OWINGS MILLS, Md. — In football years Kyle Van Noy may be in the twilight of his professional playing days. But don’t tell him that.
"I feel like I’m in my prime," said the Ravens outside linebacker. "I know this is a what everyone says is a young man’s league. But I believe it’s also an experienced man league."
The 10-year NFL veteran has lots of it and the 32-year-old, now with his fifth team, is getting more and more comfortable each week playing for a defense ranked second in the league.
Through four games with Baltimore Van Noy has seven tackles, three sacks and three tackles for loss. He chipped in with five tackles, two sacks and two TFL’s during Sunday’s big win over the Lions.
"I hope to continue to develop as a player and help my teammates and then just win games," he said. "That’s one thing about me is I win games. I win more than I lose."
He is 3-1 with the Ravens, the latest effort was the team’s best in quite a while, that 38-6 destruction of Detroit last Sunday.
After blowing out the team with the second-best record in the NFL, it’s now all about doing the same against the team with the second-worst record in the league, the 1-6 Arizona Cardinals.
What about the dreaded 'trap game'?.
"I believe you have a trap game or something like that when you’ve been complacent or thinking a team is, ‘OK, we just beat this team 30-something to six, so we’re not worried about this team.’ I believe that’s when that stuff pops into your brain. I don’t believe our guys [are] like that," said quarterback Lamar Jackson. "We know it’s any given Sunday. It’s the NFL. Anybody can be beaten. We’re just going to go in there, go out there to Arizona and fight our butt off."
Jackson was named AFC offensive player of the week Wednesday after that 357-yard, three passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown performance against the Lions.
The focus now is to do it again… and again… and again.
"Right now we are just chasing to be consistent," said Jackson. "That’s one game. We had a couple games where we were good and then the next week it’s like, ‘Oh. What’s going on with the offense?’ and stuff like that. So, right now we’re just trying to chase the consistency."
"I think we can do more," said receiver Zay Flowers. "I think that was just the start of what everybody… you get a little taste of it. That was just a little taste I think."
There was a surprise absence from practice on Wednesday. Linebacker Roquan Smith did not participate. He is listed on the Ravens' injury report with a shoulder injury.
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