Calais Campbell Remains A Massive Resource For Nnamdi Madubuike As He Recovers From Neck Surgery

Calais Campbell left Baltimore before his prized pupil, Nnamdi Madubuike, fully flourished.

Perhaps it took Campbell moving on from Baltimore as a free agent for the young defensive tackle to fully take stride and make the unit his own. It’s abundantly clear that the lessons and teachings Campbell imparted over their time together eventually took hold, and from 2023-2024 there probably weren’t two better defensive tackles in the NFL than Madubuike, if that.

But if it feels like serendipity that Madubuike and Campbell are reunited, well, the timing has been something less. Part of the reason why the Ravens signed Campbell after the draft was concerns that Madubuike’s recent neck surgery might further detail his career, potentially, and as Madubuike has worked back into game shape and started to test himself after missing almost all of last season with a neck injury, Campbell has had to navigate the most trying summer of his life with his older brother arrested and charged with the murder of their mother in Atlanta in late June.

Neither has been on a normal practice schedule and both have had their minds on things much more profound than football. But both hold themselves to a high standard when it comes to quality of play and they are helping each other sort through it all and be ready to make an impact when the Ravens travel to Indianapolis in Week 1. There were certainly times when all parties were unsure if or when Madubuike would play again, and even now the Ravens are careful with his workload in trying to devise a plan to navigate through an entire season and into the playoffs.

"We have had a lot of conversations, quite a bit,” Campbell said with a knowing look after practice on Tuesday, the first time he has met the media since his mother’s death. “But, the main thing is that only you really know yourself. Trust yourself, push yourself, put yourself in position so that when the time comes, you are prepared and ready, and you know what to expect and what you can handle.

“It is going to be a journey. It is a process. Give yourself some grace and go along with the process. But, that is my brother. We have a great relationship. We talked even before I came back during the process in this journey, and I am just always going to be there for him."

A Strong Bond

Campbell always spoke glowingly of Madubuike, a third-round pick in 2020, during his first stint in Baltimore.

The Ravens landed him in a trade from Jacksonville in 2020 with hopes of the veteran putting their Super Bowl pursuits over the top. Campbell departed here after the 2022 season without so much as an AFC title game appearance and Madubuike was arguably the best interior defensive player in the NFL in 2023, as the Ravens hosted the AFC Championship Game and the defense became the first in NFL to lead the league in sacks, takeaways and points allowed.

Campbell continued to be an impact player in Atlanta, Miami and Arizona and post fairly astounding snap counts and productivity for a player his age. Now 40, and setting more records at the end of a Hall of Fame career, he still has plenty to offer on the field and to his star pupil as Madubuike must be more in tune with his body and its needs than ever before.

Rookie head coach Jesse Minter, a low-level defensive assistant when Madubuike was drafted and Campbell arrived the first time, has yet to see much of his starting defensive line or even its top few rotations, as John Jenkins and Travis Jones spent time on the Physically Unable To Perform list, Madubuike is on an individualized recovery plan and Campbell spent time away from the team, too.

“I do think that when we are full strength on this defense it is going to be fun,” Campbell said. “It is going to be a lot of fun. I am trying to get away from making predictions and expectations and all that stuff — it is like, we are going to have fun playing football, and whatever happens, happens. This team can be, especially this defense, in the way that Jesse calls it and some of the variations in the scheme, it can be really, really good."

It seems reasonable to expect Campbell to replicate what he did for the Cardinals last season; he is in a better scheme with better players around him and he is very familiar with what the Ravens want to do on defense. Playing around 400 snaps is the goal and many of them will quite likely be alongside Madubuike as Minter concocts personnel groupings that allow him to stop the run with fewer bodies up front and also get a pass-rush push without having to blitz very much to do it.

The Ravens are not speaking in many specifics about Madubuike, but everything seems to continue trending in the right direction.

"Unbelievable,” defensive line coach Lou Esposito said of Madubuike Tuesday. “He is a worker — not only physically, but mentally. He is a guy texting me either at 9 o'clock at night, 'Can we meet at six in the morning?' He is texting me at 5 o'clock in the morning, 'Hey, can we meet at six in the morning?' So, he has been great.

“He has been one of these guys that is just a sponge, and he knows he is maximizing what he can do when he can do it. That is how you know he is going to be a special player. You guys have all seen him play. We have all seen him play. I think he is really stepping it up in all the other things that he can control.”

Anything close to the Madubuike of 2024, let alone 2023, and this defense has the chance to be truly special.

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