Month: October 2023

The Baltimore Ravens placed a few players on injured reserve to start the 2023 season following final roster cuts in hopes of getting them back at some point during the year. Two of those players were outside linebacker Malik Hamm and cornerback Pepe Williams, who could be valuable depth down the stretch if they are able to return.

After Baltimore’s Week 8 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh shared positive updates on both Hamm and Williams. He said that both are close, and then some decisions will be made on the pair, which are all good things.

“‘Pepe’ [Damarion Williams] is close, yes. ‘Pepe’ is close; [Malik] Hamm is close. And [then we’ve] got to make some decisions there, and those are all good things.”

The Baltimore Ravens were dealt their fair share of injuries to start the 2023 season. They lost double-digit starters over the course of the first three weeks of the year, but have been relatively healthy since as they’ve gotten most of their injured players back on the field.

After Baltimore’s big Week 8 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh was asked if there were any injuries to report. Harbaugh said that there was nothing major to come out of the game, but did give an update on outside linebacker Tyus Bowser.

“Nothing major coming out of the game, and we may have some hope coming back. I had a chance to talk to Tyus [Bowser] just last week, and Tyus was pretty optimistic. So, I can’t say it’s a guarantee, because it’s just kind of a … It’s a knee that’s a little angry at times. But who knows? Maybe we’ll get Tyus back. We’ll see how that goes in the next few weeks.”

The Baltimore Ravens had to fight for a 31-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. The victory moved them to 6-2 overall on the season, and kept them on top of the AFC North ahead of all of their division rivals.

After the game, head coach John Harbaugh was asked about what he saw from the Arizona defense that could have given his offense troubles throughout the game. He talked about how the Cardinals were trying to be physical by using “cage rushes”, and mentioned that different teams play their offense in different ways.

“You have to be patient. It was; it was kind of a cage rush [and] a very physical rush. [The] Lions tried to do the same thing. Most teams kind of do that against us – not everybody. Pittsburgh is different. They cage, except for the two guys [Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt] on the edge, and they’re just going. So, different teams play us different ways. But you have to be willing to check it down; you have to be willing to run it; I think you have to be willing to get the ball out quick. You run the RPOs [run-pass options], which we called a lot [of] RPOs yesterday. All those things you have to be able to do. In the second half, the run game kind of started going, and we were in situations … Once we got the lead, we were able to do that. With that score at the end of the half, [it] even gave us a chance to probably run the ball even a little more. But you’re always trying to find … And really in the first half, too, a lot of times, you’re trying to figure out what they are doing to you. Sometimes you’ve got a certain play called, and they bring a front up; it doesn’t work. Or they stem to a front; it’s tough on the play. Or we try to throw a screen … And the defensive end in the one screen we ran that was a loss, he drops right to the screen. It wasn’t something we had seen. Was it even in their call, or did he just feel the screen? You don’t always know. So, you can’t … It’s never a perfect formula – things happen – and you just try to navigate your way through it as a play caller and as the guys make the offensive adjustments in there.”

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman got off to a slow start during the 2023 NFL season. Injuries played a part in his early season struggles due to absences, and he then was trying to ramp up and get his feet back under him once healthy again.

After making a few big plays in the team’s Week 8 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh shared insight into the confidence factor with Bateman. He said that Bateman has always been confident in himself, and mentioned that he believes the second half of the season will be strong for the third-year wide receiver.

“Yes. That’s really perceptive because it’s not really confidence in [Rashod Bateman’s] ability. He’s always been very confident. It’s confidence in his health. [It’s] the fact that he’s been able to stack practices now and get a feel in the offense and catch balls and run routes and compete for balls. Football is a practice sport. I’ve said that before. The more you practice, the better you get, and the better feel you get for the game, all of those different things. I would say it’s just starting to kind of come together for him that way. I’m hoping … I think the second half of the season for Rashod is going to be big [and] is going to be very successful.”

The Baltimore Ravens selected wide receiver Rashod Bateman in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. Injuries and underwhelming production have played a big part in Bateman’s career so far, but he took a step in the right direction in Baltimore’s Week 8 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

On Monday after the team’s Week 8 victory, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked about Bateman and how big the plays he made during the contest were. He heaped praise on the young wide receiver, saying that you won’t see a better play than the one to keep the team’s opening drive alive, and also said he showed burst up the sideline on the reverse that he took later in the contest.

“It’s so big. [Rashod Bateman had] two big plays. The early catch, to keep the drive alive, to go get the ball and take it away from the defender, was just … You’re not going to see a better play than that. It was great, and then, the end around so to speak – it’s really not [an end around play]. It’s a jet sweep-type of play with a read option involved and gap scheme, to be clear.” (laughter) “But Lamar [Jackson] read it right and gave it … It’s not something he’s done a lot. I don’t think he’s practiced it even that much, the ball handling of it, but to have him be able to do that … Maybe they weren’t expecting it, but he ran around there, and I’ll tell you, when he turned the corner and accelerated up the sideline, that was impressive, wasn’t it? He ran by a couple guys, and he really showed some burst there and got up the sideline. They actually hit him out of bounds [which] got us another 15 [yards], so it was a huge play in the game that ran time off the clock, got us down [the field] deeper and got us another score.”

On October 31st, 2022, the Baltimore Ravens traded a second-round pick, a fifth-round pick, and inside linebacker A.J. Klein to the Chicago Bears in exchange for inside linebacker Roquan Smith. The deal has already gone down as one of the better trades in Baltimore history, with Smith being a perfect fit both on and off of the field.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked on his thoughts on the deal one year after it all went down, and went into detail about the perspective from both sides. he said that he’s been a great fit in Baltimore, but Chicago got a good pick out of the deal along with salary cap space.

“With ‘Ro’ [Roquan Smith], you knew from the college draft [that] that’s what they all said about him at [The University of] Georgia. Then, [when he was with] Chicago, you talked to people who played for the Bears and people in the organization – [like] coaches – and that’s kind of what they said about him there, too. [They said] that he’s a leader and all the things that you’ve seen, but you don’t know, exactly, and you don’t really hear it to the extent. Maybe people don’t want to tell you too much either. Then, he comes here, and he’s … I don’t know. Sometimes it’s a good fit, too, like he comes in here, and it’s kind of like, this place really fits him. He’d probably tell you that. It fits his personality [and] his style. He’s been a great fit. It’s one of the all-time great trades that we’ve made. Nothing against the Bears. They got a good pick out of it, and they made – salary cap and all the things they got out of it – it’s probably going to be undersold a little bit, but in the end, you’ll see how it pays off for them. Maybe it was a win-win [situation], but it was definitely a win for us.”