Only the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills have more points than the Baltimore Ravens this season, so head coach John Harbaugh’s critique of the approach and execution of play-caller Todd Monken at Kansas City raised a few eyebrows.
Monken said he wasn’t alarmed by anything Harbaugh said on the heels of the Ravens’ third loss in four games, 37-20 to the Chiefs. The Ravens had a season-low 20 points, went 3 of 10 on third downs and 1 of 4 on fourth down in a game that ended with quarterback Lamar Jackson on the sideline nursing a hamstring injury.
Now, the Ravens’ offense will have to operate at least one full game without Jackson at the helm. After not practicing all week, Jackson will officially miss Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans, per the team’s Friday injury report. It’ll be his first missed game due to injury since 2022, when he suffered a sprained knee and sat out the final five games of the regular season and the playoff loss to the Bengals.
“There’s not one thing John said that we didn’t already talk about. Not one thing. So, there was nothing about it that I hadn’t already heard or that he didn’t already feel,” Monken said Friday. “One thing I’ve done throughout my career is that you’ve got to look at what you do. How do we scheme it? What was our plan?
“When it’s below the line (expected), you have to own it and fix it. That’s what you do. That’s what we do as human beings. That’s how I got to where I am now. You look at it, and you say, ‘OK, was that good enough?’ The expectation here is to be elite, and we’ve been elite. We’re going to continue to be elite, but I have to do it better. We’ve got to do it better.”
The Ravens are third in the NFL with 131 points — Detroit has 137, Buffalo 133 — but have given up 133. A taxed defense is dealing with its own stack of injuries, with linebacker Roquan Smith (hamstring) and cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey (calf) and Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring) also out for this week’s game. Safety Kyle Hamilton (groin) and linebacker Odafe Oweh (eye) are listed as questionable.
At Kansas City, Harbaugh also said the Ravens didn’t follow through on a team-wide game plan to handle the Chiefs’ pass-rush pressure. Monken was working with a familiar call sheet, but Baltimore left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle), center Tyler Linderbaum (calf) functioning at reduced capacity and Jackson reportedly playing more than two quarters with a strained hamstring before hitting the bench in favor of Cooper Rush.
“I already addressed it. We’ve already talked about it. We didn’t execute the way we planned,” Monken said.
The Ravens have allowed 15 sacks in four games and Jackson was sacked seven times the last time Baltimore played at home in Week 3, a 38-30 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Rush, 4-4 last season as Dak Prescott’s injury replacement for the Cowboys, is 9-5 in his career as a starter. Monken said he and Rush have worked overtime to be ready for any instance when Jackson can’t take the field.
“As athletic as Coop is, some of those things are not going to look the same as Lamar,” Monken said. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t still be effective and efficient.”
Sunday is the first of three consecutive home games for Baltimore. The Ravens play at home again next week, facing the Los Angeles Rams (3-2), before a bye in Week 7.
–Field Level Media
