Nate Wiggins Hurt, Zay Flowers Extended, News, Notes From Ravens Training Camp

We are more than a week into training camp, and the Ravens have extended Zay Flowers. Nate Wiggins had to be carted off today, but appears to have avoided any structural damage. We'll discuss the winners and losers so far and more! #RavensFlock #BaltimoreRavens #NFLonX

Transcript

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Welcome back in, folks, to another episode of the Charm City Sports Podcast. I'm your host, Jay Hollihan. We're back on this Tuesday afternoon. I suppose no better time like the present to get started with some training camp episodes as we get going here with some unfortunate news to come out of Ravens Training Camp today as Nate Wiggins, young star cornerback for your Baltimore Ravens, injures his leg during one-on-one today going up against standout Jacoby Lane. There will be more on Jacoby later. But Wiggins went down, had to be carted off the field, and now everyone in the Flock Nation holds a collective big breath as we hope for some good news on Wiggins. So Jesse Miner said after he didn't have much information, but he says he thinks there's optimism, but we'll have to look at it and see where we're at. Now, the 2024 first round pick, Nate Wiggins, has obviously shown a lot of flash in his career. Young career. And the hope is obviously this year he was going to take a big step. But with him being carted off the field with a leg injury, we know what this could mean, and obviously we hope for the best to come out of this situation. But we of course have to uh look at it with a lens of not going to speculate and just hope that he's going to be okay, not miss too much time. If he misses the mess the rest of training camp, then that's that's fine. I could you know what? There's only so much you can do as a cornerback. Okay, I know there's obviously some conditioning stuff, which I think is the biggest thing overall in getting into quote unquote football shape, but as long as he's ready for the season and as long as he'll be back for the season, that's all that we, of course, want to see at this moment in time. Some other injury notes. Zay Flowers, he injured his quad the other day. Now he was back today at practice. Signed a four-year $140 million contract extension. Now, a lot of people who I think look at Zay Flowers from different teams around the NFL, they are calling it an overpay. Oh my god, how could you pay this guy such a big deal? Uh two-time pro bowler. Last two years, he caught or he has caught 237 receptions for over 3,128 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. He obviously, for a lot of people, their biggest memory of Zay Flowers is probably fumbling in the AFC Championship game in 2023. And that's a shame. Because he has done a lot of really good things as a member of the Ravens. Has he had some mistakes? Yes, but you know, who hasn't in their career? Now he is making a really, really high-valued contract uh for wide receivers. I mean, to put it into perspective, Jackson Smith and Jigba, four-year $168.6 million dollar extension, he signed that uh deal. He makes that much money. Jamar Chase at $40 million per year, Drake London $35. Now, to be honest with you, between Drake London and Zay Flowers, I get there's a difference in that, well, Drake London really hasn't had the great quarterback play, but Drake London doesn't necessarily wow me. When I see Zay Flowers, I think that there is elite speed there with what he can do on an offense, he wows me. Justin Jefferson at 35. The fact that Jay Jettas and Zay make the same amount of money and he makes more than T. D. Lamb, I understand from that perspective, people being like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's ridiculous. But talking about it as if it's a overpay, that's like, I can't believe he's getting paid that much money. Not like the guy who the Cardinals paid a couple years ago that just completely felt like it reset the wide receiver market when he was signed by Arizona. I think it was back in uh 20, it was either 2022 or 2023. I'm totally or no, he was signed by, I beg your pardon, he was signed by the Jaguars, and he was, I'm totally blanking on the guy's name. Signed by the Jaguars, Zay, was it Christian Kirk? Christian Kirk was signed to a four-year $72 million deal with the Jaguars. Guy completely reset the market for average NFL receivers. Now he actually had a career year with the Jaguars after signing that deal. He had 84 receptions for 1,108 yards. His previous high was the year prior. He had 77 catches for 982. But the guys now with the 49ers on his fourth team, second team since leaving the Jaguars. He signed a one-year, six million dollar deal with the 49ers this past year. So he completely reset the wide receiver market. Can't believe I forgot Christian Kirk. I was thinking of Zay Jones. I was thinking of so many different guys, and I thought I thought he went from Arizona to Jackson. I always remember him more as a uh Cardinal than I do anywhere else. For a good reason, too. But Travis Jones, as we get back to the injuries, Travis Jones has been placed on the puplist with a pectoral issue. John Jenkins on the puplist with an undisclosed injury, so those are two interior defensive linemen. Teddy Buchanan, who had that season ending injury with the torn ACL that he sustained against the Bengals in December, he is still on the puplist. So hopefully we'll start to see those guys come back early on in the season or maybe even throughout uh training camp as well. Now, Zay Flowers and that contract extension, more on that. So that contract extension, essentially, for Zay, means that there is going to need to be a lot of, from my perspective, guys around Zay Flowers that are going to need to see some increase in production. One guy, as we get into our winners and losers to start training camp, is Jacoby Lane, who has just been shining at Ravens training camp. Lane, who is a former third-round pick this past year, has come in, and I think we're starting to see a guy who finally at the wide receiver position taken the second round second day, not you know a first-round pick like a Zay Flowers, and Lane has started to show that, you know what, this wide receiver room has some significant depth. He's been making circus real, you know, catches. I mean, going one-on-one today against Nate Wiggins. I know the news is obviously that Wiggins injured Carter off the field, but another part of that that's interesting is Jacoby Lane going up against your best cornerback. That's significant, that's a significant step up to, I'm sure, the corners he's been facing already throughout training camps. That kind of lets you know where he's at. Rashad Bateman, another guy who we're going to need to see definitely have the level of play that we saw in the 2024 season, and he needs to show, you know, the fans why Eric DeCosta and remind the fans as to why Eric DeCosta had the faith to sign him to a three or thirty-six point seven five million dollar extension last offseason after coming off a career high year with 45 catches for 756 yards and nine touchdowns, and was a great deep ball threat. And then last year played in just 13 games, had 19 catches, 224 yards, and two touchdowns. Um, and certainly under Declan Doyle, hopefully there will be some significant improvement from the receiver room as a whole. Tez Walker, who was kind of like the Jacoby Lane of last year, a lot of people were looking at him in training camp, looked like he was really coming along, and then obviously it just felt like there was a lot to be, let's say, desired last year. I mean, for his career right now in the NFL that has now spanned two seasons, he's got seven catches for 157 yards and seven uh and four touchdowns. He had six catches for 136 yards and three touchdowns last year. Tez is gonna need to really see uh a pump up in his play. So the wide receiver room is obviously gonna be under the microscope. Now, TJ Tampa, along with Jacoby Lane, Tampa young player, has been playing at a great level and could m potentially, potentially see a huge increase in snaps this year, and specifically snaps opposite or hopefully opposite Nate Wiggins, as you know, you got Jadobi Awuzier there as well back for this season. Marlon Humphrey also back. Uh, so some guys that TJ Tampa certainly, you know, you got going up against as well as a Marlon Humphrey, although I think Humphrey really needs to be put in as a nickel corner, but with the Nate Wiggins news, who knows where that's gonna shake out the cornerback room as well. But TJ Tampa has been very, very impressive to start training camp, and that is some great signs to see as well. Now, Namdi Matabique, who was out for just about the entirety of last season with the neck injury, underwent neck surgery in April in hopes of continuing to play. He is back at practice throughout. He's off the pup list, and he seems to be trending on the right track. So hopefully we'll start to see some Nam Nom D Mata BK, and it's just great to see him back out on the field, and uh obviously him returning to the dominant play would just be icing on the cake. Now Emory Jones Jr. and Carson Vinson, both rotational offensive line members that have been receiving praise, and as the Ravens' offensive line looks to bolster its depth this season, those two have been standouts thus far. Now, some of the losers, as I just mentioned, Marlon Humphrey, he has not been noteworthy so far in training camp. I've talked about my personal feelings with Marlon Humphrey throughout last year. I was kind of in favor of the Ravens saying, you know what, we thank you for your services. Been a nice nine years, but we're gonna look to go in a different direction. Uh obviously Humphrey looks to be one of those guys or hopes to be one of those guys that back with Jesse Miner, he will have the similar play as we saw him have throughout the majority of his NFL career, but right now off to a little bit of a slow start. Now, with obviously the injury to Nate Wiggins, Marlon Humphrey is going to be under the microscope even more and probably seeing that playtime increase. I talked about him maybe moving to a nickel roll, but with the obvious scare with Wiggins, he could be starting outside cornerback, and he's gonna need to improve his play. Mark Andrews hasn't necessarily hit the ground running in the new offense with Declan Doyle. Hopefully he's gonna get back to being consistent. That doesn't necessarily concern me as much with Mark Andrews. I think things should be fine from that perspective. Uh but what is interesting is along the offensive line, and we talk about the center spot a lot, and as it specifically relates to uh the two guys that certainly seem like they could be at the top of things, Danny Pinter. It appears he's going to be running away with the set center spot, which is not necessarily bad news because, hey, uh for someone or for a position that the Ravens really need to have locked down, Pinter, Corey Bullock, who's been with the team for the last couple seasons as an undrafted free agent out of Maryland, and Ethan Pocich, who the Ravens signed to a one-year deal back in late July a couple weeks ago. Uh it feels like Pinter is running away with this job right now, which again is not a bad thing. I am not upset with the fact that you might know who your starting center is to begin the season. It's not a guard position. It's, you know, which I'm not trying to say that any position is less meaningful than the other, but for a center spot for the Ravens that for a while was pretty locked down for the, I feel like, the entirety of John Harbaugh's career as a head coach of the Ravens and is now one of the biggest question marks heading into this season, that's not what you want to see. And with the obvious departure of Tyler Linderbaum leaving a huge hole at the center spot, hopefully Danny Penner is winning that role. But the loser here is Corey Bullock. He has not been uh consistent, he's been inconsistent. And if he's been in battle with Danny Penner thus far, it looks like Pinner has been, as I mentioned earlier, quote unquote, running away with the starting center position. Well, folks, it's been an interesting training camp thus far for the Ravens. There have been a lot of praise with Jesse Minter. I think a lot of people need to kind of pump the brakes with this. I keep hearing how everything is great, great, and greater with the rookie head coach, and oh my goodness, you know, the players are saying that training camp has been great thus far because there's more dialogue between the players and the coaches. Well, that doesn't necessarily mean that boom, we're gonna hit the ground running right away with this coaching staff, and everything's gonna be good. That just kind of goes to show you the negligence of the previous regime. Because how is it that one of the biggest notes that the players are saying right now are, man, the assistant coaches, they are taking our input into practice. They want to see what we're looking at. What the hell kind of a establishment was John Harbaugh running? That's my question. You know, he can do that with the Giants because those are younger players, and hey, you guys don't know what you're looking at yet. These are veteran players that he has here with the Ravens. Or that he had here with the Ravens. That's not necessarily a praise in terms of, man, we're gonna be so good under Jesse Miner. This Ravens team is gonna come out like gangbusters in year one. They're Super Bowl favorites because there's input being had from the players for the coaches. That's great. I love hearing that, but that doesn't, to me, necessarily scream 12-5, 13-4, 14-3, the offense is gonna be putting up all kinds of points. Amar Jackson is gonna have his third MVP, and Derrick Henry is gonna be a bulldozer, and Zay Flowers is gonna be among one of the best receivers in the NFL, and the defense is gonna look like it did back when McDonald was the defensive coordinator here, and throughout so many years that Jesse Minor was an assistant defensive coach before leaving for the college ranks. That doesn't necessarily mean that. So I think a lot of people need to pump the tires. Now, is it encouraging and are we optimistic about where things are heading? Absolutely, because you know what? It's a new day. A lot of players seem to feel good about where things are heading, but let's be honest. We got a long ways to go for this thing. Should the Ravens probably be favorites coming out of the AFC North? I think there is a strong possibility that they will win the AFC North. Because when you look around at things, I mean, I don't think the Steelers improved. The Bengals seem like they're going after another situation where, you know, we hope this year we're finally going to get back to that team from 2021 and 2022. But do I ultimately think that they'll get back there? Maybe yes, maybe no. I don't think the Browns are going to be turning the corner anytime soon, although they could be better. So it is right there for the Ravens. And yes, I think Jesse Mentor could have the type of influence on this team that we've seen other head coaches have when they take over in a new spot and the team looks like how it was supposed to look for a couple years there under the previous regime. But hey, all that matters is what they do from week one to week eighteen. Anything that comes out about training camp, it's great build-up, it's great to talk about, but at the end of the day, it doesn't necessarily mean squat. And now as we are re-recording the end of this episode, we just got some good news here. Kind of gives you an insight of when I recorded this, but uh reportedly Nate Wiggins has suffered no structural damage. So that's good signs. Hopefully, that will mean that Nate Nate Wiggins will be okay here moving forward and will get back onto the field as soon as possible. That is a great sign to say the least. So that is very as we talked about beginning the episode holding uh collective breath. Now I think everyone can kinda give a little sigh of relief. Um it was reported he was in extreme pain. They were saying he couldn't put any weight on his leg, but he has no structural damage. So that's good. Now we'll hopefully wait to hear about what ultimately the outlook is moving forward. But thanks everyone for tuning in. We'll talk to you next time. We're gonna have some more of these episodes coming up out here throughout training camp. We'll have some interviews to play for you as well with the players and coaches alike. We'll as well have post-game coverage for preseason games as we've done every year now for the last going on four years. And we'll of course be back on with some more uh Baltimore Orioles news as long as they give us reasons to come on and talk about them, as they look to stay within three games of the wildcard race, but it just looks like as has been the case way too many times here with the Ravens' existence in Baltimore, the attention will be and the eyes will be put completely back on the purple and black and not the orange and black as we begin to wind the summer down from August into September as the O's continue to go quietly into the summer nights. Uh we'll have much more to talk. I want to really get into that as well, because um for you Orioles fans that are listening to this, I'm gonna give you a little prelude for the next episode, and if the next two nights against the twins are anything or a sign of anything that has been the last three of the last four games, there is going to be a nice long episode where we talk about this franchise's diehard fans and Baltimore baseball. Everyone deserves better with the state of this franchise. But keeping it purple and black, lots to do here as we move through forward through the month of August. And we'll talk to you then here on the Charm City Sports Podcast.