OTL: One More Fake Game Stands Between Us and Real Football

Welcome back Ravens Flock. Baltimore and the Washington Commanders had just a single joint practice and then walk-throughs as they prepare for the third and final game of the preseason. Today, we’ll talk about one player that has raised his stock a ton over camp, another I am so thankful for and can’t wait to see, and finally we’ll appreciate what we have now in our shiny new head coach.

First let’s get to that player on defense that has seen his prospects climb a great deal this summer:

Jesse Minter showing some emotion in today’s joint practice. Aeneas Peebles gets home for sack of Sam Hartman and an elated Minter immediately daps up Peebles on the field. Officials let play go and Hartman tossed it harmlessly over Ravens sideline.

— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) August 26, 2026

For those of you who don’t know, this means something to me man. I was a huge fan of Aeneas Peebles in the leadup to last year’s draft and was stoked when the Ravens called his name. While he flashed rushing the passer at times during his rookie season, it seemed like perhaps the old staff didn’t like his run defense, or something else was going on because there were plenty of weeks where he was a healthy scratch. Considering how starved the team was for anything resembling a pass rush last year, it was shocking to see how uninterested the Harbs regime was in Peebles. Now, to be fair, he wasn’t a good run defender in college, and was always going to take time to develop. Still, seeing the staff treat him how they did really rubbed me the wrong way.

Was it perhaps just the typical Harbs “tough love” toward rookies we saw for nearly 20 years? Certainly. But man, this is player who could actually give you the one thing you need at defensive line when the majority of time the opposing quarterback could make a sandwich and call relatives in the pocket with how much time he had to throw.

Ah well. As Rafiki from The Lion King reminds us, “it’s in the past.”

That was then and this is now, and Peebles has done everything in his power to show that he has a role on this team. This is especially big, because we are no closer to getting a timeline on Mads and they could really use Peebles’ rush ability in the meantime.

Moving on from potential that’s yet to be tapped at all, to some more that has perhaps just scratched the surface of greatness….

Sheeeeeeeesh pic.twitter.com/Q5jXzGLcFf

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 26, 2026

The best thing we can say about Kyle Hamilton is that not even the stink of Zach Orr that consumed everything good about this once dominant defense could stop him. Whether you consider him a pure Safety or not, Kyle Hamilton is spectacular and it seems that how he will play in this Minter defense is going to be special. We’ve talked about the Minter-Hamilton pairing since back in January when Jesse was hired, and now as seeing it on the field in anger for the first time is so close we can smell it, I couldn’t be more excited.

About that defense that Minter is running:

The offense has been very impressed by Coach Minter’s defense

Tonight on Wired: pic.twitter.com/pClDByln9h

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 27, 2026

Just about every single report from camp this year has been about how dominating the defense has been. We then saw it in the first two preseason games. We watched the Vikings and Commanders struggle to move the ball in joint practices. A Washington reporter said it might be the worst they can remember that offense looking. Yeah, this might be special.

There is a part of me that wants to set my expectations lower. First-year head coaches take time to develop. Even Mike Mac had to get through a year of mediocrity to get his defense up and running In Seattle. But man…these reports and what we have seen from the even second- and third-stringers just calms my worries.

I love how physical the defense is in these games as everyone just flies to the football and plays with a ferocity that is reminiscent of the Ravens of old.

When they hired Minter, the Ravens wanted someone who could bring back the organization’s defensive aura. Minter really seems like the man for the job.

One more fake game and then we get serious as we prepare for the Colts. Football is almost here Flock. We got the right man for the job.

The post OTL: One More Fake Game Stands Between Us and Real Football appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/08/28/out-to-lunch/real-football-commanders/