WATCH: Sights and sounds of 1st padded practice of Ravens training camp

Monday marked the first time the Baltimore Ravens were in pads and the media could watch, giving us our first taste of football in 2020.

It’s finally time for real football. After months of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and wondering if there would even be football this season, players are back on the field and we’re just a little closer to normalcy.

After weeks of ramping up in shorts, the Baltimore Ravens finally kicked off the real portion of training camp on Monday. In pads for the first time this offseason, the players took to the Ravens’ training facility to prepare for the 2020 regular season. While it’s still pretty far from actual live games that matter or even the meat of training camp, it’s our first look at how Baltimore’s players are performing and what we might be able to expect for this season.

Since fans can’t be in attendance at training camp this year, I wanted to give you a taste of what’s going on at the Under Armour Performance Center.

It all starts with the players coming out of the building and onto the field in the morning. We’ll kick it off with the reigning MVP Lamar Jackson.

Linebacker Patrick Queen — the Ravens’ first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft — got on an NFL field for the first time in pads.

The first portion of practice is always individual drills. The players divide into their respective position groups to warm up and knock some of the rust of the previous day off under the care of their position coaches. For the linemen, it means the crisp sound of hands hitting the blocking sled.

For the skill position players, it’s fine-tuning the little thing like sideline catches and the transitions out of a backpedal.

 

After the individual drills are wrapped up, the offense and defense get into their own groups and practice heats up a little bit. For the offense, it means getting the wide receivers and quarterbacks on the same page, running plays without defenders in the way.

The whole team usually gets together for some quick 7-on-7 scrimmages later in the day as practice builds closer to what a game would look like. For the first day in pads, the biggest play of practice was a doozy. Jackson connected with Willie Snead on a deep bomb between two defenders.

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