Ravens practice report: Keondre Jackson impresses, young pass rushers flash

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A year ago, Keondre Jackson arrived at Ravens organized team activities with little hype and even less hope of making the 53-man roster. He was an undrafted rookie safety with a Football Championship Subdivision pedigree and a small signing bonus.

By year’s end, Jackson was sixth on the team in special teams snaps, first in special teams tackles and, after a practice squad promotion, a late-season fixture on the team’s game-day roster.

Jackson will enter training camp this summer on the right side of the team’s projected roster bubble, a credit to his special teams acumen and the Ravens’ continued investment there under new coordinator Anthony Levine Sr. But Jackson can play himself into a stone-cold roster lock with more days like Tuesday.

Jackson was the star of the Ravens’ third open practice of organized team activities, outshining even the other Jackson in their afternoon session. He had an interception after disrupting a pass to rookie tight end Josh Cuevas, nearly secured another pick and broke up a deep pass. All that was missing was his trademark backflip.

“Last year, he had a really good year,” said Levine, who was the Ravens’ assistant special teams coach in 2025. “He started playing for us, came in making plays, was a key contributor for us. Now he has to do that again. Every single day, he has to come in, he has to do it again, day in and day out. That’s what he’s doing right now. He’s more vocal. He’s standing out. He’s doing a great job. ... Nobody cares about what you did last year. It’s all about what you’re doing this year and going forward.”

The Ravens’ top three at the safety position are well defined: All-Pro Kyle Hamilton, 2025 first-round pick Malaki Starks and free-agent signing Jaylinn Hawkins.

But their importance to coach Jesse Minter’s defense underscores the need for depth behind them. Hamilton and Starks project as every-down players, and if the Ravens line up primarily in nickel (five defensive backs) or dime (six defensive backs) personnel groupings, Hawkins won’t get much rest, either.

Jackson, who didn’t earn a single defensive snap as a rookie, could have a key role to play in 2026. So could fellow safety K’Von Wallace, a May signing who appeared in 12 games over the past two seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans.

Levine, a former undrafted signing who played his way into the Ravens’ defensive rotation with his growth on special teams, balked at a question comparing him to Jackson. His expectations for the former Illinois State star are higher.

“The things that Keondre can do, I wasn’t able to do,” Levine said. “So do I see [similarities between] me and Keondre? Not at all. We may have the same type of mentality, but his physicality and his physique and the things that he can do, I wasn’t able to do. So, I think he’ll be able to do a lot more things than I could.”

Youth movement in pass rush

Early June is not the time to evaluate pass rushers. Practices are not padded. One-on-one drills are forbidden. Information overload is always a threat for players learning new schemes.

But it’s also hard not to notice athletic traits that pop.

Early Tuesday, it was outside linebacker Mike Green’s speed. On the first play of 11-on-11 action, he won quickly with an outside move and turned the corner for a would-be sack against quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“To be here now and have the opportunity to get my hands on him and work with him a little bit ... super excited,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said of Green, who had 3.5 sacks as a second-round pick. “I made this cutup for him where I showed him just how close he was to potentially having a double-digit sack season. So it’s not an ability thing. We need the corresponding coverage to help out, but he is milliseconds away from having double-digit sacks, and we are going to do everything we can to try to make that happen this year.”

Later in practice, rookie outside linebacker Zion Young won with impressive power, knocking right tackle Emery Jones Jr. back a few yards with a bull rush that collapsed one side of the pocket.

“He’s as advertised,” Weaver said of Young. “The physical nature that he plays with, even out here without pads, you see it, how hungry he is to just want to grow and get better. He’s constantly asking questions. So [I] couldn’t be more excited about a player than I am about that kid, because you see just how bad he wants to be great. Inevitably, through repetition ... he’ll get there.”

Defensive lineman Aeneas Peebles and outside linebacker Tavius Robinson also had pressures and potential sacks in a high-pressure practice for Ravens quarterbacks.

End zone

• Thirteen Ravens were missing at Tuesday’s practice, the last open to reporters before mandatory minicamp next week: quarterback Tyler Huntley; wide receiver Rashod Bateman; left tackle Ronnie Stanley; center Corey Bullock; defensive linemen Nnamdi Madubuike (neck), Calais Campbell, Travis Jones and John Jenkins; outside linebacker Adisa Isaac (elbow); inside linebacker Teddye Buchanan (knee); cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Chidobe Awuzie; and safety Kyle Hamilton.
• Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said Bateman, who missed all three open practices, participated in voluntary OTAs during the Ravens’ first week and much of the team’s offseason workout program. Doyle attributed Bateman’s absence to “some personal things” but expected him back for minicamp. “I’ve been pleased with him,” he said. “The guys that aren’t [here], we’re expecting them to be working kind of on their own, but I’m excited for him to get back in here at [mandatory] camp and keep rolling.” Bateman had just 19 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns last season, a disappointment after a far more efficient 2024 (756 yards).
• Weaver said Humphrey, who had an even more discouraging 2025 and has also missed all three open practices, acknowledged that he had shared “some disappointment there with how he played” last season. But Weaver was bullish on the four-time Pro Bowl pick’s bounce-back potential. “The one thing I know with my experience with Marlon is that when he is here, he is going to be full speed and all in,” he said. “It’s all he knows. You see it on tape. He takes the ball away constantly. He’s that type of player. So even though he’s not here, I have no doubt that he’s doing the things required to make that jump from his play a year ago.”
• Jackson, whom Doyle called “the twitchiest athlete that I’ve ever seen on the field,” showed his trademark wiggle on a couple of scrambles. His best pass of the day came on an out-breaker to wide receiver Zay Flowers. Hawkins broke on the ball, hoping to undercut the route and bring Jackson’s pass back for a pick six, but it flew beyond his reach and ended in Flowers’ hands for an impressive sideline grab.
• Wide receiver LaJohntay Wester, who will again be fighting for a roster spot this summer, was the Ravens’ most productive downfield receiver, turning a handful of deep crosses into completions.
• Kicker Tyler Loop, who didn’t miss a field goal attempt in the Ravens’ first open practice and didn’t attempt any in their second, went 4-for-5 Tuesday. He made four kicks under 40 yards but pushed a 63-yarder wide left.
• Doyle is making explosive plays a priority, as they were under former offensive coordinator Todd Monken, and production after the catch has been a focus in practice. During a drill Tuesday, the Ravens’ skill position players lined up next to one another. Both would run 5-yard hitch routes, and the receiver who wasn’t targeted had to convert immediately into a blocker, setting his sights on a team staffer with a blocking pad while the actual receiver followed in his wake.
• Flowers was asked whether he was excited to see former Cleveland Browns and new Los Angeles Rams defensive end Myles Garrett out of the AFC North. “Everybody is,” Flowers said. “I think everybody in Baltimore should be happy.” In 16 games against the Ravens, the seven-time Pro Bowl pick has 14 sacks, including 5.5 last year.
• Doyle, a first-time play-caller, said he was still undecided about whether he would call plays from up in a coaching booth or down along the sideline. He plans to experiment with both spots during the preseason. “I’ve called it one time,” he said. “I was upstairs when I did it. Obviously, you’re in kind of a controlled environment, but also, you don’t get the feeling of being with the players. So I think there’s pluses and minuses to both. I’d like to experience both of them in a real game and then kind of make my decision from there.”