For a debut, rookie Chris Moore's first game as the Ravens' primary kick returner offered more encouragement than disappointment. He averaged 24.5 yards on four kickoffs with a long of 34 yards in the second quarter of Sunday's 27-26 win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
"It was good," Moore said. "It was a great experience. I just had to learn some lessons like keeping it high and tight when I'm cutting back and when to keep it in [the end zone] and when to take it out. It was a great experience and hopefully, I can build on that this week."
The biggest gaffe for the fourth-round pick of the 2016 NFL draft was getting stripped of the ball from behind during the 34-yard return, but safety Marqueston Huff rescued Moore by recovering the fumble.
"I thought the big return he had was really just good patience, good vision and popped one for us there," coach John Harbaugh said. "Obviously, when you break out into the open, as a young guy, you've got to know you're going to get stripped when you get tackled from behind."
Harbaugh also pointed out that Moore made an unwise decision to return a kick in the first quarter from five yards deep in the end zone to the Ravens' 17-yard line. Moore acknowledged that he got a conversation from the coaches after those two errors. But he is hopeful that with more reps, he will gain a comfort level that could translate into more big plays.
"It's a timing thing," he said. "You've got to know how long the ball is in the air and the depth of the end zone. So the more I do it, the more comfortable I'll be at it, and the better I'll be at it."
Special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg said Moore is learning on the job.
"He's had experience in preseason games, but not enough necessarily to carry him through some situations that happened in this last game," Rosburg said. "We know he's going to grow. You can see how fast he plays in all the other phases. He's very aggressive, and we love that about him. [There are] just some decision-making situations that he's going to deal with better as we go down the road."