ExtremeRavens Posted January 30 Posted January 30 All season long, Zay Flowers was a boundless font of boyhood fun, a broad smile stretching across his face and a constant energy emanating from the Ravens’ rookie wide receiver. Monday afternoon in Owings Mills, that energy was directed in a much different manner as he angrily threw his belongings into the large, black, industrial-size garbage bag sitting in front of his locker. Locker cleanout is the day every player and team around the NFL dreads, and this one came with a mix of emotions for a team that had produced the best record in the league during the regular season, reached the first AFC championship game of Lamar Jackson’s career and came within a game of reaching its first Super Bowl in 11 years only to fall on its face Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Among them: disappointment, anger, uncertainty. It was also a somber reminder of missed opportunity. “Probably the best year I had playing football in my life,” Flowers said when asked about a season playing alongside the presumptive NFL Most Valuable Player, quarterback Lamar Jackson. “That should tell you. “We wouldn’t be here without him. He know. The love for him in here and everything, we all got his back and we gonna be right back at it next year. He ain’t going anywhere, I ain’t going nowhere, so let’s get it.” First, though, came gathering personal items, reflecting on what could’ve and should’ve been and saying goodbye. This year, after all, was supposed to be different. The Ravens re-signed Jackson to a lucrative five-year, $260 million extension after two years of sometimes acrimonious negotiations that at one point included a trade request from the star quarterback. They spent more money in the offseason on offense than any team in the NFL and surrounded him with the most talent he’s ever had in his six years in Baltimore, particularly at wide receiver, with a first-round draft pick spent on Flowers and the additions of solid veteran receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor. Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers talks with the media on Monday. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Baltimore also bolstered things on the other side of the ball, with free agent additions such as outside linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, and under coordinator Mike Macdonald fielded a historically great defense that became the first in league history to lead the NFL in sacks, takeaways and points allowed per game. The Ravens then went out and played like the sport’s best team, compiling a 13-4 regular season record that included nine wins in their last 11 games, including blowouts of the NFC runner-up Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks, the Super Bowl-bound San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins. The stars seemed to be aligned for a trip to the sport’s biggest stage, with dominant victories, an MVP quarterback, a harmonious blend of veteran and rising young stars and even their share of magical moments, like backup punt returner Tylan Wallace’s overtime touchdown to lift the Ravens to victory over the Los Angeles Rams. They entered the postseason as the top seed in the AFC and with home-field advantage through the conference championship and hosted the city’s first title game in more than a half-century. This season was supposed to be different. Different from 2019 when Jackson, in his first full year as the starter, and the Ravens flamed out in a divisional round stunner against the Tennessee Titans after going 14-2 in the regular season. Different from each of the past two seasons when Jackson’s year was cut short by injury. Different from the past 11 years when the Ravens won just two playoff games and failed to advance past the divisional round. If it felt like Groundhog Day, it’s because in so many ways it was. The Ravens’ immaturity for the big moment was exposed again. From undisciplined penalties to costly turnovers, including by Jackson and Flowers, Baltimore squandered nearly every opportunity it had. They were all contributors to a disastrous, mistake-filled performance against a mature and poised Chiefs team that was playing in its sixth straight AFC title game and is headed to its fourth Super Bowl in the past five years, while Ravens players dispersed and headed home. “It doesn’t feel good at all,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. “We didn’t handle the business that we came to handle, but we got to move forward as a team and we’re just on the mindset that we’re going to use in the offseason to do everything we can to get better.” John Brown, of Phoenix, reacts after the Ravens fail to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Chiefs. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) That’s easier said than done, though, with nearly two dozen players hitting free agency this offseason, many of them notable contributors from this season. Among the players who are unrestricted free agents: defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, inside linebacker Patrick Queen, Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, safety Geno Stone, cornerback Arthur Maulet, Beckham and Agholor, running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, and guards Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson. And with less than $14 million in available salary cap space, according to Over The Cap, the roster will, simply put, look significantly different in 2024. Its coaching staff and front office will, too, with director of player personnel Joe Hortiz headed to Los Angeles to be the Chargers’ general manager and defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald in the running head coaching jobs with the Commanders and Seahawks. Others have drawn interest from organizations around the league. The finality of the moment and the difficulty of getting back to this point next season amid a sea of expected change was not lost on the players who trudged through the locker room Monday. “[It’s a] special group,” said Clowney, who had a resurgence with 9 1/2 sacks in the regular season. “The group, you won’t get it back again next year, but I felt like we had a squad to win it. It kind of hurt more than anything that has happened in my career to lose that game yesterday. “But we’re back to the drawing board. Life continues.” Slowly. One by one players made their way out of a final team meeting, through exit interviews and into the locker room to gather their things and face a litany of questions from reporters. Not every player was there, as is always the case, but the ones who were said the stir of emotions were palpable. “It’s still a little raw,” outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said. “I don’t think it’ll really set in until after the Super Bowl. Definitely a tough situation. “So close, working hard in the offseason, all the blood sweat and tears with your brothers, a lot of guys who are not gonna be on the team next year, so that’s the part of it that hurts. … It’s probably gonna stick with me for a while.” Longer for some than for others. “It takes probably the whole offseason,” Queen said. “You don’t wanna lose like that. Just too many opportunities that we had to be able to capitalize on, and we didn’t. That’s what stings the most, and that’s why it just takes so long to get over. You don’t get another chance until next season starts. We have to make our way there again, if we even get a chance. That’s why it hurts.” Added Zeitler: “When you have potential that’s unrealized, it hurts a lot. You’re so close to the end, and it just didn’t happen. But that’s life in this league. Only one team can win again. You use it as fuel, got to move on to next year.” There were other lingering questions, too, including about the Ravens’ game plan, which included just six running plays for its backs against a Kansas City defense that was one of the worst in the league against the run this season. Despite leading the league in rushing during the regular season, Baltimore ran the ball just 16 times Sunday and threw it 37 times. Running back Justice Hill, who is one of two running backs from the active roster under contract for next season (along with rookie Keaton Mitchell), got just three carries that went for 3 yards Sunday. “Those were the plays that were called,” he said diplomatically. “I don’t call the plays, I just run them.” There were, however, plenty of bright spots from the season, individually and collectively. The players who will be back will take those and try to build on them here next season. It will be a long wait for some and less so for others. Asked when he’ll turn the page on this season and focus on the next one, Flowers offered a terse but direct answer: “I already did.” The rest of Baltimore, meanwhile, will have to wait seven long months. View the full article Quote
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