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While the Ravens impressively defeated the Eagles in their first game of pre-season, there is a theme throughout camp that has followed them: a struggling offense. Is The Ravens’ Inconsistent Offense A Cause For Concern? Diving into a set of joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings, those offensive struggles have persisted. Granted, it was something of an acid test, going up against one of the best defensive minds in the game in Brian Flores, but is there cause for concern? Or are these simply growing pains to be expected as a result of the recalibration? Let’s get into it. Pretty Much Everything Has Changed With The Ravens Offense In Jesse Minter, the Ravens brought in a defensive-minded coach after his time as defensive coordinator with the Chargers. It’s already paying dividends with the Ravens defense looking strong throughout pre-season. They shut down the Eagles in that first pre-season match, doing so without a multitude of starters, and have continued that form into these joint practices with the Vikings. Marlon Humphrey even went so far as to say that Wednesday’s session was maybe the best defensive practice the Ravens have had since he’s been in Baltimore, which is quite the claim indeed. On the other side of things, the offense had a mixed few days. But looking at just how much has changed puts things in perspective. While both the defense and offense are dealing with pretty much entirely new coaching teams, though, both Minter and new defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver, have previously been with the Ravens – the defense has not quite seen the level of personnel change that the offense has. For example, in the off-season, the Ravens bid farewell to DeAndre Hopkins, Charlie Kolar, Isaiah Likely, Tyler Linderbaum, Keaton Mitchell, Patrick Ricard, Keaton Mitchell and Tylan Wallace. Kolar, Likely, Linderbaum, Ricard, and Wallace were all key figures under John Harbaugh over the past few seasons. In came guard John Simpson from the Jets, tight end Durham Smythe from the Bears, a trio of centres in Jovaughn Gwyn from the Falcons, Danny Pinter from the Colts, and Ethan Pocic from the Browns, as the Ravens mull over a replacement for Linderbaum. Furthermore, a lot of the focus in the 2026 Draft was on the offensive side of the game with guards Vega Ioane and Evan Beerntsen, wide receivers Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarrat,t tight ends Matthew Hibner and Josh Cuevas, and running back Adam Randall. Furthermore, Todd Monken left to become the Cleveland Browns’ head coach, replaced by 30-year-old Declan Doyle, who will be calling plays for the very first time this season. Tee Martin was let go as quarterbacks coach, replaced by Israel Woolfork. Willie Taggart departed as running backs coach for the Giants, and Eddie Faulkner was appointed in his place. Zach Grossi is the new Ravens tight ends coach, replacing George Godsey, while Dwayne Ledford is overseeing both the run game and offensive line. Then there’s Keary Colbert as wide receivers coach, Marcus Brady as pass game coordinator, and Joe Lombardi on board as senior offensive assistant. And breathe. That is an enormous level of change. But that’s not all… It’s Not Just Who Has Changed, It’s What They Are Being Asked To Do “We’re giving these guys a lot intentionally, really trying to see what they can handle,” explained Doyle back in early June. “It’s something that I picked up in my time at previous spots. “We could kind of take it easy and not stress these guys, and it would be a lot simpler. I think growth happens on the other side of stress, so we need to stress them.” A lot of this boils down to details. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman was recently asked what the main differences were between the new Ravens coaching team and the old. His answer was: “From HC to OC to WRs coach, everybody harps on the details and the small things. That’s just not what we were in our past.” To give an idea of that level of detail, it extends to the very footwork of Lamar Jackson. As the Ravens start joint practices vs. the Vikings, all eyes will be on Lamar Jackson and the new offense. But don’t overlook the new footwork, either. Under Declan Doyle and QBs coach Israel Woolfork, all the details matter. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/siOqFycfzw — Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) August 19, 2026 New quarterbacks coach, Israel Woolfork, revealed they have switched Jackson from a right-footed quarterback to a left-footed quarterback. “It just helps with the timing of the different progressions and different route styles,” he explained to the Ravens official website. That’s partly to help cut down on the number of sacks Jackson takes. “We are setting a depth in the pocket where we want him to be, so that allows the tackles to work on their drops and their sets to make sure they know where the launch point is.” What’s important is that the players are clearly buying into a whole new system. Jackson called the new coaching team a “breath of fresh air” and said that they were all “having fun with the new system and what [Doyle] sees on the field and what he sees on film”. He later described the new offensive coordinator’s approach as “mind-blowing”. Wide receiver Zay Flowers, meanwhile, called Doyle a genius and described his new offense as “explosive”. “He’s throwing a lot of stuff [at us],” explained Flowers. “But that’s how we’re going to learn it. I feel like that’s the best way for us to learn it, to get out there and do it.” It’s a whole new system. A whole new identity. And, as Flowers says, the only way to learn it is to get out there and do it. Struggling Now Is Not Such A Bad Thing Doyle is clearly intentionally making camp difficult. He’s spoken of wanting to stress the players. Flowers says they’re having a lot thrown at them. There’s no easing them in. They are being challenged to absorb as much as they possibly can. Furthermore, struggling against the Vikings is not all that bad. Their total defense rank was third in the entirety of the NFL last season, allowing 282.6 yards per game, while scoring defense saw them seventh, allowing 19.6 points per game. If anything, having the opportunity to come up against that, identify where they fell short, and further finetune the new system is a gift rather than a cause for concern. August is a time to work all this out. In all likelihood, the Ravens offense won’t show their best until a good few months into the season. But that’s okay. With a defense that looks primed to hit the ground running and likely be one of the best in the NFL, plus the fact that you have Lamar Jackson as your quarterback and an opening schedule that looks reasonably kind, there’s every reason to believe the Ravens will be just fine.