Young Players for Ravens Have Done Well Adjusting to the Game
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens coach John Harbaugh doesn't completely buy into a Bill Parcells tenet.
Parcells once said, "For every rookie you start, you lose one game."
Nonetheless, the Ravens did have some growing pains in the early part of the season.
However, the rookies on the defensive side of the ball — Kyle Hamilton, Travis Jones, and Pepe Williams — have made the necessary adjustments and gotten better each game.
This has correlated with the Ravens shutting down potential big plays from opponents.
"We’ve obviously cleaned a lot of that up, but you’re only as good as your next performance. We were young; the guys who made the mistakes, so to speak, were the rookies," Harbaugh said. "It’s hard; the game is different, especially on the backend, especially on the offensive line. Those guys have a lot to deal with, so we made some mistakes back there. No one got down on those guys, they didn’t get down on themselves and basically just required them to try to do things the right way.
"Those guys are good guys; they want to do things the right way, so those are just fundamental, basic errors that were made in the coverage. You try to strive to do those things right, and they’re doing a better job with it.”
The Ravens have steadily gotten better each week.
After some early struggles, Hamilton is turning into a playmaker. He was recently rated as the highest rookie safety in the NFL with a 77.5 grade, according to Pro Football Focus. Hamilton was also the PFF’s highest-graded Raven defender in a 27-22 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8.
Jones has played effectively in place of Brandon Williams. He has 10 tackles and one sack. He'll continue to get better.
Williams has played his way into the rotation in the secondary and has performed admirably. He has excelled in the slot and that's a viable role moving forward. Williams needs to work on his physicality but he is a solid contributor.
