The Ravens enter the 2025 season with high expectations and a lot of work to do to reach them. After Day 1 of training camp, Head Coach John Harbaugh and team leaders were pleased with how it looks at the start.
"I thought we had an excellent first day. We looked pretty good," Harbaugh said. "At the same [time], we still have miles to go in our journey to get to where we'll be ready to play the kind of football we need to play early in the season."
While it was the first day for everybody, it was truly Day 1 for new cornerback Jaire Alexander, who was signed just as minicamp ended. Alexander made his presence immediately felt in his first practice.
After making an impressive leaping play to break up a long pass down the sideline intended for Dayton Wade, Alexander posed for the crowd and did his "seatbelt" celebration. It won't be the first time Ravens fans see that this season.
"I thought he looked good. He had a heck of a play on the sideline there," Harbaugh said. "It's so important on both sides of the ball to make plays on the outside throwing lane – that part of the field. … Games are won and lost in that area."
Alexander plays with a clear swagger that fits in on a Ravens defense. Later in practice, he jumped at a wide receiver in press coverage, then glared with confidence when the ball went somewhere else.
When DeAndre Hopkins made a leaping back shoulder reception against Alexander on a tightly contested pass, Alexander gave his props to the veteran with a little bow and a dap up.
Lamar Jackson knows Alexander's game well, consideringthat they were college teammates at Louisville. Jackson, who recruited Alexander to come to Baltimore, said he tried to test him in practice with a fade route to Hopkins, but the pass was caught just a bit out of bounds.
"He's still that guy," Jackson said. "Jaire's still that guy."
Here's what else stood out on Day 1 at the Under Armour Performance Center:
- The rookie kickers got off to a good start. Tyler Loop went 6-for-6, and John Hoyland was 4-of-5 with his one miss being wide left from 40 yards out.
- Wide receiver Zay Flowers caught a pass over the middle early in practice and exploded into the open field for what would have been a long touchdown. Flowers was in pain and grabbed for his foot/ankle later in practice but returned to make several more catches and looked like his normal shifty self. He was active throughout practice, including wrestling one pass away from linebacker Trenton Simpson.
- Cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis had a good practice with a pass breakup on a deep pass and another tightly contested play during seven-on-seven work when he walled off the receiver from the catch.
- Running back Keaton Mitchell continues to look extremely fast, just as he did as a rookie. He did, however, drop what would have been a long touchdown later in practice after he dusted a defender to get wide open.
- In addition to his back shoulder catch, Hopkins also made a diving catch over the middle and continues to look like he'll make a big impact on this year's offense.
- Right guard Daniel Faalele looks a bit trimmer than last year and showed off his mobility as a puller on a screen.
