OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The oversized trash bags were out.
The good guys said their goodbyes.
This season’s Ravens team gathered together one final time as they cleaned out their lockers Monday less than 24 hours after losing the AFC championship game to the Kansas City Chiefs.
"It’s abrupt. You never plan on, especially in our case, we weren’t planning on having locker clean-out today. But, things didn’t go our way and we got to learn from them and become better for it," said safety Kyle Hamilton.
"It’s just tough, honestly. All the guys that you work around, all that common goal that you all share, you just didn’t reach it. So, it definitely sucks," added linebacker Patrick Queen.
"[I'm] kind of still in shock about it," said left tackle Ronnie Stanley. "It just happened 24 hours ago. But, you can’t go back. You got to keep moving forward and that’s what we just kind of spoke about as a team, is just keep taking steps forward and growing from this."
The finality of the season hit nobody harder than Zay Flowers. The rookie receiver was on the wrong side of one of the biggest plays in Baltimore’s biggest home game in 53 years. He fumbled as he reached for a would-be touchdown that would have cut the Ravens' deficit to three points early in the fourth quarter.
"It’s just a moment, you know? It’s going to make or break you and I don’t plan on letting it break me," he said. "I’m not going to let one moment define me. So, I’m just going to use that and use it as a slingshot."
When Flowers returns for his sophomore season he knows the roster turnover could be drastic. The Ravens have over 20 soon-to-be free agents like Kevin Zeitler. The guard is one of many veterans who know they may never again get this close to a Super Bowl.
"Being up in years you only have so many more shots to do this and this was a great team, executing at a high level and it was really fun to be a part of and it feels really unfinished," he said.
As unfinished as it may feel for Zeitler and the players, their work is now finished for the 2023 season. Head coach John Harbaugh still has work to do. He will hold his end-of-season press conference in the coming days.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
