Tuesday at The Breakers

I never thought I’d experience such a thing as “meeting envy”, but here we are and I’m longing for The Breakers. Let me explain…

Yesterday morning, I was in my office attending a regularly-scheduled Zoom meeting when I got the notification that the Ravens were going live on social media with Head Coach John Harbaugh. Harbaugh, who is attending the NFL’s League Meetings, was made available to the media yesterday with the rest of the AFC’s coaches, and I tuned in for what actually ended up being a pretty enlightening press conference.

Initially, though, I had trouble engaging, as I noticed that Harbaugh was wearing what appeared to be a rather light button-up shirt. Upon seeing it, I remembered that the League Meetings are being conducted at The Breakers in Palm Beach, where it was about 74 degrees at the time that the interviews started. Meanwhile, as I watched, I gutted out the umpteen thousandth virtual meeting since COVID started, in an office that was about 60 degrees (our building switched from heat to AC a little prematurely).

Must be nice.

Now that we’ve gotten my personal vendettas out of the way, let’s talk about the substance of the meetings. In stark contrast to Harbaugh’s end-of-year press conference at The Castle, Harbaugh seemed much more willing to divulge information about the discussions taking place within the building. It’s possible that the moves we’ve seen in free agency thus far mean there’s less of a need for subterfuge, but even with some of the cards already on the table, I was pleasantly surprised with how much information we got about the road ahead.

The full-length commentary is a little over a half-hour long, and it’s available on the Ravens YouTube page. In case you don’t feel like sitting through it, here are some of the major tidbits.

John Harbaugh said it’s highly doubtful they will find a starting center in free agency and have “great options” in the locker room with Patrick Mekari and Trystan Colon.

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) March 28, 2022

Right out of the gate, Harbaugh addressed the departure of Center Bradley Bozeman and the succession plan at the position. This was met with mixed reception by Ravens fans who were hoping that Baltimore would pursue free agent JC Tretter, and there’s the chance that it’s a smokescreen, but I doubt it.

Harbaugh made mention of Bozeman having been a 6th-round selection and earning the starting job, and with an abundance of draft capital, there’s the chance that they try to find a diamond in the rough at the position. Still, Harbaugh mentioned that Patrick Mekari could “step right in, probably, as the starter, and Trystan (Colon) will compete” for the job, so it seems pretty cut and dried.

So, if Tretter is no longer on the radar, what does that mean for trying to land another big fish in free agency with Bobby Wagner?

John Harbaugh’s asked about Bobby Wagner’s free-agent visit and the Ravens’ interest in adding an ILB.

He says the Ravens don’t comment on visits but adds: “Bobby Wagner’s out there. … We’ll see what happens.”

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) March 28, 2022

Harbaugh acknowledged Ravens are talking to Bobby Wagner but are also “looking at everybody.”

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) March 28, 2022

It wasn’t an outright denial, which is good, but this was one of the few questions that Harbaugh seemed to duck a bit. To his credit, Harbaugh emphasized that he really couldn’t comment on free agent visits, but made mention that the team was “looking at everybody”. Wagner is likely a tad too pricey, and it did seem like Harbaugh would like to use some of that available cap to bring the band back together.

John Harbaugh said Calais Campbell and GM Eric DeCosta are talking regularly about a potential return.

“I got my fingers crossed,” Harbaugh said.

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) March 28, 2022

Asked about need at pass-rusher, John Harbaugh said there are still some players in free agency and brought up Justin Houston.

He added, “It’s a good draft for pass-rushers.”

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) March 28, 2022

If Wagner does end up elsewhere, linebacker play is going to be a point of emphasis for the draft and the offseason. Harbaugh was asked about Malik Harrison’s role going forward, and gave a refreshingly honest assessment on how the Ravens are planning to deploy him next year.

Coach Harbaugh on Malik Harrison’s role: pic.twitter.com/GT0fhEFIq4

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) March 28, 2022

A major part of reassembling the most dangerous version of the roster is going to be getting players back healthy, and we got a good number of updates on injuries.

John Harbaugh on former first-round pick Odafe Oweh’s offseason shoulder surgery: “As I’ve been told by our trainers, Odafe is doing great. It shouldn’t be a problem at all. That’s one of those ones where you get back pretty quickly. It should be no problem for training camp.”

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) March 28, 2022

John Harbaugh said there’s a “chance” that rehabbing Ravens RBs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards open training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list.

“We’ll probably play it safe a little bit with those guys and take our time and just bring them along for the season.”

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) March 28, 2022

Coach Harbaugh on Ronnie Stanley: pic.twitter.com/ubazJGeCSQ

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) March 28, 2022

In that same vein, Harbaugh discussed the adjustments that the team is planning to make that will hopefully lead to a healthier offseason.

Harbaugh said the Ravens are changing how they practice after last years injury marred season.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) March 28, 2022

The Ravens aren’t planning to have joint practices this year. It’s one of the alterations they’ve made to try and reduce injuries this summer.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) March 28, 2022

While these jumped out to me as being the more important pieces for Ravens fans to see, I would be derelict in my duties if I didn’t show you guys some of the other gems from the League Meetings that surfaced on social media. First, of course, the impeccable fashion sense of the NFL’s coaches.

AFC coaches pressers underway. And here’s Bill Belichick welcoming Mike McDaniel into the division. pic.twitter.com/ftFaDbhmTb

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 28, 2022

Nothing—and I mean, nothing—says owners meetings like Andy Reid’s shirt. pic.twitter.com/DFE4NANZYS

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 28, 2022

The red carpet at the Oscars has nothing on these guys.

Lastly, the media scrums for some division rivals were captured by JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington, and… whoo boy, it’s gonna be a long season in Cleveland.

This is pretty wild – look at the crowd around AFC Champ Bengals coach Zac Taylor compared to Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. Something big must have happened in Cleveland this offseason pic.twitter.com/vaOo5mfqP8

— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) March 28, 2022

I’d bet if you asked Coach Harbaugh, he’d take questions about Lamar’s contract over the QB questions in Cleveland any day of the week.

[Related Article: Are The Ravens Cheap?]

The post Tuesday at The Breakers appeared first on Russell Street Report.