J.K. Dobbins is making a habit of making sick catches.
A spinning, one-handed grab with his left hand that Dobbins made on Monday drew hoots and hollers from his teammates. On Tuesday, Dobbins used two hands to make an exceptional catch.
As Dobbins streaked down the left sideline while being tightly defended by Patrick Queen, Lamar Jackson lofted a deep pass that it didn't appear Dobbins would be able to corral. But Dobbins turned on the afterburners, reached out with both hands and snagged the ball with his fingertips for a sensational reception.
Queen gave Dobbins his props afterward, and who could blame him? The coverage was good, but the catch was better. It was more evidence of how quickly Dobbins is progressing as a receiver, benefitting from the work he put in this offseason.
"We worked out in Arizona, he was catching the ball pretty good," Jackson said. "He got fatigued. He started dropping a couple of passes. I was on him. I'm like, 'You're going to have to catch those in the game when you get tired.' He's been doing a great job in camp and OTAs as well."
Ravens coaches and Dobbins have talked about him having an expanded role in the passing game this season and it appears Dobbins is ready for the challenge.
Here are other highlights from practice:
- Jackson had another solid day throwing the ball. He also quickly darted to his left to avoid a rusher and took off downfield for a nice gain. Not playing in the preseason has not kept Jackson from looking sharp in practice.
- Ju'Wuan James was the only offensive lineman missing from Tuesday's practice as Tyre Phillips returned. The offensive linemen got plenty of work, both in separate drills and with the team. Ronnie Stanley, Bradley Bozeman, Kevin Zeitler and Alejandro Villanueva were on the field together for the second straight day, as four-fifths of Baltimore's anticipated starting front five. Ben Cleveland practiced for the second straight day as the competition featuring Cleveland, Ben Powers and Phillips to start at left guard continued.
- Safety Ar'Darius Washington and cornerback Anthony Averett both had nice pass breakups, closing on the ball quickly once it was in the air.
- There were more pre-snap penalties than the coaching staff would like to see. On a humid day, that made concentration even more of a challenge.
- It was a good day for defensive tackles Justin Madubuike, Broderick Washington and Brandon Williams, who stymied several running plays by penetrating into the backfield.
- Tyus Bowser made a nice bullrush to pressure backup quarterback Tyler Huntley. Bowser held back and let Huntley throw, but then he playfully tapped the quarterback on the head once the play was over. Bowser made it clear that in a real game, he would have recorded a sack.
- Inside linebackers Queen, Malik Harrison and Kristian Welch all had active days in the first week of practice without L.J. Fort, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on Saturday.
- Veteran outside linebacker Justin Houston held another pass-rushing seminar on the field after class. Today's students were Tyus Bowser and Odafe Oweh.
