The Ravens opened training camp Wednesday in Owings Mills. Here’s what you need to know.

Attendance

Did not participate: Running back J.K. Dobbins (physically unable to perform list), fullback Patrick Ricard (hip, PUP list), wide receiver Rashod Bateman (soreness, PUP list), wide receiver Makai Polk, outside linebacker Tyus Bowser (soreness, non-football-injury list), cornerback Damarion Williams (ankle, PUP list) and cornerback Trayvon Mullen (NFI list)

Left early: Cornerback Jordan Swann

Notes: Coach John Harbaugh said after practice that Bateman, who missed mandatory minicamp while recovering from Lisfranc (foot) surgery, and Bowser, who had a knee flare-up before minicamp and was limping as he reported to camp Tuesday, are dealing with soreness unrelated to recent season-ending injuries. Bateman underwent his Lisfranc surgery last year, while Bowser recovered from a torn Achilles tendon. Harbaugh said their recovery timetables are “reasonable” but declined to specify when they might return.

Dobbins, wearing sweats, came out to watch approximately the last half-hour of practice alongside team owner Steve Bisciotti, President Sashi Brown and general manager Eric DeCosta. Despite also having missed mandatory minicamp, Dobbins appeared on good terms with the Ravens officials. “There’s always a lot of things that go into football,” Harbaugh said of his absence, “but there’s some complexity to it and we’re working through all that.”

Swann, an undrafted rookie, left practice with an athletic trainer after an early special teams period. He did not return.

Offense

• The Ravens’ faster tempo under new coordinator Todd Monken was hard to ignore. The play clock rarely approached five seconds, and the offense typically lined up with about 15 to 20 seconds remaining.
• Unofficially, quarterback Lamar Jackson finished 19-for-23 in team drills, completing 13 of 16 attempts in 11-on-11 work and all but one of seven throws in seven-on-seven work. Jackson started practice by going 15-for-16.
• Jackson completed passes to eight targets: wide receiver Zay Flowers (six), tight end Mark Andrews (four), wide receiver James Proche II (three), wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (two), wide receiver Nelson Agholor, tight end Isaiah Likely, running back Gus Edwards and running back Justice Hill. Every player Jackson targeted caught at least one pass.
• Flowers caught all six of his targets from Jackson, including three in a row. In their first 11-on-11 session, the rookie grabbed a pass in the flat and then beat cornerback Marlon Humphrey on an out route for another completion. In the second 11-on-11 period, he came open on a shallow crossing pattern to help salvage a broken play. Most of Flowers’ work came on short and intermediate routes; he wasn’t targeted on any shot plays downfield, as he regularly was at Boston College.
• Flowers enlivened the 90-minute practice about midway through team drills after an innocuous-looking catch over the middle. With inside linebacker Roquan Smith closing in on the dump-off — but unable to do much in a noncontact setting — Flowers froze the All-Pro with a juke, then accelerated past him as a crowd of onlookers oohed. Jackson joked afterward that Flowers’ nickname should be Joystick.
• Beckham delivered perhaps the day’s best highlight, though. In Jackson’s first seven-on-seven period, the wide receiver struggled to separate downfield on a vertical route against cornerback Rock Ya-Sin. But, as Jackson’s pass started to arrive, with Ya-Sin’s back still turned to the ball, Beckham appeared to time his jump early, throwing off Ya-Sin’s coverage as he looked to locate the pass. That gave Beckham the separation he needed to make a catch along the right sideline.
• Tight end Charlie Kolar, who missed training camp last year while recovering from sports hernia surgery, caught a pass about 20 yards downfield from quarterback Josh Johnson, who threw him open with a back-shoulder delivery. Undrafted rookie safety Jaquan Amos was powerless to stop it.
• Proche, a perennial standout in camp, made up for a disappointing minicamp with an active Wednesday. He featured prominently in the Ravens’ presnap motion and was targeted in the flat and on the perimeter several times.
• Wide receiver Shemar Bridges, a fan favorite last year after a strong preseason, had a couple of drops.
• Quarterback Tyler Huntley had what likely would’ve been the longest run of the practice, springing free on a read-option keeper, with fullback/tight end Ben Mason as his downfield escort.
• Undrafted rookie running back Keaton Mitchell had a one-handed catch to bring in a pass to the flat, a hot zone for Ravens running backs Wednesday.
• Rookie offensive lineman Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu continued to work with the first-string offensive line, just as the sixth-round pick did during minicamp. “That’s something he’s earned, because of what he’s done since he’s been here so far,” Harbaugh said. John Simpson and Ben Cleveland are also in the mix at left guard.

Defense

• Kyle Hamilton didn’t have an interception during his standout rookie year, but he didn’t wait long to pick off Jackson. In his first camp practice paired with fellow starting safety Marcus Williams, Hamilton had the defense’s best play, ranging over to high-point a pass to Agholor in a seven-on-seven period. Ya-Sin had the play well covered down the right sideline, freeing Hamilton to grab the floating pass. The Ravens’ starting safeties were otherwise quiet, a good sign on a day of few deep completions.
• Safety Geno Stone came up with the defense’s other pick Wednesday, though his was all but gift-wrapped. In 11-on-11 action, Johnson lofted a short pass over a crowded pocket, perhaps targeting a tight end or running back leaking out. Stone, watching Johnson from close to the line of scrimmage, settled under the ball comfortably and returned it the other way.
• Inside linebacker Malik Harrison reached his arm around Kolar, who was running a curl route, to break up a pass in Huntley’s first 11-on-11 session.
• Working against right tackle Morgan Moses, outside linebacker Odafe Oweh had a would-be sack in Jackson’s second 11-on-11 session, but he stopped short of Jackson, who soon thereafter found Flowers over the middle.
• Monken tested the defense with a handful of reverses and misdirection, but the Ravens were always in good position to string out the runs and force ballcarriers to the sideline.

jonas.shaffer@thebaltimorebanner.com

Jonas Shaffer

jonas.shaffer@thebaltimorebanner.com

Jonas Shaffer is a Ravens beat writer for The Baltimore Banner. He previously covered the Ravens for The Baltimore Sun. Shaffer graduated from the University of Maryland and grew up in Silver Spring. 

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