securing the ball. As he attempted to complete the catch, the ball popped loose when Tez hit the ground…The three top receivers all looked sharp. We’re familiar with what Flowers and Rashod Bateman bring to the table and we’ve seen Hopkins in action for other teams. But D-Hop brings something a little different to the offense. He may not be that guy who hauls in 115 catches a season as he’s done twice before, but he’s a technician along the sideline and in crowded spaces and a trusty finisher of contested catches. He’ll be another complementary piece for Todd Monken.

Other Offensive Observations

• If Day 1 is any indication, back-shoulder throws will be a point of emphasis in 2025.
• Cadence, a tool for the offense to get the defense off balance and perhaps pick up a free play with a neutral zone infraction, worked against the offense. There were several false starts.

Day 1 @R_bateman2 @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/IzHkWiJKy8

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) July 23, 2025

Defense

I spent some time watching the DBs, particularly Alexander. If healthy, he’s a massive upgrade over Brandon Stephens and the fact that he cost the Ravens $4M plus incentives v. Stephens’ 3-year, $36M deal is laughable. They just need to keep Jaire healthy and that alone makes the Ravens defense better. Alexander is smooth and effortlessly mirrors receivers…Nate Wiggins was nearly as impressive, not only in coverage but in field awareness. On one play D-Hop tried to take Wiggins out of a designed screen to the right by running a deep crosser to the left. But Wiggins read the screen, dropped off his coverage on Hopkins, and quickly attacked Justice Hill for what looked like a slight loss on the play.

Jalyn Armour-Davis had a nice PD in coverage, breaking up an intermediate crosser intended for Tez Walker…I didn’t see any positive or negative plays from first-round pick Malaki Starks. And maybe that’s a good thing. He will be a bigger focus of mine during today’s (Thursday, July 24) session along with Mike Green. Green didn’t make much of an impact during this session but given the nature of the practice, it’s a bit difficult to assess line play and Green often lined up on the far side of the field.

David Ojabo did line up often on the near side and he seemed to generate a decent bull rush at times and his bend during one play created a problem for reserve tackle Joseph Noteboom…Adisa Isaac also found success v. Noteboom with an impressive bull rush.

Outside of the horsefly that landed on my ankle and drew blood, the biggest hit of the day during a session that discouraged such contact, was delivered by UDFA LB Chandler Martin. Sometimes the contact is unavoidable. The hit, unlike the horsefly, did not inflict injury.

Today

My focus today will be upon Trenton Simpson, Teddye Buchanan, Malaki Starks and Chidobe Awuzie. Practice begins at 2PM.

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