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Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr is not wasting time worrying about his job.
With the Ravens’ record at a shocking 1-4, Orr is focused on doing his job and getting the defense prepared for the Los Angeles Rams.
It’s one of those Year 2 adjustments he made after the negative feedback he received last season.
“If you probably asked me last year, I probably would honestly tell you that it would be something that would bother me or get to me,” Orr said. “... All I got to do is go out there and just continue to work day by day and put my best foot forward.”
Although the Ravens excelled against the run from the get-go, the secondary started slowly last season, despite the numerous veterans in its ranks. It was a surprise after the Ravens returned so many players from the great 2023 secondary.
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Orr finally benched safeties Eddie Jackson and Marcus Williams, and the team became one of the best defenses in the league with safeties Kyle Hamilton and Ar’Darius Washington working together.
This season, they returned most of the starters who contributed to the strong run defense and the secondary’s turnaround. The main losses were nose tackle Michael Pierce, who retired, cornerback Brandon Stephens, who left in free agency, and Washington, who tore his Achilles in the offseason.
The Ravens replaced those players in the draft and with veteran free agents.
Yet the defense got off to yet another slow start — and then it regressed.
Five weeks in, the Ravens have given up the second-most yards in the league. They’re bad against the run. They’re bad at rushing the passer. And they’re bad in the secondary.
Any criticism Orr received last year has compounded.
But Orr said his faith has helped him block it out.
“I know that [God]’s in control, man, and everything that’s going to happen is going to be written,” Orr said. “It’s already done.”
It also helps that he’s stayed off social media. At 33, Orr is young enough to have an active Instagram account, unlike his offensive counterpart, Todd Monken. But he’s learned that looking at the discourse online is counterproductive.
“That stuff can really infect your mind and your heart,” Orr said. “But I think [...] the older I’m getting, I’m really focusing on what’s important and what my job is, man. That’s to be here and do the best I can.”
And Orr has been asked to do his best with very little.
Although his veterans weren’t playing up to expectation when they were healthy, many haven’t had a chance to make adjustments. Every defensive player with a Pro Bowl on his résumé has been injured at some point this year.
Pro Bowl defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike is out for the season. Without him, the pass rush and the run defense have struggled. And now the Ravens traded outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, who had 10 sacks last year, to shore up the safeties with Alohi Gilman.
“I think that we just have to find ways to generate pass rush, even if ‘Daf’ was here, man,” Orr said. “So we got to get more creative. We got to be better putting stuff together, and we got to execute better.”
Execution has been the key word to describe what’s gone wrong. All the players who have been asked have defended Orr, the coaching, the game planning and the play calling. They say it’s on them for not executing.
Head coach John Harbaugh has come to Orr’s defense. He said he doesn’t think moving on from Orr would be productive. He said he and Orr have been consulting secondary coach Chuck Pagano, formerly the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, and Dean Pees, who advised Orr last season. Harbaugh feels this year’s defense is closer to a turnaround than last year’s was.
The defense got some major players back this week with the return of Hamilton and cornerback Marlon Humphrey. However, as of Thursday, Pro Bowl linebacker Roquan Smith was still missing, as was starting cornerback Chidobe Awuzie.
They’ll try to keep the team, which might be without two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson again, from sliding to 1-5 after facing the 3-2 Rams, whose quarterback, Matthew Stafford, has thrown for over 300 yards each of the past two weeks.
With or without the return of their Pro Bowlers, Orr said, the rebound starts with the right mentality from whoever is thrown out there.
“No matter what the situation is, when we take the field, our mindset is we’re gonna stop them,” Orr said. “And then, if they do score, we should be mad and trying to fix what’s going on so it won’t happen again.”
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