Home opener week & Happy Purple Friday!
Show us how you're rocking your purple today for a chance to win a $50 Fanatics gift card 👇 pic.twitter.com/cmuVU4dgwR
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 16, 2022
Happy Purple Friday, flock! As we know, when the Ravens gear comes out we’re only a few more sleeps away from the birds taking the field yet again, and this time the message is clear: REVENGE!
The Miami Dolphins come to town on Sunday for the home opener at M&T Bank Stadium, and you can bet the players and fans haven’t forgotten what took place on that ugly Thursday night last year in South Beach. Between Sammy Watkins losing the ball in the lights and capping it off with a crucial late fumble, and seeing Lamar Jackson under massive pressure on every play, it’s a no-brainer for top 5 worst Ravens games in the Jackson era. Now, we know you can’t live in your past failures, but you can certainly use them as motivation the next time those same guys are lined up across from you. So with that said, let’s dive into the last minute news and notes before the Ravens have themselves a good old fashioned Sunday fish fry.
Lamar Jackson's shortlist of teams could mean trouble for Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoahttps://t.co/Cl8XXF7Z34
— Hussam Patel (@HussamPatel) September 15, 2022
We’ll start with our daily dose of ridiculous Lamar Jackson rumors. As someone who is still relatively new to the world of sports writing (2.5 yrs), I usually try to keep my opinion of other writers’ work to myself. With that said, sometimes you just have to call out the BS when you see it.
It’s okay. We know who the “source” is. pic.twitter.com/ajO3R5VUl9
— Adam Bonaccorsi (@AdamBMore) September 16, 2022
In an article loaded with assumptions and fake sources, there was not one piece of credibly backed information here. It’s quite funny how the Adam Schefter’s and Ian Rapoports of the world never reported things such as “the Ravens altered Jackson’s contract offer right as he was going to sign on Sept 5.” and “The Dolphins are on Jackson’s short list”, but this random guy wants us to believe he somehow has the inside scoop. Sad reporting, and exactly the type of thing I’m glad we’re coached to not do here at Russell Street Report.
Ravens: DNP: TE Nick Boyle (vet day), WR James Proche (groin), FB Patrick Ricard (calf), OT Ronnie Stanley (ankle), DB Brandon Stephens (quad).
Limited: CB Marlon Humphrey (groin)
Full: RB J.K. Dobbins (knee), DT Travis Jones (knee), CB Marcus Peters (knee).— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 15, 2022
It’s a mixed bag of injury news for the Ravens as we head into Sunday’s game against the Dolphins. On one hand, we got a bit of a scare yesterday when it was announced that Marlon Humphrey was officially on the injury report with a groin issue. We also rejoiced in the fact that Marcus Peters logged his first full practice since returning from his ACL injury.
Brandon Stephens not logging much practice this week is also a concern, given that Kyle Fuller is lost for the year and Stephens is now the most likely candidate to see the lion’s share of those vacated snaps. With the secondary as a whole looking a little shaky at the moment, it’s going to be of the utmost importance for Mike Macdonald to scheme pressure and get the ball out of Tua Tagovailoa’s hand quickly. If he has time to sit back and find Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle all afternoon, it’s going to be a bad day in Baltimore on Sunday.
Ravens defensive linemen getting after it, with rookie DT Travis Jones taking part in drills. pic.twitter.com/H6hdU4TCmM
— Kyle Phoenix Barber (@KylePBarber) September 15, 2022
Travis Jones returning to practice is also a sight for sore eyes. It’s still unclear whether he’ll play any snaps on Sunday, although with the highly cautious approach we’ve seen the Ravens take with every player’s injuries this year, it would be a smart bet that they let him relax for one more week.
Ravens OC Greg Roman on watching film of last year’s game against Miami when the offense was held to 10 points: “It’s something you have to look at with cold-blooded mentality. You can’t get emotional about it.”
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) September 15, 2022
Ultimately though, this game should come down to one thing, can the Ravens handle the pressure? Not from a “big moment” perspective, but from a literal “we’re bringing 8 guys all day again, try to stop it” standpoint. Greg Roman seemed to indicate that they’ve got something up their sleeve should Miami go with the same approach, so we’ll see!
"I'm used to making plays… I imagine it. I write it down, put it on my goals list. When it happens in a game, I'm not really surprised." @MarcusWilliams pic.twitter.com/HR0pXmiOXv
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 16, 2022
Marcus Williams was undoubtedly a major impact player in week 1, and he’s only just getting started. Check out this interview he did with Cassie Calvert of the Ravens media team, where he breaks down the intricacies of Mike Macdonald’s defense, what he’s looking forward to most in his first game at The Bank wearing purple, and more!
[Related Article: Ravens v. Dolphins BOLD PREDICTIONS]
We’ll wrap up today with a double dose, the Ravens photo of the week AND clip of the week. It’s not Thursday, but let’s throw it back to 2017 anyway to the last time the Dolphins came to M&T Bank Stadium, or as we like to call it, “the Ryan Mallett game”.
The last time the Dolphins came to Baltimore? Week 8, 2017 — A 40-0 Ravens win 😤
LB CJ Mosley finished the game with the highest grade among all players — 92.3 🥇
pic.twitter.com/3HsMWUaAA5— PFF BAL Ravens (@PFF_Ravens) September 15, 2022
