Ravens Training Camp News & Notes - Is It Time To Start Panicking About Joe Flacco?

Here we are, less than 2 weeks away from opening kickoff and there’s plenty of question marks in Baltimore. We’ve got a QB who hasn’t taken a single snap in practice, an onslaught of injuries seemingly on a daily basis, and a variety of starting roles still up for grabs. It’s not all bad though. We knew going into camp that this team has the potential to be a great defense, and they look every bit the part thus far. That alone gives me hope that this team can challenge Pittsburgh in the AFC North and make a playoff run. But they’ve still got a lot to figure out, starting with their QB…

Will Joe Flacco Start Week 1?

“I think I know,” Mornhinweg said. “At least, Joe thinks he knows when this will happen. So that way, I think I know. So, we think we know. Look it, if it’s before that or a little bit before — it probably not going to be much before — or a little bit after, we’ll adjust the plan. As long he’s back in a reasonable amount of time to prepare, I think we’ll just be fine there.”

Is that an impressive collection of verbal diarrhea or what? It’s the same kind of nonsense you used to hear from Ravens camp two years ago when we were dealing with Breshad Perriman. Their situations and injuries are apples and oranges, but the mystery and vagueness from the organization about their injuries have been all too similar. On August 11th, the team sent out a press release saying Joe would not be playing in any preseason games, but will still practice at some point and be ready come week 1. For whatever reason, they thought this would be enough to get reporters to stop doing their jobs by asking about his status. Much like with the weekly questions about Perriman, John Harbaugh has begun to snap back… and we never ended up seeing Perriman that year. Obviously I don’t think this is as dire a situation, but it doesn’t make me feel great about the situation as a whole.

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Having said that, I continue to say that this isn’t the end of the world. This defense is good enough to get this team by for a little while if need be. Sure, going into Cincy week 1 is a massive opportunity to get ahead of a division foe on the road early… but if we’re being 100% honest, Cincinnati is not really a place we’ve been winning with or without Joe anyway. You don’t like to lose a game like that with your QB on the shelf, but knowing they’ve got Cleveland at home in week 2 buys you another week to make sure Joe is good and healthy to play week 3 in London. Winning that game and the following week against Pittsburgh at home is of far more importance to the season as a whole. All I’m saying is, don’t rush Joe back just because you said you would. No need to be a hero. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

John Harbaugh Gets Extended Through 2018

Interesting timing to extend your head coach 13 days before the season, but I like the move a lot. I don’t think for a second that Harbaugh had any doubts about his job security, nor do I think he’s a man who would let it dictate his actions, but I think it’s a good vote of confidence for everybody to know that ownership is behind the head coach. Many could argue that an extension is less than deserved considering the Ravens have missed the playoffs 3 out of 4 years. While those are unsatisfactory results, I don’t think anybody in Baltimore genuinely believes Harbaugh is a bad football coach. The way I look at it is this. How many teams in the NFL would dump their head coaches tomorrow to get their hands on a Harbaugh? No less the one that has actually won a Super Bowl? Most would in a heartbeat. Those aren’t guys you let go, those are guys you keep around for as long as you can. So in that sense, this extension is too short. We’ll make it longer after a strong bounceback year.

Who’s Been Injured So Far?

While the Ravens have had their fair share of injuries so far this preseason, I feel as if it could be much worse. Some guys are banged up and are working their way back (like Flacco), and others are already getting themselves back on the field (Marlon Humphrey and Ronnie Stanley). Breshad Perriman continues to do what he does best, which is run routes at 75% and get the Ravens PR team to blow smoke up our asses, but I expect he’ll be back sometime this decade. Today we learned that Albert Mcllelan was lost for the year, which certainly hurts the LB depth and definitely hurts special teams coverage… but that’s not the end of the world. ST coverage is a great opportunity for a young guy to find a niche and hold down a roster spot, and the Ravens have had a lot of success finding those guys.

I think the injury that hurts most is Alex Lewis. The Ravens were already thin on the interior line with John Urschel retiring on the eve of camp and Nico Siragusa tearing knee ligaments, and Lewis is a guy who proved himself to be both talented and versatile in his rookie year. It’s really hard to put a price on a lineman who can play both guard and tackle. Gives you so many options to shuffle guys around if need be, like we did with Yanda and his impaired shoulder last year. Losing a guy like that is really like losing 1.5 or 2 players. There’s a handful of other contributors that have been lost for the year, like Crockett Gillmore and Kenneth Dixon, but the loss of Lewis is one that goes much deeper.

What Position Battles Are Still Left?

As it has been for seemingly years now, Michael Campanaro finds himself battling for the return job he can never seem to be healthy enough to keep. Ironically, an injury may have turned this battle in his favor. Tim White, an undrafted rookie, was electric early in camp but was lost the year with torn thumb ligaments. Again, Keenan Reynolds is challenging Campanaro for the punt return job, but Campo’s ability to play receiver out of the slot is probably the difference due to roster restrictions.

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At inside linebacker, Kamalei Correa has looked improved after a wasted rookie campaign, but Patrick Onwuasor has continued to get a lot of playing time. The guy may be undersized, but he’s a scrapper and seems to always be around the football. This healthy camp competition is one of those good problems to have, especially when you know the winner gets paired up with CJ Mosley inside.

At center, the Ravens brought back Jeremy Zuttah after trading him to the Niners on Draft Day. Obviously it says a lot about a guy if we were willing to trade him for a measly 12 spots in the 6th round of the draft and then that team releases him a few months later… but that’s the bind we were in after losing guys on the OL. He’s going up against Ryan Jensen, but it’s been hard to get a read on who’s the true starter with all the shuffling there’s been on the line. Ronnie Stanley missed the last preseason game, so that had a domino effect on the lineup. For what it’s worth, both guys already have a rapport with Joe Flacco having been on the roster for a couple of years. O-line will be an ongoing issue for this team. Hopefully I’m wrong.

I expect this week’s game in New Orleans to settle a few of these camp battles. We won’t see many of the starters, which is for the best. Fingers crossed on Joe’s health, but like I said… Need him down the road more than we need him now. Either way football is coming. Countdown is on folks, just 12 more days.