Tuesday brought welcome news for Baltimore Ravens fans, as recently re-signed franchise QB Lamar Jackson made his first appearance back at the Under Armor Performance Center for Day 2 of 2023 OTAs.
Lamar Jackson reported to the Ravens on Tuesday, a day before the start of Baltimore's second organized team activity, a source told ESPN’s @jamisonhensley:https://t.co/QzBVxNepWE
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 23, 2023
I’m told Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is at the facility ahead of Day 2 of OTAs.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) May 23, 2023
There was a lot made of nothing when Jackson didn’t show for the first day, but Baltimore’s confidence that he would be back by the end of the week was enough for me to know it was a non-issue. However, it will be integral for the signal-caller to develop a rapport with his new receivers and grow within new OC Todd Monken’s new offense. OTAs are the first chance Jackson has to do that.
If he is able to, he could find his way moving up MLFootball’s Power Rankings for quarterbacks, the first installment of which was released yesterday:
#NFL starting quarterbacks power rankings 1.0:
1) #Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes
2) #Bengals, Joe Burrow
3) #Eagles Jalen Hurts
4) #Bills, Josh Allen
5) #Chargers, Justin Herbert
6) #Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence
7) #Ravens, Lamar Jackson
8) #Jets, Aaron Rodgers
9) #Vikings, Kirk Cousins…— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) May 23, 2023
I have a problem with Jackson being behind Trevor Lawrence here, but understand that may be more of a projection for this season than anything else. At the same time, I’m projecting Jackson for his biggest season since 2019, health permitting.
Alongside their QB Power Rankings, MLFootball also ranked the NFL Head Coaches for 2023, and in this one, I feel Baltimore’s representative is a bit too high:
#NFL head coaches power rankings:
1) #Patriots, Bill Belichick
2) #Chiefs, Andy Reid
3) #Steelers, Mike Tomlin
4) #Seahawks, Pete Carroll
5) #Ravens John Harbaugh
6) #Rams, Sean McVay
7) #Jaguars, Doug Pederson
8) #49ers, Kyle Shanahan
9) #Bengals, Zac Taylor
10) #Broncos,…— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) May 23, 2023
Let’s not forget, Ravens fans were clamoring for Harbaugh to be let go before Jackson took over for Joe Flacco, and at that time, things weren’t looking great. I think Harbaugh is a very good Head Coach, but I don’t know that he’s ahead of names like Sean McDermott, Sean Payton or Doug Peterson.
Still, as a players’ coach, Harbaugh should be great handling the internal locker room issues. On Tuesday, former Ravens Safety Chuck Clark spoke out in a manner that would suggest the opposite:
"I was ready to get out of there. The things that were said to me…I wasn't being respected."
Chuck Clark on being traded from the Ravens to the Jets: pic.twitter.com/b7KATurBub
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) May 23, 2023
After leaving, numerous players have called Baltimore a first-class organization in the past, so this is a shock coming from a player that wore the green dot on defense. For many, he was the unsung hero of the unit, playing 100% of snaps across the 2022 season.
Actions speak louder than words, and here's how Clark was treated by the Ravens in 2022:
– played 100% of the team's defensive snaps
– held onto the green dot as the playcaller
– praised by coaches and media for being a consummate pro and teammate after Hamilton was drafted https://t.co/xhHiCT69rd— Nikhil Mehta (@nmehtaUR2022) May 23, 2023
There’s a stark contrast between Clark’s sentiment about the Ravens now and at the end of the season, too:
Chuck Clark on January 16th on the Ravens:
“This is the team that drafted me, I’ve been here all my career, I’m comfortable here”
Chuck Clark on May 23rd:
“I was ready to get out of there…the things that were said to me…I wasn’t being respected”
pic.twitter.com/kSAmczIWIR— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) May 23, 2023
That doesn’t sound like someone who felt massively disrespected, but at the same time, this kind of outburst isn’t unheard of. Like Dev says here, not every former player shares others’ complete satisfaction with the team.
I have no issues with what Chuck Clark had to say. Saw similar comments from Kelechi Osemele, throwing shade at the time he left. The #Ravens are a first-class organization. We all know it. Doesn’t mean every player (or employee) is leaving a 5 star Glassdoor review.
— Dev Panchwagh (@devpanchwagh) May 23, 2023
Ultimately, I think the split came at the right time for both sides.
Moving on to a few quick hits, now. First, the NFL voted a second time on making fair catches on kickoffs automatic touchbacks, but Baltimore was one of the few teams to maintain their vote against the rule change.
The vote on the kickoff touchback rule was 26-5-1, per sources. The Ravens, Patriots, Bengals, Bears and Lions voted against it, and the Raiders abstained. The proposal wasn't close to passing Monday. Roger Goodell lobbied hard for it overnight, and flipped a bunch of teams.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 24, 2023
For the sake of purely watching football, I’d be against this ruling. That said, I absolutely understand why it’s getting closer and closer to being passed.
Next, for a little fun, Ravens rookies attempted to guess whether quotes were written by Edgar Allen Poe or were said on HBO’s The Wire. Watch below for a good laugh:
Edgar Allan Poe or The Wire? 🤔
Harder than you'd think 😂 pic.twitter.com/hWEu5K8EFr
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) May 23, 2023
For me, it was shocking how few had heard of The Wire.
Lastly, in a bit more somber news, I wanted to plug a fundraiser for the late Charles “Hotboy Chuckie” Robinson, III, who tragically passed over the weekend. An active member of the Ravens Twitter community and by all accounts a tremendous person, this fundraiser was organized by his family and is worthy of a donation:
Hey #Ravens fans – as I mentioned, this was organized by Chucks family and it’s legit.
Chuck was a good dude who was a ton of fun to interact with. Let’s try and help his loved ones out.#RavensFlock https://t.co/o0l6cbxYWy
— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) May 23, 2023
6 Responses
Bad idea for a late round pick to burn bridges. After the next place treats you bad you may look for a safe place to land and make a return, only to find your old team to be totally over you. It NEVER pays to burn a bridge.
It is tough for a lot of these thin skin players to be told there are some player on the team that they consider better and have a higher ceiling no matter how hard or how much they give to the team. That is the business of competitive sports. I guess he forgot that all the teams that sorta of disrespected him by passing him in the draft that many rounds but hey he got paid a lot more than most of us so call respected people at our job are paid.
Exactly what bridge did Clark burn? He asked to leave and Eric DeCosta obliged. The Ravens signed the best F.A. safety on the market and then drafted a top 5 talent at the same position when Hamilton inexplicably fell to the Ravens at at 14. What were they supposed to do? Ask for Clark’s permission? Nah, this sounds more like a little bit of self motivation going on here, possibly aided and abetted by his current D.C. who also left the Ravens by mutual agreement. Nothing to see here.
I didn’t see a single media person or blogger make an issue of Lamar not being at the first day of OTA so don’t know where this claim came from: “There was a lot made of nothing when Jackson didn’t show for the first day.” As for Chuck, how would you feel if the boss hired someone to replace you? We’ll see how that turns, whether Hamilton/Williams is a marked improvement. Too early to tell. Let’s not be naive that just because the Ravens are a good organization everything they do smells like roses.
Lamar not being there day 1 was actually a topic on one of the talk shows on Fox Sports TV network. It was also discussed by one of the major sites on Instagram.
Ah ok, thanks!