Practices cannot be judged properly without context—in many ways, context is even more significant in such settings than it is in games. A team can be working on any number of different things during practice which may highlight one particular player or unit in a positive or negative way.
That is what the Baltimore Ravens did yesterday in a practice set up to work on third-and-long situations. On a day in which the offense was set up to fail, however, it failed miserably. The quarterbacks tossed a shocking nine interceptions on the day, with star Lamar Jackson leading the way with four.
“I’m not going to lie. Defense dominated”, CB Marlon Humphrey said after practice, via the team’s website. “It was a defense day. The script was meant for the defense to win and we won. We got a great offense, but for the defense, when it’s scripted for us to win, we got to win”.
Second-year TE Isaiah Likely had a slightly more positive spin on it. “You could say the defense won”, he told reporters, “but in my head, we don’t really lose, we just learn”.
Of course, “winning” and “losing” in a practice setting are pretty meaningless, especially when taken in the context of specific situational drills. While it’s abysmal under any circumstances for an offense to come away with nine interceptions thrown in a single practice setting, it’s much more understandable when it’s understood that the unit was working in third-and-long situations, when everybody knows the long pass is coming.
That’s how seven of those interceptions came about. The Ravens posted a montage of the nine interceptions on the day on their Twitter page, which is going to remain Twitter just as much as Acrisure Stadium is going to remain Heinz Field.
Jackson only threw seven interceptions last season and has just 38 for his career, owning a 2.3 percent interception rate since coming into the league in 2018. That is admittedly a fairly middle-of-the-road statistic, his lower totals reflecting a lower volume of passes generally. His missing 10 games over the past two seasons hasn’t helped that.
Interestingly, the team did not provide any comments on the day from head coach John Harbaugh beyond updates on injuries. I’m sure he was asked about the awful day for his offense and his quarterbacks, but personally I haven’t seen anything he’s said about it.
The Ravens also reportedly had six false starts on the day as well, so that didn’t exactly help with the third-and-long scenarios.
In his career, Jackson has done okay in these situations. On third or fourth and seven or more, he has gone 142-for-246, throwing for 1,692 yards with 12 touchdowns to 8 interceptions and an 81.6 rating, according to Pro Football Reference. He has been sacked 32 times, however. He has converted for a first down or touchdown 78 times through the air. He also has 16 first downs rushing on 54 attempts.
