(Updated: 2:15 p.m. Tuesday)
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — After weeks of silence and outside speculation since the conclusion of the 2021 season, the Ravens will retain Greg Roman as offensive coordinator.
At least that’s the current plan, according to head coach John Harbaugh.
“Nothing is a lock in life, to use that term, but I’m excited about it. I plan on Greg being back. I believe Greg plans on being back, but it’s still early,” Harbaugh said during Monday’s season-ending press conference. “We’re only three weeks past the season. I know things happen fast for sure, but that’s the plan, and I’m excited about that. We’ve done some pretty darn good things here over the past three years offensively. I think we have a really good vision and understanding of what we want to build offensively, the players we want to build around, and what we need to do it.”
Despite not offering a great deal of conviction with that proclamation, Harbaugh fielded no shortage of questions about an offense ravaged by injuries and stunted by inconsistencies in 2021 after scoring the most points in the NFL over the previous two seasons combined. The Ravens lost their top three running backs — J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, and Justice Hill — before the season even began and shut down left tackle Ronnie Stanley after the 2019 Pro Bowl selection struggled through the opener and eventually underwent another major ankle surgery.
Those losses made the offense a shell of what it had been the previous two seasons even before quarterback Lamar Jackson missed the final four games with an ankle injury, the final death knell to the Ravens’ playoff hopes. Baltimore still finished third in the league in rushing yards per game (145.8) and fifth in yards per carry (4.8), but much of that could be attributed to the scrambling ability of Jackson and backup Tyler Huntley.
“Our called run game wasn’t as good this year as it’s been the last couple of years,” Harbaugh said. “Our called run game was the best in history in 2019 and 2020, and this year, it just wasn’t. Why? We didn’t have the explosive plays. We were [highly ranked] in the league in yards before contact, and we were toward the bottom in yards after contact.”
According to Pro Football Reference, the Ravens ranked third in the league at 3.05 rushing yards before contact per attempt, but they fell to 19th at 1.74 rushing yards after contact per attempt. In contract, Baltimore averaged 3.4 rushing yards before contact per attempt (first) and 2.2 rushing yards after contact per attempt (eighth) in 2020. In other words, the absences of Stanley and the rushing duo of Dobbins and Edwards were clearly felt as Alejandro Villanueva filled in for Stanley and veterans Devonta Freeman and Latavius Murray took most of the backfield carries.
To no surprise, Harbaugh confirmed the running game will remain critical to their success, but the offense will continue to evolve as Jackson was on his way to shattering career highs in pass attempts, completions, and passing yards before his season-ending injury in Week 14. And Roman will apparently continue to be the driving force in determining that evolution.
“It’s an important element for us. How big of a piece is it going forward? That’s what we’ve got to decide,” said Harbaugh about the running game. “It’s going to be a big piece. But is it going to be as big of a piece as it was in [2019] as Lamar progresses as a quarterback? No, I don’t think it will be. It will be a piece, and people are going to have to contend with it and deal with it, but it won’t be as big as it was that year. That’s hopefully an evolution that we make as our players grow.”
Jackson on mend from bone bruise
Jackson won’t play in Sunday’s Pro Bowl as he continues to recover from the bone bruise sustained in his right ankle on Dec. 12, but Harbaugh said the 25-year-old quarterback told him over the weekend that he “felt great” and planned to begin working out again after the Super Bowl.
Both the Ravens and Jackson hoped he’d be able to return before the end of the season, but Harbaugh described recovery from a bone bruise to that area of the body as “really unpredictable.” Jackson practiced only once after the injury, limping through a limited workout on Dec. 29 before being shut down for good.
“He worked really hard at getting back, but it just didn’t really heal,” Harbaugh said. “It was in a spot where I’ve come to understand from the medical people that there’s not a great deal of blood flow down there in the low-ankle, foot area where the bruise was. It just didn’t heal very quickly, and it was painful. You could see it. He stayed in the boot longer than we thought. He was still limping even at the end of the season, even in his boot.”
In addition to his long-term status with Jackson entering the final year of his rookie contract, much attention will be on the young quarterback bouncing back from a season in which his play fell off considerably even before his injury.
“Sometimes it is just time”
The Ravens will formally introduce new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald on Wednesday, but Harbaugh was asked what most concerned him about the defense to believe moving on from Don “Wink” Martindale was the best path.
The head coach called back to his original statement while emphasizing how much success the Baltimore defense had during Martindale’s tenure, which didn’t make the most convincing argument.
“Don is a great coach. He’s a proven coach and a great guy, a guy I’ve known for a long time,” Harbaugh said. “We work really well together, but sometimes it is just time. I feel like we both felt that way. But in any event, I believe that’s the best thing going forward.”
As Monday’s press conference continued, however, Harbaugh acknowledged the defense’s poor tackling and inability to get stops late in games being among the downfalls in addition to the injuries on that side of the ball.
More coaching staff changes?
In addition to tight ends coach Bobby Engram departing to become the new offensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin, Harbaugh confirmed defensive line coach Anthony Weaver will interview to become Denver’s defensive coordinator under new head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
Harbaugh also revealed the Buffalo Bills will interview wide receivers coach Tee Martin for their vacant offensive coordinator job with Brian Daboll becoming the new head coach of the New York Giants.
(Update: The Bills announced Ken Dorsey as their new offensive coordinator on Tuesday afternoon.)
Despite Harbaugh vowing to “turn over every stone” and make changes to their training programs and practices after their most injury-plagued season since 2015, the Ravens will retain head strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders. Despite Baltimore having a pretty favorable run on the health front from 2018-20, Saunders has been scrutinized by some, a list that apparently included former Ravens outside linebacker Matthew Judon.
