ExtremeRavens Posted October 28 Posted October 28 Ravens coach John Harbaugh called struggling starting safety Marcus Williams’ benching for Sunday’s game against the Browns in Cleveland a “personnel decision” and more quizzically “an internal” one. A day after the 28-year-old veteran never so much as reached for his helmet much less made his way onto the field in the Browns’ stunning 29-24 upset, the coach declined to elaborate. “I don’t really have anything else to say about that,” Harbaugh said when asked Monday to clarify what he meant about calling it an internal matter. “There’s a lot of things going on all the time. A lot of it’s kind of our business. It kind of belongs in-house. “It’s between us and it’s not something that we need to tell everybody everything about. I don’t think you’re telling everybody about your family business. … There’s some things we could choose to keep to ourselves and that’s gonna be one of them. I never get up here and talk about why we put guys up and put guys down. I never have. I’m probably not going to start doing that now.” What role Williams, whom the Ravens signed to a five-year, $70 million contract in 2022 that made him the fourth-highest paid safety in the NFL, will play going forward also remains a mystery. Asked if his benching was limited to just the Browns game and if he would be on the field this week against the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium, Harbaugh declined to say. He also declined to explain why he simply wasn’t inactive if he had no plans to play him, which had been the case all week. This, less than two weeks removed from what defensive coordinator Zach Orr said was Williams’ best week of practice all season going into Baltimore’s Week 7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yet, six days later, he never left the sideline. When Williams has played, he has struggled mightily. He ranks 76th out of 85 qualifying safeties, according to Pro Football Focus, with an overall grade of 48.9 and a coverage grade of 46.8. He has also allowed a passer rating of 143.9 and surrendered 16.3 yards per catch. But even with Williams riding the pine, the Ravens’ floundering secondary — which was also without starting cornerback Marlon Humphrey and rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins because of injury — was no less leaky than it had been all season. Asked if safety Marcus Williams’ benching was limited to just the Browns game and if he would be on the field this week against the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium, Ravens coach John Harbaugh declined to say. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) With a safety trio of Kyle Hamilton, Eddie Jackson and Ar’Darius Washington, along with Brandon Stephens and Jalyn Armour-Davis at cornerback, Cleveland quarterback Jameis Winston completed 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns. That included a 38-yard bomb to a wide-open Cedric Tillman with 59 seconds remaining for the game-winner after he inexplicably got behind Jackson on a cover zero blitz. It didn’t help, either, that Ravens defensive backs dropped at least three would-be interceptions, including two by Jackson and one by Hamilton one play before the completion to Tillman. “That’s where you could make a huge difference in your play — how many fewer plays you have to play, how many fewer scoring opportunities they have, the difference in points; it’s massive,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll make those plays. … We’ve got guys with good hands. They could catch the ball. I’m very confident that we’re going to do it going forward, but I’d like to see it happen real soon.” Whether Williams will be back on the field soon, however, remains a mystery for now, though Harbaugh continues to be resolute. “I’ll just reiterate what I said before; Marcus is a heck of a player,” he said. “I have the utmost confidence in him as a player, as a person, as a pro. … I anticipate him playing great football for us all season and very soon.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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