The Ravens came into Cleveland Browns week mad.

After a strong training camp full of hype from the national media, followed by a dominant start against the Buffalo Bills, they squandered their lead in a last-minute, 41-40 loss.

Losing is never fun, but it’s especially frustrating when it feels like the team beat itself.

And now the Browns are trying to make the Ravens even angrier.

The Browns also lost their season opener by one point. Despite accumulating 327 offensive yards and holding the Cincinnati Bengals to 141, they lost to the AFC North rival 17-16.

The Ravens accumulated 432 yards and gave up 497 to reigning MVP quarterback Josh Allen and his team that went to the AFC championship game last year.

The Ravens are 11.5-point favorites for their home opener, a line that Browns cornerback Denzel Ward called “disrespectful.”

The Browns community is mad about a lot heading into the game. The Ravens plan to celebrate their 30th season, a commemoration that was in the works long before the NFL released its schedule in May. The NFL, which also chose the Ravens’ first game to be a rematch of the one that knocked them out of the playoffs, chose the Browns as the opponent for the Ravens’ celebration.

The Ravens came to Baltimore, filling the space the Colts left behind, after the Maryland Stadium Authority convinced Browns owner Art Modell to move the franchise. Cleveland was without an NFL team for three years.

Cleveland media personalities, team personnel and fans find the celebration offputting.

Cleveland players decided to stir the pot.

On Wednesday, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy was asked what challenges the Ravens secondary presents. His response?

“No challenges.”

It’s a dig at a group that features Pro Bowlers in safety Kyle Hamilton and cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Jaire Alexander. It also features five first-round draft picks, including those Pro Bowlers and cornerback Nate Wiggins and safety Malaki Starks.

The Ravens secondary was not happy with its performance against the Bills. Hamilton said he almost threw up on the field after seeing they gave up 389 passing yards. Everyone was frustrated by the lack of turnovers after the messaging all of camp. And they were even more aggravated that they were in all the right play calls but failed to execute.

What are they not mad about, at least outwardly? Jeudy’s comments.

“Guys are going to say whatever they’re going to say. I really don’t care,” Hamilton said. “That’s the thing with bulletin board material that I’ve never understood. Like, was I not going to play hard before he said that? So it’s like I’m going to play the same way I was going to play.”

Another Browns player took a dig Thursday, with something in direct contrast to his coach’s comments.

When asked about Ravens Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry, head coach Kevin Stefanski said: “Great player. I mean, everybody saw it the other night. He’s a rare combination of size, speed, power, you name it. So again, somebody that we have a tremendous amount of respect for.”

But then safety Grant Delpit was asked how hard it is to tackle Henry and he replied “not hard.”

Besides the fact that Henry, who rushed for 1,921 yards last season, is routinely called one of the hardest running backs to defend, he has also unintentionally knocked out players who tried to tackle him with injuries — including Delpit’s own teammate. Last year, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had to stay in the hospital overnight after suffering a season-ending and career-threatening neck injury when he tried to take on Henry. Eleven months later, Owusu-Koramoah has not returned to the field.

Like Hamilton, Henry refused to engage, delivering a terse message.

“We’ll see on Sunday,” Henry said.

It’s a reverse of when the Browns took offense at linebacker Roquan Smith’s comments ahead of the 2023 matchup. Smith said he embraces the role of villain when playing on the road.

“I definitely think about that, but at the end of the day, you’re considered the bad guy because you’re going into essentially another man’s house, and you’re trying to take over,” Smith said then. “His wife, kids [and] everyone is there to watch them. So we’re going over there to beat their tails in front of their wife and kids. So, when you think about it from that perspective, any man is going to fight till the death at that point. I know, if that’s me in that case, I know I would. So I think about it from that standpoint. I’m just going in just like I prepared for any other game — play till [you hear] the whistle, play physical and hit anything that moves.”

After that game, Smith sent a message about this team’s thoughts on the concept of bulletin board material.

“Honestly, if you need bulletin board material in this game to go play the game a different way, you’re playing the game for the wrong reasons,” Smith said. “I don’t need anybody to say anything for me, because guess what. When that whistle blows, I’m going 100 miles an hour all game long, and regardless of what someone says, ‘Ro’ is going to play the same way.”

Two years later, Hamilton, who has become one of the leaders of a defense that features many of the same stars, said something similar.

“If you need bulletin board material to go play the way you need to play, then that’s a problem with you,” Hamilton said.