The Ravens' offensive line is under scrutiny again following Sunday's 26-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, but don't expect sweeping changes.
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby tormented Ravens blockers for much of the first half, shutting down Baltimore's run game and pressuring Lamar Jackson. Then Crosby reared up again when it mattered most with a huge sack on Jackson late in the fourth quarter.
That left the Ravens' most talked about position group – the offensive line – again under the microscope at Head Coach John Harbaugh's Monday press conference.
"When you put a young group of guys out there, young players at any position, especially the offensive line, there are going to be growing pains. There's no doubt about it," Harbaugh said.
"We have a lot of good plays happening out there, but we're just too inconsistent. … It's almost randomly inconsistent. That's something that we have to work through, but also across the board with our whole team."
Much of the focus has been on right guard, where Daniel Faalele has had some high-profile hiccups in his first two weeks as starter. He was beaten badly by the Chiefs' Chris Jones on Jackson's first passing attempt of the season. Faalele was the blocker Crosby beat inside on the crucial late-game sack of Jackson, as the Ravens' new starter didn't recognize or react quickly enough to Crosby's looping pass rush.
Harbaugh said the Ravens will always consider making personnel changes if they're deemed necessary, but he didn't commit to any on the offensive line. When asked specifically about whether Ben Cleveland could be an option to replace (or rotate with) Faalele, Harbaugh said Cleveland hasn't earned it yet.
"If Ben had earned at the job at right guard, he'd be the starting right guard," Harbaugh said. "So, you look at the tape, he didn't beat out Daniel or anybody. I think Ben is a good player. I like Ben. I want Ben to take the next step. … He's in his fourth year. Ben knows what he needs to do. If he wants playing time, he knows how he needs to play, and he knows how he needs to practice, when he gets that chance. So, our evaluation right now is that Daniel outplayed Ben – just a fact, straight up."
The Ravens have been rotating veteran Patrick Mekari with second-round rookie Roger Rosengarten. After giving up a strip-sack on his first NFL snap last week, Rosengarten rebounded with a solid game against the Raiders.
Harbaugh 'Hopeful' Nate Wiggins Can Return This Week
Nate Wiggins was unable to play in Sunday's game after suffering a neck injury in a car accident last week. The Ravens also added "concussion" to Wiggins' injury designation last Friday.
Harbaugh said he is "hopeful" that Wiggins can return to practice this week as Baltimore gets set to take on the Dallas Cowboys' high-profile offense led by Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.
The Ravens secondary has allowed 75.8% of passes to be completed against them through the first two weeks, a surprisingly high number considering there was talk about this being Baltimore's most talented secondary at least in a long time.
"The secondary overall is on track, but we're not consistent," Harbaugh said, noting that pass coverage is really across all three levels. "We can play coverages better. Sometimes it's a one-on-one thing where they make a good play."
When asked about the defensive pass interference penalties that shifted the game, Harbaugh said there would be some teaching points for Brandon Stephens on his battle with Davante Adams in the end zone late in the fourth quarter, but Harbaugh had no notes for Marlon Humphrey on a 24-yard pass interference penalty in the second quarter, which set up the Raiders' second field goal.
Overall, Harbaugh said cleaning up penalties is a "huge point of emphasis" after the Ravens were flagged 11 times for 109 yards on Sunday and seven times for 64 yards in Week 1.
Harbaugh Isn't Worried About His Challenges Record
The Ravens lost two challenges in Sunday's game, which cost them timeouts that could have changed how things played out at the end of each half. But Harbaugh isn't going to dissect his complete challenge record just because Sunday's two didn't go his way.
"Basically, you decide, if you want to have a winning percentage in challenges, just don't challenge stuff. Just let it go," Harbaugh said. "If you have one that you should have challenged that you don't challenge, it doesn't get counted against your record.
"But I don't think that way. I'm not worried about the record that someone might be printing about what your challenge record is. I'm trying to think about the opportunity and the game to see if we could have a chance to use a challenge to our advantage to try to win the game."
One came on a Zay Flowers "catch" that was ruled incomplete. Harbaugh got a good look at it from the sideline and on the video replay boards and thought Flowers' hand was under the ball. He thought it was probably under 50/50 that they would overturn the call.
"I thought, 'You know what, I don't mind a timeout right here. Let me see if we can get them to turn that one over,' because his hand was under the ball," he said. "But I can see why they didn't overturn it."
The second came when Adams made a toe-dragging 30-yard catch in the fourth quarter. That was on the opposite side of the field, so Harbaugh had to rely on a quick TV replay while the Raiders rushed to the line of scrimmage to get the next play off. Harbaugh thought it was really close, so he took a gamble.
"I decided in the heat of the moment to go ahead and take a shot at it, because I felt like if we win it, that's going to really help us, and if we don't win it, I'm hoping that timeout's not going to come down and be the difference, but I don't have the luxury to know that we're going to need that timeout for sure," Harbaugh said.
"If I'd have been more conservative on that, I wouldn't have thrown the flag, because usually in situations like that, I'll usually throw it when I'm sure. I decided on that one to take a shot, and it ended up hurting us, because we didn't have the timeout at the end of the game."
Jordan Stout 'Hurt the Team' With Shanked Punt
Justin Tucker's miss from 56 yards got more attention because Tucker is the GOAT, but Jordan Stout's 24-yard shanked punt late in the fourth quarter also stung.
With a 5-yard penalty added on, the Raiders started their game-winning drive at Baltimore's 43-yard line.
Harbaugh said it was a technical issue that caused the miss. Stout has always had the talent but he's still searching for more consistency in his third season.
"Sometimes you've got to take a deep breath and just go through your technique and do it the right way, and he's capable of that, and we're going to keep supporting him and keep coaching him, and I'm confident [that] he's going to get the job done," Harbaugh said. "But the job wasn't done in the last game, and it hurt our team."
