The Ravens have an open spot or two in their receiver room and the competition is heating up.
Rashod Bateman, Devin Duvernay, James Proche II and Tylan Wallace are the Ravens' top four wide receivers. Behind them, there's a battle between Jaylon Moore, Binjimen Victor, Bailey Gaither and six undrafted rookie wide receivers: Slade Bolden, Shemar Bridges, Makai Polk, Raleigh Webb and Devon Williams.
Moore and Bolden made the plays of the day Saturday, as Moore hauled in a bomb from Lamar Jackson over his shoulder as he went to the turf in the end zone. Then Bolden laid out to grab a red zone throw from Jackson despite defensive pass interference on the play. Polk also had a red-zone touchdown.
"They've kind of all made plays at one point in time or another, and they're reps are spread out, because they're all getting a chance now," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "We have to give all those guys a shot, because we don't know who's going to step forward. So, they'll all play a lot in the game, and we'll see what you see."
Here are other notes from Saturday's practice, which featured "shells" and mostly on-air work but got into some 11-on-11 action and red-zone work near the end:
- Wide receiver Devin Duvernay returned to practice after suffering a thigh bruise at the M&T Bank Stadium practice a week ago.
- Tight end Mark Andrews got pulled from practice after an awkward slide that dug up a chunk of the grass and looked like it could have been painful. Andrews popped to his feet, told Harbaugh he was fine and that he was just working on his slide. "Well, it wasn't one of your better slides," Harbaugh quipped. "He's had plenty of reps, and that was really my call just to back him off."
- Veteran outside linebacker Steven Means walked off early and Harbaugh said there's "nothing definitive" about his status and didn't see what happened. The Ravens' depth at the position already took a hit earlier this week when Vince Biegel suffered a torn Achilles.
- Jackson had his deep ball dialed in Saturday. Even when just throwing on air, he dropped some perfect passes in a bucket 40+ yards down the field. On one, Proche gave a little clap at the end to show his approval.
- Proche also had another strong practice, including a red-zone touchdown on another great throw by Jackson.
- Odafe Oweh was a menace all day giving all the Ravens' offensive tackles fits. One on running play, he pulled a matador move on fullback Ben Mason, quickly sidestepping around him, to make a tackle for loss.
- Cornerback Kevon Seymour had good coverage deep down the field, knocking a pass away intended for Gaither. Harbaugh also said afterwards that Seymour is a "proven special teams player in the NFL."
- Another young cornerback that is standing out is undrafted rookie David Vereen. He's 5-foot-9 and from Newberry, but he's competitive and seems to make a play a day. Vereen recovered after being beat to break up a pass intended for Gaither.
