3 Questions after Day 15 of Ravens training camp: Soft walkthrough, hard injury news?

Following their first preseason matchup last Saturday, the Ravens regrouped at The Castle in Owings Mills, Md. to initiate the first training session of the fourth week of camp, marking the 15th overall in their camp. The team's focus is now set on a showdown against the Washington Nationals on Monday with two joint-practice sessions coming on back-to-back days Tuesday and Wednesday.

Observers watching at the Under Armour Performance Center yesterday recounted that Monday's practice could be seen as a purposeful warm-up session, aimed at recovering from Saturday's effort and gearing up for the added physicality that practicing against another franchise will bring the next two days.

The standout highlight of the day by a mile was undoubtedly J.K. Dobbins' comeback putting an end to his hold-in. Dobbins had not practiced throughout the past month, so his reappearance was a significant development.

The session primarily consisted of individual drills and mild interactions between the offensive and defensive units with little-to-no fierce battles between them and players decked in shorts and helmets.

Here are three questions worth asking following Day 15 of training camp ahead of the joint sessions against Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday before the two franchises meet each other on Week 2 of preseason next Monday.

1. Why did the Ravens hold a "soft" practice on a Monday?

While not officially announced by the Ravens, the writing was pretty much on the wall following the team's preseason debut taking place last Saturday.

Even though the guys spent Sunday off and Monday brought a new week of training with it, the fact that Day 15 coincided with the first practice coming off a football game (as meaningless and low-demanding as it was) and the fact that the squad will be facing players from another franchise on Tuesday and Wednesday made the coaches' decision very easy.

Expect things to ramp up heavily through the next couple of days, though. There will be no childish games when the Ravens and the Commanders square off on the practice field for the next couple of joint practices as both teams will want to come out as winners. Such is the competitiveness in the NFL.

2. Will bad injury news ever stop coming?

Head Coach John Harbaugh was the only member of the Ravens coaching staff scheduled to speak to reporters after practice and that's precisely what he did, touching on pretty much every topic of interest these days.

As expected, those attending Day 15 and allowed to ask Harbaugh questions presented him with more than a few chances to deal new nuggets of information to them, and the truth is that the news that came out of Harbaugh's mouth wasn't entirely encouraging.

Harbaugh said that the trio of backup CB Jalyn Armour-Davis ("real close"), starting CB2 Rock Ya-Sin ("not quite as close but still close"), and incumbent nickel Arthur Maulet ("real close, same category") are expected back practicing and playing soon.

One player that won't be reappearing any time soon is CB Damarion "Pepe" Williams, who coach Harbaugh revealed has undergone surgery of late and will be out until "October, maybe, something like that."

The coach made clear that Williams' injury "is not a season-ender," explaining that "the screw in [William's ankle], it caused the bone to crack a little bit and that’s something that does happen sometimes."

Finally, Harbaugh said that linebacker Tyus Bowser ("I know he will be back for the season") should be available in September ahead of Week 1 and that the coaches are just "being cautious." He added that Bowser's knee "looked the best it's looked" on Monday.

The Ravens offense also endured some bumps and bruises on Saturday, with James Proche and Tyler Huntley leaving the game banged-up a bit. Harbaugh revealed that Proche suffered "a hip contusion" while Huntley "has a minor hamstring tweak." None of those two injuries seem major.

3. J.K. Dobbins is back. What did he get from his hold-in?

If you spent Monday under a rock, allow me to break the news to you: J.K. Dobbins put an end to his hold-in and returned to practice at The Castle with the rest of his teammates and for the first time through training camp.

With Dobbins entering the final year under contract with Baltimore, speculation arose around the running back's dissatisfaction with his current deal and rookie terms, sitting out practices while still attending them and watching from the stands to try and force the Ravens' hand into offering him a better contract.

That, at least for now and as far as we know, hasn't been the case so Dobbins might have just come to his senses and returned to practice just to earn the contract he's chasing. Unless Dobbins can stay healthy for the full (or at least 15+ games) 2023 season and produce on par with his rumored demands, Baltimore won't budge.

Coach John Harbaugh said at the start of training camp that the situation had "some complexity" to it, and while Dobbins was added to the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) with a hamstring issue, nobody really bought that as the real reason why his name was listed on it.

Dobbins' unexplained absence spurred rumors of a "hold-in," basically to try and secure a better long-term deal with the team. Dobbins is about to earn nearly $1.4 million next season as part of his rookie contract with Baltimore.

Everybody was happy having Dobbins back training, Dobbins was in great spirits on Monday, and even when we watched him around The Castle in prior practices that was also the case as the rusher had been seen talking to coaches and other staff members of the Ravens throughout the first weeks of August.

Everything remains the same here, only now without any drama surrounding the player or the franchise. Win-win.

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