Mistakes are Opportunities in Work Clothes

The Ravens offense has struggled lately at training camp. Passes aren’t on point. A few that hit their mark were dropped. And as Todd Monken’s unit attempts to perfect cadence and weaponize it, the intent backfires too often as false starts abound leaving the offense in undesirable down-and-distance situations.

This is training camp, a time to grind, to work through the things that need to be perfected by September 7 on the national stage of Sunday Night Football in Buffalo. There’s work to be done and the offense needs to fight through the summer frustrations to unleash their massive potential.

The offensive front, a mild concern heading into camp given the uncertainties at the guard position, hasn’t been cohesive. Besides the cadence issues, the pass protection packages haven’t produced consistent results as of late despite having full knowledge of when defensive coordinator Zach Orr is dialing up blitzes.

“The offense knows the blitzes; they know what’s coming that day. It’s more about execution and individual guys making plays. And yesterday, we had a really good day in pass protection, today wasn’t quite as good. I thought the defense really stepped up today with the pressures, so, that’s kind of how it goes in camp sometimes.” ~ John Harbaugh

The defense won the practice 63-36 in the Ravens practice scoring system and it didn’t feel that close.
T.J. Tampa had an endzone INT and a really nice practice overall.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) July 30, 2025

Yet still, it’s hard to gauge which side is really winning. The defense has the luxury of not fully committing to defending the run because tackling is limited. Lamar Jackson generally isn’t a threat to run in practice unless there’s a scramble and even then, the results don’t mirror those of a live game. The results of plays can be deceiving.

That said, it is a very positive development to see that the defense is making strides. Communication appears to be infinitely better than it was a year ago. The secondary seems tight. Roquan Smith looks explosive. Trenton Simpson seems dialed in. And a few of the young pass rushers are taking their games to new levels. If the Ravens are to get off to a fast start in 2025, the defense MUST hit the field running, particularly when facing the juggernauts that are part of their early season schedule.

The need for a fast start isn’t unique to the Ravens. All teams feel the same yet across the league, starters will be observers in street clothes during preseason games, clowning it up along the sidelines so as not to risk injury. But there’s no denying that the level of play during the regular season suffers when starters don’t participate in FAKE games that cost fans REAL money. But I digress.

There was a time when fans experienced excitement during preseason games. Back when the league featured four fake games, starters would generally play a series or two during the first preseason game; a quarter in the second game; a half in the third and then they’d take off during the preseason finale. I can’t recall many significant preseason injuries. But there’s always that risk.

Maybe the answer is that the league drops the preseason games altogether and they opt instead for scrimmages against other teams, such as the scrimmages the Ravens have participated in before with several other teams and that which they plan this summer with the Colts and the Commanders.

Instead of forcing this preseason garbage down the throats of fans and expecting them to smile over the wasted money, maybe the games could be replaced with a pair of scrimmages against 3 opponents and allow fans to pay for tickets to attend one of the two sessions. At least that way the quarterbacks are protected, while fans get to see the starters. And the starters might be sharper when the regular season commences. Maybe the first two games won’t look like shoddily played preseason games.

But it won’t happen. Sticking those preseason ticket tariffs up the season ticket holders’ collective wazole is money the NFL owners can’t and won’t resist.

So, here we are, prepared to watch tonight’s first NFL preseason game that will resemble electric football. It will not be a sight for sore eyes. Just more of the same slop.

As for the Ravens offense, there’s little doubt that they’ll hit their stride. There’s just too much talent, nearly all of which is returning from 2024 when they were the league’s No. 1 ranked offense churning 425 yards per game.

And if Zach Orr’s squad can climb to the middle of the pack in pass defense (they ranked 31st in 2024) the Ravens will be very serious contenders to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LX.

The mistakes made upon the fields of the Under Armour Performance Center are merely building blocks for achievement, one dropped pass, one false start at a time.

More mistakes commence today at 1:30PM.

[Related Article: Chaos and Creation in the AFC North]

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