Happy Thursday, Flock. Back again filling in for the vacationing Darin in today’s Out to Lunch c/o Royal Farms. Let’s see what the buzz is as the Ravens prepare to host the Browns and Bengals in a five-day span that could go a long, long way toward defining their 2023 season.
Putting the immediate future on hold for a moment, we start today with a look into the past. Specifically, in the days when Ravens-Steelers was REALLY Ravens-Steelers. Remember Rashard Mendenhall? Pittsburgh drafted the Illini running back 23rd overall in 2008, the same year the Ravens took Ray Rice in the second round. In Week 4 of that season, the Ravens traveled to Pittsburgh for Monday Night Football (of course they did), and we heard in the run-up to the contest that friends Mendenhall and Rice had been texting about the upcoming game, exchanging a little bit of smack talk.
We then heard that the Ravens defense was using that as bulletin board material to get hyped up for the tilt. Ray Lewis, especially, took things to heart, and ended up breaking Mendenhall’s shoulder at the start of the third quarter.
This week, Rashard was on the show Raw Room, and discussed it all, including something I’d never heard about, the Steelers’ “Ray Rule.”
Rashard Mendenhall talking about the Steelers' "Ray Rule." #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/T6UlyAhcWZ
— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) November 8, 2023
And on the hit that broke his shoulder.
"Wrapped my corvette around a tree" pic.twitter.com/HZgllEMmSJ
— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) November 8, 2023
Here’s the whole clip on YouTube, which is well worth your 10 minutes (caution: NSFW language):
In more recent news, and as long as you’ve got your headphones on so your boss/kids don’t hear the cussing, check out former NFL linebacker Chris Long (Howie’s son, you remember him) talking about Ravens guard John Simpson.
Gotta give the big men some love👊 #ravens #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/KqR6oOmuMz
— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) November 7, 2023
The OL has been doing work, and while we heard a lot about Tyler Linderbaum‘s dominance, and know all about the quiet competence of Kevin Zeitler, Morgan Moses, & Pat Mekari – and sometimes Ronnie Stanley – John Simpson seems like the unsung hero. It’s nice to see him get some flowers. They’ll have their work cut out for them over the coming weeks, so here’s to more pancake highlights.
You want more pancake talk? I know you do. How about Pancake Pat?!
Patrick Ricard is pivotal to @Ravens success on offense
-is he a 300lb tight end?
-is he a 300lb fullback?
-are they playing with a 6th OL?His versatility promotes others’ versatility#nfllive pic.twitter.com/QGEnh54ZSB
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 8, 2023
Many expected Pat Ricard to have no role in the new offense when Todd Monken was hired. To the contrary, Monken has integrated the fullback ingeniously, moving him all around as a position-less bowling ball to open holes wherever they’re required. Great job, Todd!
Alright, I feel flattened like a Ravens counter play just came my way, so that’s it for today. Keep refreshing RSR in the coming days, as we’ve got Bold Predictions, Battle Plans, The Back Door Cover betting blog, fantasy advice, and plenty more on deck.
3 Responses
Speaking of Ricard, the NFL must rescind the fine on him for blocking up the middle on a run play. What are they thinking? Unnecessary roughness on a fullback leading the way? They need to take back the fine and apologize in person to him on national TV.
Them fining Ricard for that play should make the news. That the NFL is robbing their own players. I hope this get ls more attention from the media.
I am completely confused about Ricard’s fine. I see Linderbaum and Simpson doing similar work. This is the run game. The run game works when blocking works. The fine is wrong and it sends the wrong message. The NFL needs to rescind the fine and it’s accusation.