ExtremeRavens Posted 15 hours ago Posted 15 hours ago The first person Ravens right tackle Roger Rosengarten saw when he arrived at the team’s facility in Owings Mills after being drafted in April 2024 was defensive tackle Travis Jones. “I remember it was a time where not everyone’s back but some guys are back here doing offseason stuff,” Rosengarten said. “I saw him and, man, my heart sank a little bit. “I was like, ‘Dude, is this how everyone looks in the NFL? I started asking around, ‘Does everyone look like this? No, that guy’s just a freak.’” Fours years into his NFL career, Jones, a third-round pick out of Connecticut has also blossomed into one of the NFL’s top nose tackles. It’s why Baltimore signed him to a three-year, $40.5 million contract extension earlier this season before he had a chance to hit free agency this offseason. With a win-or-go-home game against the Steelers on Sunday night in Pittsburgh, the Ravens are also counting on him to be the type of disruptive force he has been much of the season — and especially of late. Last week against the Green Bay Packers — another contest Baltimore had to win to keep its postseason pulse going — Jones had two sacks to go with seven quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Focus, on Malik Willis at Lambeau Field. The week before in a loss to the New England Patriots, another seven pressures on Drake Maye. And the week before that, in a 24-0 shutout of the Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback Joe Burrow, four pressures, a sack and two tackles. The ascendance has been coming. It was also borne out of epic weight room sessions, say those around the laconic 6-foot-4, 341-pound New Haven, Connecticut, native, along with becoming a master of his craft. “He can do … in terms of weight that he can move, he’ll be moving weight that guys can’t even back squat in the bench press,” says center Tyler Linderbaum, pausing momentarily at the outset with a sadistic laugh. “What he’s doing, I don’t know, but guys should probably get on that routine.” During the throes of the season, players are only required to log a modest two weightlifting sessions a week. Then there’s Jones. He lifts four or five times a week. “He’s an extremely hard worker,” Rosengarten said. “Guy’s in the weight room every day and it shows. The guy’s super athletic for how big he is and in my opinion he’s one of the best game-wrecking nose three-techniques in the NFL.” Of course, there are plenty of players around the league who live in the weight room, are sculpted like Michelangelo’s David and as sturdy as the Carrara marble from which he was carved. Jones is also different. “I don’t know if I’ve faced someone with that brute strength,” said Linderbaum, who was drafted the same year as Jones and has spent the past four summers and falls going against him in training camp and practice. “The things he’s able to do in the weight room clearly transitions over to the field. He’s one of the strongest guys I’ve ever seen and he plays like it on the field.” Linderbaum also compared him with Steelers veteran defensive tackle Cameron Heyward. “When you play him, you get a feel how strong he is,” he said. “Guys like that you can feel how strong they play the game.” Rosengarten had a different comparison. “Guy’s like a tree stump,” he said. “It’s hard to move him. “Super strong, very technical player with his hands, understands leverage and double teams. You mix those combinations together you’re going to make a really good three-technique nose tackle.” The statistics don’t jump off the page the way those of some interior linemen around the NFL do. They also paint only a partial picture of his disruption. In 15 games this season, Jones leads the Ravens with four sacks, though that ranks just 23rd among interior defenders, per PFF. His 45 pressures are tops on the team, but rank just 14th among others at his position. Jones also has 42 tackles, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. There are two notable reasons why his numbers might not stand out more. First, the Ravens have been without his interior running mate, Nnamdi Madubuike since Week 2, when he suffered a season-ending neck injury. Second, and not unrelated, Jones is consequently one of the most double-teamed defensive tackles in the league. According to PFF, he has been double-teamed on 64.9% of his pass rush snaps this season as well as being chip-blocked at one of the highest rates in the NFL among interior linemen. Add that to playing a career-high 69% of defensive snaps — a 16% jump from last season and an impressive rate for a man of his size — and the picture of Jones’ ability becomes that much clearer. “I think [he’s] one of the most underrated defensive linemen in the National Football League,” defensive coordinator Zach Orr said last month, adding, like everyone else, that Jones is one of the strongest players on the team and deceptively quick and fast for his massive frame. “For what he does, the amount of snaps he plays, he’s a force in there.” Not that Jones will ever talk much about being one. He hardly talks at all, which is just the way he prefers it. After signing his extension in December, Jones said that it was an exciting moment for him and that he was happy to get the deal done. He also said he planned to buy his mom a new house. In all, eight questions were asked. His eight responses totaled 175 words. Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones, shown in 2024, has developed into one of the NFL's most disruptive interior linemen. (Kim Hairston/Staff) Afterward, he retreated to his preferred confines, the Ravens locker room, sat at his stall, smiled and again pointed out that he prefers to do less talking off the field and let his play on it speak for him. Now comes another opportunity to do so. The last time Jones faced the Steelers, he had just two pressures and one tackle. He was also flagged for unnecessary roughness, helping turn a field goal into a costly touchdown, though the NFL later admitted the official blew the call and Jones should not have been flagged. Needless to say, getting to Aaron Rodgers will be paramount to the Ravens’ chances. “Obviously they have a big, physical offensive line and a really good, young center, but for any quarterback, for Aaron, just like for any quarterback, that interior pressure kind of sets the tone for everything,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “So, Travis is a big part of that and a really important part of that.” Bigger — and stronger — than most. 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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