Kyle Hamilton holds himself to high standards, and the All-Pro safety had trouble sleeping after the Ravens' Week 1 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
An easy 35-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Xavier Worthy in the fourth quarter was one of the game's biggest plays after a mistake in coverage left the rookie receiver wide open. That put Kansas City ahead by 10 points.
Hamilton admitted to blowing the assignment and vowed to play better in Baltimore's home opener against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2.
"I don't think I played well at all," Hamilton said. "It's a week-to-week league. I'm excited to go back out there this weekend and makeup for it.
"That [mistake] was on me 100%. I was supposed to go back to the half, I played the wrong call. It wasn't on [Defensive Coordinator] Zach Orr. It wasn't on Marlon [Humphrey] or anybody else. It was on me. If you watch the play, you can probably tell that we're missing a half safety. I got kind of mixed up. I take the blame for that."
Hamilton didn't play in the preseason, nor did many of the Ravens' starters. While he refused to use rust as an excuse, Hamilton expects the defense to tighten up as the season progresses.
"None of us played preseason last year," Hamilton said. "Weeks like that happen. You try to minimize it as much as you can. It's part of the league. You don't want it to be like that, but guys on the other side are good and we need to come every week prepared. I feel we were prepared, it's just a matter of executing, which I believe we'll do better."
Adisa Isaac Hopes to Make to Debut in Week 2
Rookie outside linebacker Adisa Isaac (hamstring) practiced Wednesday on a limited basis for the first time since playing on Aug. 17 in a preseason game. If the third-round pick has a healthy week, Isaac could make his Ravens debut this Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
"It will help a lot if when we get him back out there," Harbaugh said. "He's making good progress. Getting him out there to practice today was big. We'll see how he responds tomorrow."
Isaac sounded optimistic about having a strong week of practice.
"I feel good. I feel probably the best I've felt since coming into OTAs," Isaac said. "I've just got to keep taking steps every day. I feel ready. I'm staying prepared, staying mentally sharp. That's the big thing for me right now, making sure that when I do get back out there, I'm able to perform the way I want to."
Isaac has kept a positive attitude during the past few months, which has been trying. He started training camp on the non-football injury list with a hamstring issue, and was not cleared to practice until Aug. 9. If he plays, Isaac hopes to add energy and depth to the pass rush and outside linebacker rotation.
"It's definitely been a little challenging being patient," Isaac said. "Just listening to my body. Just being smart with it. I just want to go out there and play up to my standards. Just a lot of high energy, high effort, flying around, having fun."
Ravens Must Be Wary of 'Game-Wrecker' Maxx Crosby
Raiders' defensive end Maxx Crosby is one of the NFL's most relentless players, a talented player coming off a career-high 14.5-sack season in 2023. Crosby plays with non-stop energy and will be another major test for Baltimore's offensive line after facing All-Pro Chris Jones in Week 1.
Harbaugh said blocking Crosby won't be a one-man job.
"He's a game-wrecker no doubt about it, one of the best players in football," Harbaugh said. "A very unpredictable player because of his high level of energy.
"He brings it every single play, plays almost every snap. He's up-field, he's underneath, he's into you, he's back around the back side, he's spinning, he's knocking your hands off, he's running to the ball. We're going to have to do everything we can, but you can't put 11 guys on one guy. We're going to have to do a great job with their whole defense. Definitely he's the guy you put the dot on and understand he's the top guy you need to look out for."
Lamar Jackson still remembers Crosby's 2021 performance against the Raiders, in which he had two sacks and five quarterback hits. Jackson said he was having fun with Crosby talking trash, and that Crosby told him "I love your game" during the game.
"High motor," Jackson said. "That guy, he's a great edge rusher, man. My hat's off to him. He was high motor. He was just going at it all game. I was like, 'This man here ...' I was laughing with Maxx. He was trying to get after me, and I was talking trash back."
Nnamdi Madubuike Lost Weight to Get Even Twitchier
Nnamdi Madubuike got on the board in Week 1 with a half sack of Mahomes. He nearly had a second one too but was flagged for a hit to the helmet instead.
Coming off a breakout season with 13 sacks, Madubuike is feeling even quicker now that he's down to 285-290 pounds – about a 5-10-pound difference from last year.
"Just trying to stay twitchy, stay quick, agile," Madubuike said. "This offseason I watched what I ate, drank a lot more water, stayed away from fried foods. Just those little things so I could shed a little weight. I feel better."
Former Los Angeles Rams all-world defensive tackle Aaron Donald, a player that Madubuike has often been likened to, played at 255-260 pounds in 2018. That's the year in which he netted a whopping 20.5 sacks, and he remained around that weight the rest of his career.
"In our division, I have to stay a good 290-280," Madubuike said. "These guys are really bringing it."
Madubuike said he did notice that the Chiefs were sliding more to his side, and he saw more double teams in Week 1 than he typically did last season. He's adjusting, too.
