The Ja'Kobi Lane hype train might be leaving the station soon.
Entering this week, the fourth-round rookie wideout had already shown off his elite length and strong hands. His leaping grab over the middle last week had been the best catch of camp up to that point.
Then came Tuesday's practice, when Lane one-upped himself.
Facing a third-and-long, Lane ran an out-breaking route toward the right sideline and was covered well by Nate Wiggins. As he was falling backward, Lane stuck out his right hand and made a ridiculous one-handed catch.
That wasn't Lane's only highlight from Tuesday's practice. The Ravens went through the same one-on-one drill they did Monday that pitted wide receivers against defensive backs.
Lane made the most of his reps. Facing Marlon Humphrey, Lane shook free after being jammed for a few yards and cut hard to the left, sending Humphrey stumbling to the ground. In the wake of oohs and aahs from the crowd, Lane made an easy catch over the middle.
Sometime later, Lane faced T.J. Tampa. The rookie shook Tampa with a stutter step a few yards into his route, then hauled in an over-the-shoulder catch down the right sideline.
It's still early in training camp, but it's hard to watch Lane without getting excited about his potential.
"He's continued to flash and make those type of plays," Head Coach Jesse Minter said. "As [for] anybody, you're always searching for consistency down after down. Again, the more he shows Lamar that he's making those types of plays, the more trust they build, and that's really what training camp and what practice is all about."
Here are some other notes from an eventful practice on Tuesday:
- Zay Flowers sat out practice after inking a contract extension (Minter said he should be back on the field tomorrow). Even without Flowers, the first-team offense had a productive day. The unit scored a touchdown on its opening drive of 11-on-11 that started with Jaylinn Hawkins "sacking" Jackson early in the possession. But the offense was sparked by Lane's phenomenal third-down catch and moved down the field efficiently. Derrick Henry capped off the drive with a rushing touchdown from a few yards out.
- The second-team offense also put together a nice drive, which was highlighted by a deep pass from Tyler Huntley to Devontez Walker and a toe-tap touchdown catch by Xavier Guillory in the back of the end zone.
- That being said, the defense also tallied a handful of positive plays, including a few takeaways. One came from Nate Wiggins, who intercepted Jackson on a pass over the middle that was intended for Lane during the seven-on-seven period. Hawkins crashed into Wiggins from behind, and Wiggins was down on his back for a minute before walking slowly off the field with trainers. Wiggins returned for positional drills and said after practice that he simply got the wind knocked out of him.
- Earlier in practice, David Olajiga picked off Jackson on a short pass over the middle. Olajiga was stripped on the return, though, and Danny Pinter recovered. Olajiga also stopped Henry deep in the backfield and knocked away a screen pass from Jackson that was intended for Henry.
- During 11-on-11, Amani Oruwariye jumped a route in the deep middle part of the field and intercepted Skylar Thompson. During seven-on-seven, Marquise Robinson picked off Thompson on a rainbow toward the right sideline. Moments later, Cornelius Johnson made a nice catch over the middle, but he was soon stripped by Robert Longerbeam, who recovered the loose ball.
- During 11-on-11, Wiggins had a diving deflection facing LaJohntay Wester along the right sideline (Wester also came down with a contested catch against Wiggins). After losing a one-on-one rep to Lane earlier in practice, Tampa got a get-back with a textbook pass breakup on third-and-5 while guarding Matt Hibner. During seven-on-seven, Chidobe Awuzie had a pass breakup while guarding Elijah Sarratt, and not too long after, Keyon Martin broke up a pass while defending Guillory that was almost intercepted by Jay Higgins IV off the deflection.
- The seven-on-seven period wasn't all doom and gloom for the offense, as Huntley hit a wide-open Wester deep over the middle for a long touchdown.
- Both the first and second-team offenses ran what looked like a tempo drill toward the end of practice. Jackson hit Andrews for a chunk gain over the middle, then connected with Lane on an out route before the second team took the field. Huntley hit Chris Moore for a solid gain on the first play, and Huntley hustled to spike the ball. But Adam Randall couldn't get back to the line of scrimmage in time before Huntley snapped the ball, and the rookie was flagged for illegal formation.
- Defensive linemen and offensive linemen went one-on-one toward the end of practice. Highlights included Carson Vinson stonewalling Zion Young and Broderick Washington Jr. getting past Danny Pinter.
- At the very end of practice, Sarratt made a wildly difficult catch despite being blanketed by Chandler Rivers.
