You've already seen the one posted about Baker exceeding expectations. Here are some more:
Roster notes: Chargers signed C Erick Wren and Chiefs signed WR Jordan Smallwood.
- When [Ravens] safety Tony Jefferson spoke with reporters last week, he talked about coaches allowing him to do more of what he does best.
Jefferson didn’t go into specifics, but the general takeaway was that he was talking about playing closer to the line of scrimmage where his physicality and aggressiveness could be used to plug holes in the run game and lock down tight ends and running backs.
That may be true, but Jefferson showed everyone Friday that he can still make plays in coverage, notching a pair of interceptions during 11-on-11 drills.
One came off a deflection down the sideline on a pass from Joe Flacco that was intended for John Brown. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey knocked the ball up and Jefferson stayed in bounds to snag the interception.
Jefferson’s second interception came when Flacco tried to hit tight end Hayden Hurst down the seam but slightly overthrew his target. Jefferson was waiting over the top for it and leapt to make the catch. It would have been perfect had he not tripped over his own feet during the return, getting a laugh from his defensive teammates and the crowd.
Jefferson had one interception last season in his first year in Baltimore. He has three in his five-year career. If he can grab more this season alongside Eric Weddle, who leads all NFL safeties with 10 over the past two years, it would be a huge boon for Baltimore.
- [Ravens] Rookie tight end Mark Andrews has not practiced since the first day of training camp because of a soft-tissue issue. Some of the other players absent from practice were running back Kenneth Dixon (reported hamstring) and safety Tony Jefferson (undisclosed). Head Coach John Harbaugh has stressed throughout camp that none of the injuries are considered serious at this point.
- Q: With [Ravens] G Marshal Yanda sitting out, you got a long look at T Orlando Brown Jr. What are your impressions of him so far?
A: "He's improved dramatically. He's right in the middle of learning how we go about our business, as well as the offensive structure. He's getting better every day, and as long as a young man – let's say a rookie – can get better every day, good things end up happening. He's done that. He's a very, very hard worker – has excellent preparation. Joe 'D' [D'Alessandris, offensive line coach] is doing a heck of a job with him."
- [Bengals QB Andy] Dalton's two incompletions came when WILL backer Jordan Evans blitzed untouched and batted it away and when Will Jackson was draped all over Green on a sideline route, Dalton overthrew him.
PLAYER OF THE DAY: WILL linebacker Jordan Evans
A close call over wide receiver John Ross, but when Ross couldn’t corral his last ball of the day the nod went to Evans after another day he prevented catches from being made. Plus, the first day of full pads usually belongs to the defense.
“He’s been very good for four days,” said ever cautious linebackers coach Jim Haslett. “And that’s it.”
Evans, the speedy sophomore linebacker from Oklahoma, has put his hands on more balls than rookie center Billy Price this week. Since Vontaze Burfict’s absence early in camp has provided a look at the Opening Day lineup, Evans is showing why he’ll take Burfict’s place while he sits out the first four games. During one-on-ones Sunday before the biggest crowd of training camp, Evans slapped away a pass headed to running back Tra Carson and as he walked off the field Haslett said got his hands on another one and should have had the interception.
“I did?” Evans asked. “Can’t remember. Too tired.”
Quarterbacks are starting to get tired throwing it his way. On Saturday he discombobulated one of the NFL’s top tandems when Evans dropped into zone coverage after diagnosing a play-action fake, leaped for quarterback Andy Dalton’s pass over the middle and barely got a few fingers on it that were enough to disrupt wide receiver A.J. Green’s vision and force the drop. The Bengals are banking on their last three drafts to propel them back to the playoffs and with SAM backer Nick Vigil (2016 third-rounder) and Evans (2017 sixth round) showing off their speed and athleticism in the nickel package, the Bengals need those other draft picks to match them.
“I’m more comfortable. I’m paying more attention in meetings. Just being a better all-around player for the team,” said Evans, who say it’s not like he was sleeping through meetings. “I understand more. It makes more sense to me. The only way to learn is through the experience I had last year.”
Injuries forced Evans to take an uncharacteristic Marvin Lewis 311 rookie snaps, but Haslett thinks what mattered more is that he’s got another year playing at WILL after playing the middle for the Sooners. He also bulked up slightly over last season, adding about five pounds to 242. At 6-3, Evans is a rare tall linebacker and Haslett loves what those arms do in passing lanes.
He also made a nice play in the run game Sunday when cornerback KeiVarae Russell turned the runner back to Evans in a team-drill snap. Haslett says Evans is using his hands much more than he did at Oklahoma and is doing a better job of striking, like he did on that play.
Scouts wondered if he could make or want to make that play at the NFL level. Heading into last year’s draft, Haslett found himself watching games where it felt like Evans would be on the field for 90 snaps and face 80 passes.
“The knock on him was, how tough is he?” Haslett said. “Nobody knows. But how do you know how tough he is when you don’t have anybody banging at you? I thought looking at tape he’s the kind of guy you want in the NFL now.”
--[Chiefs'] Rookie sixth-round draft pick Tremon Smith had a nice pass breakup on the outside on a ball that was intended for receiver Jordan Smallwood, who also had a good day as those two went back and forth for much of the 7-on-7 period.
- The best pass of the day was…
While Mahomes had a lot of solid passes all over the field, the prettiest pass came on the last play of practice, and it was from former Raiders’ quarterback Matt McGloin to Smallwood, who, again, had several nice plays on the day. It was in a goal-to-go situation and the ball was placed perfectly over the outside shoulder of Smallwood on the fade, and it landed right in his hands over the outstretched arms of the defender.
- [Jags] Wide receiver Dede Westbrook continued to impress early, with one of his receptions Friday being a sliding reception on a crossing route from Bortles for 10-to-15 yards. …
- [Jags] PLAY OF THE DAY
Friday’s unpadded work didn’t feature a slew of memorable plays, but a couple of players stood out: running back Corey Grant and Westbrook. The latter has had a solid start to camp, making several sliding and diving catches during the first two days.
[I ADDED A BUNCH OF NEW STUFF BELOW IN THIS THREAD.]
NFC blurbs will have to wait.
Roster notes: Chargers signed C Erick Wren and Chiefs signed WR Jordan Smallwood.
- When [Ravens] safety Tony Jefferson spoke with reporters last week, he talked about coaches allowing him to do more of what he does best.
Jefferson didn’t go into specifics, but the general takeaway was that he was talking about playing closer to the line of scrimmage where his physicality and aggressiveness could be used to plug holes in the run game and lock down tight ends and running backs.
That may be true, but Jefferson showed everyone Friday that he can still make plays in coverage, notching a pair of interceptions during 11-on-11 drills.
One came off a deflection down the sideline on a pass from Joe Flacco that was intended for John Brown. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey knocked the ball up and Jefferson stayed in bounds to snag the interception.
Jefferson’s second interception came when Flacco tried to hit tight end Hayden Hurst down the seam but slightly overthrew his target. Jefferson was waiting over the top for it and leapt to make the catch. It would have been perfect had he not tripped over his own feet during the return, getting a laugh from his defensive teammates and the crowd.
Jefferson had one interception last season in his first year in Baltimore. He has three in his five-year career. If he can grab more this season alongside Eric Weddle, who leads all NFL safeties with 10 over the past two years, it would be a huge boon for Baltimore.
- [Ravens] Rookie tight end Mark Andrews has not practiced since the first day of training camp because of a soft-tissue issue. Some of the other players absent from practice were running back Kenneth Dixon (reported hamstring) and safety Tony Jefferson (undisclosed). Head Coach John Harbaugh has stressed throughout camp that none of the injuries are considered serious at this point.
- Q: With [Ravens] G Marshal Yanda sitting out, you got a long look at T Orlando Brown Jr. What are your impressions of him so far?
A: "He's improved dramatically. He's right in the middle of learning how we go about our business, as well as the offensive structure. He's getting better every day, and as long as a young man – let's say a rookie – can get better every day, good things end up happening. He's done that. He's a very, very hard worker – has excellent preparation. Joe 'D' [D'Alessandris, offensive line coach] is doing a heck of a job with him."
- [Bengals QB Andy] Dalton's two incompletions came when WILL backer Jordan Evans blitzed untouched and batted it away and when Will Jackson was draped all over Green on a sideline route, Dalton overthrew him.
PLAYER OF THE DAY: WILL linebacker Jordan Evans
A close call over wide receiver John Ross, but when Ross couldn’t corral his last ball of the day the nod went to Evans after another day he prevented catches from being made. Plus, the first day of full pads usually belongs to the defense.
“He’s been very good for four days,” said ever cautious linebackers coach Jim Haslett. “And that’s it.”
Evans, the speedy sophomore linebacker from Oklahoma, has put his hands on more balls than rookie center Billy Price this week. Since Vontaze Burfict’s absence early in camp has provided a look at the Opening Day lineup, Evans is showing why he’ll take Burfict’s place while he sits out the first four games. During one-on-ones Sunday before the biggest crowd of training camp, Evans slapped away a pass headed to running back Tra Carson and as he walked off the field Haslett said got his hands on another one and should have had the interception.
“I did?” Evans asked. “Can’t remember. Too tired.”
Quarterbacks are starting to get tired throwing it his way. On Saturday he discombobulated one of the NFL’s top tandems when Evans dropped into zone coverage after diagnosing a play-action fake, leaped for quarterback Andy Dalton’s pass over the middle and barely got a few fingers on it that were enough to disrupt wide receiver A.J. Green’s vision and force the drop. The Bengals are banking on their last three drafts to propel them back to the playoffs and with SAM backer Nick Vigil (2016 third-rounder) and Evans (2017 sixth round) showing off their speed and athleticism in the nickel package, the Bengals need those other draft picks to match them.
“I’m more comfortable. I’m paying more attention in meetings. Just being a better all-around player for the team,” said Evans, who say it’s not like he was sleeping through meetings. “I understand more. It makes more sense to me. The only way to learn is through the experience I had last year.”
Injuries forced Evans to take an uncharacteristic Marvin Lewis 311 rookie snaps, but Haslett thinks what mattered more is that he’s got another year playing at WILL after playing the middle for the Sooners. He also bulked up slightly over last season, adding about five pounds to 242. At 6-3, Evans is a rare tall linebacker and Haslett loves what those arms do in passing lanes.
He also made a nice play in the run game Sunday when cornerback KeiVarae Russell turned the runner back to Evans in a team-drill snap. Haslett says Evans is using his hands much more than he did at Oklahoma and is doing a better job of striking, like he did on that play.
Scouts wondered if he could make or want to make that play at the NFL level. Heading into last year’s draft, Haslett found himself watching games where it felt like Evans would be on the field for 90 snaps and face 80 passes.
“The knock on him was, how tough is he?” Haslett said. “Nobody knows. But how do you know how tough he is when you don’t have anybody banging at you? I thought looking at tape he’s the kind of guy you want in the NFL now.”
--[Chiefs'] Rookie sixth-round draft pick Tremon Smith had a nice pass breakup on the outside on a ball that was intended for receiver Jordan Smallwood, who also had a good day as those two went back and forth for much of the 7-on-7 period.
- The best pass of the day was…
While Mahomes had a lot of solid passes all over the field, the prettiest pass came on the last play of practice, and it was from former Raiders’ quarterback Matt McGloin to Smallwood, who, again, had several nice plays on the day. It was in a goal-to-go situation and the ball was placed perfectly over the outside shoulder of Smallwood on the fade, and it landed right in his hands over the outstretched arms of the defender.
- [Jags] Wide receiver Dede Westbrook continued to impress early, with one of his receptions Friday being a sliding reception on a crossing route from Bortles for 10-to-15 yards. …
- [Jags] PLAY OF THE DAY
Friday’s unpadded work didn’t feature a slew of memorable plays, but a couple of players stood out: running back Corey Grant and Westbrook. The latter has had a solid start to camp, making several sliding and diving catches during the first two days.
[I ADDED A BUNCH OF NEW STUFF BELOW IN THIS THREAD.]
NFC blurbs will have to wait.
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