Ravens Report: Week 1 vs. Bills | Baltimore Ravens

Ravens Report: Week 1 vs. Bills | Baltimore Ravens

This week on Ravens Report, Ravens football is back. We’ll preview the huge Sunday night matchup in Buffalo against the Bills. Plus, what Ravens legend sits down with Zay Flowers to break down film and get those tissues ready. We’ll take you inside Eric Dcasta’s office for a look at the emotions behind making the 53man roster. All that and more starts now on Ravens Report. He’s in a 15 10 touchdown Ravens. Oh, what a scene we have at MT. Welcome to Ravens Report. I’m Shelby Lasso. It’s finally week one and what a way to start. Sunday Night Football in Buffalo against the Bills in prime time. It’s been seven long months since the Ravens season ended up there in the divisional round of the playoffs. But listen, the game Sunday isn’t about revenge. It’s about starting off the 2025 campaign with a win on the road. I talked to the king Derrick Henry last week and he told me it doesn’t matter if we’re starting the season against the Buffalo Bills or the Canadian Juggernauts. We’re going to be ready. So, as the Ravens kick off their 30th season, the new 53man roster is set and it’s loaded. It’s one of the deepest rosters in the NFL, but there was still room for three. Yes, you heard me right, three undrafted rookiefree agents to earn their spot amongst the mighty men of Baltimore. Let’s go inside Eric Dcasta’s office for an exclusive look at the emotional moments when these three young men realized their dreams were becoming a reality. Hey man, how you doing? Pretty good. Doing good. Heart rate’s a little high right now. Yeah, it’s a tough day. Yes sir. How you doing? Good. Yeah. Hey, what’s up, man? What’s up, boss? How you doing? Doing good. You all right? Doing good. Tough day. It’s a tough day. I make a lot of hard decisions. These are the hardest days for me to make these decisions. And uh it’s like one of the hardest things we have to do. And it’s going to be really hard for a lot of guys, but not you. You made it. You made it. You made it. That’s crazy, man. You made it. You made it. I didn’t know that you made it. You know, cuz I love Hawkeyes and you made the team, man. You just busted your ass every day. You kept stacking good days and you earned it, man. And it’s a hard position to make, but you earned it. Congrats. You made it. This is yours. No way. The best way you earned it. You had a great preseason, you know. You really did. showed up every day, busted your ass every day, made plays every chance you had. It’s a great story. From Chattanooga to the NFL. It’s crazy, man. Were you nervous, man? Heart racing, man. Dude, I had a long night last night. I had a long night last night. That’s crazy. You made it. That’s crazy. I appreciate it. Yeah. So, this is yours. I appreciate it. I’m going to have to actually take it back from you, but I’ll give it back to you later today. Man, this mean a lot, man. This mean a lot. My mom, man, she going to be so happy, man. I don’t even know if I believe it. I don’t even know. I don’t even know if it feels real. It’s insane. No, thank you. I’m Words crazy. I just opportunity that you give me. It’s It’s been amazing. I’m glad. I’m so glad that I got opportunity to be here. When I met with you guys that first time, I told you guys, you’re being evaluated every single day. And you’re one of the rare guys that never takes a moment off, never takes a playoff, never takes a day off. Yes, sir. and we’re proud of you. It’s hard, man. It’s hard to It’s hard to make this team. Uh and it’s really hard to make this team as an undrafted guy, but there’s no reason why you can’t be a player in the NFL for 15 years the way you play. Yes, sir. You got to keep stacking good days, right? Yes, sir. I just knew there was so many good dudes. That’s why like that was the hardest part. Like I just knew the roster was loaded. So, you earned it. You made it. Oh man, man. This a blessing, man. Thank you, bro. But just enjoy it, man. You earned it. Thank you. You earned it. I mean, think about how far you’ve come. Yeah. Right. I mean, you man, you came in here on a try out. Yeah. That never happens. You made it. Thank you. Family’s going to be so psyched. Thank you, man. Yeah, for real. What up, man? You at work? Yes. They call me upstairs. Uh-huh. And they told me uh I made the T. I made the 53. Yes. Oh my god. Oh my god. Yes. They brought me into the office. What they saying? He said I made it. No, you didn’t, Jay. He said I made it. Okay, let me call you back. Let me call you back. All right. I love you. I love you. What’s up, Dad? Hey, what’s going on? I got some I got some crazy news for you. What’s the news? I made the uh 53 man roster, Dad. You know what? You know, can you text your mama cuz she You can call if she’s at work. I I’ll text her. I call you. You do your thing. Congratulations. We will talk later tonight and celebrate. Okay. Yes, sir. I appreciate it. All right. Thank you. All right. Bye, man. That’s special right there. How excited she was. Man, that she Oh, she almost had me cry. She almost had me cry. She almost had me tear up, man. Just that day after the draft and knowing nobody signed me. Like, she always been there. She been my rock. She always supported me since day one. She believed in me. My mom, my dad, brother, they’re my my two biggest fans. Like, no matter what nobody else was saying, they knew that I had the talent to play in the NFL. And it just for me to tell her that and just make her happy, man, that’s just that’s the greatest feeling in the world, man. Has that ever been done before? three undrafted free agents on Mega Future Man roster. Has that ever been done? Amazing thing. You know, you you get to a place where they truly value earning it, earning your position and earning everything you get. And to be a part of that is something that will always stick with me and I I’m so happy right now. I’m very very grateful. Man, at this level like there’s so much out of your control as a football player. All you can do is show up every day and you know, give it your best. And wherever the chips lie after that, they lie. and everything I’ve been through, you know, coming out of college and the combine and sitting sitting with my family, not hearing your name call, like just a dream. That was a that was a dream of mine to hear my name call, have my family celebrate. You get to the last pick in the draft and no one calls your name and you just start questioning, is this really what I’m supposed to do? Like, am I really supposed to be a football player? Am I as bad as all the the articles say you are? It just feels good knowing that like I’m doing the right thing. Like I can play football in the National Football League and I can play for the Ravens. I don’t even want to admit how many times I’ve watched that video just seeing their emotions and those phone calls home. What a moment for those Ravens. And who knows what they’ll become. Baltimore has a strong tradition of finding undrafted free agents that turn into impact players. Think Bart Scott, Michael Pierce, Pat Ricard. Let me tell you, it’s a long list, and we’re all excited for the future of this 2025 class. Coming up on Ravens Report, how did Zflower siblings help him become the fast, twitchy NFL player he is today? You’ll find out right after this quick break. Ravens Report is brought to you by MedStar Health, the trusted medical team of the Baltimore Ravens and you. MedStar Health, it’s how we treat people. And by Mnt Bank, the official bank of the Baltimore Ravens. Welcome back to Ravens Report. The 2025 NFL season is officially here and the Ravens are headed up north to Buffalo for a big matchup under the lights for Sunday Night Football. After months of preparation, this Ravens team is ready to prove they are Super Bowl contenders. And for Zay Flowers, he’s ready to build off of his remarkable 2024 season where he became the Ravens first ever Pro Bowl wide receiver. By the way, Zay’s five 100yard games last year tied a franchise record for the most in a season. During training camp, Flower sat down with Ravens legend, twotime Super Bowl champion, and my good friend Tory Smith to watch film and talk about what makes number four so special. So, you at the point verse press? Yeah. Cooked him at the line. Yeah, I’m know I got to get out the way too though cuz I got Lightly and Bait coming behind me. So I’m like, “Let me get out the way now and beat him.” And I got a cross. I know his man. So I’m like, “If I beat him right now, I can get it.” Man, L couldn’t even finish his footwork. I got it open so quick. He got to cut it. And people don’t know when you’re lined up and you’re getting pressed at the point in a bunch. Yeah. That’s a tough spot to be. Yeah. And if you if it’s hard cuz if they just jump jam you, it’s over with. It’s over with. And you can mess up the whole play. You can mess up the other two receivers. And coach put you there. You got to think those other receivers are physically Yeah. bigger than you. I see that right now and I’m thinking they know everybody’s afraid of touching him at the line. That joker right there quick. He missed. He over and look what happened. Yeah. That joker missed. It was a wrap. Yeah. Facts. Like get out right now. And everybody got open that play. Yeah. That was I remember watching your BC stuff and I’m like bro ain’t nobody touching this young. Yeah. It’s a wrap. You got to think some people are fast but not quick. Maybe a first step, but got both, man. The burst speed. There you go. Shout out to Isaiah for the work on the block. Oh yeah, he go he going to block every time. Light going to block every time. That’s one thing about our team though. We run and block for each other. Like we Coach Monk can preach that a lot. And then our position coaches preach that a lot. Look at the big fells down the field too. There you go. What do you like? How do you like those screens to just get you going early in the game? Yeah, like it it get it get my engine going. It get like you know when you at receiver you got to get one. You got to catch one and then you got to run too. So to get your speed to get everything right the way you want it and then after that you get to rolling. But I like the screens though. It’s just a quick touch. I could do some first down just get anything to get me started. Make me feel ready for the game. Made me feel better going into the whole day. You know what I mean? What was some of your favorite routes to run though? Man, I always like slants to kind of get going. Obviously the deep ones, the rush of the ball down the field, but actually one of my favorite routs was actually a dig across the middle of the field because of the run game, right? They’re they’re driving up um and then you get it and go right out the other side. And I kind of like, you know, honestly, it may not be the most technically sound, but I started to kind of understand where that spot was. You know, they throw the ball to the spot. Yeah. So like just play that’s what I just ran in. I just stayed right there. Yeah. You know, sometimes like, you know, on paper you’re like, you’re supposed to always like, no, no, I see where that safety is and I’m going to catch this ball right in that spot. That’s exactly what this play is. It was designed they go high and not come right off them. But the safety felt the void. Yeah. And I just stayed there. It was like 20 seconds left. I’m like, yo, they better not let me score this. And of I mean, they the way they teach us, right? You know, you got to get to the right spot. And so that’s a part of being like a vet and a ball player, right? Like sometimes you get to the spot and quarterback’s been on the same page. You just got to be at the right spot at the right time. Yeah. And L do a good job of knowing though. Like he do a good job of like you better not run there. You better stay right there cuz I’m throwing this ball right now. Let’s be on the same page, too. Cuz there’s some people that throw you in there like a robot. Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Like, hey, you better go in there. You running there knowing dag on well you about to run yourself to the hospital. Yeah, he do a good job with just knowing you sitting somewhere or knowing like telling you not to go there and send you down with the ball. I see that right there is perfect. He led you right where you need to go. Bro, he put it right in the hole. There a little yacht right here. There we go. Hang in there. Look at the back door. Check out L. Man, crazy. Man, crazy man. You treating the the league like high school, bro. Bro, I just Bro, it’s L, bro. Play your game. He said, “Play however you play, bro. We going to make up for everything. We going We going to play hard.” He said, “Everybody just play our game.” So, how do you think you got your elusiveness? I know like coming up for us, we always playing tag. Yeah, something where you were running and getting away. That right there look like somebody playing outside just getting away from folks. It’s really, bro. We called it murder ball where you throw it up. I know. I already know what you talking about. And it’s basically I did that my whole life. But my brothers, I had so many brothers that they used to take us outside. Like my dad used to always work in the summer. So it’s my brothers watching us and they take us outside and they’ll put my little brother and they’ll put me line them up line up the whole morning and then they’ll put one of my bigger brothers and they’ll put me and you got to go and you got to make somebody miss or you got to do something like they did that almost every morning. Every day my dad would leave bro we was playing football all day from the park back to the house from the house back to the park like we played it all day. So we just fell in love with it and then they I just watched Deon Ha. I watched a whole bunch of people like, “Bro, I watched YouTube more than I watched normal TV watching football.” So, I just seen a lot of stuff and just try to add it to my games. Then TA helped me. Then I got stronger. Then I got more Twitch the more I got stronger. So it that became a part of just that look like that looked like little bro like get out of here. Yeah. Yeah. Scramble drill. There you go. Good little double team safety. got all that scramble drill. I look every week and I’m like, man, you going to get a few hundred yards a year from Lamar and scramble, bro. Bro, cuz the crowd tell you. Talk to him. Yeah. The crowd tell you though, the crowd, like soon as I broke, like I was supposed to be a clear like soon as I broke to the corner, I heard the crowd go, “Ah.” Like you could tell he’s scrambling. So, as soon as he do that, I put my foot on the ground, go left. I’m like, “Oh, yeah. I’m wide open.” Now, that’s funny you said that because when I used to run deep routes, I’d run and I know where the spot’s going to be. Yeah. And I ain’t looking. I’m just trying to clear his hip and go and you hear that coming up. You know what I’m saying? Like on your horse. But, uh, I I can only imagine what it’s like with Lamar. I’m looking. I’m like, man, y’all have great chemistry there, too. That’s, you know, people work scramble drills all the time, but like that looks like natural. Yeah. Like soon as I hear like it’s a difference between a yell, you know what I mean? It’s the difference between the crowd getting excited or he going down. And when I hear the crowd go, “Ah, my back turn, I’m just breaking to open field right now.” I’m breaking that right now. Know what this one is? What you think about that purple on purple combo? Mean cuz they got the black in it. You still could wear the all black. You could wear the all white. You could throw You could dress it up different. Yeah. I I just told him play before. I was like, “Bro, I need 31 yards for a th00and, bro.” He checked it. I said, “No, he did.” I said, “Bro, the man did not just check the play. I got to get them.” That’s why I’m dragging on how much yards I need. I’m like, “One yard away.” Then looked up. They said on the head 100. It said a thousand. I was like, “Oh my god.” I went up to him. I’m like, “Bro, I got it.” I gave him a hug. Oh, yeah. You remember this? No, I remember. I was all these plays, man. I know you was a deep ball threat though. That one thing I do know. That’s a little haircut there, man. uh haircut years. A little bit older. Yeah. After the Super Bowl, but Oh, you didn’t have your hair in this one? No, that’s how I can automatically tell how old I was. But that right there, I watch your eyelashes. All deep balls, bro. Bro, Joe was launching it. You hear me? You were running them though. Launching the ball. That’s just what but we I knew right away if I had anything vertical because obviously being able to play Z or X or whatever like I’m often times I had the best corner or I was going to get double team down the field. So I was like all right you go draw some coverage help somebody else out. With Rashad Baitman signing a three-year contract extension and the addition of veteran DeAndre Hopkins. This is as talented of a wide receiver group as the Ravens have ever had. I know. I’m looking forward to seeing eight sling it all over the field to those guys this season. Coming up on Ravens Report, we’ve seen what Ravens training camp looks like, but what does it sound like? Get your eyes and ears ready. We’ll be right back. [Music] Welcome back to Ravens Report. It’s Ravens Bills on the slate for week one. And fans, there are so many reasons to be optimistic about this year’s team. The Ravens are coming off of a historic 2024 season. Lamar Jackson and this offense became the first unit in NFL history to throw for over 4,000 yards and rush for over 3,000 in a single season. And a large majority of those weapons are back. And while the defense started slow over the last seven weeks of the season, they were among the best in the league, ending first overall in rush defense and second in sacks. The Ravens are returning most of their starters on both sides of the ball. And this team is a preseason favorite to reach the Super Bowl. Now, if all of that didn’t get you excited, let’s try this. We can line up and play right now. Ready for week one. We feel more than ready. You know, treating practices like we prepare for a game. Hype, I’m ready for whatever right now. Trying to get the offense. Jackson to Nate Wiggins. He throws in the end zone. [Applause] Nice normal form. [Music] [Applause] Sunday night in Buffalo, the Ravens 30th season kicks off in prime time. But if they want to start 1 and 0, there are three critical things they must do. My keys to victory are coming up, so don’t go anywhere. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Ravens Report. Sunday night, it’s the Ravens and the Bills under the prime time lights in a hostile environment. And if the Ravens want to start this season off with a big win on the road, here are my three keys to victory. Number one, start fast. The Ravens opened the season 0 and2 last year and throughout training camp, players talked about the importance of setting the tone early this year. That means getting the offense rolling right away. And what better way to do that than by establishing the run game. When the Ravens can run the ball effectively from the jump, it takes pressure off Lamar Jackson, keeps Josh Allen and the Bills offense off the field, and opens up everything else this offense wants to do. My second key is to win the turnover battle. The Ravens defense has made it a point of emphasis to get back to being that ball hawking unit we saw in 2023 when they had 31 takeaways. That number dropped to just 17 last year. And in the playoff loss to Buffalo, the Ravens didn’t force a single turnover. Against Josh Allen and this Bills offense, every possession matters. And here’s the thing. When the ball is on the ground, the Ravens have to jump on it. Buffalo actually led the NFL last year in recovering their own fumbles, doing it nearly 70% of the time. So, if the ball’s loose, the Ravens defense needs to capitalize. And finally, limit penalties. Most of the Ravens starters didn’t play in the preseason, so shaking off the rust quickly is going to be crucial. This is a game of inches and against a team like the Bills in their house. The Ravens can’t afford to put themselves behind the sticks with unnecessary flags. Stay disciplined, stay sharp, and don’t beat yourself. Fans, the wait is over. It’s week one and we finally get to see the 2025 Baltimore Ravens in action. To quote Rocoan Smith, the whole world will be watching. So, what will the Ravens do with this opportunity? Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next week.

Look back on Ravens training camp with the feel-good stories of undrafted rookies making the team, a one-on-one interview with Torrey Smith and Zay Flowers, and much more.

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