Jesse Minter is running out of time for a soft landing.
After a rough Week 2 collapse and now a trip to Brazil, the Ravens’ rookie head coach is trying to steady a defense that has too many issues at once and a secondary that has to hold up against one of the NFL’s most dangerous passing games. The task is made tougher by the travel, the medical complications that come with it, the field conditions, and a penalty rate that is already drawing concern.
“We can go through the hard stuff,” Minter explained after practice on Wednesday, “and we can tell the truth … Sometimes you have to go through something hard. When your new everything is kind of like the honeymoon phase until you hit adversity.”
That adversity showed up fast. Baltimore blew a 14-3 lead at home to a Saints team that was a 10-point underdog, and it marked the franchise’s 15th loss after blowing a double-digit lead since 2019. All three phases had a hand in the collapse, but the defense now gets the biggest spotlight, especially with the Ravens heading into a game on a surface more suited to soccer than football.
The challenge comes with a long flight, too. Baltimore leaves after practice Thursday for a 10-hour trip, and Minter will spend that time thinking through how to handle a Cowboys offense that can punish mistakes in the air.
He has seen Dallas before. Last season, when he was running the Chargers defense, his group beat the Cowboys 34-17 in Week 16 at Dallas.
But that game looked very different from what might be coming Sunday. Cowboys coach and play caller Brian Schottenheimer leaned on the run that day, and it went nowhere.
Dallas ran the ball 23 times and got little out of it.
That part of the offense was a problem in 2025 and still isn’t much better now. What Minter has to worry about is a passing game that was highly efficient when it attacked Baltimore’s defensive weak spots through George Pickens, CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson.
Dak Prescott was almost flawless throwing to that trio, finishing 16-for-20 for 200 yards and a touchdown. The Cowboys were pushing the ball downfield, too, with more than 10 air yards per attempt on average, and only 35 of those passing yards came after the catch.
Minter did not lean on man coverage much in that matchup, blitzed only 9% of the time, and used less dime than he has through two weeks with Baltimore.
“Dak is great quarterback and they’re got a really good just field-general sense of how they operate,” Minter said. “I have a lot of respect for Coach Schottenheimer calling plays and being a head coach. It’s a great challenge.”
Looking back at that previous meeting, Minter added: “At least I kind of have an idea of how I thought about scheming them up,” Minter said, “and how I might change things going forward.”
The biggest fix may be in the back end. Minter is expected to hammer safeties Jaylinn Hawkins and Malaki Starks after they have formed one of the league’s roughest pairings so far. If that doesn’t improve, the questions around Kyle Hamilton could get louder, with some wondering whether he’ll need to spend more time on the back end.
“They can put me wherever they see fit,” Hamilton said Wednesday. “That’s a week-to-week thing.”
In Other News...
Ravens Face An Early Derrick Henry Decision After Costly Loss
A late lead against the Saints still turned into an uneasy conversation point for the Ravens, and it centered on Derrick Henry. Baltimore leaned on him for much of the afternoon, but his workload in the fourth quarter drew attention after the offense seemed to drift away from its biggest back when the game was there to be finished. Henry still produced 68 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, but the way he was used after halftime became part of the postgame scrutiny.
Jamal Lewis added to that conversation by urging Baltimores coaches to make better use of Henry as the workhorse he has been throughout his career. For a team trying to steady itself after a costly loss, the question is not whether Henry can handle the load, but whether the Ravens will trust him with it when the game tightens. The issue now hangs over a short week of sorts as Baltimore turns its attention to the Cowboys, where the margin for another late-game misstep figures to be just as thin. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Face A Real Problem Ahead Of Rio Showdown With Cowboys
The NFLs first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro is still on the calendar, but the setup around Maracan Stadium is already drawing attention for all the wrong reasons. When the Ravens and Cowboys meet there on Sept. 27, they will do so on a grass field that has taken a beating from heavy rain, intense heat and a packed soccer schedule, leaving the surface in poor shape even as the league moves forward with plans to stage the matchup.
For Baltimore, the issue is bigger than just a novelty trip to Brazil. Both teams are 1-1, so this is an early-season game with real standing implications, and field quality could become part of the story in a hurry. A messy surface does not favor either side, but it does raise the possibility that execution, footing and game plan flexibility matter as much as talent when the Ravens finally take the field in Rio. [Read more 🡒]
Lamar Jackson Is Already Feeling A Ravens Problem That Could Linger
Through the first two games of the 2026 season, Lamar Jackson has already run into a familiar Ravens issue: pressure. The numbers have been jarring, with Jackson facing heat on more than 40% of his dropbacks, a rate that ranks among the leagues highest for quarterbacks. Its a problem that cuts directly into what Baltimore wants to be on offense, because the same line that helps open lanes in the run game has not offered the same kind of help when Jackson has to drop back and throw.
For the Ravens, the concern goes beyond a rough opening stretch. Pass protection has been the weak spot, and Jacksons results under duress have reflected it, leaving the offense searching for cleaner pockets and better timing. Baltimore is weighing adjustments, including possible lineup changes, as it tries to stabilize the protection and keep this from becoming a season-long issue. [Read more 🡒]