Ravens Camp — Aug 23: Jackson's Offense Lost Both Days in Minnesota

The Vikings' defense won both days of joint practice against Baltimore's offense — Minnesota took the closing two-minute drills against the first unit and the second, and Lamar Jackson's two days in Eagan ran mostly to short gains mixed with sacks, run stuffs, tackles for loss and pass breakups, per Tony Lombardi at Russell Street Report. Brian Flores's blitzes pressured Jackson from the opening periods Wednesday, stacking would-be sacks and stopping him when he tried to scramble, while Justin Jefferson scored in a two-minute drill the Ravens couldn't answer, per Giana Han at The Baltimore Banner. Dallas Turner generated repeated pressure on Ronnie Stanley, Eric Wilson got home on interior blitzes in red-zone work, and Vikings corner James Pierre — Jackson's cousin — intercepted him, per Lombardi. Stanley's own review, per Clifton Brown at the team's site: "Things have to be a lot cleaner." Head coach Jesse Minter didn't dress it up, telling reporters, per Dave Campbell of the Associated Press, "It's a great test. It's a unique scheme. He does a great job." The practices ran hot in other ways too — cornerback Keyon Martin threw a punch at Minnesota's Da'Veawn Armstead during a special teams period, per Han.

Baltimore's defense played the same two days and won its side of them. Trey Hendrickson took two sacks against Christian Darrisaw, per Brown, and Marlon Humphrey — back on the field Monday along with Nate Wiggins after the injuries that interrupted their camps — spent Wednesday matched on Jefferson and liked the ledger: "It felt really good to win some battles with him," per Brown, who also relayed Humphrey calling it the most electric practice he'd been part of since arriving in 2017.

The week's hardest news came Wednesday as well. Center Danny Pinter, who started the preseason opener, tore a patellar tendon and was carted off, and per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport, as relayed by Lombardi, his season is finished. Minter's version: he will "probably will miss an extended amount of time." That reopens the job Tyler Linderbaum left behind, per the Associated Press, and the competition is now Jovaughn Gwyn against Ethan Pocic, the latter still building back from a December Achilles tear. Minter, per Brown: "I think Jo's done a really nice job... both of those guys acquitted themselves fairly well." In Saturday's game Gwyn started and played four series before Pocic took his most extensive action of the summer, per Brown. No ruling.

Saturday in Minneapolis went to the reserves, and Baltimore's reserves won it 13 to 3 — Jackson sat, so file all of it as roster-battle material. Undrafted rookie quarterback Joe Fagnano went 15-of-20 for 123 yards and a touchdown, an eight-yarder to LaJohntay Wester — Wester's first in the league, on a team-high five catches — which puts Fagnano at 37-of-48 for 327 yards, two touchdowns and one interception across two games, per Quentin Corpuel's team-site recap. The defense collected five sacks and two takeaways: Mike Green's first, wrapping up J.J. McCarthy from behind, Ethan Burke's strip-sack +2 passes defensed, a Rayshaun Benny sack before half, and Silas Walters's clinching interception, per Ryan Mink's stock report. Brown notes the backups haven't allowed a touchdown in two preseason games. The specialists steadied after a shaky opener: Tyler Loop hit from 49 and 20 yards after going six-for-six in Thursday's joint-practice kicks, and Ryan Eckley unloaded punts of 60, 59, 59 and 56 yards plus a 54-yarder downed at the four, per Mink. The bad-day file belongs to the offensive line again — first-round guard Vega Ioane was beaten for pressure on his first snap and flagged for holding, per Mink, and fill-in tackle Gerad Lichtenhan drew three holding calls, per Corpuel.

The rest of the injury ledger is quieter. Nnamdi Madubuike is still limited to an individualized recovery plan after last year's neck surgery — no team drills yet — with the stated target of Week One against Indianapolis and a plan built around roughly 400 snaps next to Calais Campbell, per Jason La Canfora at Raven Country; until he takes an 11-on-11 rep, the interior of this front stays theoretical. Campbell himself, back after his mother's death on June 30, told Brown, "I love the game of football a lot. It brings me joy."

Back in July we previewed Baltimore as a team priced like nothing had happened — an 11-and-a-half win total, tied for the league's highest, resting on a first-time head coach, the league's youngest play-caller, a rebuilt interior line and a repaired pass rush — and we've been checking that preview against camp every week, with one more check before the season. This week fed both sides of it: the defense and the young roster keep looking like the bounce is real, while the offense lost its first meeting with a scheme that hadn't watched the install daily, and the interior line lost its most experienced center for the year. The proof the price assumes is still on layaway.

What to watch next: who takes the first-unit center snaps against Washington on Saturday and holds the job when the roster cuts to 53 on Sunday, August 30, and whether Madubuike gets into team drills before then. We'll check after cut day.

_Data via nflverse._