Mike Preston’s Ravens observations on QB Lamar Jackson’s improvement, roster battles and more | COMMENTARY

The Ravens’ offense was missing a handful of notable players Tuesday, but the quarterback play was better than it was a week ago.

There are expected to be some problems and delays in development as new offensive coordinator Todd Monken installs his scheme, but the Ravens appeared to pick up the pace Tuesday afternoon.

Starting quarterback Lamar Jackson has developed some chemistry with wide receiver Nelson Agholor, connecting with the veteran on several back-shoulder throws despite tight coverage.

In years past, Jackson seldom threw those types of patterns. He also has his timing down on intermediate outside routes. Jackson’s passes were high and tight Tuesday, and very seldom did he throw behind the receivers.

In the past, the Ravens failed to attack the outside of the field on passing plays. It might have been because of Jackson’s inaccuracy or former offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s lack of trust in Jackson’s arm strength, but at least Monken seems to be adding those concepts.

Jackson also seems to have better footwork than a year ago dropping back to pass, which should make him a more effective dual threat as a runner and a passer.

That, of course, will be nullified if the Ravens can’t run the ball effectively.

Defense delivers

The Ravens have a nice wrinkle with both defensive end Justin Madubuike and outside linebacker David Ojabo lined up on the same side. Both have good speed and quickness, which helps create mismatches on stunts in passing situations.

Ojabo has a strong spin move, and there isn’t much wasted motion when he is running toward a quarterback. A scary moment happened Tuesday, however, when both Ojabo and fellow outside linebacker Odafe Oweh executed spin moves but then tripped over each other meeting at the quarterback.

Coach John Harbaugh wasted little time lecturing the team about the importance of staying off the ground in practice drills.

High praise for Andrews

Tight end Mark Andrews didn’t walk onto the field until there were 45 minutes remaining in practice. With some players, that might cause concern, but Andrews is the only player in Ravens history who could rival Hall of Fame middle linebacker Ray Lewis when it comes to work ethic.

They both practice hard on every play. The biggest difference is that there is limited contact during practices now. Throughout most of his career, Lewis was allowed to hit anything that moved.

And he did.

Red zone target

I’m starting to see more of tight end Isaiah Likely on the outside matching up with smaller cornerbacks, and he had one of those back-shoulder receptions from Jackson in practice.

This isn’t the first time Monken has put Likely on the outside, and it won’t be the last. At 6 feet 4 and 241 pounds, he is a big target inside the red zone.

Left guard battle

It will be interesting to see if the Ravens sign another offensive lineman before the season starts. They need a starter at left guard, and right now the top candidate might be second-year player Daniel Faalele.

Faalele played left tackle at Minnesota but he is more athletic than third-year guard Ben Cleveland, who played for Monken at Georgia.

Wide receiver competition heats up

Keep an eye on the competition among the wide receivers in training camp. General manager Eric DeCosta wanted some of the players he drafted in recent years such as Rashod Bateman, James Proche II, Devin Duvernay and Tylan Wallace to be more involved in the passing game, but that hasn’t happened.

This offseason, the Ravens signed free agents Odell Beckham Jr., Laquon Treadwell and Agholor and drafted Zay Flowers out of Boston College in the first round.

Of the drafted players, only Duvernay has played well so far in voluntary workouts open to the media, which means some careers will be on the line in training camp.

Future at linebacker

While on that subject, it will be interesting to see what the Ravens do with fourth-year outside linebacker Malik Harrison. When the Ravens drafted Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson in the third round in April, there was speculation that it might signal the end of Patrick Queen’s career in Baltimore after this season.

But Harrison, out of Ohio State, needs to step up his game as well. Like Queen, he is in his fourth season, which means it’s time to either step up or step back.

The prediction here is that Queen is going to ball out and make a lot of money somewhere as a free agent.

A little pushing and shoving

There was a brief tussle late in practice when rookie wide receiver Sean Ryan and rookie cornerback Corey Mayfield Jr. got into a little pushing contest as the Ravens ran their hurry-up offense.

It wasn’t much of a fight, but it’s nice to see the competition get a little heated. No Ravens made more of a big deal out of a fight than former outside linebackers Terrell Suggs and Jarret Johnson, who would often rush in as if it was a major brawl.

It never was.

The best training camp fight in Ravens history happened in 1996, when special teams ace Bennie Thompson threw three vicious uppercuts at running back Earnest Hunter and then threw his helmet into orbit before it landed on the next practice field.

Ah, those were the days.

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