BALTIMORE — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson jogged onto the field at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday night in full uniform for warmups ahead of Baltimore’s preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts. It was the closest he came to playing, of course.

In all, just five expected Ravens starters — left guard Andrew Vorhees, right guard Daniel Faalele, right tackle Roger Rosengarten, inside linebacker Trenton Simpson and rookie safety Malaki Starks — played in the game.

That cleared the way for plenty of others looking to solidify their status or make an impression, and rookie receiver/punt returner LaJohntay Wester did just that. The sixth-round draft pick out of Colorado delivered the night’s biggest highlight, returning a punt 87 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.

The score sparked an eventual 24-16 win.

More importantly, it provided some certainty and hope for a position that was a significant concern last season. It also wasn’t the only highlight-reel moment for Baltimore.

Here’s a look at the biggest risers and fallers from the Ravens’ first preseason game:

Risers

— LaJohntay Wester

One of coach John Harbaugh’s draft wishes earlier this year was to find a reliable punt returner. It seems he found one in the former Florida Atlantic and Colorado standout.

On Wester’s first return of the night in the opening quarter, he settled under the ball, square to the target just like Harbaugh likes to see, caught it comfortably, then side-stepped, stutter-stepped and raced forward for a 17-yard return. It was a nice return.

His next one was electrifying.

Wester caught the ball at his own 13-yard-line, started left, got a nice block from Jalyn Armour-Davis, cut back right, split two defenders, ran by another one, got blocks from Jake Hummel and T.J. Tampa and that was more than enough. He raced the rest of the way down the right sideline and into the end zone for an 87-yard touchdown.

It’s early, but it’s probably safe to say Wester all but solidified his hold on the position.

— Keaton Mitchell

Nearly two years removed from a devastating torn ACL that ended his 2023 season, Mitchell looks every bit as fast — and more developed — than he did before he got hurt.

His nine carries for 68 yards and a touchdown only told part of the story. The former undrafted free agent out of East Carolina was shifty, speedy and explosive. He also showed excellent vision, bouncing to the outside on a 22-yard touchdown run at the 8:19 mark of the opening quarter.

He also had a 23-yard run earlier in the quarter on a similar play.

While Mitchell returned from the injury last November, it’s clear that he’s a different player today. He also gives Baltimore a different dimension alongside Derrick Henry and Justice Hill.

— Jalyn Armour-Davis

With a talented secondary that includes free-agent additions Jaire Alexander and Chidobe Awuzie, along with a couple of draft picks spent on cornerbacks, Armour-Davis, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, might be considered a bubble guy to make the 53-man roster. His play Thursday night certainly helped his case.

In the first quarter with the Colts facing third-and-7 from Baltimore’s 35-yard-line, Armour-Davis cut in front of receiver Ashton Dulin and broke up a pass that would have been enough for a first down but instead led to only a field goal. Later, playing on Wester’s punt return, he did a nice job blocking the Colts’ gunner and preventing him from getting to Wester in what was the first play to help eventually spring the long touchdown return.

Later in the second quarter, he had a nice pass breakup of a pass from Daniel Jones intended for second-round rookie receiver Adonai Mitchell on third-and-10 to force a punt.

Harbaugh has lauded Armour-Davis’ intelligence and he also has positional flexibility. The issue has largely been staying healthy, but performances like this one only help strengthen his case to be a meaningful contributor.

— Lucas Scott

The Ravens likely aren’t going to carry more than one fullback on the roster with Patrick Ricard having that role locked down, but the undrafted rookie from Army is making a case to at least eventually perhaps be Ricard’s replacement.

Against the Colts, he had two nice blocks on the Ravens’ second series of the night to spring Mitchell first on a 22-yard burst through a big hole on the right side. Then he did a nice job sealing his man to help open a hole, again on the right side, for the 29-yard touchdown.

Scott had plenty of other good blocks in the game. At 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds, he certainly fits the part.

— Tyler Loop

It was a small sample size with the rookie kicker getting just two field goal attempts, but that’s also the nature of the job sometimes. Hooking a 46-yard attempt wide left in the third quarter was not great.

Loop had made 58 of 62 attempts in training camp leading into Thursday night’s game, and that included one from 60 yards during a recent team period, but this was not the result Baltimore was expecting in his next phase of development and first game action.

The former Arizona standout would of course redeem himself, drilling a 52-yard attempt late in the fourth quarter.

Leg strength has never been a question for the 24-year-old, and he showed it off in spades on his second kick of the night. It was a nice bounce back, and he had a tackle on a kick return, which is always impressive (if a little risky).

Coaches have talked about the need for Loop to work on his consistency, and that played out Thursday night.

Fallers

— Devin Leary

The third-string quarterback entered the game in the second quarter, promptly threw two straight incompletions and then tried to force a short pass to Dayton Wade over the middle but instead threw it directly to linebacker Joe Bachie.

It was a head-scratching decision, with Baltimore facing third-and-10 from the Colts’ 11-yard line. Even if he had completed the ugly throw to his intended target, Wade was blanketed and would have gone nowhere. It’s the kind of mistake a rookie would make, except Leary, who had a penchant for turning the ball over in college, is in his second year.

Then, he was strip-sacked on the final play of the first half with the Colts recovering. The offensive line blocking on the left side was not good, but Leary looked like he had little feel that he was about to be pummeled.

He didn’t look any better the rest of the night, and finished 3 for 12 for 43 yards.

— Cooper Rush

In fairness, Rush only attempted four passes by the time that he was relieved by Leary. The problem was that his first pass on the second play of the game from an empty backfield was intercepted.

With cornerback Alex Johnson in good coverage on Wade, Rush threw a fade up the right sideline only to have Johnson look like he was the intended receiver. Making matters worse was that Wade was also flagged for offensive pass interference.

Rush did have a couple of completions to receiver Tylan Wallace and tight end Charlie Kolar, and running back Rasheen Ali dropped one that hit him right in the hands on a screen, and it was overall a small sample size.

— Rasheen Ali

The second-year back had a touchdown, a 19-yard run and a 69-yard kick return, so there were some positives.

But there were a few negatives, too.

Five of his nine carries went for 3 yards or fewer. He also had the aforementioned drop.

It’s an uphill battle for Ali, a 2024 fifth-round pick out of Marshall, with Henry, Hill and Mitchell all in front of him and Baltimore unlikely to carry a fourth running back. His performance Thursday night didn’t do anything to inspire a spot on the roster, but he’ll get more opportunities throughout the preseason.

— Daniel Faalele

In his second year at right guard, Faalele got posterized by Adetomiwa Adebawore early.

The third-year defensive tackle literally plowed through Faalele, who ended up on his back, en route to a sack of Rush. It was also one of a few reps in which Faalele was badly outplayed. The rest of the offensive line did not look good at times, either, which included Ben Cleveland at one point also getting trucked.

At 6-8 and 370 pounds, Faalele will always look odd at guard, and he will get beaten at times as he did on a couple of occasions Thursday.

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