Through the first week of training camp, not much has changed.
On Saturday, the offense was flagged for five false starts in the 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 periods, including once from its own 1-yard line. A timeout also needed to be called at one point over apparent confusion on the play call.
Of course, now is the time of year to work out such kinks.
Still, it doesn’t make it any less annoying, especially when it’s a consistent problem.
“It’s real easy to get frustrated, which I do,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “I’m the king of overreacting. But if you do that, then you’ll just go on one [with the snap] all the time and that doesn’t help you either.
“So where is that sweet spot? Now is the time to do that. We’re practicing some other things in the throw game and the run game to try like heck to be on point when we play the first game. But obviously we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Last season, left tackle Ronnie Stanley led the team with 13 penalties, per nflpenalties.com, with left guard Patrick Mekari with 11. Of those 24 flags, nearly half (11) came before the ball was snapped.
With Mekari now with the Jacksonville Jaguars, one would expect those numbers to be down this season, but that hasn’t been the trend through the first handful of practices.
Monken also said that there hasn’t been more variance in the cadences of snap counts this week, either.
“There really isn’t anything different other than were starting back up again and it’s hot and we have a number of guys going in the game,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the quarterback that takes a little bit of time at the line of scrimmage, more than he should, then all off a sudden you’re making calls at the line and you forget a different cadence. All those things are a part of it.”
He added that there’s no reason that Baltimore can’t be “elite” with its cadence.
1-on-1 highlights
Training camp isn’t just about conditioning and running plays. The roughly two-hour long practices are broken down into different periods, focusing on specific areas of the game.
Perhaps the most glamorous and entertaining of them is when players go one-on-one, with receivers and tight ends matching up against cornerbacks and safeties mano a mano.
Saturday was no exception, as the session delivered a few fun plays.
Unsurprisingly, two-time Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton shut down a pair of throws from backup Cooper Rush, first to Isaiah Likely, whom he was running stride-for-stride with, then Mark Andrews, whom he undercut to break up the pass after the tight end tried to juke him to the outside.
Second-year wide receiver Devontez Walker, meanwhile, made a nice catch against cornerback Jaire Alexander on a comeback route, while receiver Rashod Bateman plucked one off the turf on a similar route with Marlon Humphrey on him in tight coverage. The referee called the play incomplete, though, and Bateman flung the ball away in disgust after an obvious catch, while Humphrey sarcastically dapped up the official for the call.
Kicking update
The kicking job is still to be determined between sixth-round draft pick Tyler Loop and undrafted free agent John Hoyland, but one thing that’s not debatable is that the ball comes off Loop’s foot with an authoritative thump. That was evident again Saturday.
A day after only Loop kicked during practice, both men were in action, and Loop had the better day.
Ravens special teams coordinator explains thinking behind kicker battle
Hoyland converted on kicks from 26, 34 and 36 yards but was wide right from 42. Loop, on the other hand, drilled all six attempts from 33, 33, 26, 34, 36 and 40 yards.
How long will it be until a winner is decided?
“You just let the guys go out and compete,” special teams coordinator Chris Horton Jr. said. “What [senior special teams coach] Randy [Brown] has these guys doing is gonna prepare for them. When the winner shows, it’s gonna show. How soon is that gonna be? I don’t know.”
One possible timeline would be sometime between the Ravens’ first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts in just under two weeks and the second against the Washington Commanders nine days after that.
More praise for the new guy
Alexander has a reputation of being a bit brash. He described himself as a bit “weird” and knows that he brings a certain energy to the defense.
So far, that’s been a welcome addition in Baltimore.
“He’s everything we thought he would be and more,” defensive coordinator Zach Orr said.
Kyle Hamilton said that his energy was something the defense needed. Humphrey added that he’s been fun to practice with.
During Saturday’s practice, Alexander had a pass breakup on a throw to Tylan Wallace up the sideline. A bit of sticky defense (with help from a less-than-perfect throw) forced the ball incomplete and Alexander wagged his finger like Dikembe Mutombo. Teammates have started doing his patented seatbelt celebration too.
“He brings energy, confidence, hard work and playmaking ability,” Orr said. “We go against our offense every day and they challenge our corners, especially on the outside. He’s done a great job. So we’ve been happy, pleased with him. He’s a great student of the game. I’m pleased with how fast he’s picked up the system. … He can still play at a top level.”
Attendance and injuries
For the second consecutive day, the Ravens had perfect attendance outside of wide receiver Keith Kirkwood and the trio of expected absences: Safety Ar’Darius Washington (Achilles tendon), on the physically unable to perform list, as well as linebacker Jake Hummel and rookie offensive lineman Emery Jones Jr., both on the non-football injury list.
There were two notable cornerbacks on Saturday who did not fully participate.
Chide Awuzie, who has a long injury history, spent most of Friday on the sideline. Harbaugh said that the 30-year-old is “fine” and that “he’ll be OK.” Awuzie did not participate in live scrimmage situations. He was seen running on the far field by himself.
Ravens rookie Bilhal Kone also appeared to leave practice and did not return.
Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>
If it were so simple, Tyler Loop would be leading in the polls. The first kicker drafted in Ravens history made all 23 of his field goal attempts during the first week of training camp in Owings Mills. His challenger, undrafted rookie John Hoyland, has converted 16 of 18 attempts, including a 42-yard miss on Saturday.
“When the winner shows,” Horton said, “it’s gonna show.”
Horton didn’t reveal any specific timeline for when he hopes that might happen. They’ll both get valuable work, he said, in practice and in preseason games — which implies that Baltimore might go into the preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 7 with two options.
What goes into one player emerging from the two-man pack?
“It’s all about consistency in everything that we do,” Horton said. “Especially at that position. We want to see kicks made, right? We want to see good foot-to-ball contact. There’s a process about how these guys are going about it and where they’re kicking from and where they’re kicking in practice and the things that [senior special teams coach] Randy [Brown] is talking to these guys about every day.
“One might look more powerful than the other,” Horton added, “but the kicks are there.”
Fans making the trip to the Under Armour Performance Center have been treated to something they haven’t seen since 2012. Even with Loop as the front-runner, it’s the first kicking competition since the now-embroiled Justin Tucker’s rookie year.
In May, the Ravens released Tucker for in what they called a “football decision,” a reference to the down year the NFL’s most accurate kicker endured in 2024. The release, and complementary decision to draft Loop in the sixth round in April, came on the heels of a monthslong league investigation into several sexual misconduct allegations brought against Tucker earlier this year.
In late June, the 35-year-old kicker was suspended by the NFL for the first 10 games of the regular season. He can serve the suspension despite not being on a roster. If a team chooses to sign him, he would be allowed to participate in training camp and preseason games. The suspension takes effect on Aug. 26, and Tucker can be reinstated on Nov. 11.
The Ravens are rightfully more concerned with the kicking competition brewing in Owings Mills. Through four days of practice, each kicker has taken one day off.
Loop entered training camp as the odds-on favorite. His workload reflects that. Despite an imperfect performance at rookie minicamp and organized team activities, he has been sharp the first week of full-team practice. Loop hasn’t missed a kick in three days of situational attempts. His best was a 63-yarder to end his practice on Friday and a 68-yarder without a defense that the team caught on camera.
“It was a good test day,” Harbaugh said after Friday’s practice. “He had kicks kind of situationally all week, and then to come out here and take it deep like that is a good day.”
Added Horton: “With Tyler, the thing we understand is when we brought him in and we looked at him, the dude has a strong leg. Technically, he’s sound. He kicks the ball the way we want to kick the ball. He’s been consistent. And that’s what we’re looking for.”
Hoyland, the kicker vying to knock off Loop, hasn’t been a slouch either. He’s just slightly off perfection, which can be troubling for a positional battle with razor-thin margins.
Hoyland made all nine attempts during his first full kicking day Thursday. Two of them were from 40 or more yards. Putting his cleats back on Saturday, he made three of four. His last attempt was a 42-yarder that sailed wide right. But Horton noted how consistent Hoyland was in college and how he has fit the mold of someone who can compete with Loop.
“It’s all about foot the ball, kicking a straight ball,” Horton said. “And the axis of the ball — the ball is turning. We want the ball to be straight every time. That’s what we’re working for. That’s been a big improvement since the spring, and I think both guys have gotten a lot better at doing that.”
The two kickers have been seen wearing a GoPro atop their helmets this week. Harbaugh said it’s “a little bit new.” The point-of-view camera offers additional insight with a direct angle to study foot placement, swing plane, hold patterns and other positional minutiae.
So each practice means tracking kicks and placement and body language. All of that has made for an interesting bit of training camp theater.
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>“It’s not too big picture right now,” he said Friday. “It’s a lot of little things.”
But on a day when the temperature soared near triple digits in Owings Mills, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s accuracy was a tad cold on some of those little things. To borrow from A.I., the great philosopher and former NBA star Allen Iverson, it’s just practice.
If there’s a player coaches and teammates aren’t worried about, it’s the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, who is coming off career highs in touchdown passes and passing yards.
Jackson also, of course, did make some nice throws, connecting with Rashod Bateman on a couple of passes over the middle in 11-on-11 play. New receiver DeAndre Hopkins also bailed him out twice, pulling in one crossing throw that was slightly behind him as he had a step on cornerback Jaire Alexander and then making a sliding grab on an off-the-mark throw during 7-on-7 work with cornerback T.J. Tampa trailing.
The only player to throw for at least 4,000 yards and rush for at least 900 in the same season, Jackson also had a nifty run in which he faked the toss one way then broke the other, leaving the edge defender in his wake.
Unlike earlier in the week, when Jackson was able to connect with Bateman on a 60-yard touchdown with the receiver getting behind Nate Wiggins, the two were unable to link up on a similar play this time. Bateman had a step on Wiggins again, but with the ball underthrown, the speedy corner was able to close the gap and swat it away.
As Bateman came to a jog, he extended his arms, a signal for Jackson to get the ball deeper as he had earlier in the week.
Where’s Mike Green?
A year ago, Mike Green led college football with 17 sacks. Through the first few days of camp, the controversial edge rusher out of Marshall who fell to the second round because of a pair of sexual assault allegations is still looking for his first.
It’s early, but he hasn’t been close to getting to the quarterback, no matter who has been in.
On one play Friday, Green raced into the backfield only to get gobbled up by undrafted rookie fullback Lucas Scott. On another, he got off the line quickly and sped by rookie fifth-round tackle Carson Vinson, but the former Alabama A&M standout still kept him away from the quarterback on what should have been a pressure, if not a sack.
Green’s speed and quickness are obvious, but so far he hasn’t registered more than maybe a single pressure.
On Monday, players will be in pads for the first time. Green, who is expected to be a significant contributor in Baltimore’s pass rush this season, will be worth watching to see if he’s able to dial it up.
Tyler Loop’s best day
Tyler Loop has kicked at two of three training camp practices, sandwiching a scheduled day off Thursday, and has been perfect both days. But Friday’s session featured the first real look at the rookie’s boot, as he connected from 60-plus yards out.
Loop first took four attempts in red zone situations. The offense would run a play, then trot out the field goal unit. Those were all inside 25-yard attempts. After that, Loop ripped one kick after another.
He nailed five tries between 30 and 45 yards, inching back with each effortless make. Then came the real test. Loop fired a kick from 63 yards away off the right hash. It split the uprights with a few extra yards to spare, much to the delight of his teammates, coaches and the onlooking fans suffering through the July heat.
The Ravens also said on their team website that Loop converted a 68-yard attempt on the opposite field on a non-team drill.
After a solid, but not overly impressive minicamp and OTAs, which included one 60-plus-yard miss, Friday was Loop’s best kicking day of the offseason’s open practice portion.
Strap in
Whether Jaire Alexander invented it is up for debate. But during the veteran cornerback’s time in Green Bay, he certainly popularized what is known colloquially as the seatbelt celebration. The hand-across-the-chest move that mimics strapping in a seatbelt — a reference to strapping down a receiver — is popping up in the early days of Ravens camp.
Alexander debuted it Wednesday after breaking up a pass from backup Cooper Rush. On Friday, Marlon Humphrey whacked the ball out of tight end Isaiah Likely’s hands, stood up and promptly clipped the imaginary seatbelt to his waist.
Then Wiggins, on his second pass breakup of a productive practice, did the signature celebration alongside Alexander.
Safety Kyle Hamilton was asked if he might get in on the big play fête. He thought about it for a second and decided maybe if it was a crazy play. Either way, the All-Pro safety has enjoyed the extra juice.
“We probably needed some of that,” Hamilton said. “Guys can be a little eccentric at times. I’m more even keeled so I need that brought out of me a little bit. Jaire does that for us. Everybody follows his lead when it comes to the energy. He’s only been here three practice days but everybody can feel the difference with him here.”
‘Miles ahead of where I was’
Hamilton was the 14th overall draft pick in 2022 and finished his rookie year with the highest Pro Football Focus grade by a first-year Ravens defender in the previous 16 years. He ascended to All-Pro status by his sophomore season and has been awarded two Pro Bowl bids in three seasons.
Hamilton believes that first-round pick Malaki Starks is “miles ahead of where I was at that point.”
“One, he’s just uber-talented,” Hamilton said of the former Georgia star. “He does amazing stuff without even trying and probably doesn’t even know that he’s doing it. He’s just so instinctual. And he’s that little holding him back but that’s just cause he hasn’t been in it a long time. Once that clicks, he’ll be a great player.”
Hamilton said that his rookie counterpart knows the playbook better than he did at that time, he’s confidently talking through plays and he’s a sponge in meeting rooms.
“He’s generous,” Starks said with a smile.
Starks hauled in his first interception of training camp Thursday, his first time picking off Jackson. Beyond the one highlight, he’s looked comfortable in live situations. Starks said that he often goes right to Hamilton trying to make sense of different scenarios.
“He’s so smart,” said Starks, who himself was lauded for his football IQ throughout the draft process. “You think you know football until you get around people who know football and you realize you don’t know that much about football.”
Wiggins stands out
If there was a player the day belonged to, it was Wiggins.
In the first 11-on-11 period, he broke in on a short pass to Anthony Miller and nearly intercepted Jackson. A moment later, he crashed in to blow up a sweep play.
Later, he tracked down Bateman on Jackson’s deep ball and easily poked it away.
Even with adding a few pounds, the listed 182-pound Wiggins is still rail thin, but he has been sticky in coverage and can fly.
“I think he’s gonna be one of the best in the league,” Hamilton said. “He’s one of those guys that’s not afraid to line up against whoever.
“Today especially, he’s competing at a high level. He’s done that the past three days. … I think he’s probably gonna have one of the bigger jumps from last year to this year than anybody on the team.”
Injuries and attendance
Last season, the Ravens were comfortably the healthiest team in the NFL with an adjusted games lost of just 16.3, per FTN Fantasy. That’s mostly been the case through the first week of training camp, too.
Hopkins, who missed Thursday’s session after landing awkwardly on his knee, was back on the field Friday and made a couple of nice grabs.
Meanwhile, cornerback Chidobe Awuzie spent most of the day on the sideline during team play, but Harbaugh said that the 30-year-old veteran, has a long injury history, is “fine” and that “he’ll be OK.”
The only new absence, meanwhile, was fellow receiver Keith Kirkwood.
Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>The 34-year-old Ravens outside linebacker won’t be playing as long as two of the NBA’s oldest superstars, ages 40 and 37, respectively. Van Noy’s career clock is ticking. But as far as he’s concerned, he can play as long as he wants to.
“That’s my mindset,” he said after Thursday’s training camp practice in Owings Mills. “I thought about it a lot this offseason. I’m just grateful to continue to play. My body’s still good and I can play at a high level.”
Van Noy is coming off the most productive season of his 11-year career. The one-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time Super Bowl champion led all Ravens pass rushers with 12 1/2 sacks — the first double-digit sack season of his career, worthy of a Chuck Smith-branded hoodie. Baltimore has emboldened him as a pass rusher, he has said before, more than any of his four previous stops.
Van Noy still believes that he’s one of the best at the position in the league. He logged the fourth-most sacks in the NFL and his pass rush win rate (16%) last year was top 20. He also finished top 20 in quarterback hits (9) and total pressures (52), per Pro Football Focus. Still, PFF ranked him as the 30th best EDGE rusher entering 2025.
Van Noy didn’t contemplate retirement this offseason, but there was some internal dialogue about the state of his career and current situation.
It’s been an “interesting offseason,” he said. Van Noy was asked to clarify that adjective.
“There’s just other situations where I feel I’m very valuable,” he said. “And some people think I’m more valuable than others.”
This season is the last on Van Noy’s two-year, $9 million deal. He’s set to make $3.75 million in 2025, carrying a $6.1 million cap hit — by all accounts a bargain for Baltimore considering his 21 1/2 combined sacks the past two seasons. Van Noy is also the oldest pass rusher in a group that includes 26-year-old Odafe Oweh, who logged double-digit sacks last season and is also entering a contract year; Tavius Robinson, who has gotten rave reviews from his coaches about his development; and now rookie second-round pick Mike Green.
But Van Noy said he’s grateful to be with his Ravens teammates. He wants to insert himself a bit more to help uplift the younger guys. And he would love to celebrate a win in February under confetti alongside his family.
Van Noy told The Sun back in February that he knows he can still play at a high level. “It’s something where they have to make a decision, too,” referring to Ravens decision makers. General manager Eric DeCosta said during his end-of-season news conference that Van Noy “comes to work every day with a great attitude, he’s a leader, and he’s a fun storyline this year for us.”
Ravens coach John Harbaugh sees no signs of slowing down from the veteran.
“Guys play until they can’t,” Harbaugh said. “He’s playing great. He’s still playing at a high level. So all these other narratives, the age narrative, it’s all nothing.”
In March, Van Noy completed a 72-hour water fast. In other words, he only drank water for three days — no meals, no snacks, no other drinks. Just H2O. He wrote on X that he “ate real good” on vacation and needed the reset. UFC CEO Dana White was the inspiration, and he saw a few others online try it.
Outside of some headaches, Van Noy said the water fast had him feeling brand new. He shed a handful of pounds. The chicken, Caesar salad and vegetables after the three days helped get him back on track.
Diet aside, the secret to playing at the level he has been able to the past two seasons, at his age, he said, is being “built different from a lot of kids these days” and “part of an old school cloth.”
Van Noy has always considered himself a valuable asset, albeit an underrated one. ESPN did not include him in its top-10 EDGE rushers, nor was he one of four honorable mentions or among the seven who also received votes. He scoffs at that stuff. But it’s certainly fair to question whether he can repeat such a productive year entering the twilight of a long career.
“The end is closer than the beginning, I know that. Everybody knows that,” Van Noy said. “But I can play as long as I want.”
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>During the offseason, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player doesn’t post training montages or pictures from the gym like many of his counterparts around the league. There’s a vague smokescreen of mystery shielding Jackson’s football life from the time one season ends and the next begins.
Earlier this month, Hassan Edwards, a Baltimore native and freelance photographer, got to break that veil. He was invited to South Florida — reaping two-plus-years haphazardly sneaking his camera into M&T Bank Stadium — to capture Jackson throwing passes to Zay Flowers.
“I was just like, ‘Dang, that’s my favorite player in front of me,’” Edwards said.
Edwards, a 23-year-old graduate of Baltimore City College then Baltimore City Community College, had a camera growing up because he admired the one his uncle had. But it was never anything he used seriously. Then a friend needed a favor: someone to shoot his brand event. After that, Edwards brought his camera to a friend’s high school football game. There was something about capturing a moment, tapping into his creativity, that clicked.
That imaginative side of Edwards, an interest in multimedia storytelling, was always there, but he never had much of an outlet for it. That changed in 2018.
Someone sent a Ravens hype video in their group chat. Edwards didn’t like the way it came together. So he made his own; an “Avengers” style mixtape that gained some traction on social media. Mixing NFL highlight tapes is “where my creative process came from,” he said. But it was barely a hobby, overshadowed by a life he wasn’t happy with.
In 2021, Edwards felt himself spiraling. He was in school and working part-time at Home Depot, then Target. He didn’t have any discernible passions. Late 2022 was “probably the lowest I’ve ever been.”
“Photography was something I could use to escape from all that,” Edwards said. “It just helped me distract my mind off everything.”
He made it to a few home Ravens games in 2022. Game day photography became part of his weekly schedule by 2023, as he chronicled the No. 1 seed’s chase to an AFC North championship.
Edwards’ pictures picked up steam on social media, enough so that when Rashod Bateman needed a photographer for a lifestyle shoot, someone recommended the local kid. Other players started to catch on, asking Edwards for game photos of themselves to post to their own social media accounts: Isaiah Likely, Nate Wiggins, Keaton Mitchell, Trenton Simpson and more.
There are two pictures from last season that Edwards still speaks fondly of.
First was from Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders. Edwards snapped the frame and showed it to his buddy. “I was like, ‘Ooh, I like this one.’” It was Jackson, his back to the camera, slamming on the brakes and propped up on his tippy toes like Michael Jackson, while two helpless defenders flew by. The other was a touchdown pass to Bateman against Cincinnati, more famous for Jackson turning away from the throw chucking up three fingers like it was a Steph Curry triple.
“Somebody said my pictures always look like a lock screen,” Edwards said. “I do that on purpose as well. I leave space at the top. I’m not on the field. Since I’m not up close I can’t get the whole body and keep all the quality. I try to keep a certain style where you can see a story within it but you can also grab it and use it for your lock screen.”
This offseason has been particularly busy for Edwards.
In March, he spent a few days running around Miami with Odafe Oweh, from the gym to the Miami Open tennis tournament. Edwards rubbed shoulders with Ravens at the Preakness Stakes (“I got to meet Ray Lewis,” he said, “my favorite player of all time.”) He took pictures and videos for Likely’s charity softball game in June. And Flowers booked him for a community event in South Florida. Then the Pro Bowl receiver brought him back a few days later for the workout.
Edwards spent an afternoon on the field with Jackson, Flowers and Malik Cunningham.
Jackson appeared immune to the balmy Florida heat. He wore an all-black outfit: a Polo T-shirt, Nike Windrunner pants and a pair of Asics, all accented by a bright gold chain.
The trio rapped about a few games from this past season and used certain plays to help contextualize the workout. Edwards said that Jackson and Flowers, both Broward County natives, shared memories from youth football too. At one point, Flowers said that he needs to get himself to the famed hill that Derrick Henry trains on under a Dallas bridge.
Edwards wasn’t leaving without getting the one shot he knew the internet would gush over.
There’s a trend on social media where someone puts their hand over the camera, the screen dips to black and wipes to a Jackson mixtape. Celebrities and influencers alike put their own hand over the camera preceding highlights of the quarterback’s dual-threat mastery.
“You know the trend they doing on TikTok?” Edwards asked.
“Yeah,” Jackson said, “when I put the hand over the camera.”
The video promptly landed on Instagram with 165,000 views. Edwards has become a figure on Ravens Twitter. His pictures get posted by players. Fans can pinpoint his work by its consistent style. And it has given the Baltimore native a new outlook on life.
“When I first started I was lost cause I didn’t really have no passions. I didn’t know what to do,” Edwards said. “Now it makes me grateful. I feel like since I took it more serious, all that stuff that I let weigh me down, I just let it go. I feel like it just allowed me to be more free and feel better about myself.”
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>
(@sandontmiss)The longtime Ravens coach and his younger brother Jim, coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, visited President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this month.
When asked about the trip, Jim recently quoted the family mantra: “I mean, who gets invited to the White House with eight other family members and doesn’t go? Nooobody.” And on Wednesday, on the first day of training camp in Owings Mills, John called it an “amazing experience” with his family.
John, 62, also took issue with the framing of the question, which pointed out that Trump has previously made disparaging comments about Baltimore, calling it “disgusting, rat and rodent infested.”
“Why would you frame that question,” Harbaugh started to say with a big smile across his face. “I would’ve framed the question like, ‘You got a chance to visit with the president, what was that like?’ It was awesome.”
That visit, which included nine members of the Harbaugh family, was John’s fourth presidential meeting and Jim’s seventh. Both brothers individually visited the White House during Barack Obama’s presidency. John said that there’s a photo in his office from the family’s visit with former President Ronald Reagan in 1987 when Jim was a Heisman Trophy candidate at Michigan. John spent time with Joe Biden in 2009 as part of the NFL USO coaches tour. Jim has also met Gerald Ford, George Bush and Bill Clinton.
It’s unclear what was discussed during the Harbaugh family’s meeting with Trump, but the White House invited the two coaches to visit, according to a USA Today report. John did not elaborate Wednesday.
Neither brother publicly endorsed a presidential candidate in the 2024 election. In fact, John has largely avoided wading into politics during his coaching tenure, making only a few comments about Trump in recent years.
In August 2015, John backed the idea that headlined Trump’s first campaign: to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. “You don’t have a border, you don’t have a country,” he said at the time. Then, in 2017, John stood by his players when several took a knee during the national anthem before a game in London. Ravens players decided to kneel after Trump said at a rally earlier that year that any player who knelt during “The Star-Spangled Banner” should be fired by team owners.
Wednesday was the first time that Harbaugh returned to the topic of the divisive sitting president. He pledged his support for the office of the president, without specifically naming support for Trump. John did note that it was “really meaningful” watching how Trump treated his mom, Jackie Harbaugh.
“And I promise you,” John said, “I root for our president. I want our president to be successful, just like I want my quarterback to be successful and I want my team to be successful.”
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>“Obviously production is for everybody but just being a tenacious force, that’s how I see it,” Madubuike said. “When you’re a good player, people are going to scheme against you and try to stop you.”
Madubuike was among the top five double-teamed interior defensive linemen on pass rush plays. He played 55 more snaps this past season than he did the year before. His pass rush win rate slipped from 11.6% to 6.6%.
It was a physical, dissatisfying winter.
Opposing offenses keyed in on Madubuike, which frustrated him, even if it opened the gate for Baltimore’s edge rushers, two of whom notched double-digit sacks last year.
“But you still want to play,” he said. “You still want to eat.”
In 2023, Madubuike never went more than two weeks without bringing down the quarterback. Baltimore rewarded him with a four-year, $98 million deal. This past season, his 6 1/2 total sacks were inflated by a monstrous three-sack performance during Baltimore’s “Thursday Night Football” win over the Cincinnati Bengals. That kept the final tally respectable. Madubuike logged two more in a playoff win vs. Pittsburgh.
Still, Pro Football Focus clocked a regression in how he graded out for defense (68.3), run defense (62.5), tackling (54.4) and pass rush (69.9).
So Madubuike spent this offseason game planning how he can adjust to the way teams adjusted to him.
Most notably by adding a few pounds. After playing at around 285 most of last season, he spent this spring looking to add weight. His desired playing weight this fall will be around 290-300, he said, without sacrificing the burst and power that made him one of the league’s best interior defensive linemen.
If the Ravens defense takes a step forward this fall and, as cornerback Marlon Humphrey has declared, it becomes the identity of the organization like it was in the early aughts and 2010s, Madubuike will be at the core.
Defensive line coach Dennis Johnson was asked after one optional team activity practice whether he’d like to see Madubuike’s snap count deviate to the mean following a high year.
“Obviously, I wish I could take some of those snaps off,” Johnson said, “but when the game on the line or it’s close in the fourth quarter, you’re probably not going to look at the snap reps. You’re going to make sure Nnamdi is out there to help you close the game out.”
That approach, and the extra attention from offensive line coaches, is a byproduct of Madubuike’s success.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently ranked the top-10 defensive tackles for 2025, as configured by anonymous executives, coaches and scouts. Fowler slotted Madubuike seventh, after ranking him inside the top five a year ago.
Some of the statistical regression, Fowler pointed out, was affected by the way the Ravens’ secondary struggled early in the first half of the season. More obviously, there were fewer one-on-one opportunities.
Madubuike knows his sack total wasn’t where he wanted it to be. It’s not the only measure of his success. It’s still one he’s hoping to correct.
All this extra attention, “it’s a good thing,” he said, “and I appreciate it. But I definitely want to keep being productive.”
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>In 2022, Baltimore used the first overall pick on Jackson Holliday, the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday. Now, it might be Ethan’s turn. And he’s got all the credentials.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound recent high school graduate was named Gatorade’s Oklahoma Player of the Year and Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year. Jackson has previously admitted his younger brother is better than he was at that age. Ethan’s arm strength and powerful left-handed swing earned him top prospect status in this year’s draft class.
“Hopefully the Nationals want him as bad as my family would enjoy that,” Jackson laughed. “But all those teams are great.”
If Ethan doesn’t wind up in nearby Washington, there’s also a chance he plays for one of Matt’s former teams. The Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals have the fourth and fifth picks, respectively.
Ethan will see his dream realized on July 13. The draft is set to be held in Atlanta. The projected top pick will be home in Stillwater with friends and family, as his brother was three years ago.
It’ll be tricky for Jackson to get home in time. The Orioles play a 1:35 p.m. game in Baltimore that afternoon, so it’s unlikely he’s next to his brother on the couch when he gets the official call shortly after 6 p.m.
But they’ve been able to spend time together less than two weeks from the big day. Jackson, his wife Chloe and Ethan had breakfast together in Arlington on Tuesday morning before the middle game of this week’s Orioles-Rangers series. Ethan seemed pretty relaxed with all the fanfare on the horizon, Jackson said. “It’s kind of out of your control at some point. Just kind of whatever the team wants.”
If Jackson were a front office executive charged with making the kind of decision that will determine where Ethan goes, he’d say there’s some Gunnar Henderson to his game. Corey Seager, too. “Obviously, Cal [Ripken Jr.] was probably the original” tall shortstop. Two All-Stars and a Hall of Famer is quite the comparison from big bro.
“The left-handed hitting shortstops, I think he could follow in the footsteps of those two guys [Henderson and Seager],” Jackson told The Baltimore Sun. “The sky’s the limit for him.”
“I think it’s his hit ability and the way that he can control the strike zone matched with the incredible power that he has to kind of all parts of the field. I know I’m jealous of his ability to throw a baseball, so I think you can put him anywhere on the infield.”
Perfect Game USA describes Ethan as having a fluid swing with “natural feel for the barrel” that can work all corners of the field. Baseball America added his swing-and-miss tendencies might impact his hitting but that scouts are confident his power-and-patience combo is enough to compensate.
If that’s enough to make Ethan the No. 1 overall pick this month, the Hollidays will outdo the draft positions of the Upton brothers; B.J. was the No. 2 pick in 2002, and Justin went No. 1 in 2005.
“I haven’t really given him any crazy advice as far as just being like a brother,” Jackson said. “It’s a special moment no matter where he goes. It’s life-changing so it’ll be a really cool experience.”
They spent one high school season sharing the infield. Jackson manned shortstop as a senior. There to his right was his younger brother. Ethan had the demeanor of most freshman boys. The way Jackson lauded Ethan’s coming-of-age over the past three years sounds eerily similar to the way Orioles teammates speak about Jackson.
The Hollidays, who spent a well-documented childhood growing up around professional baseball, carry themselves with a maturity beyond their years.
“The past three years he’s gotten really mature in the way that he handles his business and his work,” Jackson said. “I’d say that’s probably the biggest jump that I’ve seen, which makes me really proud of him the way that he’s handled all this stuff.”
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn
]]>He hasn’t reached the sixth inning in any of his past five starts. The 35-year-old rookie allowed 22 earned runs in that span, the most of any five-game stretch in his short MLB career. And opposing hitters have clubbed at least one home run against him in four straight outings. That makes 19 homers allowed in 17 starts, tied for third most in the American League. Sugano was the hallmark of consistency — or at least the Orioles pitcher best equipped to keep his mistakes to blips, not trends.
Wednesday night, the Texas Rangers gave him more trouble to the tune of a career-high 10 hits and all six earned runs of a 6-0 Orioles (37-49) loss.
“I think the league has kind of seen him a little bit, and the scouting report is out a little bit,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said.
The head-rattling fireworks at Globe Life Field were first discharged in the third inning. Texas’ Billy McKinney drew a walk and Josh Smith singled. Then Marcus Semien drilled an 84 mile-per-hour sweeper over the left field fence. It was an early 3-0 Texas lead that made Sugano purse his lips as he looked up toward the replay board.
Earlier this season, pitching coach Drew French told The Sun that Sugano was a master of flushing innings — troubled ones, sharp ones or somewhere in the middle. At the time, he was. With Sugano, “It’s just, ‘What’s next?’” French said in May.
Not so much on a July night in Arlington.Mansolino chalked it up to location and command.
“There’s pitches he’s setting up away and we’re kind of yanking in and balls have kind of fallen in from there,” Mansolino said.
Those pesky fireworks returned in the fifth — still two days out from the national holiday of pyrotechnics. This time, it was Corey Seager. The five-time All-Star turned on an 85.5 mph splitter and sent it hurling toward center field — a 420-foot bomb.
Those two home runs sandwiched a two-out, two-RBI single from Ezequiel Duran in the fourth inning.
Sugano washed his foot across the rubber slab atop the pitcher’s mound, wiped the sweat puddling his forehead and tried to figure what was next. With the game feeling more out of reach, Mansolino pulled Sugano. The six earned runs allowed stacked on last week’s career-high seven earned runs allowed versus Tampa Bay.
Sugano was asked postgame if he’s noticed any particular trends over the rough patch. “I think one thing is the walks that I give out,” he said, via team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “And also the missed pitches, leaving in the zone. But more than anything, I think it’s more about the combination of pitches that I throw.”
The fastball and splitter dominated his arsenal in this most recent loss, combining for 48 pitches and inducing nine whiffs. Sugano threw the curveball 12 times for one whiff. His sweeper, cutter and sinker accounted for the other 19 pitches. Nonetheless, Sugano said he had a good grasp of what went haywire and how, for his next outing, he might be able to escape this funk.
Corbin Martin came in first for relief. The Orioles selected his contract from Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday morning. He pitched 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts. Yennier Cano and Andrew Kittredge combined for two innings of hitless, scoreless baseball.
Postgame analysis
Baltimore’s bats were screaming Monday night, with enough heroics to scrape out a win. They simmered to an indoor voice by Tuesday, cobbling together a couple of runs on seven hits. The Orioles offense didn’t have much to say in Wednesday’s series finale — their ninth shutout loss of the season, one more than they had all of 2024.
Third baseman Jordan Westburg hasn’t been in the lineup all week, sidelined by a left index finger injury. He’s a spark plug for the rest of the offense and Baltimore sure could use him. Westburg said earlier this week he’s near healthy enough — though he doesn’t expect to be 100% — to return. There’s a chance he gets back in the lineup in Atlanta this weekend. And Tyler O’Neill’s rehab assignment was moved to Triple-A Norfolk this week. He’ll rejoin the big league club in Atlanta after a month and a half on the injured list with a shoulder issue.
Are those two the answer to these hitting woes? The Orioles sure hope so.
By the numbers
The Orioles have reverted back after showing promise in early June. On June 5, they won their sixth straight game, which pinned them 11 back of .500. They’ve gone 12-13 since and managed only a pair of series wins over their last eight. Getting back to even by the All-Star break — Mansolino’s goal from the first day of his interim tenure — is impossible with only nine games left. It’s an uphill battle with 23 before the deadline, when the Orioles will make decisions that may send a clear message of how the front office views this season and the current roster construction.
What they’re saying
Mansolino on why Texas’ pitching staff gave them fits:
“Eovaldi’s really good. I think we know that, right? You look at that cutter, it’s 90 mph. It looks like it’s moving two feet. So he was on. He was locked in. Location was really good. Watching these guys for six games now in the span of about a week, you understand why it’s the No. 1 pitching staff in baseball. Would love to see the second half of that game, probably a few more knocks, a few more runs kind of put up right there, but it wasn’t our night tonight.”
On deck
After a wild Monday night win in extra innings that featured as much fight as Baltimore has shown all season, the Orioles dropped two in a row to the Rangers by a combined 16 runs. They’ll have an off day Thursday then three games in Atlanta. The projected starters are Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer and then Trevor Rogers.
Around the horn
• Before Wednesday’s game, the team put pitcher Keegan Akin on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation. Righty reliever Yennier Cano was recalled in a corresponding move. The Orioles also designated Matt Bowman for assignment and selected the contract of Martin.
• While Ryan O’Hearn was named an All-Star starter at designated hitter, sophomore second baseman Jackson Holliday will have to wait until Saturday to find out if he’ll be at Atlanta’s Truist Park on July 15.
• The Orioles avoided sending a fourth catcher to the injured list when Gary Sánchez’s imaging came back negative. He took a ball off the finger Tuesday night but was back in the lineup a day later.
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>“It seems like a lot of people in my life have been pulling for me, trying to get their friends to vote for me,” O’Hearn said. “Makes me smile. Very fortunate to have them in my life.”
Maybe the 31-year-old got some help from the campaigning moms, but it was his resurgent “back-from-the-dead” season that put him on a clear path to being selected as a starter in his first All-Star Game on July 15 in Atlanta. MLB made his selection official Wednesday night.
O’Hearn leads all qualified Orioles hitters in batting average (.295), on-base percentage (.383), slugging (.471) and OPS (.854). He has 11 home runs, four shy of his career high and second most in Baltimore.
The smile O’Hearn wore as he stepped before cameras and microphones Wednesday evening tells the story of a long journey to recognition he never thought possible. For five seasons and change in Kansas City, the idea of being an All-Star was a pipe dream. He came to terms with what he figured to be his professional fate. When the Orioles came calling in May 2023, O’Hearn joked that if the Royals were to ever build him a statue it would be erected on the dugout bench, where he spent most of his playing days.
“I spent a lot of time trying to keep my head above water in the big leagues and stick around as long as I possibly could,” O’Hearn said. “To say I’m a major league All-Star, I’m blown away.”
He tried to temper expectations these past few weeks, remembering what it felt like to be on the outside looking in of the final ballot last year. It made this announcement all the more special.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino gathered the whole team to share the news. He waxed about the story of O’Hearn’s ascendance from last guy on the bench on the worst team in baseball to batting cleanup on an American League East title team to All-Star starter. Then O’Hearn addressed the team wearing that same toothy smile.
“To see the joy and the happiness on the whole room’s face,” Mansolino said, “I think that probably tells the story of Ryan O’Hearn as much as the story itself.”
This is the third straight year Baltimore has a starter in the All-Star Game. Last year, the Orioles sent catcher Adley Rutschman and shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who represent the first draft picks in the organization’s rebuild era, after former outfielder Austin Hays got the starting nod as an injury replacement in 2023. The Orioles nearly repeated with another Midsummer Classic pairing.
Sophomore second baseman Jackson Holliday missed the cut behind the Detroit Tigers’ Gleyber Torres but could still make his first All-Star Game when the full rosters are announced Saturday. Torres received 66% of the fan vote in Phase 2 of the voting process to earn the starting nod, with Holliday securing 34%.
O’Hearn has been a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing 2025. This season began with championship aspirations. By mid-May, manager Brandon Hyde was fired and their playoff hopes dropped below 4% by July, according to FanGraphs. O’Hearn’s bat, his defense and his leadership in the clubhouse have all been paramount to keeping this season from falling completely off the rails.
“He’s a vocal guy,” rookie first baseman Coby Mayo said. “He likes hanging out with the guys and cracking jokes on the buses. He’s just the guy who’s always gonna speak up.”
Although Holliday won’t know for sure until Saturday if he’ll be selected as an All-Star, there’s a hard-to-miss confidence brewing in the clubhouse for the youngest player in the room.
“I called it last year,” third baseman Jordan Westburg said. “I don’t want to toot my own horn, but when he was struggling and that was kind of the story, I told somebody, ‘He’s gonna be OK.’”
Holliday’s 60-game rookie year in 2024 was colored by the frustrating numbers: a .189 batting average with a .565 OPS and 69 strikeouts in 208 plate appearances. There was, famously, the 1-for-30 start to his big league career and a circus of cameras following his every move. His first home run, a Eutaw Street grand slam, helped vindicate what Westburg was seeing.
“Everybody knows the talent is there. Everybody knows the tools were there,” Westburg said. “But the makeup is different, the maturity is different. You see it in Gunnar and you see it in Jackson. I can’t really recall any other ballplayers I’ve played with where the maturity is just like that off the charts.
“He was gonna figure it out. It’s been cool to see him figure it out because he’s carried this team on his shoulders at times.”
Holliday is slashing a much-improved .255/.307/.405 with 10 home runs and 33 RBIs. Interim manager Tony Mansolino slid him into an everyday leadoff role, and it’s paid dividends. O’Hearn said he often forgets how young Holliday is. “He takes some swings sometimes and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ The way he can sink and stay through a changeup comes to mind. … He plays mature beyond his years, and I think he’s very deserving to be an All-Star.”
The Orioles have a couple of other All-Star contenders who could be in the mix come Saturday’s final tally in Henderson and closer Félix Bautista. However, it might take injuries elsewhere to get them to Atlanta.
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
]]>