𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Through two games, Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews has two catches for 7 yards on four targets. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman has four receptions for 25 yards on eight targets. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has caught all four of his targets for 99 yards and two touchdowns, but he’s been on the field for just 28 offensive snaps. Tight end Charlie Kolar, expected to absorb a bigger role with Isaiah Likely sidelined, doesn’t have a catch or target.

The Ravens have started the regular season by hitting the 40-point plateau in consecutive games, the first time they’ve accomplished that since December of 2020. What’s most notable is the manner in which they’ve done it.

In the season-opening 41-40 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Ravens started slow and finished poorly. In Sunday’s 41-17 win against the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore struggled offensively for much of the first three quarters and never was able to establish the run. Yet, the Ravens have 10 more points than the next-highest scoring team, the Bills, and 16 more than the third-highest scoring team, the Detroit Lions, who will be in Baltimore Monday for a prime-time showdown at M&T Bank Stadium.

If nothing else over the first couple of weeks, the Ravens have flashed their offensive depth and an ability to attack defenses in different ways. They’ve also shown that they won’t be highlighting the same set of playmakers every week. In the trouncing of the Browns, wide receiver Devontez Walker, who didn’t play a single offensive snap in Week 1, caught two touchdown passes. Wide receiver Tylan Wallace, who didn’t have a target in Week 1, caught a touchdown. Hopkins, meanwhile, played just 10 total snaps, caught a touchdown on one of his targets and was marked down at the half-yard line on the other.

“You need a whole team,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “Everybody is on the team for a reason, because you need them. Everybody wants to contribute. Everybody wants their opportunity. They want their shot, and it really doesn’t matter where you are, you are on the roster. If you’re the star player — (like) Lamar, Lamar wants to contribute and make plays. And if you’re a guy that’s fighting for that playing time, you want to contribute and make plays.”

This has been billed as arguably the deepest group of offensive skill position players the Ravens have ever had, and that’s shown, despite the fact that Likely hasn’t made his debut — he has a chance to play Monday against the Lions — and speedy running back Keaton Mitchell is still waiting for his opportunity. With Rasheen Ali dealing with a concussion, Mitchell could get the call against Detroit, too.

Offensive coordinator Todd Monken has been saying since the summer that it will be nearly impossible to get everyone the amount of touches they want in a given game. There aren’t enough offensive plays, and the Ravens are always going to be a run-heavy team with Jackson and Derrick Henry around. Well aware of that, the pass catchers have been preaching the importance of being unselfish from the very first day of camp.

It’s early, but they’ve learned just how unselfish they may have to be. Andrews, for example, averaged more than four targets a game last year and more than six targets the year before.

“If we start going four or five weeks, and you don’t see the tight ends getting targets, I’ll probably be asking ‘Monk’ and Lamar and the guys, ‘What do you think?’” Harbaugh said Monday. “But, the ball goes where it goes based on the reads. That’s where the ball goes based on Lamar’s reads, and that’s what quarterbacks do. Those guys know that, and they’re fighting to run good routes and just trying to make the plays that come to them.”

Hopkins has been targeted on nearly 15 percent of plays when he’s gotten snaps. The 33-year-old just hasn’t been on the field much, which Harbaugh acknowledged could change. The Ravens want to keep the veteran healthy and have him fresh for key games and big moments. They also want to reward their younger receivers. That’s the balance they’re walking these days.

“We’ll see as we go,” Harbaugh said. “I think in some games, it might be one way or another, but we have a lot of guys that can play and do different things. So, it’s not a bad thing to do it that way, but I’m sure that every player wants to be on the field as much as they can. So, the more DeAndre is on the field, I’m happy about that. But if we don’t have to have him out there too much doing things that aren’t kind of difference-making things … that kind of makes sense as well. And then you’ve got guys that can go out there and make plays.

“Those are all things that we’re kind of grappling with and trying to put together the offense for every week. That’s kind of a blessing, but it’s also a dilemma, and we’re working through it. But hopefully, it’s a tiny dilemma that puts a lot of points on the board. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Other thoughts, opinions

• Harbaugh provided little in the way of injury updates Monday, saying only that most of them are “day-to-day” situations and there might be a few “week-to-week” calls, too. Outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy is probably in the week-to-week category after sustaining a hamstring injury in the second quarter Sunday. A hamstring strain of any significance usually triggers a multi-week absence, and the Ravens are preparing for that with Van Noy. His absence would mean that Odafe Oweh, Mike Green and Tavius Robinson would all see an increase in snaps, and David Ojabo would go from a game-day scratch to a member of the edge-rush rotation.

There was no update on cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who appeared to tweak his groin in the fourth quarter Sunday. Humphrey went to the locker room to get examined. He ultimately returned to the field and did some running on the sideline, but he didn’t go back into the game. If he can’t play against the Lions — and there seems to be some optimism that he won’t miss much, if any time — the Ravens could use undrafted rookie Keyon Martin in the slot and keep Nate Wiggins and Chidobe Awuzie on the outside. Or they can use safety Kyle Hamilton more in the slot and insert either Sanoussi Kane or Reuben Lowery at safety.

Harbaugh did acknowledge that fullback Patrick Ricard, who is dealing with a calf strain, hasn’t recovered as quickly as they hoped. He’s still “week to week.” The Ravens have been using practice squad tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden as a fullback, but he has only one standard elevation left before he’ll have to be added to the 53-man roster.

• CBS broadcaster Ross Tucker, who was on the call for Sunday’s game, said it best: “Nobody cares about special teams until it’s the reason your team lost the game.” The Ravens’ special teams weren’t the reason they beat the Browns, but they were the primary reason the team had a lead at halftime despite the offense totaling just 81 yards.

Jake Hummel’s blocked punt gave the Ravens a short field, leading to one score. LaJohntay Wester’s 23-yard punt return gave them the ball in Cleveland territory and led to a Tyler Loop field goal. Jordan Stout helped Baltimore flip the field midway through the second quarter with a 57-yard punt. There’s frustration at times with how much attention and how many roster spots the Ravens devote to special teams, but when the unit is at a point where it’s consistently contributing to victories, that will abate.

• Harbaugh said at this time last week that a rotation at inside linebacker between Trenton Simpson and fourth-round rookie Teddye Buchanan felt like the right thing to do. However, it wasn’t much of a rotation on Sunday. Buchanan played 60 defensive snaps, and Simpson logged only 15. Given the play of the Ravens’ defense against the Browns, there’s no reason to think that will change going forward, even if Harbaugh was noncommittal when asked about it on Monday.

• Harbaugh made clear that he expects cornerback Jaire Alexander to return to action “much sooner rather than later” and conceded he might be active Monday against the Lions. The Ravens were taking the long view with Alexander when they decided to deactivate him for Sunday’s game. They also were essentially acknowledging that they probably erred in playing the 28-year-old in the regular-season opener against the Bills, a game in which Alexander was on the field for 33 snaps and was victimized on several occasions.

Alexander has played seven games or fewer in three of the past four seasons. He has to manage a knee issue after having surgery in January. He missed all but about two weeks of training camp because of his knee. It shouldn’t be surprising that he needs a bit more time to get into game shape and knock off the rust.

To his credit, Alexander seemingly handled Sunday’s demotion well. He had a good week of practice. He was one of the first Ravens on the field Sunday morning and went through a long workout. He was encouraging teammates on the sideline. The Ravens didn’t sign Alexander with the expectation that they’d have him at his best for 17 games and the playoffs. There’s still plenty of time for them to get a return on their investment.

“I don’t want to put him in a situation where he’s got to try to overcome not quite being right as he can be, especially if we’ve got guys that can play well,” Harbaugh said. “So, that’s just almost a great problem to have that you don’t have to force a player out there. That was a tough injury he had last year, and he’s been rehabbing that thing in the offseason. … He ended up rehabbing it for about three or four weeks in training camp with no practice. …

“It’s good now, though. I don’t know, we’ll just see in practice. He and I will talk about it, and we’ll get him out there as soon as we can.”

(Photo of DeAndre Hopkins and Rashod Bateman: Mitch Stringer / Imagn Images)