Ravens News 9/6: Scouting report, QB index and more

Ravens Eager to Silence Concerns About Their Pass Rush - Clifton Brown

Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh has noticed that the pash rush storyline has continued.

“I’m certainly not as worried about it as you all are,” Harbaugh said to the media. “What little I read, it’s all I read about. So, I appreciate your concerns. We’ll see what happens.”

“Y’all going to see,” Judon said. “Y’all going to see this Sunday. Y’all going to write about it. Y’all going to talk about it, and then y’all going to say whatever y’all want to say about it. We’re just going to go out there and continue to do us.”

“This whole summer has been a confidence-builder, just from the start of camp through the preseason games, working on my game,” Bowser said. “I’ve learned from my bad snaps and my good snaps, learned from other guys, seeing how they rush. I’m in game mode for Sunday.”

“I shouldn’t be standing here if we don’t want to be the best,” Martindale said. “There’s a standard here, always has been here.

“It’s a fair question (regarding the pass rush). We’ll see where we’re at. I’m looking forward to it, because those guys have made great strides. I think it’s been Tyus Bowser’s best training camp he’s had. I think it’s been Tim Williams’ best training camp. Jaylon Ferguson – you can really see these past 10 days even, really come on. And ‘Phee (McPhee) … you guys don’t see practice, but he was in regular-season form yesterday.”

Scouting report for Sunday’s Ravens-Dolphins game - Baltimore Sun

RAVENS PASSING GAME: The Ravens expect second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson to take a significant step forward as a passer after he completed 58.2% of his throws and finished with an 84.5 quarterback rating as a rookie. Jackson displayed more consistent mechanics throughout training camp and the preseason than he did as a rookie. He’ll throw to a redesigned receiving corps, with speedy rookies Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin slotting in for departed veterans Michael Crabtree and John Brown. Marquise Brown missed the beginning of training camp as he recovered from Lisfranc surgery on his foot but is clear to go against the Dolphins. Jackson will also rely heavily on his tight ends, led by second-year breakout candidate Mark Andrews, who averaged 16.2 yards per catch as a rookie.

DOLPHINS PASSING GAME: Though they traded for 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen in the offseason, the Dolphins will start veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. Fitzpatrick started fast for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year (11 touchdown passes in his first three games) and the Ravens respect his ability to get hot. But Fitzpatrick is notoriously mistake-prone (148 interceptions in 141 career games). None of the Dolphins’ top three receivers — Albert Wilson, Jakeem Grant and DeVante Parker — caught more than 26 passes last year, though Ravens coach John Harbaugh said his defense will have to account for Miami’s excellent team speed. The Dolphins finished 31st in the league in yards per attempt last year with a different set of quarterbacks.

EDGE: Ravens

Three Keys | Dolphins vs. Ravens - John Congemi

1) Limit Lamar’s chances

It will be a difficult task for the Dolphins’ defense to completely shut down a quarterback as elusive as Lamar Jackson for 60 minutes. He runs as fast as anyone on the field, and it’s his off-schedule runs that should concern the defense on Sunday. Jackson will get positive yards and move the chains with his zone-read running, that’s a given. The problems start to mount when he eludes a potential sack or negative play and turns it into a 30- or 40-yard gain. The off-schedule scampers that just demoralize the opposing team and keep the defense on the field and usually turn into points for the Ravens’ offense. If the Dolphins’ defense can limit those explosive plays to a minimum, it will help the offense with field position and keep one of the most exciting players in the league on the sidelines.

QB Index, Week 1: Patrick Mahomes begins as unanimous No. 1 - Gennaro Flice

17. Lamar Jackson

2018 stats: 16 games | 58.2 pct | 1,201 pass yds | 7.1 ypa | 6 pass TD | 3 INT | 695 rush yds | 5 rush TD

Filice: The hardest guy to place on this list because he’s essentially playing a different position than his signal-calling brethren -- at least, from what we saw last season. The fleet-footed Jackson didn’t take the starting reins in 2018 until Week 11, yet still set a single-season QB record with 147 carries.