4 Biggest Takeaways From Ravens Preseason Week 2 Victory

The Baltimore Ravens came out on top in a defensive slugfest in their Week 2 preseason win over the Minnesota Vikings. Here's what you need to know.

Aug 22, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Silas Walters (36) celebrates an interception against the Minnesota Vikings during the second half at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Baltimore Ravens grinded to the second win of the Jesse Minter era as head coach in dominant defensive fashion with a decisive 13-3 win over the hosting Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

This exhibition bout followed two days of highly productive joint practices between the two teams, and it followed the same theme as those practices. Defense led the way for both teams, but in the end, it was the visiting Ravens who managed to do just enough on offense to emerge victorious.

"I'm proud of our guys [for] the way they played in that game," Minter said. "I thought we, especially in the second half, were able to kind of play the game the way we wanted to play a little bit more [and] control the ball a little bit more. [We] did a nice job on defense [in the] red zone [and] got a couple turnovers which we wanted to get"

Here are four of the biggest takeaways from the Ravens' preseason win over the Vikings:

Defensive depth continues to run deep

Last week in the opener, it was the Ravens' second-stringers on defense who led the charge for their domination of the Philadelphia Eagles. This time around, it was players who didn't appear in that game until the fourth quarter or were just penciled in at third and fourth on the depth chart who stepped up and made pivotal splash plays.

Up front, they got 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss and several run-stuffs from rotational interior defensive linemen C.J. Okoye, Rayshaun Benny and David Olajiga. On the edge, Kaimon Rucker
had some nice pressures and a quarterback hit, while undrafted rookie Ethan Burke had the game of his life as a pro with three solo tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, two quarterback hits, two batted passes and a forced fumble.

Ravens undrafted rookie OLB Ethan Burke:

34 snaps
2 tackles
2 pressures
1 sack
1 forced fumble
1 PBU pic.twitter.com/nJhwNUIjjy

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) August 23, 2026

At the second level, Jay Higgins IV made his return from a concussion, started the game, wore the green dot for the whole game, and recorded four total tackles, including three solos. Starting and playing next to him for all but nine snaps was undrafted rookie Dominic DeLuca, who also recorded four tackles, including one for a loss early in the game.

In the secondary, the three brightest standouts were second-year safety Keondre Jackson, fifth-round nickel Chandler Rivers and undrafted safety Silas Walters. The latter two didn't see any playing time until the fourth quarter last week but were on the field early and often in this game. Each of them recorded a pass breakup, five-plus tackles and a splash play, with Rivers' being a splitting a sack with Olajiga and Walters making up for an earlier blunder with a late interception to ice the game and secure a double-digit margin of victory. Jackson was all over the field on defense and special teams, finishing with a game-high eight total tackles, including two for a loss, a sack and a quarterback hit.

"We preach not having a drop-off on our backend, and on the defense," Jackson said. "So, the 'ones' hold us accountable; they go out there and play great. The 'twos' and 'threes,' we want to follow suit because you're just as good as your weakest link. Not saying that we have a weak link, but [we want] no drop-offs with that."

Center competition might have a new frontrunner, again

Jul 29, 2026; Owings Mills, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens center Ethan Pocic (77) during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Coming out of the preseason opener, a dark horse emerged as a deserving candidate to start receiving first-team reps: Jovaughn Gwyn. Even before Danny Pinter went down with a season-ending injury on the first day of joint practices against the Vikings, the fourth-year pro was receiving a groundswell of support amongst the film-watchers for the impressive tape he put together against the Eagles in live action and against Minnesota's starters.

Unfortunately for Gwyn, he didn't carry over that momentum into the second preseason game despite getting the starting nod. This left the door open for 10th-year veteran Ethan Pocic to reemerge as the favorite to replace three-time Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum, as was widely expected following his signing at the onset of training camp.

The team has been gradually increasing Pocic's involvement in practices and games, given that he suffered a torn Achilles late last season, and he performed quite well in relief duty, starting in the second quarter this time around after not checking in until the fourth in the opener. With one preseason game left, Pocic will likely get to make his first start as a Raven and will likely get to play most of the first half, during which he can cement himself as the victor of the team's most anticipated and closely contested position battle.

Pocic's anchor looks as advertised. Hell of a drop against Big Citrus.#RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/OO3j4xKfcA

— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) August 23, 2026

Mike Green finally breaks through

Jul 29, 2026; Ownings Mills, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens linebacker Mike Green (15) during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Even though he's not projected to be a full-time starter heading into his second season in the league, expectations for the 2025 second-rounder are sky-high given his talent and improved environment from both schematic and player-personnel aspects. Against the Vikings, he showed some proof of concept to support the hype he's been getting all summer with his performance in the first half.

Green completely derailed Minnesota's offensive possession of the game when he recorded a sack on second down for a loss of six yards and followed it up by drawing a holding penalty on third down that negated a 19-yard gain that would've gone for a first down. Both rushes came off the left side of the line and saw him show great bend and explosion around the edge on the sack and a nice inside move on the second play that likely would've led to a second straight sack had he not gotten held.

Practice paying off for Mike Green!

For more highlights, visit https://t.co/ciLFizvHBw. pic.twitter.com/CN9q1kfB7P

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 22, 2026

"Regardless [of] what game it is, it is still a confidence boost, and it shows you that the work that you put in [and] the moves that I have been practicing [have been] paying off," Green said. "[I'm] trying to work on [my] craft in practice, [so] being able to go out there in the game and be successful with it, it means a lot."

Unheralded QB makes another strong case

Aug 22, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Fagnano (12) throws the ball against the Minnesota Vikings during the second half at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For the second week in a row, arguably the brightest standout on offense for the Ravens was undrafted rookie signal caller Joe Fagnano. Once again, he led multiple scoring drives, was highly efficient, completing 15-of-20 attempts and produced a pass rating of over 90 with a game-high 106.9. His 123 passing yards were the most of any quarterback who touched the field in his game, and he was the only one to throw for a touchdown.

"[The Vikings] got [to] me a couple of times [and] showed a couple of different looks," Fagnano said. "It's kind of what their defense is known for, and they play really sound, really good defense. They try to confuse you and make you speed up your feet, and that's kind of the big emphasis for me is just playing my game, taking it one play at a time and taking what they gave me."

Joe Fagnano links up with Devontez Walker to get the @Ravens in the redzone

Steam on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Ju3bX0SkZW

— NFL (@NFL) August 22, 2026

The most impressive aspect of Fagnano's performance was how calm and poised he stayed under pressure, not letting himself get rattled or caught off guard. He didn't put the ball in harm's way and continues to show a high-level ability as a processor. Even though he's an older rookie at 25 years old, he's still just a first-year pro and is already showing the maturity and other alluring traits of a veteran reserve.

"I thought Joe [Fagnano] came in again — [the] second week in a row — and just kind of managed the offense really well," Minter said. "[He] got us down there a few times, made some really key plays throwing the ball, [and] guys made some nice catches for him."

It's been half a decade since the Ravens opened a season with three quarterbacks on their roster, and after being viewed as an afterthought when he was initially brought in as a rookie minicamp tryout, Fagnano is playing himself into no worse than a prime practice squad candidate, if not an initial 53-man roster consideration.