Ravens Day 2 minicamp notes: The offense found a better groove. Trenton Simpson continues to buzz around the ball.
A far warmer, sunshiny day glowed the Ravens’ Under Armour Performance Center fields as Day 2 of minicamp was underway. Similar to Day 1, players exchanged verbal barbs, teasing, taunting and celebrating. Competition continued with a hefty portion of team drills and concluded with the offense rebounding from yesterday’s performance.
Absences & Injuries
WR Deonte Harty (excused)
- RB Keaton Mitchell
- S Kyle Hamilton
- OLB Adisa Isaac
- DL Rayshad Nichols
- CB Marlon Humphrey
- CB Christian Matthew
- C Nick Samac
Humphrey and Samac are new absences after participating yesterday. Humphrey was in-and-out of practice throughout OTAs and it remains a mystery what he’s dealing with. Samac did step onto the field in his jersey midway through practice, but did not participate. Hamilton was seen on the sideline today with a compression sleeve on what’s assumed the injured elbow.
Midway through practice, offensive lineman Patrick Mekari exited the field and I did not see him return. He exited the field on his own and headed inside. It was unclear if something happened, as he was on the far field participating in run offense vs. run defense drills and I didn’t see if something happened.
General Notes
The Ravens want their quarterbacks to test themselves in OTAs and training camp. They’re asked to make throw riskier plays in practice. Quarterbacks coach Tee Martin talked about it post-practice.
“It’s keys to the Ferrari, right? If you give a guy the keys to a Ferrari you don’t tell him to do 30 [miles per hour],” Martin said. “And sometimes as coaches you can’t be scared when they make mistakes. And you can’t allow the mistakes that they make to put fear in your heart for not calling that play the next time, because without that there is no growth.”
Wide receiver Rashod Bateman did not participate in the second half of 11-on-11 practices. From my notes, he didn’t appear to participate in yesterday’s second-half portion of the same drills. He did participate in the first half of them on both days, however.
Highlights
After a multi-interception practice from quarterback Lamar Jackson on Day 1, he had zero in today’s practice. At times it felt like he was playing pitch-and-catch with his tight ends, frequently connecting with Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar. According to my notes, the three collectively caught 10 passes from Jackson. There were more from backup quarterback Josh Johnson, too.
The Ravens are testing wide receivers Tylan Wallace, Malik Cunningham and Sean Ryan. Both Wallace and Cunningham are getting frequent reps with Jackson and the first-team. Wallace had a solid day, though there were a few blemishes with two drops, one in 7-on-7 and another during 11-on-11, and he was called for a false start. The false start was questionable as defensive lineman Justin Madubuike jumped over the line and even he believed he was the one getting called until Wallace ran his false start lap around the field.
Rashod Bateman went 0-for-2 on deep ball opportunities. The first was an mildly overthrown ball from Jackson that was overhead and nigh-impossible to track as he was being covered by cornerback Trayvon Mullen. The second was a throw to the end zone from Johnson. Bateman bobbled the ball and in brutal fashion cornerback Ka’dar Hollman came up with the ball for the interception.
Inside linebacker Trenton Simpson delivered another respectable practice. In the early portion of 11-on-11 he nearly had an interception on Jackson, leaping up to make the pick. Instead, he tipped it up and still managed to land in the arms of wide receiver Zay Flowers, the intended target for the pass, 8-yards further downfield. Along with the tipped ball, Simpson had multiple tackles for loss weaving through traffic in run defense. On one he flew to the outside to stop the stretch run. He blitzed through a gap on a pass rush and you could argue he got to Jackson. The speed of Simpson and recognition has been on display. And with each successful rep, teammate Roquan Smith has yelled and cheered Simpson’s name.
Likely has delivered two straight leaping one-handed catch highlights in consecutive practices. On a couple overthrown balls, the 6-foot-4 tight end has displayed his athleticism, climbing the ladder and making the grab.
Defensive lineman Travis Jones has won a few reps over the past two days and found his way into the backfield. On one play he chased down Jackson who split back up the middle to scramble and Jones roared at him, sparking laughter from cornerback Arthur Maulet.
Madubuike was disruptive in practice, but on no play more than a 4th & 2 where he swatted the ball at the line and the defense got off the field.
Undrafted rookie wide receiver Isaiah Washington has been making one big play per practice in training camp. Yesterday, he snared a 20-yard completion, toe-tapping the sideline. Today, he high-pointed a ball on 4th & goal from the 10-yard line and managed to get his second foot down and clip the pylon before falling out of bounds. The official signaled touchdown to the chagrin of the defensive backs arguing Washington didn’t get his second foot down.
Washington’s 4th down touchdown was proceeded by Johnson connecting with undrafted rookie tight end Mike Rigerman’s 4th & 4 reception to keep the drive alive. He broke free of coverage to move the chains on a critical catch.