Camp Notes: Defense & Off-Field News Dominate the Day

The biggest news out of Ravens training camp today was that offensive line coach, Joe D’Alessandris, is going to be out dealing with an acute illness that is has come about as a complication from a surgery he had in the offseason. It would be unfair to speculate anything beyond that but it certainly sounds serious and Coach Harbaugh had a somber tone when speaking about it.

He also announced that former Texans coach, George Warhop, will now coach the offensive line. Harbaugh mentioned that they played against each other in college and has great respect for Warhop as a coach.

We also heard about the car accident that Mark Andrews was in today. Harbaugh said it was a pretty bad accident but that Andrews is fine and that everyone is thankful for that.

On the field, practice started off with special teams working on the new kickoff. It’ll be interesting to see if the Ravens can extend their special teams advantage. At least one observer is optimistic on that front.

.@Ravens spent alot of time on this new KOR and its rules. This play will determine the outcome of many games this season. #BaldysPredictions #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/mZw57nfC4y

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 14, 2024

Eventually we got into 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s. The defense dominated the day for the most part. Lamar Jackson was intercepted twice, including a ball that Kyle Hamilton tipped up and dove for to get the pick. There were also several pre-snap penalties.  We saw some dropped passes and one play where Lamar threw an out to Rashod Bateman where the WR wasn’t even looking. That can happen but with the chemistry issues these two have previously had, you would prefer to not see that.  We also saw very little room for the running game.

On a positive offensive note, Isaiah Likely was everywhere today and was very tough to guard in any drills. With Mark Andrews out, Lamar certainly was looking for him and Likely was catching everything and was seemingly wide open quite often.

Harbaugh commented that the full pads practice was very physical.

I will continue to harp on the backup QB position, as I just don’t see anyone out there capable of beating NFL teams without a lot of luck. The Ravens will need to address this obvious issue.

All in all, it was a pretty uneventful practice – which of course could be looked at as a good thing, in a way – where the defense won the day.

The post Camp Notes: Defense & Off-Field News Dominate the Day appeared first on Russell Street Report.