OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It has been a Ravens spring full of voluntary workouts, voluntary organized team activities and mandatory minicamp. Now it’s all over. Now comes the long break before training camp opens in late July.
Head coach John Harbaugh shared one final message to his players on Thursday after they wrapped up their final minicamp practice.
"There’s intentionality to everything we do. There should be a plan in terms of what we’re trying to accomplish every day," Harbaugh said. "So, ‘What are you trying to accomplish for the next weeks that lead into training camp to put you in position to have the best training camp to handle the loads involved, become the best team we can be?' and be intentional about that every single day'."
Safety Marcus Williams also had some advice to give his teammates:
"Stay smart. Get your mind right," he said. "Get ready for the season. Get healthy because it’s a long season ahead."
And it will be full season for Kyle Van Noy. The veteran outside linebacker re-signed with the Ravens for another two years after he turned back the clock in 2023.
After inking with Baltimore in late September, he posted a career-high with nine sacks and added 30 tackles, nine tackles for loss, four passes defended, two forced fumbles and nine quarterback hits in 14 games.
He thinks he’ll benefit from a full summer with the organization.
"Things are a little more calm. You can build relationships," said Van Noy. "You’re not on the field popping in week three, action is going on [and saying], ‘Hey what’s your name?’ type of deal."
Now entering his eleventh NFL season, the 33-year-old is still motivated to prove he can still play at a high level. He said concentrating strictly on rushing the quarterback will help.
“I feel like I've been underappreciated in my career. I don't think I've lost a step – in my eyes – just because I've been playing different positions my entire career. In college I played on the ball and then in the NFL for my first – I think it was until 2019 – I played off the ball. I would love to see how many people could stay in the league making that transformation. Or, I've been asked to do both in one season. So, I've been asked to do a lot, and I think that may have hindered some things because I wasn't able to focus on pass rush or covering people. I was never able to focus on just one specific thing,” said Van Noy. “This year, stemming from last year, I was able to focus on pass rush that entire time. I feel like hopefully – it'll be like my third year ever, out of my eleven, that I get to focus on just pass rushing. The other year was in 2019 where I had a really good year. Last year was just all pass rush. So, I'm expecting big things from myself.”
An update on the status of corner Marlon Humphrey, who missed the last couple days of minicamp: Harbaugh said he is dealing with some "nagging things" and should be ready for training camp.
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