OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens' star players are preparing for a work trip with a purpose.
Later this week the team's big-name stars get their best chance to hone their craft before taking the field for the regular season opener.
They travel to Green Bay on Wednesday for a joint practice with the Packers on Thursday. The opportunity to line up against some different guys is a welcome change for the vets, including quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry, who will go against an opposing defense in a controlled environment for the only time before week one.
What’s Lamar hoping to get out of a trip to Wisconsin:
"Competitiveness – just not going against my guys each and every day, finally get to go against someone else. Especially that I'm not playing preseason," he said. "[It’s] just great to see how we are against other opponents."
"I think it’s fun," added Henry. "We’ve been going against one another for about a month now. So, go against another jersey. You get to practice against another team, see some different looks. [It will] kind of give us a good look and see how far we are and things we need to work on as an offense."
"You have a chance to go up against a different style. For instance, [Green Bay’s] defensive line is an up field, penetrating type of a front. They’re going to be hitting gaps and getting up field. We haven’t really seen that in the two preseason games or in practice, but we are going see that in the games – the Cowboys are going to do that, for instance – so that’s something that we need to get ready for," said head coach John Harbaugh. "There’s an opportunity to see a different style that we haven’t seen before, plus just the level of intensity. Getting guys locked in and focused at the end of a long camp, there’s a benefit in that."
Following Thursday’s joint practice the Ravens and Packers will face each other in Saturday’s preseason finale.
Harbaugh also updated the status of Adisa Isaac following Tuesday practice. The rookie outside linebacker, who had been dealing with a hamstring injury for most of training camp, now has a soft-tissue injury in his other leg.
"It’s not like it was before," said Harbaugh. "It’s not the one that’s going to keep him out like it was before."
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