{"id":58533,"date":"2025-06-26T03:24:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T03:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=58533"},"modified":"2025-06-26T03:24:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T03:24:44","slug":"ravens-rookie-drawing-rave-reviews-despite-shoulder-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=58533","title":{"rendered":"Ravens Rookie Drawing Rave Reviews Despite Shoulder Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2202878363.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2202878363.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2202878363.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2202878363.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Ravens offensive lineman Emery Jones Jr. works out during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine.\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" data-img-load-time=\"762\" data-dom-ready-time=\"880\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">The Ravens are hopeful that third-round pick Emery Jones Jr. will emerge as a reliable option to move inside to fill in for Patrick Mekari.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Ravens\u00a0are entering the 2025 season with one of the deepest rosters in the league. One place a team can never have enough depth, though, is their offensive line.<\/p>\n<p>Baltimore\u2019s line depth took a major blow this offseason with the departure of\u00a0Patrick Mekari, who opted to sign with\u00a0Jacksonville\u00a0in free agency. The loss of Mekari is mainly going to hurt them in terms of flexibility. The 6-year veteran played at 4 different positions last season, including 822 snaps at left guard.<\/p>\n<p>Joseph Noteboom\u2018s ability to fill in at each non-center position should assuage some of the team\u2019s fears. But they\u2019re holding out hope that third-round pick\u00a0Emery Jones Jr. will emerge as a reliable option to move inside.<\/p>\n<h2>Ravens Coaches Raving About Jones\u2019 Off-the-Field Performance<\/h2>\n<p>Ravens head coach Jim Harbaugh shared high praise for the team\u2019s selection of Jones following the draft. Harbaugh emphasized their need for \u201ca possible swing guy,\u201d according to\u00a0Ravens\u00a0Editorial Director Ryan Mink.<\/p>\n<div class=\"nfl-c-body-part nfl-c-body-part--text\">\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got the chance to be a swing backup tackle for us right away but he also has the chance to go in there at guard and play,\u201d Harbaugh said, according to Mink. \u201cWe\u2019re going to put him in there at guard, too, and see how he does. Once he starts practicing, we\u2019ll get a feel for where he can help us. We think he can play guard and tackle.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>While Jones has not yet showcased his on-field talent, Ravens offensive line coach George Warhop has liked what he\u2019s seen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmery is very smart; he\u2019s very engaged; he\u2019s plugged in,\u201d Warhop\u00a0said last week, according to Brown and Mink. \u201cHe can\u2019t do what we\u2019re doing, but he can mimic it on his own. I\u2019ve been most impressed with him, and with [fellow rookie\u00a0Garrett Dellinger] in the meeting rooms. Just [their] understanding [of] what we\u2019re doing; they\u2019re very, very, very close to being really good pro players in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"nfl-c-body-part nfl-c-body-part--text\">\n<p>While Jones works his way back,\u00a0Andrew Vorhees\u00a0and\u00a0Daniel Faalele\u00a0are the leading candidates at each guard spot. Vorhees will compete against\u00a0Ben Cleveland\u00a0for the starting left guard spot. Based on their playing time last season, it seems like Vorhees has the advantage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Shoulder Injury Hurting Jones\u2019 Stock<\/h2>\n<p>As Harbaugh told reporters at the beginning of rookie minicamp, Jones has been dealing with a shoulder\/labrum injury this offseason. Harbaugh has said that he expects Jones to make his debut \u201cat some point in training camp,\u201d according to\u00a0Ravens\u00a0Staff Writer Clifton Brown and Editorial Director Ryan Mink.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for Jones, his injury concerns have overshadowed his off-the-field performance, at least according to\u00a0The Athletic\u2018s Jeff Zrebiec. Zrebiec notes that the \u201cship has probably sailed\u201d on Jones competing for one of the starting guard jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only do the Ravens seem committed to starting Jones out at tackle, but he\u2019s missed so many reps while rehabbing from shoulder surgery,\u201d writes Zrebiec. \u201cIt\u2019s too early to say Jones is heading toward a redshirt season, but it\u2019s hard to imagine he\u2019ll be a factor early in the season if he\u2019s not able to make his practice debut until midway through training camp or later,\u201d Zrebiec continued.<\/p>\n<p>Jones\u2019 progression will certainly be something to keep an eye on once he finally makes his debut in a Ravens uniform. His recovery is paramount, but hopefully that debut will be sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty The Ravens are hopeful that third-round pick Emery Jones Jr. will emerge as a reliable option to move inside to fill in for Patrick Mekari. The\u00a0Ravens\u00a0are&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ravens Rookie Drawing Rave Reviews Despite Shoulder Injury - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=58533\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ravens Rookie Drawing Rave Reviews Despite Shoulder Injury - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty The Ravens are hopeful that third-round pick Emery Jones Jr. will emerge as a reliable option to move inside to fill in for Patrick Mekari. 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