Ravens' Ronnie Stanley Knows Offensive Line Needs To Do Better Job Protecting Lamar Jackson: 'We Don't Want Our Quarterback Taking That Many Hits'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It's hard to find any fault with the Ravens performance through two weeks of the season. At 2-0 with decisive wins over the rival Browns and Houston Texans, John Harbaugh's group is off to a strong start. But, if there has been one area of concern so far, it's been the number of hits opposing defenses have gotten on quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Through two games, the Ravens have given up six sacks, tied for 5th-most in the league with several other teams. Jackson has been hurried 10 times according to Pro Football Reference's stats and while he's largely avoided getting hit on those hurries, he's been pressured on 26.7% of his dropbacks this season.
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley told reporters this week that the line is well aware that needs to change as the season goes on.
"It's never as good as you think, it's never as bad as you think. When we looked at it, a lot of it wasn't terrible pass protection but at the same time we know we can be cleaner," said Stanley during a press conference this week. "We know we can be better. That's what we're focused on. We don't want our quarterback taking that many hits."
In fairness to Stanley and the line, there was a big change in the unit with Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda retiring this offseason. In Yanda's place, third round pick Tyre Phillips stepped into the lineup. Phillips is still finding his rhythm on the line, one of the sacks is credited to his account so far.
This week, the Kansas City Chiefs come to town, with a pass rush that has racked up six sacks through the first two games. Defensive linemen Chris Jones and Frank Clark have proven tough for teams to handle thus far. For Stanley and company, they know part of the game plan for K.C. will be to try and take Jackson's abilities out of the game, and that his unit needs to take that pressure off of him.
"We know that team's kind of idea is to take him out of the game. We just have to do our best to play at our best to take that pressure off of him," said Stanley. "Offensive line, running backs, wide receivers, the better we play the more pressure we can take off of him."
The Ravens host the Chiefs on Monday Night Football with kick-off slated for 8:15 p.m.
