Rain and some wind weren't going to stop the Ravens from practicing on the second of three minicamp days. The day started early for the players as today was picture day. The offense and defense were both working on expanding their knowledge of the playbook and knocking some of the offseason rust off.
Perriman bounced back
First round pick Breshad Perriman had some troubles yesterday with drops. He admitted that it was due to concentration and that it wasn't something we'd be seeing too often. Well, Perriman came out today and answered with a pretty solid performance. He beat Rashaan Melvin deep for a touchdown and had a few catches as a slot receiver. Overall, he looked good and definitely improved from yesterday. It is impressive given that it was drizzling on and off, making things slick.
Offensive line performing despite missing starters
The offensive line was missing Jeremy Zuttah and Ricky Wagner, but no worries, the replacements did exceptionally well. Urschel took over for Zuttah at center and looks like he might have a bright future ahead of him. He isn't the biggest guy on the line, but what is really needed for a top center is smarts. We all know that Urschel is smart, covering math equations like they were basic division.
Jah Reid replaced Wagner and did okay. There were moments where he held his own against the pass rush and other moments where he was driven back on pass protection. He didn't see a lot of action come his way on runs, which isn't surprising when you figure that the Ravens like to run to the left side of their line more often.
Overall, the combination of the replacements and starters Marshal Yanda, Eugene Monroe, and Kelechi Osemele were enough to give quarterback Joe Flacco enough time to throw the ball around and open up holes for the running game. Against one of the best defenses in the league, that is something the Ravens will take all day long.
Drops
While Perriman redeemed himself, the other wide receivers had some issues dropping the ball. Marlon Brown, Darren Waller, and DeAndre Carter all put the ball on the ground when it should have been an easy catch. Head coach John Harbaugh pointed out that they are running the receivers hard and that they are having some drops just from being tired.
I think with Darren Waller today about the early, second part of practice where he just got tired and had a couple drops there. If that wasn’t happening, then we wouldn’t be pushing them hard. So, we want to challenge them as much as we can and push the envelope.
All of the wide receivers did redeem themselves during practice. Marlon Brown caught passes all over the field, including a fade in the corner of the endzone for a touchdown. Carter had a big play and a falling touchdown on the goal line. Waller had maybe the catch of the day with a diving catch over the middle.