The Baltimore Ravens selected wide receiver Rashod Bateman in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. Injuries and underwhelming production have played a big part in Bateman’s career so far, but he took a step in the right direction in Baltimore’s Week 8 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
On Monday after the team’s Week 8 victory, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked about Bateman and how big the plays he made during the contest were. He heaped praise on the young wide receiver, saying that you won’t see a better play than the one to keep the team’s opening drive alive, and also said he showed burst up the sideline on the reverse that he took later in the contest.
“It’s so big. [Rashod Bateman had] two big plays. The early catch, to keep the drive alive, to go get the ball and take it away from the defender, was just … You’re not going to see a better play than that. It was great, and then, the end around so to speak – it’s really not [an end around play]. It’s a jet sweep-type of play with a read option involved and gap scheme, to be clear.” (laughter) “But Lamar [Jackson] read it right and gave it … It’s not something he’s done a lot. I don’t think he’s practiced it even that much, the ball handling of it, but to have him be able to do that … Maybe they weren’t expecting it, but he ran around there, and I’ll tell you, when he turned the corner and accelerated up the sideline, that was impressive, wasn’t it? He ran by a couple guys, and he really showed some burst there and got up the sideline. They actually hit him out of bounds [which] got us another 15 [yards], so it was a huge play in the game that ran time off the clock, got us down [the field] deeper and got us another score.”
