Lamar Jackson Explains How Joint Practice Helped the Ravens in the Preseason Game Against the Colts

While the Cincinnati Bengals clashed with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Baltimore Ravens faced a smaller opponent in the Indianapolis Colts during the preseason game on Thursday. Notably, the Ravens, under Lamar Jackson, earlier conducted a joint practice with the Colts on Tuesday. During the practice, the star QB, as well as Cooper Rush, were intercepted by the defense, which disappointed the fans. However, the most important takeaway was that the Ravens were able to identify their weak points before the regular season.

In a freewheeling chat, Lamar, who was rested for the preseason game, spoke about how the joint practice helped the team identify the core areas to work on. He admitted the offense needed a bit more improvement. However, the starters got more number of reps, which meant the practice served its purpose.

“Earlier this week, we were doing joint practice with those guys. They did pretty good on defense, the Colts. But I feel our guys were coming out flying. We are doing the right things. We are not showing everything. We don’t know if we’ll see those guys in the long run. But, we got pretty good work. We looked good, to me,” Lamar added.

From Lamar’s words, it is quite evident that the Ravens are not expecting to face the Colts in the playoffs but wanted to study their defense. Interestingly, the last time the Colts made it to the postseason was in 2020. 

The Ravens have their next joint practice with the Washington Commanders on August 21. It is also confirmed that most of the starters, including Lamar, will play against the Commanders. This would  mean that Cooper Rush will get another chance and that he will start against the Dallas Cowboys next week.  Despite missing the Cowboys game, Lamar watching from the sidelines and sharing takeaways with Cooper Rush is a good tactic for the Ravens in terms of mentorship.

Coming back to joint practice, Ravens utlized the day in such a way that they gave a live game atmosphere to the players, which helps the team after a long break in the offseason.

“I felt really good about the work. They got a lot of reps. They got seven out of every 12 reps. That was good to see them get all those reps against another defense, and that’s a really good defense,” Ravens HC John Harbaugh had said after the practice.

Interestingly, with Lamar Jackson as their starting QB, the Ravens haven’t lost a game by two scores or more since Week 10 of 2021. However, the 12-year wait for a Super Bowl win still frustrates the fans.

And Lamar, who admitted the Ravens are “saving” many of the plays for the regular season, will look at the preseason games as a learning curve to shape the Ravens’ game plan for the regular season.