John Harbaugh Expects More From Young Ravens QB

There were plenty of positives to gleam from the Baltimore Ravens' 24-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Thursday night's preseason opener. Keaton Mitchell looked like his old self after his devastating knee injury, LaJohntay Wester looked like a star punt returner, Tyler Loop had a decent first outing and the list goes on.

Amidst all those positives, though, the passing game was noticeably lacking.

Cooper Rush's first real action in a Ravens uniform was forgettable, as he completed just two of four passes for 16 yards and an interception in about a quarter of play. What was far more concerning was the play of second-year pro Devin Leary, who completed just three of 12 passes for 43 yards and an interception (albeit a tipped one).

After the game, head coach John Harbaugh was understandably critical of his young quarterback's performance.

"Devin [is a] competitor. [He] fought in there but [the game] just didn't go his way tonight," Harbaugh told reporters. "It just really didn't fall in place for him tonight for whatever reason. He's had really good practices. I mean, he's looked super good in practice, which, so you are not going to just say, 'Oh man, that's it,' but there's going to be one that we're all going to have to look at. He's going to have to look at it and other guys [to] just see what happened when we watch the tape. But that's pretty surprising to have that kind of a night throwing the ball."

Leary, a 2024 sixth-round pick out of Kentucky, also struggled last preseason. Most notably, he completed just six of 13 passes for 34 yards and two interceptions in a 30-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers. That essentially erased any slim chance he might've had at making the roster, as he was relegated to the practice squad while Baltimore only carried two quarterbacks in the regular season.

In all likelihood, it will be a similar situation this season with Leary going back to the practice squad and Rush serving as Lamar Jackson's backup.

Despite another subpar performance on Thursday, Leary still feels he's making progress compared to last year.

"I just want to continue to play ball, continue to get the reps and learn from them," Leary said. "Second year in this system being dialed in and just continuing to learn every day."