Greg Roman: Nothing new about defenses calling out plays

[Poe the Raven]

Getty Images

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said earlier this week that opposing defenses “know what we’re doing” and are calling out plays at the line of scrimmage during games.

Those comments suggest Jackson feels things may be too predictable on offense, but the guy calling the team’s plays downplayed that angle. Greg Roman said that what defenses are saying is “definitely something we talk about” and noted it is easier to hear everything right now than in packed stadiums before saying this is something that’s always “been an element of the game.”

“Calling out plays on a defense is nothing new,” Roman said. “I can talk about Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, every play they’re trying to guess what play you’re going to run based on what they’re seeing. That’s the chess match.”

Roman didn’t deny the offense has tendencies that defenses pick up on, but said you only have tendencies when you’re doing something well on offense. More successful offenses “can keep pressing that button” and then flip the script on an unsuspecting defense. Roman said they are aware of their tendencies and “work hard at changing it up” in order to stay ahead in the chess match.

The offense hasn’t been quite as successful on that front as they were last season, so they either have to do more to get defenses to guess wrong or nail down execution issues to get the bread and butter going as hoped.