It was the first joint practice of the 2026 season for the Baltimore Ravens as they went up against the Minnesota Vikings.
Throughout the practice, all signs pointed to a strong defense. They might have allowed a few deep pass plays, but cornerback Marlon Humphrey had a strong performance.
That was the kind of reporting we needed to hear. The problem is, it wasn’t all good news from practice.
Baltimore Ravens Offense Did Not Step Up at Joint Practice With Vikings
The Athletic Ravens reporter Jeff Zrebiec shared his quick observations from the joint practice. Zrebiec was brutally honest about the Ravens’ offense.
“Offensively, Rashod Bateman had a solid day. Some quick passes resulted in decent gains. LaJohntay Wester caught a short one while not covered and raced upfield for big gain. Otherwise, Ravens struggled mightily on offense. Vikings blitzed a ton and had lot of success.”
Some reports said the Ravens were successful with the short passing game, but that was it. Overall, the passing attack struggled to get much going.
Minnesota had the third-best defense in the NFL last year, and a lot of the same pieces were there. Baltimore had a lot of concerns about new starters on the line, so it seemed like that might not have helped.
There were no reports on how rookie standout Ja’Kobi Lane did in practice, which suggests he had a quiet day. Zrebiec did mention that Zay Flowers made some plays as well, but it appears as though Bateman was the best one.
Ravens’ Offense Gets Bad Report From Vikings Joint Practice
This was not the kind of report the Ravens needed after a strong preseason performance. Baltimore’s offense racked up over 400 yards on the Philadelphia Eagles in their 24-7 win in the preseason opener.
The Ravens’ offense will face more pressure to step up and perform better moving forward. That means Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle will have to go back to the drawing board and figure things out.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will have to shoulder some of the blame as well. Jackson is what makes the offense run smoothly, so he will have to work with Doyle on cleaning things up.
The good news is that the Ravens will have a second chance to redeem themselves with another joint practice with the Vikings on Thursday. Now that they have a better idea of their talent, they can clean up their mistakes and come back better. This could be what helps the offense roll in the right direction for the rest of camp.
Ravens’ Offense Received Heavy Dose of Reality at Vikings Joint Practice