ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler: The Ravens’ “Panic Meter is Rising” after Falling to 1-4 | The Rich Eisen Show

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler: The Ravens’ “Panic Meter is Rising” after Falling to 1-4 | The Rich Eisen Show

So, let’s just start with the Ravens at 1 and4. What do you think is going on in that building? What can you tell us about this start uh for the Ravens right now, Jeremy? Yeah, the panic meter is rising a little bit because Rich, I can tell you going into this or last week against the Texans, just talking to people there, they felt like that was going to be a get right game for them. They were legitimately shocked with what happened despite Lamar Jackson being out. They felt like they were going to get back to team complimentary ball, playing like a Raven, playing with an edge. They felt like they could help Cooper Rush by running the ball with Derrick Henry and then suddenly none of that happened. And so I I do think there’s a shock in the building that has to sort of wear off quickly and they’re trying to navigate this thing like like look when Lamar Jackson’s in the game in the regular season. He wins like 72% of the time. So if they can get him back and I know he’s rehabbing, he’s been working in the pool trying to loosen up that hamstring and everything looks good behind the scenes. He’s got to get back on the practice field this week. But if he’s out there, they’re always going to have a chance to win. But, you know, they were kind of hoping him being gone would be a chance for them to sort of galvanize themselves and and play like a complete game. And and now, you know, you’re looking at 177 points you’ve given up in five games on defense. That’s the worst clip in a fivegame stretch in Ravens history dating back to 1996. And so, right now, the season’s slipping away in a hurry, and I don’t know what solutions they feel like they can find right now. Well, I mean, just getting whatever um I guess voodoo doll that keeps sticking pins in their players. Maybe maybe that that would be the solve. I’m I’ll be honest. I I I understand that, you know, coaches love their roster and their players and its next man up mentality, but the I I’m a little surprised that there was a feeling that they could compete with the Texans on the on offense with Lamar out and then their defense being as banged up as they are. What can you tell us about the preparedness of of these guys to get back on the field on defense? That to me is, you know, if Lamar Lamar’s in the pool and he’s trying to get things, you know, uh, loosened up, there’s a buy the next week, so maybe you give Cooper Rush one more shot, but the defensive side of the ball is decimated, Jeremy. Yeah. And I think the issue they’re having on defense, it’s not just personnel, even though they’re not getting enough out of it, it’s not just the injuries, they just feel like they’re not playing with an edge. you know, Zack Ore, defensive coordinator, and it hasn’t gone well in his second year. It really didn’t go well the first year, although they were able to rebound. They felt like he was always as a player and a young coach, somebody who had a serious edge to him, a fire. You know, I look at Jacksonville the way they played last night. They gave up yards, but they played with an edge and that eventually led to a turnover. Baltimore is just a little lifess right now, lifeless right now. They know it and they’re trying to work their way out of it. It’s going to take some of the leaders on that side of the ball, at least some of the leaders that are healthy to try to get something out of it. You know, pass rush, they’re not getting much. They need to kind of start there, be able to dictate terms of the line of scrimmage and just try to find a spark. But, you know, right now, like they’re they’re trying to plug whatever holes they can. You know, they bring Gyra Alexander in at quarterback, Kyle Vanoi back on the pass rush, but, you know, they just don’t have anything to to catalyze them right now. And and they feel like the energy is gone. on and I think that’s part of the focus right now is just trying to get that back and then if they lose they lose but they at least have to play the way they have in the past. Okay. So, uh before we move on, Lamar’s in the pool trying to get things uh loosened up for this week. It’s possible he could return before the buy, you think, Jeremy? Yeah, just talking to people there that uh they say it’s possible. They really don’t know yet. they’re going to play this out and and see if he can get on the practice field. But, you know, as was relayed to me from a source there, he’s not going to be out there unless he can be himself. You know, he’s not going to be out there 50% just trying to throw the ball in the pocket. He’s got to be able to operate as his normal dual threat self. That does take time. And as you see, Rich, I mean, a third of the league injuries are hamstrings right now. It’s like an epidemic in the league. And when you get them, it’s usually at least two weeks in most cases. So, if we’re going by that, he might need that by week to get right. And then you’re looking at either Cooper Rush or the Ravens are at least entertaining bringing back Snoop Huntley who’s on the practice squad elevating him and he can try to maybe get some of that Pro Bowl magic he had a few years ago, but right now this is a team that is searching in a big way. All right. I mean, you you just opened the door a little bit. I don’t know if there’s any information that you’ve gleaned on this front, Jeremy Fowler, but you mentioned an epidemic of hamstring injuries. Uh I I’m getting questions uh from all different parts of uh my life within my own house from Suz, my uh my uh wife and guest host of this program on Thursday to fans online. I is are there more injuries this year than than before or are we just seeing bigger boulder names getting hurt, quarterbacks getting hurt? Is is there is there something going on that we’re not aware of, Jeremy, or talking about? You know, I I don’t think there’s any sort of secret sauce there for the injury uptick. It does feel that way. I I feel like every few years is worse than others where you just get an avalanche of star players that go out. This year’s pretty bad. I mean, there’s no doubt. And you saw it a couple weeks ago when five backup quarterbacks had to play in week four or whatever it was, you know, like it’s just it’s not a good trend. We’re going to probably have another 60 quarterbacks play this year because of injury and benchings and all that. And it’s I mean if you talk to coaches, you talk to teams, they they typically say the same thing that this is an accumulation of the lack of true training camps where back in the day you had two a days. You know, your body would get callous to all the contact. You just don’t have as much of that because of what happened with the CBA 15 years ago that there’s been less contact, less practice time. And you know, most people I talked to around the league believe that that has had an effect on injuries and that you kind of have to live with that, you know, and that was a concession that the owners were willing to give up in uh exchange for more money essentially. And so this is what you get. You get star players going out with injuries that you really didn’t have 20 30 years ago. Now the these athletes are more explosive than other. I think that’s why you get hamstrings and you know you get calf issues and some of that. And then teams have more data, so they know if a player has a like a calf strain, you don’t want that to lead to an Achilles. You got to sit them down for a couple weeks sometimes. So, I think it’s preventative as well. And that that leads to guys being on the bench more than they would have a decade ago. Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tells Rich Eisen what the panic level is in Baltimore after the injury-riddled Ravens’ 1-4 start.

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