Ravens Coach Sends Strong Warning to Locker Room as Lamar Jackson Absolved From Blame

September 7 marked the 17th time the Ravens lost a two-digit lead in the second half under coach John Harbaugh. And while it’s unlikely for something like that to happen against the Cleveland Browns, defensive coordinator Zach Orr has a clear message for the team going forward.

“Z.O. made it very clear,” CB Marlon Humphrey told reporters, following Wednesday’s practice. “We’re not going to be repeat offenders. It’s not going to be a situation where somebody’s been doing something wrong and nothing gets said. If you’re doing things right, you’re going to play. If you’re not doing things right, you’re not going to play.” Nnamdi Madubuike recorded the only sack for Baltimore as Josh Allen found it too easy, stepping inside and outside whenever pressured. Of course, it’s unlikely that Joe Flacco will move like that, but Humphrey and co. can hardly afford to be complacent.

After all, the veteran had a reasonably decent game against the Bengals and had the Browns in a position to take the lead with just 2:22 left on the clock. But then Andre Szmyt couldn’t capitalize on a 36-yard field goal opportunity. Flacco ultimately went 31 of 45 for 290 yards. The Ravens wouldn’t want to get to a 0-2 start they did last season, which saw their defensive woes go unaddressed till the second half of the season. That makes it all the more important for Harbaugh not to mince his words, and he didn’t.

“He [Harbaugh] said we’re just not mature enough as a team yet,” Humphrey said. “It’s very clear we’ve got great players on both sides of the ball, but defensively, we have to work on our maturity, too.” His dissatisfaction with the level of maturity shown by his players was quite apparent when he shared his thoughts about the Kyle Hamilton play.

And the coach did not hold back, taking a pointed jab at safety Kyle Hamilton after he made the decision to intercept Allen’s two-point conversion, running it out of the end zone, and then pitching it to a teammate who was still in the end zone. “His response: ‘It was one of the more foolish things I’ve ever seen.’ He asked Hamilton if he actually graduated from Notre Dame,” Jerry Coleman reported on X. However, the coach hasn’t lost his faith in the defense. And Humphrey respects that about the coach. So, before Week 2, he took accountability.

John Harbaugh’s defense will have to do its job, no matter what

Now, after securing a 15-point lead, outside linebacker Odafe Oweh felt that the defense’s intensity slowed, and that lapse proved costly as Josh Allen took advantage. The quarterback threw for 397 yards, with 251 of them coming in the fourth quarter. While there were issues on the offense side, too, the team managed 40 points. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry made things tough for the Bills for the first three quarters until Ed Oliver stepped up. So, looking back, Humphrey shed light on defense and insisted that the defense has no business in what the offense is doing. They have their own job to do.

“It doesn’t matter what our offense is doing. It doesn’t matter what Lamar (is doing). We have to go out there and win the game. Right now, our maturity level is sadly, when we get in those situations, it’s just not good enough,” Humphrey noted. This isn’t the first time. Earlier this summer, Humphrey added that the Ravens’ defense must make an impact early in the season by forcing more turnovers. Although that didn’t get translated in Week 1.

However, Humphrey is determined to show their abilities in Week 2. The defensive unit got together for dinner this week, just as they had intended before facing Buffalo, and their discussion centred solely on finding ways to improve. As LB Van Noy said, “1-1 sounds a lot better than 0-2.”