Ravens Want to Break Huddle Quicker Against Dolphins
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens were a bit slow out of the huddle in the opener against the Jets, which meant Lamar Jackson had to rush to set the play on time.
This is an area Jackson wants to clean up in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins. Not only does getting to line quicker help save timeouts and potential turnovers, but it also gives him more of an opportunity to change the play if he sees a weakness in the opposing defense.
"Yes, and we’ve got long play-calling, too, so we’ve just got to do what we do a little faster, sometimes," Jackson said. "I felt like the clock was low a little bit, though, for some reason against us. [When] we go to the line, it’s already [at] like 18 seconds; I’m like, ‘What? Doesn’t it start at 30 or something – 25?’ But it’s good. We’ll be better this week and as the season goes on.”
Offensive coordinator Greg Roman is also focused on calling the plays quicker. However, he does see some benefit in breaking the huddle a bit later.
"Sometimes, it’s good to drain the clock," Roman said. "People don’t realize that, sometimes, but it’s really good at times. You can really drain a clock in the course of a game. I think we set the all-time NFL record for the time of possession a couple of years ago, and a lot of it was because of that process, really. And there are times when that’s not the way to go.
"So, the bottom line is we want to be efficient with how we operate, and we’d like to be at the line of scrimmage, most of the time, to where we can operate, [and] we’re in front of the clock.”
