Trace McSorley made his NFL preseason debut on Thursday night and proved that he could hold his own at the next level following an up-and-down, but otherwise serviceable rookie appearance for the Baltimore Ravens.
Unfortunately for the former Nittany Lion, his best moment of the night was a 24-yard pass to wideout Miles Boykin followed up by a 17-yard throw over the shoulder to Boykin again in the corner of the end zone.
But the play was called back due to holding.
“I felt good. It was a real good learning experience,” McSorley told Maryland news outlet the Cecil Whig. “I made a few throws, missed a couple. It’s one of those things where you look at the tape, really learn from and take strides on. There’s going to be a lot for us to learn, so I’m looking forward to getting into the tape and being able to take that, take the coaching from there and be able to improve in the next week.”
McSorley’s stats weren’t eye-popping. His 9-of-22, 85-yard outing included an interception, but also included 16 rushing yards following a few quality scrambles and a long third-down completion to extend a drive.
“He did great. I was telling him on the sideline; I was pumped,” assumed Baltimore starter Lamar Jackson said, during a postgame press conference. “He did pretty good. He did better than I did in my first game.”
During Jackson’s preseason debut last year, he finished the night 4-of-10 for 33 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He also had eight runs for 25 yards and was sacked three times.
The Ravens play three more preseason games, including an Aug. 22 meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles, who drafted two former teammates of McSorley in Miles Sanders and Shareef Miller while signing Ryan Bates and DeAndre Thompkins as free agents following the draft process.
McSorley and the Ravens next play Aug. 15 against the Green Bay Packers.
We know it didn’t count…
But this TD throw from @McSorley_IX to @MBoykin814 was prettyyyy. pic.twitter.com/9j0WKCcMHo
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 9, 2019
