Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans will be calling the defensive plays in his team’s upcoming Week 1 opener against the Baltimore Ravens. Ryans will have plenty of challenges in his first game as Texans head coach, including on just how to contain Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Ryans has had a front-row seat to watch Jackson just once in his coaching career. During his second season as the 49ers’ inside linebackers coach, he watched as Jackson tallied 206 total yards and two total touchdowns in Baltimore’s Week 13 victory over San Francisco.

Ryans has been watching plenty of film on Jackson as of late in anticipation of Houston’s road matchup against the AFC North powerhouse, and there is much that stands out to him about the two-time Pro Bowler.

“For me, we know Lamar [Jackson] is an athletic quarterback," Ryans said during a press conference on Monday. "You know he can get loose — causes the defenses a lot of problems because of his athleticism. He also can throw the ball.”

It is up in the air as to just how first-year Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken will game plan against the Texans. Ryans is at the least expecting a “healthy mix” of pass and run plays from Baltimore’s offense on Sunday.

“From the looks of it, they’ve added a lot of explosive weapons on the offensive side, at the receiver position, to throw the ball more,” Ryans said. “We would think they would throw the ball, but knowing the Ravens and their style, they want to run the ball. They want to be a physical football team, so I think it will be a healthy mix of both.”

The Ravens are just coming off of a 2022 season in which they called on exactly 526 passing plays and 526 rushing plays. 

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