Ravens will look to get offense rolling against Raiders

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens are looking to get more of their offensive playmakers involved in their home opener against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said the team doesn't want to be one-dimensional, even though the Ravens added four-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry in the offseason. The Ravens are trying to build an offense that can attack teams in various ways and they don’t want to rely too heavily on the running game, which ranked No. 1 in the NFL last season.

“We didn’t bring Derrick in here to be the guy that gets the ball 30 times a game,” Harbaugh said this week. “He’s done that before. That’s really not the plan.”

Henry had just 13 carries for 46 yards with a five-yard touchdown in a 27-20 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite Harbaugh’s comments this week, Henry should get more opportunities against the Raiders, who allowed 176 yards rushing in their 22-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1.

Las Vegas also has to contend with quarterback Lamar Jackson, the reigning NFL MVP who accounted for 395 (122 rushing, 273 passing) of the Ravens’ 452 total yards against Kansas City. Jackson missed practice Monday but was back the following days and was not listed on the injury report.

“He’s definitely as good as it gets, as dynamic as it gets,” Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said. “The definition of a dual threat. He presents a great challenge to any defense in this league. ... But I believe in our guys, and I believe in our coaches and our scheme."

The Raiders will counter Jackson and Henry with two-time All-Pro defensive end Maxx Crosby. In the teams’ last meeting in the 2021 season-opener, Crosby had two sacks, six tackles, five quarterback hits, and two tackles for a loss in Las Vegas' 33-27 overtime win.

Jackson is going to keep tabs on Crosby on Sunday.

“That guy, he’s a great edge rusher, man,” Jackson said. “My hat’s off to him. He was high-motor. He was just going at it all game. I was like, ‘This man here ...’ I was laughing with Maxx. He was trying to get after me, and I was talking trash back. He was like, ‘But I love your game, Lamar,’ and stuff like that. But he’s a great edge rusher. He’s definitely a great edge rusher."

The Raiders offense had an uneven performance against the Chargers and finished with 296 yards. Las Vegas will face an even bigger challenge against the Ravens under new defensive coordinator Zachary Orr, who replaced Mike Macdonald, the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

Orr likes to blitz the quarterback from multiple positions and give opponents different looks.

Las Vegas quarterback Gardner Minshew was 25 of 33 for 247 yards with a touchdown and an interception against the Chargers. Minshew will face consistent pressure from the Ravens, who sacked Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes twice and had seven quarterback hits.

The Ravens lost Jadeveon Clowney to free agency after he finished second on the team with 9.5 sacks last season. However, Baltimore re-signed defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who had 13.5 sacks last year, and are counting on fourth-year player David Ojabo to make an impact.

Ojabo had a sack against the Chiefs and Madubuike registered a half-sack.

“I thought the pass-rush was good,” Harbaugh said. “You’re rushing Patrick Mahomes. I’m a little disappointed (with) the couple of times he got out, but I really haven’t seen a game where he hasn’t gotten out, to some degree, to extend plays. I felt we pressured him a number of times.”

The Raiders could try to get their ground attack rolling against Baltimore, which allowed just 72 yards rushing on 20 carries against Kansas City. Raiders running back Zamir White had 44 yards on 13 carries last week against the Chargers and he will face a more formidable defense against the Ravens.

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Las Vegas Raiders running back Alexander Mattison (22) runs for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew II jogs off the field after the Raiders were defeated by the Los Angeles Chargers in an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) reacts against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh speaks during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 27-20. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) runs with the ball as Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook, right, and linebacker Leo Chenal (54) defend during the second half of an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry runs with the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied the latest appeal by a man who has been on death row for 30 years after he was convicted of killing two college students.

The decision could clear the way for the state to set an execution date for Willie Jerome Manning, but his attorney said Tuesday that his legal team will seek a rehearing.

The court's majority wrote in a 5-4 ruling Monday that Manning “has had his days in court.” Dissenting justices wrote that a trial court should hold a hearing about a witness who wants to recant his testimony against Manning, 56, who has spent more than half his life in prison.

Manning's attorneys have filed multiple appeals since he was convicted in 1994 on two counts of capital murder in the December 1992 killings of Mississippi State University students Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller. Their bodies were found in rural Oktibbeha County, and Miller’s car was missing. The car was found the next morning. Prosecutors said Manning was arrested after he tried to sell items belonging to the victims.

Krissy Nobile, Manning’s attorney and director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, said Tuesday that the justices' majority ruling ignores "newly discovered evidence with the recantation of several key witnesses," including one who said in a sworn statement that she was paid $17,500 for fraudulent testimony.

“With the witness recantations and debunked forensic science, there is no evidence against Mr. Manning,” Nobile said. “There is no DNA, fibers, fingerprints, or other physical evidence linking Mr. Manning to the murders or the victims.”

Chief Justice Michael Randolph wrote the majority opinion rejecting Manning's request for a trial court hearing to determine whether witness Earl Jordan had lied.

“Petitioner has had more than a full measure of justice,” Randolph wrote of Manning. “Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler have not. Their families have not. The citizens of Mississippi have not. Finality of justice is of great import in all cases.”

Nobile responded: “What measure of justice is served if the wrong man is put to death?”

Justice James Kitchens wrote the dissent.

“Today the Court perverts its function as an appellate court and makes factual determinations that belong squarely within the purview of the circuit court judge,” Kitchens wrote.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled decades ago that when a witness recants testimony, “the defendant/petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the witness lied at trial or on his affidavit,” Kitchens wrote.

Manning has maintained his innocence and sought to have evidence in his case reexamined.

The latest appeal was based partly on Jordan saying he wanted to recant his testimony that while he and Manning were jailed together in Oktibbeha County, Manning had confessed to killing Steckler and Miller.

Jordan said in a sworn statement that he gave false testimony against Manning in hopes of himself receiving favorable treatment from Dolph Bryan, who was then sheriff of Oktibbeha County. Jordan wrote that he was “afraid to tell the truth” while Bryan was sheriff. Bryan left the job in January 2012.

In 2013, shortly before Manning was scheduled to be executed, the U.S. Justice Department said there had been errors in FBI agents’ testimony about ballistics tests and hair analysis in the case. Manning’s attorneys asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to stop the lethal injection, and justices voted 8-1 to delay the execution to allow the testing of evidence.

Manning’s attorneys asked an Oktibbeha County circuit judge for permission to send items to a more specialized lab. The judge denied that request, and the ruling was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2022.

FILE - This April 2, 2019, booking photo provided by the Mississippi Department of Corrections shows death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning. (Mississippi Department of Corrections via AP, File)