Marcus Williams didn't play in Week 8, but he's focusing on Week 9.
The Ravens' veteran safety watched from the sideline against the Cleveland Browns as the Ravens shuffled their secondary rotation. Eddie Jackson played 100% of the snaps for the first time all season, while Ar'Darius Washington (64%) saw his most extensive action.
It was a drastic change for Williams, who played every snap defensively in five of the first seven games. Williams said he'll be mentally ready whenever he's called upon again.
"We're not worried about what happened last week," Williams said. It's all about moving forward to this week, getting prepared, staying prepared. When I'm ready to get in, when it's my time, I'll go in and do what I've got to do to make plays.
"I've faced adversity all my life. Adversity, it makes you or breaks you. It's how you react. Act like a pro, do all you've got to do to move on to the next week. … I'm going to stay prepared no matter what. If my name's called, I'm going to go out there and do what I've got to do."
Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr has been impressed with how Williams has dealt with the situation.
"The way he handled what went down is great," Orr said. "He's just a great teammate. He's been a pro since he's been here. He handled last week like a pro. I'm excited to see how we move, and how he moves going forward.
"I've got all the confidence in Marcus Williams. He had a great day of practice today, great day of practice yesterday. I think the best is to come for him."
Zach Orr Confident Communication Issues Will Be Resolved
The Ravens weren't lined up properly on Cleveland's second touchdown when Cedric Tillman broke wide open across the middle on a slant pattern for a 22-yard pass from Jameis Winston.
There have been other times when the Ravens have scrambled trying to get in position prior to the snap. Orr believes progress is being made to alleviate the problem this week.
"I think that we have a good resolution to those problems – getting the call in fast; keeping things simple and then going out there and executing," Orr said. "Obviously, it's costing us at critical points of the game, so I've got to do a better job, and we've got to do a better job of executing and with the communication.
"I think that we got a great plan going forward to make sure that we take care of that, because you want to be able to be lined up to give yourself a chance. If you're not lined up, you're giving the offense the easy way off the hook."
Orr was asked how he would respond if a fan approached him and asked why the defense wasn't working together as well as it did at this time last year.
"That's a good question" Orr said. "My answer would be, 'Even though you're putting in the work, everything doesn't come together as fast as you may want it to.' All you can do is continue to grind and continue to chase perfection and continue to work at it – and that's what we're doing."
Direct Snap to Derrick Henry That Failed Disappointed Todd Monken
The Ravens squandered their first opportunity to score against the Browns when Derrick Henry took a direct snap and was stopped for a two-yard loss on fourth down.
The play halted Baltimore's opening drive at Cleveland's 9-yard line, and instead of coming away with a touchdown or field goal, the Ravens came up empty after a 10-play drive. In hindsight, Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken regretted the outcome.
"When it doesn't work, for sure," Monken said. "Like any play, when it doesn't work it's disappointing. Those plays are the ones that really sting. If it's a third down, alright fine we get another shot at it. When it's a fourth down, man, that's it. We have to be on point with how we designed it to give ourselves the best chance, because we had a chance right there. I make that call, and it stops all the momentum [of not] scoring on the first drive."
Henry ran direct snap plays with great success while playing with the Tennessee Titans, but he wasn't playing with Lamar Jackson. That presents a different dynamic when weighing the pros and cons of using a direct snap to Henry. Monken didn't like the result on Sunday but didn't rule out using it again.
"We love it to be in his (Jackson's) hands. We love for it to be in Derrick's hands," Monken said. "Unfortunately, it didn't work.
"Early in the year on the goal line we did it and we scored. It's a different situation, it wasn't on fourth down. This one happened to be on fourth down, so it stings a lot more. That doesn't mean we're not going to do it again, but we're going to do whatever we think is necessary to convert and score points. We have to do it better; that's just the way it is with every call. It's on me."
Chris Horton Believes the Special Teams Could Rise in the Second Half of the Season
Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton is pleased with the effort he's seen this year, but he would like to see improvement in the execution. Penalties, judgement errors on returns, and some unexpected misses by kicker Justin Tucker have been part of the story through eight games.
Asked if he felt special teams had performed adequately so far, Horton was direct.
"Not at all," Horton said. "When you talk about our standard, there is no way ... If anyone is out there watching that tape, you can't say we've played a complete game [in] all six phases.
"Now, we've done a lot of good things. Last week, we covered more kicks than we've covered in a game, and I thought our kickoff team played pretty darn good. As we continue to go on, and we continue to develop our young guys, we're going to get to do a lot more. We believe that as long as we come out here and we work hard and we continue to get better, we'll start to see what we do in practice come to life on gameday."
