BALTIMORE — Derrick Henry won’t be a player who gets the ball 30 times per game, according to Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, but the veteran back should get plenty of opportunities to run against the visiting Las Vegas Raiders in their Week 2 matchup on Sunday.
Henry had an underwhelming performance in a 27-20 loss to the host Kansas City Chiefs in the opener, carrying the ball 13 times for 46 yards with a 5-yard touchdown. The Raiders allowed 176 yards rushing in their 22-10 loss to the host Los Angeles Chargers in their Week 1 matchup, so the Ravens will be tempted to test Las Vegas’ front seven.
However, the key for the Raiders and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will be shutting down Lamar Jackson, the NFL’s top dual-threat quarterback who accounted for 395 (122 rushing, 273 passing) of the Ravens’ 452 total yards against Kansas City.
Jackson missed practice on Monday but was back on Wednesday as the Ravens continued preparations for Las Vegas. Jackson did not appear on the injury report.
“He’s definitely as good as it gets, as dynamic as it gets,” Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said about Jackson. “The definition of a dual threat. He presents a great challenge to any defense in this league. Pat will work hard to get a good game plan together, so that way we can try and limit some of those things that he does. But even then, it’s different when you still got to go against him. But I believe in our guys, and I believe in our coaches and our scheme.”
The Ravens are trying to build an offense that can attack teams multiple ways and doesn’t rely too heavily on the running game, which ranked No. 1 in rushing yards in the NFL last season. The duo of Jackson and Henry should create some formidable matchups against the Raiders.
However, Harbaugh wants to beat teams downfield with a dynamic passing game that revolves around wide receivers Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor. Baltimore also has two of the best tight ends in the NFL with three-time Pro Bowl selection Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely.
As a result, Harbaugh plans to have a different type of offense week-to-week, which could cause wrinkles in the Raiders’ defensive game plan if the Ravens can effectively execute their plays.
The bottom line is the Ravens don’t want to rely too heavily on Henry to carry the offense.
“We didn’t bring Derrick in here to be the guy that gets the ball 30 times a game,” Harbaugh said this week. “He’s done that before. That’s really not the plan. The plan is Derrick, Lamar, Mark, Isaiah, Zay, ‘Bate,’ and ‘Nelly.’ That’s kind of the plan in this offense going forward, so I think that evaluation will be best made throughout the season.”
The key for the Ravens is to contain the Raiders’ three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby. In the teams’ last meeting in 2021, Crosby had two sacks, six tackles, five quarterback hits and two tackles for a loss in Las Vegas’ 33-27 overtime win.
“That guy, he’s a great edge rusher, man,” Jackson said. “My hat’s off to him. He was high motor. He was just going at it all game. I was like, ‘This man here …’ I was laughing with Maxx. He was trying to get after me, and I was talking trash back. He was like, ‘But I love your game, Lamar,’ and stuff like that. But he’s a great edge rusher. He’s definitely a great edge rusher.”
Las Vegas cornerback Decamerion Richardson (hamstring) and defensive end Tyree Wilson (knee) did not practice Wednesday.
The Raiders struggled to score against the Chargers and they might have even more trouble against the Ravens, who blitz the quarterback from multiple positions.
Las Vegas quarterback Gardner Minshew was 25 of 33 for 257 yards with a touchdown and interception (95.1 rating) against the Chargers. The Ravens sacked the mobile Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes twice and had seven quarterback hits so Minshew likely will be under pressure for much of the game.
“I thought the pass rush was good,” Harbaugh said. “You’re rushing Patrick Mahomes. “I’m a little disappointed (with) the couple of times he got out, but I really haven’t seen a game where he hasn’t gotten out, to some degree, to extend plays. I felt we pressured him a number of times.”
The Raiders could not get much going on the ground in Week 1 with Zamir White running for 44 yards on 13 carries. Baltimore held the Chiefs to just 72 yards on 20 carries.
–Todd Karpovich, Field Level Media