The Ravens were back in pads Tuesday and enjoyed one of their most intense workouts of training camp with plays made on both sides of the ball.
Rookie wide receiver James Proche II was one of the standouts on offense, while nickel corner Tavon Young had an excellent day in pass coverage.
"A good, hard training camp practice day," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "I really appreciate players pushing through it. I thought they did a really good job of competing. It was a very competitive practice, which is good to see. We'll continue to improve and try to do the things that winning teams do in practice."
Proche had two impressive catches and ran crisp patterns. He made a nice change of direction to shake free on a corner route, and broke wide open across the middle to catch a pass from Robert Griffin III.
Proche and Griffin hooked up for offseason workouts in Dallas, and that time together seems to have helped Proche. He was a prolific college receiver at SMU with 93 catches as a junior and 111 catches as a senior. He ran routes during this practice like a seasoned player, not a rookie.
Young was glued to receivers, breaking up several passes and making it difficult for any receiver he covered. On a 50-50 ball between Young and Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, Young came up the winner when he soared high to get a piece of the football. After the play, Young helped Brown to his feet and tapped him on the helmet as they jogged back to the line of scrimmage. Brown has enjoyed an excellent camp, but Young wasn't letting any receiver have his way.
There were no practice skirmishes, but several players got angry at themselves when they didn't make plays. Wide receiver Jaleel Scott, who is battling to make the 53-man roster, tossed his helmet a long way in frustration after he was overthrown several times and didn't make a couple tough catches. However, Scott bounced back near the end of practice to make a leaping touchdown grab.
Inside linebacker Chris Board had an active day that caught Harbaugh's attention. The Ravens drafted inside linebackers Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison, and Board has raised his level of play.
"He was very noticeable today at practice," Harbaugh said. "He made a bunch of plays."
In other highlights from Tuesday's practice:
- Willie Snead IV made three nice catches on medium-range passes, the kind of plays that translate into first downs. Snead reported to camp about seven pounds lighter and it has produced the added quickness he was looking for.
- Mark Andrews made the day's most acrobatic catch, leaping to the pluck the ball with one hand on a seam route. After juggling the ball momentarily, Andrews regained control just before hitting the ground and landing on his head.
- Outside linebacker Tyus Bowser spent a lot of time in the offensive backfield and deflected one pass by Lamar Jackson. Bowser played with force from start to finish and joined Young as a defensive standout.
- Miles Boykin made the final touchdown catch of practice and had a strong day overall. At one point, Jackson called Boykin over to chat on the sideline, and Jackson was motioning to get on the same page with the route. Jackson's chemistry with his young receiver corps is growing during this camp.
- Ten players were not at practice – Jimmy Smith, Ronnie Stanley, Nick Boyle, Pernell McPhee, Derek Wolfe, Justice Hill (soft tissue), Chris Moore (finger), Kenjon Barner, Josh Nurse and Eli Wolf. Some of those absences were likely veteran's days off. The Ravens will not practice Wednesday.
