3 Questions after Day 11 of Ravens training camp: Has Baltimore found a new starting cornerback?
A new week, a new whole set of practices. That's all that is in your superheroes' brains, those decked in Baltimore Ravens' gear is what I meant, as the Flock took to the field at the Under Armour Performance Center on Monday for Day 11 of training camp.
After closing last week early on Saturday and spending Sunday off the field with their families and friends, the Ravens returned to do what they're paid for on Monday just mere days (days!!) separating the team from their first pre-season game against the Philadelphia Eagles next weekend.
The last time we watched the guys doing it out there at The Castle, it was ugly. Only for the offense, of course, as the defense thrived and intercepted the Ravens' trio of QBs nine times on Saturday on a day schemed for the D-men to win everything.
The script was flipped by the coaches on Monday, as the plays ran yesterday were mostly set up on third-and-short situations and the like, which clearly favored the offense all afternoon long.
Here are the most interesting storylines that popped up through Day 11 of the Baltimore Ravens training camp.
1. A day off fixed it all! So is the Ravens offense that bad or is it this good?
As already introduced above, Monday was a day in which the offense had everything going their way. Saturday fell on the defensive side of the scheme (third-and-long situations) so the coaches gave some breathing room to the offense to kick this week off and the unit delivered the goodies.
Having thrown four interceptions on Saturday alone, Lamar Jackson had "his most accurate passing performance" on Monday according to Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner.
The beat reporter wrote in his practice report that "Unofficially, [Jackson] went 18-for-22 in team drills, including 6-for-8 in seven-on-seven situations and 12-for-14 in 11-on-11 work."
Not only did Jackson level up, but also reserve quarterbacks Tyler Huntley and Josh Johnson "avoided throwing a pick."
Writing our "3 Questions" column last Sunday, we pointed out how just a freaky type of outing by the offense, let alone one in which the defense was clearly given a big advantage, shouldn't be reason enough for panicking about the offense.
Perhaps it's been overhyped, perhaps not, but following Monday's practice, we should not fall for it and think everything is now fixed either.
The training camp is exactly that, a lot of practices spread over a month-long period in which the team (both the offense and the defense) just keeps working trying to get everything right in time for the regular season.
Until the ball gets rolling in September, don't lose your time drawing nonsensical and rushed conclusions that will, most probably, go for nothing when real and meaningful games arrive in a month.