OWINGS MILLS, Md. — As he spent time evaluating his injuries last season and what he wanted differently from the 2024 campaign, Baltimore Ravens veteran cornerback Marlon Humphrey made a decision. His best seasons — he’s made three Pro Bowl teams and was an All-Pro in 2019 — came when he played at a lighter weight.
After a year in which he missed eight total games and rarely, if ever, felt healthy, it was time to trim down a little bit. Advertisement “I’m around 190. I came in 195,” Humphrey said, crediting the eating plan established for him by Sarah Snyder, the Ravens’ director of sports nutrition.
“I’ve been playing the past couple of seasons around 200 or so, so basically, ever since I tore my pec, I got my grown-man weight on me, and it just never went off. It’s a young man’s game, so I decided to get a little lower.” When training camp began earlier this week , there was a curiosity about Humphrey’s form.
He battled injuries for much of last season, starting with a foot issue that required surgery about midway through last year’s training camp. He participated very little in the various team offseason workouts. He was occasionally seen working out with a member of the athletic training staff on an adjacent field, an activity usually reserved for injured players.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh would say only that Humphrey was dealing with some “nagging” things. Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox. Sign up Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
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setAttribute("style", "pointer-events: none;");}) However, Humphrey has minimized concerns about his health this week. He’s leaner, as he confirmed Tuesday, and moving around well. His tight coverage has forced several incompletions.
Even when he has given up a catch, he’s been in a pretty good position to make a play on the ball. “He was getting a little gut last year,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton joked about Humphrey. “He wasn’t playing a lot — he just had a little chunkiness, but he dropped it.
He’s got the abs back. He’s looking good out there. He’s running, he’s covering very well right now, and I’m excited to see him this year.
” Later, Hamilton added: “I don’t think the Ravens are what the Ravens are right now without Marlon the past eight years.” Humphrey, 28, has been a defensive mainstay on the Ravens. When at his best, he can shadow the opposition’s top receiving threat.
He’s a physical presence near the line of scrimmage and can create turnovers. He’s also been a defensive leader. Advertisement With the drafting of Nate Wiggins and T.
J. Tampa and the signing of veteran safety Eddie Jackson , Baltimore believes it has upgraded one of the league’s top-performing secondaries from last season. However, the biggest addition the Ravens could probably get is having a healthy Humphrey, who can play both outside and in the slot.
GO DEEPER With much-improved depth, Ravens' secondary could become one of their biggest strengths The ability to use Wiggins and Brandon Stephens on the outside with some combination of Humphrey, Hamilton and veteran Arthur Maulet in the slot would be a nice luxury for first-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr. For that to come to fruition, the Ravens need Humphrey to remain healthy, which he learned plenty about last season after not experiencing too many injuries in his career beyond the torn pectoral muscle he sustained that prematurely ended his 2021 season. “I had certain injuries where you needed rest, and I think I overtook some of the rest time, and then just thought I could just play in the game Sunday and be my usual self,” Humphrey said.
“Probably some of the things I regret. But mainly, it’s such a long season. I wasn’t really used to being hurt a lot.
I know a lot of guys go into games hurt — every single game. I’ve done that a ton in my past as well, but last year just was a little different for me. I’m kind of ready for whatever this year.
” Jackson remains sidelined Quarterback Lamar Jackson missed his third consecutive training camp practice Tuesday with an undisclosed illness. Harbaugh said he believes Jackson is getting closer to returning to action. “He’s closer to getting out there than he was,” Harbaugh said.
“It’s just a matter of when the doctors are going to clear him and he’s going to feel good.” Jackson first started feeling sick while at the Under Armour Performance Center for meetings on Saturday. He returned to the building Sunday ahead of the team’s first training camp practice, but he was sent home by team doctors and hasn’t been back since.
The Ravens, who have had veteran Josh Johnson leading the offense in Jackson’s absence, are practicing Wednesday and then they’re off on Thursday. Faalele getting a chance at guard After three practices, there have obviously been no definitive decisions made on Baltimore’s three offensive line vacancies. But Harbaugh confirmed Tuesday that the team is intent on giving Daniel Faalele an opportunity to win the starting right guard job.
Faalele, a fourth-round pick in 2022 who has played sparingly at tackle in his first two seasons, has been getting an extended look at the spot through the first week of training camp. Advertisement “We’re going to give it a shot and see how it looks,” Harbaugh said. “Daniel has very good feet for his size.
He’s a big man but he can move his feet. He can also bend and create leverage. When you have that kind of size and you’re coming off the ball on some of those combination blocks, we feel like he has a chance with Tyler (Linderbaum) to move people in there.
” Faalele, who is 6-foot-8, 380 pounds, was originally believed to be a candidate to start at right tackle following the offseason trade of Morgan Moses . However, his best opportunity to win a starting job now appears to be at right guard, where he’s competing with Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu and Ben Cleveland . “He keeps working on using his hands,” Harbaugh said of Faalele.
“Things happen quicker. You’ve got to get your hands up quicker, get your hands on people quicker, too. He’s working on that part of it, too.
We’ll see how he adapts.” Harbaugh said the Ravens still intend on moving some guys around during training camp. For example, he wanted Patrick Mekari to get reps this week at right tackle, although he’ll also see some time at center and perhaps other spots up front in future practices.
Other thoughts, observations • At one point early in practice, Harbaugh had a brief chat with outside linebacker Odafe Oweh and urged him ...
to be less disruptive. That’s not exactly what Harbaugh said, but the veteran coach did remind the fourth-year pass rusher to not get overzealous in his pursuit of the quarterback. Oweh has been the most noticeable defensive player through three days of camp, and that’s not a good thing for the Ravens quarterbacks or offensive tackles.
“I had to pull the reins in on him a little bit,” Harbaugh said. “He understands to stay away from the quarterbacks as much as possible. We don’t want to have any car crashes out there, but he’s doing a great job.
He’s bringing it. He’s pretty much been in the backfield every play, so we appreciate it.” • Maulet has been a magnet for the football early in camp, registering an interception in each of the first three days.
His pick on Tuesday was his best yet. The 5-foot-10 corner went up high to make a leaping grab of a Johnson pass intended for Nelson Agholor before he tumbled to the ground while keeping possession of the football. Have a camp @ArthurMaulet2 ❗ pic.
twitter.com/9GC7vvJOgU — Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) July 23, 2024 • Rashod Bateman has made a few big plays in every practice, and that continued Tuesday with him catching a deep pass down the far sideline. It appeared that the ball deflected off Humphrey’s hand before Bateman hauled it in.
A few plays later, Bateman got loose in the middle of the field and then turned outside for a big gain. The much-maligned receiver has been in good form early in camp. Advertisement • Rookie fourth-round receiver Devontez Walker and veteran Keith Kirkwood both had quiet starts to camp, but they made big plays Tuesday.
Walker got behind veteran safety Daryl Worley and made a deep catch down the sideline. Kirkwood outdueled Trayvon Mullen to catch a back-shoulder throw in the corner of the end zone. Otherwise, we’ve seen plays being made pretty regularly by Zay Flowers and Bateman, along with tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely , but the rest of the receiving group has been relatively quiet.
• There’s a reason these are non-contact practices. Johnson threw the ball to Derrick Henry in the flat, but the veteran quarterback clearly didn’t see Hamilton rushing toward the running back. At the last moment, Hamilton veered off to avoid what would have been a thunderous collision.
That didn’t stop middle linebacker Roquan Smith from praising how quickly Hamilton broke on the ball. (Photo: Nick Wass / Associated Press).
