Malik Harrison heard the hand wringing in Baltimore about the possibility that he would have to step in for injured leading linebacker Roquan Smith.
On the field, Harrison talked with his pads. And after making a career-high 12 tackles in the Ravens' 30-23 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, he chirped at those questioning him, too.
"It's a lot of people that doubted me coming into this game," Harrison said. "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."
Harrison earned the Ravens' highest defensive Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade (81.5). It's the second-best best grade of his career in a game in which he played at least 20 defensive snaps. He played a team-high 73 snaps – 72% of the Ravens' defensive snaps and 85% of the special teams snaps.
In a game largely defined by who was going to out-physical the other, between two teams cut from the same cloth, Harrison brought the hammer for Baltimore's defense.
"He was flying around hitting everything. From like 20 yards away, I could hear his hits," safety Kyle Hamilton said. "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.'"
Here are other notes from the PFF grades and snap counts:
- Harrison paced the inside linebackers in snaps, and Chris Board played the second most (37). That's tied for the most defensive snaps Board has played in a game during his seven-year career, and he played just one defensive snap all last season. Board made four tackles, including a pair of big hits, and had a strong 65.0 PFF grade.
- Fellow linebacker Trenton Simpson played a season-low 43% of the defensive snaps. It's the first time he's been under 50% this season.
- Even with Smith sidelined, the Ravens still left Hamilton as their deep safety. Hamilton excelled in coverage, being targeted as the nearest defender zero times on 44 coverage snaps, the most snaps without a target of his career, per Next Gen Stats.
- Even though he didn't score a touchdown (that counted) for the first time this year, Derrick Henry's 90.1 PFF grade is his highest of the season, as he rushed for 140 yards. It's his best grade since the 2022 season.
- Mark Andrews (85.9) grade is his best of the season, as he hauled in a tough 6-yard touchdown over Chargers safety Alohi Gilman. Andrews played 27 snaps to Isaiah Likely's 35 but continues to make his impact felt.
- Cornerback Tre'Davious White continues to see more action. He played 52% of the defensive snaps, up from 31% against the Steelers the week before. According to PFF, White gave up two catches for 11 yards on five targets, but he also was flagged once for pass interference.
- Brandon Stephens played 78% of the snaps and got his second-highest grade of the season (72.1). He gave up one reception for 16 yards, registered a sack, and had a late flag picked up after being initially called for pass interference.
- Marlon Humphrey played 94% of the snaps for a second straight game, again with the vast majority of his action at nickel. Nate Wiggins again saw a high snap share (75%), and Jalyn Armour-Davis played well on his 10 snaps, earning a 66.0 grade.
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