You knew there would be some, at best, growing pains and, worse, significant problems with the Baltimore Ravens offensive line this season.
Replacing three of five starters was always going to present a significant challenge, as it takes time for guys to gel with one another.
Add in the fact that one of the two returning starters, Tyler Linderbaum, was out injured, and it is not surprising to hear that the Green Bay Packers defensive line put in a good day’s work against the Ravens.
The Athletic’s Packers beat writer, Matt Schneidman, posted a couple of tweets that even caught the attention of the Ravens website.
“Lamar is running for his life out here and not by design,” Schneidman posted after observing the Pack’s front getting after Lamar Jackson.
Earlier, he posted that the “Packers defensive line is feasting in red-zone period right now.”
If he’s not being hyperbolic, and/or homerish, then the Ravens seem to have a lot of work to do upfront.
Again, things should be much better once Linderbaum returns. Coach John Harbaugh added a much more positive outlook, indicating that Jackson stayed in the pocket a lot more/longer than he usually would in a real game.
“[The Packers] were bringing bull rushes and games and physical games in there, and our guys were stout passing that stuff off really well,” Harbaugh said.
“You’re not going to be perfect, and Lamar definitely holds the ball. Lamar was not looking to run. He was looking to stay in there and throw.
“I think he probably would run more in a game than he did today, and that’s a problem for the defense too. … I was standing there.”
So this might all be a case of relaxation; it’s just practice. But then again, Harbaugh did make it known that he was unhappy with what he saw out there on Thursday for about 10% of the time.
“I can’t wait to see the tape, but I was happy with how firm the pocket was 90% of the time,” he added.
Again, it was just a joint practice, so we should all not overreact too much to this.