Baltimore Ravens suffered a tough Thanksgiving loss last week to the Cincinnati Bengals, and their rookies were largely responsible for it.

Starks’s mostly steady performance was overshadowed, however, by his most egregious rookie mistake. He was a deep safety near the red area when the Bengals scored their second touchdown. Starks, for some reason, immediately sprinted to the right instead of staying in his area. He could have been trying guess what he saw on film, or he may have made the wrong call. He left the middle wide open, forcing Roquan to cover Andrei Iosivas on a post route. The track star ran a 40-yard sprint in 4.4 seconds. You would have expected it to go.

Starks, however, was otherwise fine. This was Starks’ biggest rookie mistake, and it happened at the worst possible time in a game that ended up being very embarrassing for this team. We can only pray that this is a lesson for the young star, and that he won’t repeat the mistake.

Green, who had been rated the Ravens highest by Pro Football Focus last week, has now dropped to the bottom of this week’s charts. Green led the edge group with four pressures compared to Jones, Van Noy Simpson and Lawson’s combined two pressures. PFF gave him a grade of 44.3. Green didn’t get a single score higher than 53.0. Green, like Starks as a rookie, needs to continue learning and improving. You would like to think that these rookies simply are building and preparing themselves for the playoffs. Unfortunately, they are relying on them just to make it to the playoffs — not the best thing for them or the team.

Jones played his first snaps in the NFL on Thursday. He worked with Andrew Vorhees, a left guard. It’s clear why the Ravens are fond of Jones after watching his snaps. Jones was very active in the passing game. He had his head constantly on the move, always looking for something to do. He was a very good athlete who moved well in the passing game. PFF graded him at 67.6 for pass protection. It was his first time playing since he suffered a shoulder injury in college, and his run blocking could have been better.

John Harbaugh, the head coach of the team, confirmed that Jones would continue to play left guard. He will likely stay there. Harbaugh said that he won’t be rotating between guard positions, as it would make learning more difficult. Jones is doing well and his ceiling seems clear. You would think that converting a college left tackle to a right guard would be more difficult than the other way around.

Buchanan is continuing to impress. Buchanan’s 63.7 PFF score is a result of seven more tackles, a pressure and another seven tackles. PFF rated Buchanan higher in the run game rather than coverage. This is a surprising split and not where Buchanan usually performs or his strengths lie. Roquan Smith passed him for total tackles, and even though Smith missed two games, the Day 3 rookie was able to maintain the lead.

Loop had a quiet afternoon, despite his recent promotion to the Ravens’ entire offense. Loop only attempted two extra-points this week. Both were successful. He didn’t make any kickoff penalties either.

Wester did not return any punts this week. After his mishap in Cleveland two weeks ago, it’s hard to know how much confidence he has. He took five snaps in the offensive game, which was a small boost. This is likely because Tylan Wallace was a healthy scratch.