Today the Ravens have a walk-thru to prepare for the Titans who visit The Bank tomorrow night. Among the things I’ll be focused upon are…
Ja’Wuan James! If Ronnie Stanley isn’t ready to go for the opener against the Jets, James is likely to get the call. He had a decent afternoon of practice on Tuesday. He used his hands well to keep oncoming defenders at length and steered them effectively away from the quarterback. When he gets in trouble it’s usually because the defender is up in his grill pushing him back towards the pocket. I want to see how he does in game action, something he hasn’t experienced since 2019.
Daelin Hayes just hasn’t been able to pick up where he left off last summer. He’s been hesitant during camp. He plays with an almost overconcern for the edge when his keys should tell him to rush the passer. Instead of read and react, he plays like it’s read, read, react. And by then, it’s usually too late for him to make any noteworthy plays. I’d like to see Daelin Hayes, circa 2021.
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Jeremiah Moon will be a guy to watch on against the Titans. He comes off the edge with authority and has decent body-bend. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds to the position when the opponent introduces the threat of running plays designed to expose such tendencies. His disregard of the run is obvious during practice. But who knows? There will be a full moon in the sky on Thursday. Perhaps there will be one on the field as well.
Practices during camp consist of roughly 90% pass plays and there is no tackling. So it’s really difficult to determine how the running backs are doing and equally difficult to determine how the interior of the defense is performing. Thursday we’ll get a chance to see which of the backs can avoid or break tackles and how players like Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison are progressing. The interior defensive line has been impressive when collapsing the pocket. Defending the run adds a challenge. How they embrace the challenge will be fun to watch.
Most importantly, the hope is that the players can get their work in while avoiding the injury bug – a bug that has infested Baltimore far too often during the past 12 months.
The Ravens have an NFL-record 20-game preseason win streak. They are listed as 3 ½ point favorites over Mike Vrabel and the Titans – a team whose trustworthiness is on par with Deshaun Watson in a massage parlor. The over/under is set quite low at 31 1/2. I have no idea how this is going to go. But one thing I would caution – don’t get over-dramatically concerned about preseason failures or triumphs. This is just part of the process to get ready for the regular season. It’s a building block. It’s a mirage. It’s not an indicator of success during the regular season. It’s part of the preparation. That’s all.
The 20-fake wins in a row mean nothing.
But body language might. Just ask the talking heads on 105.7 The Fan.
The best preseason moment of all time 🤣 pic.twitter.com/LG9ZtkZJXi
— @sportmicdup on Instagram 🗣 (@Sportmicdup) August 8, 2022
