The signs of an NFL preseason were everywhere Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium, from the number of empty seats to the number of Ravens regulars on the sideline in shorts and T-shirts to the number of mistakes from both teams.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh surely expected some mental and physical errors when he pledged to use the team's first preseason game to evaluate his young players. He surely would have liked to have seen more resistance from what constituted his first-team defense and his new-look secondary. And he also wasn't pleased with his team's three turnovers.

The Ravens, though, got an impressive performance by their stable of running backs, solid efforts by several of their young defensive players, and a late defensive stand to preserve a 22-19 victory over the Carolina Panthers before an announced 70,082 at M&T Bank Stadium.

Safety Matt Elam broke up a pass on fourth-and-goal with less than a minute to go as the Ravens won the preseason opener after their starters fell behind 10-0.

“It's always good to win a game and we want to do a lot more of that this year,” Harbaugh said. “We won despite three turnovers. That's got to be cleaned up. That is a big emphasis for us. Those are the things that cannot happen. We will continue to make sure those things do not happen in the future.”

In the 2016 debut, the Ravens' hotly contested running back battle took center stage. Terrance West (Towson University, Northwestern High) took another step toward solidifying his spot on the roster with two rushing touchdowns. Fellow running back Buck Allen caught a 19-yard touchdown pass, and rookie fourth-round pick Kenneth Dixon rushed for 44 yards in his first NFL game.

Continuing what has been a strong training camp for West, his 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal gave the Ravens a 10-7 lead in the second quarter and his 2-yard cut-back scoring run in the third quarter made it 22-13. The Ravens barely hung on from there.

“Man, it feels good,” said West who had nine carries for 25 yards. “Last year, I didn't touch the end zone.”

Other strong performances were delivered by quarterback Ryan Mallett, who started in place of Joe Flacco and completed 11 of 15 passes for 91 yards, a touchdown and an interception; wide receiver Jeremy Butler and tight end Darren Waller, who each caught five passes; and outside linebackers Matthew Judon and Chris Carter.

Judon, a rookie fifth-round pick from Grand Valley State, had a team-leading seven tackles and a sack. Carter, a veteran known more for his special teams prowess, had a half-sack and three quarterback hits.

“The young guys were just flying around,” veteran Eric Weddle said.

Weddle, along with fellow safety Lardarius Webb and starting cornerback Jimmy Smith, played just one series. The Ravens first-team defense watched Panthers quarterback Cam Newton lead his team on a 14-play scoring drive in his only action of the night. Newton missed an open Ted Ginn?Jr. in the end zone and the Panthers settled for a short field goal by Graham Gano. On the next possession, Newton's backup, Derek Anderson, hit Devin Funchess for a 10-yard touchdown in what was a shaky start for the Ravens' new-look secondary.

“We were playing together, but they did get a couple of plays on us, with the reverse and a screen,” Weddle said. “Overall, we were being competitive, guys were in tight coverage, and we shored it up in the red zone. At the end of the day, if you hold them to field goals, you're always going to have a chance to win.”

Along with the three turnovers, the Ravens' other major lament was their punt-return game. Rookie Keenan Reynolds was unable to corral a second-quarter punt, though he was interfered with on the play. Reynolds, the former Navy quarterback, did not have any catches in his debut. Kaelin Clay, the team's primary returner last year, also muffed a punt in the third quarter, giving the Panthers the ball just outside the Ravens' 10-yard line.

“We need to find a returner who can catch the ball,” Harbaugh said.

When the Ravens took the field for warmups, many of their front-line players were either in street clothes or not on the field. Wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., who remains on the physically-unable-to-perform list along with Lorenzo Taliaferro, Breshad Perriman and pass rushers Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil, milled around talking to some of his former Panthers teammates.

Flacco, whose return to game action for the first time since tearing his ACL and MCL in November will have to wait at least another week if not more — Harbaugh said after the game that he could be held out until the third preseason game — sat on a bench on the home sideline with the also inactive Michael Campanaro (River Hill), Benjamin Watson and Crockett Gillmore.

Overall, the Ravens did not have 20 of their 90 players in uniform. Other starters who did not play included running back Justin Forsett, wide receiver Kamar Aiken, right guard Marshal Yanda, nose tackle Brandon Williams and defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan.

Fourteen of the 20 held out play on the offensive side of the ball. Interestingly though, the Ravens offense looked a little further along than the defense.

“Being able to score on the drives we had felt really good,” Mallett said. “We moved the ball well, and the offensive line was blocking really well. Our backs also ran really well. We definitely had some guys making plays, and that's what we need to continue to be successful.”

The lone blemish on Mallett's line came when Waller bobbled a pass and the ball landed in the hands of Panthers linebacker A.J.?Klein, who returned it for a 95-yard touchdown. However, the defensive score was nullified when Newton came on the field to celebrate during the play, drawing a penalty for an illegal substitution.

The play summed up a typically sloppy and forgettable preseason opener.

jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com

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