INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Malik Harrison was not always where he needed to be Monday night. There was a tackle missed in the flat, a long run bounced outside his gap, a completion where the ball whistled by his head. But the versatile linebacker’s missteps could be brushed aside, maybe even completely excused, because where the Ravens needed Harrison inside SoFi Stadium was just about everywhere.

The Ravens needed strength setting the edge against the Los Angeles Chargers’ heavy-personnel looks, so Harrison played outside linebacker. The Ravens needed stability over the middle, where All-Pro Roquan Smith was missing, so Harrison played inside linebacker. The Ravens needed reliable execution from their special teams units, so Harrison played special teams, too.

What they needed, more than anything, was a tone-setter on defense, so Harrison started hitting Chargers players hard enough that teammates could hear his tone — boom — even if they couldn’t see it set.

“I couldn’t be more proud of him,” coach John Harbaugh said after Harrison finished with a career-high 12 tackles, including one for a loss, in a 30-23 win over the Chargers, earning a game ball for his breakout performance. “I think he, in a lot of ways, epitomizes a victory tonight.”

Harrison wasn’t the most important Raven in the NFL’s latest “HarBowl” — that was quarterback Lamar Jackson (192 total yards, three total touchdowns), or maybe running back Derrick Henry (24 carries for 140 yards). Harrison didn’t have the defense’s most important stop, either — that was probably outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, whose fourth-quarter sack of quarterback Justin Herbert dimmed the Chargers’ hopes of a quick-strike response to the Ravens’ 30-16 lead. But Harrison was by far the busiest Raven, finishing with a team-high 69 snaps (46 on defense and 23 on special teams, according to TruMedia) on an all-hands-on-deck kind of night.

Harrison knew he’d be needed more than usual. With a hamstring injury keeping Smith out of practice last week, and ultimately Monday’s game, Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr set about recreating the team’s top inside linebacker in the aggregate.

Fellow starter Trenton Simpson played 28 defensive snaps, most of them coming on early downs. Reserve Chris Board got 30 defensive snaps, most of them coming in obvious passing situations. Even Kristian Welch, recently signed off the practice squad, was on the field for eight defensive snaps.

But no linebacker found the field or the ball as often as Harrison, who’d “prepared my ass off all week” for the opportunity. Eight of his 12 tackles were considered “successful” stops for the defense, according to TruMedia, a testament to his right-place, right-time production. (Both Smith and Simpson, by comparison, have a successful-tackle rate under 50% for the season.)

The Ravens’ defense seemed to embody Harrison’s blue-collar approach. The Chargers finished with fewer than 300 yards of total offense for the first time since their Week 5 bye, and they averaged just 3.9 yards per play after the first quarter. Herbert completed 58.3% of his passes, his second-worst mark this season, and didn’t make a single throw at least 20 yards downfield, another first since the bye.

“The thing I appreciate about Malik is, he’s a really even-keeled guy, but he’s a confident person,” Harbaugh said. “And they go down there the first drive, and we’re trying to figure out what’s going on and how we’re going to play these different things, and [we] talked through it, and he didn’t flinch for one second. He just stepped up and stepped into those run plays and made a bunch of tackles.”

He added: “He’s already made a name for himself, but making an even bigger name for himself, and he did it tonight.”

Harrison’s role changed from down to down. On the Chargers’ first play from scrimmage, he lined up at outside linebacker and dropped former Ravens teammate J.K. Dobbins before the running back could get past the line of scrimmage. On the next play, Harrison lined up next to Simpson at inside linebacker and laid out wide receiver Quentin Johnston as he ran a crossing route. At one point late in the first quarter, Harrison made three tackles in a row — the first on a punt return, the second on a short pass, the third on a short run.

“I can handle it,” Harrison said. “I’ve been doing it for the last three years, so whatever they want me to do, I’ll do it.”

Harrison has struggled at times in space this season; according to Pro Football Focus, he allowed 119 yards when targeted in coverage over the Ravens’ first five games. But the former third-round pick has always been most effective as a downhill thumper, not a rangy chess piece. On Monday, after his uneven start, Harrison started lining up Chargers and knocking them down with a controlled fury, as if he’d heard all the criticism and would let his pads do the talking.

There was a second-quarter walloping of Dobbins, his former Ohio State teammate. There was a third-quarter smackdown of tight end Tucker Fisk, whose legs nearly buckled upon contact. There was a head-on collision with running back Hassan Haskins at the line of scrimmage two minutes later.

Safety Kyle Hamilton, one of the Ravens’ hardest hitters, estimated that he could “hear his hits” from about 20 yards away. “It didn’t matter the size of the person he was hitting or whoever. He was bringing it the whole game, but we all know that’s ‘Leek,’ and that’s what he’s going to do, no matter what the position. … Whether that’s special teams, or whether he’s starting at Mike [middle] linebacker, [he’s a] hell of a football player, and just glad he got his shot today.”

“He’s always been a big hitter,” said defensive lineman Broderick Washington, who arrived in Baltimore with Harrison four years ago. “Every time he hits somebody, you’re gonna feel it and you’re gonna see it and you’re gonna hear it. But his development and his skill set is crazy, because you could put him at D-end. He can rush the passer. He can be physical and stop the run. And then what he did tonight, man, I think that was just him taking advantage of the opportunity. He’s been preparing this whole time.”

Harrison’s starring role in Los Angeles might revert to a part-time gig back in Baltimore. Harbaugh declined to say how close Smith was to being cleared for Monday’s game, but his lengthy pregame workout indicated that he could be ready for Sunday’s showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles. That could force Harrison back into the dirty-work jobs he’s long embraced, into the bit performances he’s made a career out of.

For one night, though, the Ravens needed him to be everywhere. And Harrison usually found his way there.

“It feels good,” Harrison said. “It’s a lot of people that doubted me coming into this game, so I’m happy I was able to ball out and show them that I can be in this league, and I can play at a high level.”