Ravens Earl Thomas and Jimmy Smith are looking lean and playing mean in padded practices
A popular theme in the Baltimore Ravens training camp this year has been the weight that players added on or shed in the offseason during their extended stay away before reporting two weeks ago.
While everybody has been mesmerized by the noticeable amount of muscle that second-year receiver Marquise Hollywood Brown added on to his frame or all the inches that veteran offensive guard DJ Fluker lost off his waistline, the Ravens have a pair of veteran defensive backs that slimmed down since last season ended and there is an already shown its effect in their play in padded practices.
Cornerback Jimmy Smith is entering his 10th season in the league and Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas is entering his 11th—second with the Ravens. Both former first-round picks are key members of the best and deepest secondary in the league and they both trained intensely this offseason to reduce their body fat and increase their speed. Based on plays they’ve made since the pads came on at the start of the week, their hard work has paid off without it affecting their physicality.
On the first day of padded practice, Thomas popped Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews on a play where reigning MVP Lamar Jackson took off with the ball on a quarterback run. On Wednesday, Smith made the best defensive play of the day when he hammered tight end Nick Boyle just shy of the goal line during live full team drill near the end of practice.
“Jimmy is legit,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s a very big, thick guy in his low 220s. He’s maybe 207 now, 208, somewhere in there. I really think it’s helped him. I think he looks quick and fast, really really looks good out there. Jimmy’s having a really good camp.”
It wasn’t quite as momentous as the goal line stand he helped cap off in Superbowl XLVII (47) but by stopping an unsuspecting Boyle who though he had walk-in score dead in his tracks proves that even after nearly a decade in the game, Smith still possesses the closing speed and hit power to make impactful plays.
“Hats off to Jimmy, he had a good play,” Boyle said. “I let my guard down a little bit when I caught that, I thought I was wide open. I have to have a better sense of urgency there – pluck it, tuck it and get in the end zone. I guess he was hauling.”
While Thomas is slated to return to his starting spot at free safety, Smith will be embracing a new role as primary back up. After being the team’s top corner for over half a decade, he will be the fourth corner in the rotation behind 2019 First-Team All-Pro selections Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters who will be starting on the outside and nickelback Tavon Young who will man the slot.
Since Ravens hardly use their base package anymore and Defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale loves to rotate his defenders at almost every position and get creative with how he uses them, Smith and other primary backups will see the field early and often. He could see his role expand to incorporate some work at safety as well as a pure matchup specialist that they put on tight ends, big-bodied receivers, and wideouts that struggle against press coverage.
