Childs Walker: 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ first preseason game

It’s official. We’ve seen Jesse Minter on the home sideline at M&T Bank Stadium, and the Ravens won their first-year coach’s preseason debut, 24-7 over the Philadelphia Eagles. Here are five things we learned from the game.

The Ja’Kobi Lane train isn’t slowing

Lane was ripe for a fall. With fans erupting and the Ravens releasing hype videos for each of his practice grabs (even the relatively routine ones), the rookie wide receiver could not possibly meet expectations the first time he took the field at M&T Bank Stadium.

Sure enough, quarterback Tyler Huntely did not look Lane’s way early in Saturday’s game. The first double-digit strike of the preseason went to another rookie pass catcher, tight end Matthew Hibner.

But cynicism has no place in Lane’s first NFL summer. So, when it was time for the Ravens to punch into the end zone, there he was, snapping up Joe Fagnano’s pass near the goal line and powering past two defenders for the score.

Even those scouts who doubted Lane’s ability to separate from NFL defensive backs acknowledged his enormous potential as a red-zone specialist. His lanky frame and magnetic paws are nightmares for pint-size nickel backs defending the slot. So it was fitting that his first standout play of the preseason produced points.

His touchdown punctuated a stellar opening night for the team’s rookie pass catchers, with Lane, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt and tight ends Hibner and Josh Cuevas combining to catch the first 13 balls thrown their way. Only Sarratt’s fumble at the end of a 12-yard catch in the third quarter marred the narrative.

“I thought all those guys showed some really good stuff,” Minter said.

Asked to describe his touchdown, Lane said he ran a simple cut-in, made sure to catch the ball and “came out looking for the end zone.”

As he noted, it’s the type of play he’s made throughout camp. So why should a game be any different?

Matthew Hibner eased anxieties around a crucial position

The most uplifting sight from the Ravens’ first preseason quarter had to be their rookie tight end gliding open down the sideline for a 29-yard, drive-sustaining catch.

With five catches on five targets for 61 yards, Hibner flashed the smooth acceleration, reliable hands and after-catch oomph that led the Ravens to draft him in the fourth round as a possible replacement for Isaiah Likely.

After that first catch-and-run, exaltation washed over him to the point he “kind of blacked out.” Who could blame him? He wiped away doubts that had set in with his unremarkable start to training camp and created hope that Mark Andrews will have a viable young running mate.

The dirty secret we’ve gleaned from training camp is that the Ravens don’t have much proven depth behind their top offensive playmakers. Zay Flowers and Derrick Henry are fantastic. God forbid either suffers a significant injury.

There’s a rosy scenario for this offense: Rashod Bateman rebounds, Lane really is a red-zone monster, Andrews still has ample juice in his legs. There’s also a scarier version in which Lamar Jackson feels bereft of targets at key junctures.

Much of our uncertainty centers on the tight ends, long a strength for this team but diminished by Likely’s departure. The Ravens signed the 30-year-old Andrews to an extension in the middle of his worst season. Was his 8.8-yard-per-catch average (down from 12.3 for his career) an anomaly or a sign of the former All-Pro’s fading capacity to find downfield seams?

The Ravens need Andrews to get back to his 2024 form, because there’s no guaranteed production in the depth chart behind him. Durham Smythe knows Declan Doyle’s offense and will see regular action as a sturdy blocker, but he was targeted all of six times in 17 games for the Chicago Bears last season. He’s not filling Likely’s cleats.

The candidates to do that are Hibner and fifth-round pick Josh Cuevas, neither of whom looked the part of a ready NFL contributor over the first three weeks of camp. There were caveats to that assessment, even before Hibner’s splashy preseason debut. If we think back eight years, Andrews didn’t look like a future standout at the start of his first camp, and he ended that season with 552 receiving yards. The Ravens have excelled at drafting immediate contributors at tight end, so they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt.

But they surely hoped to see some spark from Hibner and/or Cuevas in the preseason opener. Doyle recently acknowledged he has much left to learn about a position group he expects will be vital to his offense.

“I would say nothing is set,” the first-year offensive coordinator said. “The tight end position — because they really have a role in pass-game protection and the run game — those are a lot of jobs to have to evaluate. I certainly have a vision of utilizing that position, and at the same point in time, who is doing which role kind of sorts itself out over time.”

Hibner’s performance Saturday felt like a meaningful step in that sorting.

This was an important day for Jesse Minter and his staff, just not in ways we could see

We learned almost nothing about the offensive and defensive tactics the Ravens will unveil in their Sept. 13 season opener. The team’s most important talents did not play and, even if they had, they would have been running schemes designed to reveal nothing.

Minter and Doyle said as much last week.

Saturday’s game was far more important as a dress rehearsal for the new coaching staff’s game day operations. How would Minter balance calling the defense with his overarching command responsibilities? Would Doyle choose the sideline or the booth as his perch? Where would defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver lend a hand as Minter’s chief conduit to players?

All of the Ravens’ top on-field decision-makers were wetting their beaks in roles they had never performed during an NFL game. How they did is difficult to know. We can’t really answer that question until the games count, until Minter has to answer for his first gut-churning defeat or Doyle has to explain why his Jackson-led attack sputtered. Those moments are coming, whether this turns out to be a blissfully refreshing season or not. No team gets to January without moments of anguish and confusion.

Did Minter and his top lieutenants gain valuable intelligence on how they will face up to those difficult moments?

Well, the first-year head said he’ll need time to put his debut in perspective, but he was pleased with his team’s presnap poise, with the fact the Ravens committed just three penalties despite keeping their best, most seasoned players on the sideline. They played with controlled aggression in all three phases.

“That was our main focus, a play style,” Minter said. In other words, the reality of his Ravens fit the image in his mind’s eye. On this night, that was more than enough.

Keyon Martin keeps insisting we take him seriously

Coaches aren’t that different from the rest of us in the way they process preseason games. They want unsung guys to rise from the murk with plays that cannot be ignored.

Martin did just that last year as an undrafted rookie cornerback out of Louisiana Lafayette, forcing his way onto the Ravens’ roster by creating turnover after turnover in practices and preseason games. He might have been a 5-foot-9 no-name, but if you keep finding the ball, coaches’ eyes will find you.

Though Martin is a more established presence this summer, he finds himself on the roster bubble as he tries to impress Minter and a new defensive staff. And, wouldn’t you know, he’s going about it the same way he did a year ago, flying to the ball and making himself impossible to overlook.

He led the Ravens with four tackles and the team’s only sack against the Eagles.

“It’s like, ‘Keep doing it,’” Minter said. “And that’s all he does, keep doing it.”

General manager Eric DeCosta loves to stock up on versatile, feisty defensive backs who play bigger than their stature. He drafted another one this spring in Chandler Rivers, who has impressed in camp.

That means Martin won’t ever lack for job competition. But the coaches keep giving him quality reps, because he produces.

He has felt underestimated since high school. “I don’t really beat the eye test,” he said with a grin. So he’s comfortable with his eternal fight for respect.

It’s easy to be cynical about NFL preseasons. Most of what we watch tells us so little about what’s going to happen when the real games begin. If you want to capture why it does matter, how a man can earn an unexpected living on merit, put Keyon Martin on the poster.

Tyler Loop gave new life to unwanted questions

The Ravens have taken a gentle (skeptics might say coddling) approach to building Loop back up over the seven months since his missed field goal ended their 2025 season.

They did not sign a kicker to compete with him. Coaches have reiterated their belief in his strong right leg and mental fortitude. They’ve put him in position to end practice early with relatively routine made kicks, leading to attaboys from teammates.

This ritual reinforcement was an understandable response to a problem with no easy solution. Loop’s rookie season ended in the most unsettling fashion possible. There was no real way to test his mettle in a comparable situation this summer. So why not bathe him in kindness and hope for his talent to shine?

That’s going to be a harder sell to fans after Loop missed wide right from 49 yards on his first preseason attempt.

Is it reasonable to bury a player based on one misfire in a game that doesn’t matter? Of course not, and Loop did bounce back to hit from 42 yards, no problem, in the third quarter.

Asked if anything he saw Saturday changed his outlook on Loop, Minter said, “Not really.”

But it is fair to wonder about the confidence of a young athlete who failed at the end of one season and again at the dawn of another. Will this signal to Minter that he at least needs another kicker at his disposal should Loop continue to miss in games? Fan calls for action will only intensify if he continues to back the incumbent without reservation.

Loop was going to be a major story one way or another, with his next clutch opportunity in December or January looming as a referendum on the Ravens’ judgment.

They at least wanted him to keep the wolves at bay with a flawless preseason. Instead, Loop will be the source of anxiety for this would-be contender in the weeks to come.