NEWS » During a busy offseason, the Baltimore Ravens put a high priority

OWINGS MILLS Jachai Polite Jersey , Md. (AP) — on fortifying a secondary that last season played a huge role on the top-ranked defense in the NFL.First-year general manager Eric DeCosta offset the departure of safety Eric Weddle by signing six-time Pro Bowl standout Earl Thomas. DeCosta also provided nickel back Tavon Young with a three-year extension, retained over-30 cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Jimmy Smith, and signed free agent cornerback Justin Bethel.Throw in 2017 first-round pick Marlon Humphrey and six-year pro Tony Jefferson, and it would seem as if the Ravens have a secondary capable of being among the best in the league.“I’ll tell you one thing: The standard is high for those guys,” coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday after the first session of the team’s three-day mandatory minicamp.Given that the Ravens lost linebackers Terrell Suggs, C.J. Mosley and Za’Darius Smith to free agency, the defense’s hope of carrying on the franchise’s tradition of excellence likely depends on the guys on the back end.“We’ve got a lot of resources committed to the secondary,” Harbaugh said. “We value coverage. We think it’s important with the way we structure our defense. We love having those guys back there.”Carr has played 11 seasons in the NFL and has never missed a start, a streak of 176 games. A regular participant this spring at OTAs, he can’t wait for the season to begin.“We’ve got a lot of talent in this backfield, a lot of guys who have made plays throughout their careers, and new guys who are rising Chuma Edoga Jersey ,” said Carr, who shed the braids that protruded from under his helmet for the past five years.The Ravens, like every team, focus first on stopping the run. Tackles Brandon Williams and Michael Pierce form a sizable duo up front, although Pierce’s weight proved to be an issue Tuesday; he was told to leave the field shortly after the team stretched.“He’s not ready to practice, from a safety standpoint, for his own health,” Harbaugh said.Jimmy Smith, on the other hand, reported in excellent shape. With nine seasons behind him — all with Baltimore — the 31 year old made certain his stamina and strength would not be an issue as he prepares to enter the final year of his contract.“When you’re young, you eat chicken wings, hot wings, pizza. You go out and play a game and it’s no problem Trevon Wesco Jersey ,” he said. “The older you get, you start to actually feel like one candy bar kind of slowed me down today. You have to pay attention to that, but when you’re young you don’t really notice it.”Smith and the rest of the secondary expect to be noticed during the 2019 season, when the Ravens strive to reach the playoffs for the second year in a row after a three-year hiatus.“(Owner Steve) Bisciotti believes in us. Our coaching staff and the people upstairs, they believe in our secondary,” Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of vets back there and we kind of have to be the driving force for the defense since we are the ones with the most experience.”Thomas, like Smith, is a nine-year veteran whose athletic skill is supplemented by the ability to provide experience and leadership.“He’s a dog. Very passionate,” Smith said. “I can tell he’s going to bring a lot of energy to our team.” The words that threatened to define Ben Roethlisberger’s season were uttered almost as an afterthought and with more than a hint of frustrated sarcasm.

It just didn’t read that way as it made the rounds on social media, or sound that way during a three-second sound bite played endlessly on a loop.

”Maybe I don’t have it anymore,” the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback said in a somber locker room three months ago after throwing five interceptions in a 30-9 loss to Jacksonville .

Roethlisberger didn’t mean it. Call it a visceral reaction to having two of his 55 passes returned the other way for game-deciding touchdowns. Three days later the 35-year-old was back to calling himself one of the ”best in the world.” It wasn’t just idle talk. He followed it up by spending the better part of the next 10 weeks playing like it.

The quarterback who will stride onto the field Sunday for a rematch against the Jaguars in the divisional round of the playoffs has his swagger back. Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey jokingly gave credit to the beard Roethlisberger began growing in the aftermath of one of the most forgettable performances of his career. Of course, that’s not the reality. The guys who surround Roethlisberger in the huddle know the swagger never really left.

”Ben is the most talented guy I’ve ever been around,” Heyward-Bey said. ”I’m not talking quarterback. I’m talking about talent. He can do a lot of different things. He believes in his ability and he’s going to show people on Sunday that he believes in himself.”

The player who openly pondered retirement last spring Shareef Miller Jersey , the one who quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner said in November will occasionally uncork a flutter ball while looking very much his age, heads to his 21st career playoff game at the height of his powers. Roethlisberger is averaging 298 yards passing since that forgettable three hours against the NFL’s top defense.

Roethlisberger’s thrown multiple touchdown passes in seven straight games and the Steelers ended the season with a 9-1 sprint, the lone setback a loss to New England on Dec. 17 in which his only mistake came on a poorly executed fake spike that resulted in a game-ending pick.

What’s working? Nearly everything.

Having two of the top skill position players in the league in wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell helps. So does the continued evolution of rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster and Martavis Bryant’s immersion into the offense following an ill-advised trade demand.

Yet Pittsburgh’s offense will only go as far over the next month as Roethlisberger can take it. Though he downplayed looking for payback after the Jaguars shut him down in ways that few teams have in recent years, not everyone is buying it.

”I’m sure just as any competitor would, when you go and have a bad outing or a difficult, tough outing against a team, you want that revenge,” Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles said. ”You want to go prove that it was a fluke or whatever it might be. I’m sure that’s probably what he’s thinking.”

Not that Roethlisberger would admit it even if he is. Never one to go into great detail about how he goes about his job, Roethlisberger insists he’s focused simply on playing well. The fact it’s against the Jaguars is coincidental. There is no looking ahead to a potential shot at New England in the AFC title game, or a third Super Bowl that would provide an exclamation point on a potential Hall of Fame career.

”I am not worried about what’s going on up there (with the Patriots),” Roethlisberger said. ”All I can think about and worry about is this defense that we are playing.”

A defense that will likely need to find a way to replicate its October dominance to extend its season. The Steelers have been forced to revisit the loss this week, one that put their journey from that moment to this one in perspective.

”That game for our entire group was kind of a watershed moment,” offensive coordinator Todd Haley said Thursday. ”We stayed together Zach Brown Jersey , but there was a lot of pressure from the outside. A lot of outside factors that could have been divisive in some way for our group, but I take my hat off to the guys. They stuck together. They pulled together tighter. We knew that wasn’t our best football and we knew it probably really wasn’t as bad as it appeared.”

Or, as Roethlisberger can attest, as bad as it sounded afterward. The sound bite was just that, a bite, one that in a way played a role in his resurgence. One that ended with his sixth Pro Bowl selection and a very real shot to become the fourth quarterback in NFL history with three Super Bowl titles.

”He’s confident in his ability and he’s confident in his receivers,” Heyward-Bey said. ”He knows that we’re going to go out there and try and make plays for him. That’s what a quarterback needs. He has to have confidence in his guys.”

Roethlisberger’s confidence in himself was never an issue.

NOTES: CB Artis Burns (hyperextended right knee) did not practice Thursday but is hoping to play Sunday. DE Stephon Tuitt (elbow) also did not practice but plans to play. … LB Ryan Shazier, recovering from spine stabilization surgery, attended practice again in a wheelchair and hung out in the locker room after practice.

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