After one of the most injury-ravaged seasons in recent NFL history, Steve Bisciotti said his franchise had no choice. The Ravens would have to rebuild their sports performance program in 2022.

In the early days of the NFL’s voluntary offseason workout program, the bigger structural changes in Baltimore have not yet become apparent to players. But by Wednesday, three days into the Ravens’ program, some tweaks were already appreciated: fewer repetitions in their sets, a greater focus on warmups, more competitive workouts.

“I think it means that you can believe in the process more,” said fullback Patrick Ricard, one of 25 Ravens who were placed on injured reserve at some point last season. “You can believe in what we’re doing because you know that the coaches and the organization are trying their best to take care of us.

“So I think that just means that we get to work as hard as we can and not double-guess or think about what we’re doing, because they are conscious of the injuries we’ve had. And in my opinion, you can’t do the same things over and over again and get a different result. You’re just going to be insane. So I think it’s good that we’re recognizing the injuries and we’re trying to do things to perfect it in the future.”

Keeping the team healthy is “priority one,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said at the NFL owners meetings last month. According to the analytics website Football Outsiders, the Ravens last season had more “adjusted games lost” to injuries — a metric that accounts for the relative value of starters — than any other team over the past two decades, even when prorated for a 16-game season.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, tight end Nick Boyle, wide receiver Rashod Bateman, and cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, among others, all missed significant time last year. The Ravens started the season 8-3 before fading late and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

“It’s tough,” said inside linebacker Patrick Queen, one of just four Ravens to start all 17 games last season. “Everybody knows it’s tough. I mean, you go from Marcus Peters — I’m not saying anything about a guy — but you go from an All-Pro cornerback to somebody else, and it’s not the same. Nobody’s Marcus Peters. Nobody’s Marlon Humphrey. … So it’s definitely tough, but at the end of the day, you can’t cry about it in the season. You’ve just got to go back to work and try to get better.”

Head strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders acknowledged that the Ravens’ virtual offseason program, mandated by the NFL over the past two years amid the coronavirus pandemic, might have factored into the team’s rash of injuries. “It certainly wasn’t a plus,” he said.

The Ravens are back in the team’s Owings Mills facility this offseason, but Saunders said he understood that they had to “turn over every stone” after last season. Already the team has hired Adrian Dixon, formerly the Tennessee Titans’ director of physical therapy and sports rehabilitation, as its new head athletic trainer. The Ravens will also change their practice schedule, focusing more on execution in some training camp sessions.

“You just have to reevaluate everything,” Saunders said. “I think you have to take the offseason, preseason, the whole season into account, and just say, ‘OK, is there something we need to improve on? Is there something we need to tweak?’ And I think part of it is just being able to have the guys here, because we haven’t been able to do that for three years.”

He added: “Philosophically, the program still stands on its own merits, but you just make little tweaks. And we’re going to say, ‘OK, well, we don’t know what these guys have been doing.’ So let’s take a little step back and say, ‘OK, maybe spend a little more time in the evaluation process, add some other things to the program.’ “

The Ravens’ focus for now is on “foundational work,” Saunders said: speed, power and conditioning. Inside linebacker Josh Bynes said the Ravens’ staff is “just building it up, layer by layer,” and he praised their “amazing” work. As for big-picture changes?

“There haven’t been — I mean, it’s only been a couple of days,” Bynes said. “It’s too early to really see the true, true, big, big, big changes, because, like I said, it’s only our third day really getting after it together and stuff. So I feel like that question will come along down the line.”

Bateman ‘excited to be healthy’

Bateman showed up to the Ravens’ offseason program happy and healthy.

After suffering a groin injury in training camp that required surgery, the first-round pick returned in mid-October to record 46 catches for 515 yards and a touchdown in 12 games. But he said the injury, the first of his career, “affected me a lot,” adding to the burden of the “big mental step” he took transitioning to the NFL.

“Just being here now I feel way more comfortable, way more relaxed,” Bateman said. “I know what to expect. I know how to move. I’m just excited for Year 2. I’m excited to be healthy. I’m excited to do the things I know I can do.”

With quarterback Lamar Jackson sidelined by an ankle injury late last season, Bateman has made sure to make up for lost time. They reunited for a couple of offseason throwing sessions, where Bateman said Jackson looked “phenomenal.”

“It’s definitely been real important,” Bateman said. “With the injury and missing time … getting that chemistry back with ‘L’ has definitely been important, so working out with him was definitely a plus. Getting in shape, running some routes, so it definitely felt good to connect with him.”

Extra points

Bateman said he changed his jersey number from No. 12 to honor his relationship with his mother, whose favorite number is now Bateman’s: No. 7.
Fullback Patrick Ricard, who signed a three-year, $11.3 million extension with the Ravens last month, said that when midseason negotiations with the front office stalled last year, he wasn’t sure whether a return was possible. “But I’m just really happy we were able to get something done, and I’m very excited to be back here.”
Bynes, whom the Ravens re-signed to a one-year deal earlier this month, said he “definitely wanted to be here right now. … Obviously, this is home for me, and this is where I want to be at. So it feels great to be back here, a place that knows me inside and out and gave me numerous opportunities over the years. And obviously I’m looking forward to giving that back each and every year going forward.”
Queen said he has a “very good relationship” with first-year defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who served as his first inside linebackers coach. Former Ravens linebacker Zachary Orr will be Queen’s third, after the team parted ways with Rob Ryan in February. “Just having them two guys back, I’ve got a coach that trusts in me, a coach that really understands the game and is going to give me feedback on what I need to be doing right and what I was doing wrong,” the former first-round pick said. “So I’m really excited for having Mike and Z.O. back.”

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