Josh Tolentino: Maybe Mike Green is on to something with Ravens' new staff

BALTIMORE — Is anyone quite ready to buy stock in everything the Ravens are displaying in June? I’m not there just yet.

Last season, Baltimore produced a forgettable 8-9 record defined by the team’s first missed playoff appearance since 2021, a roster with Super Bowl expectations that never got close to meeting them, and a pass rush that produced one of the lowest sack totals (30) in the NFL.

Still, following coach Jesse Minter’s inaugural minicamp practice on Tuesday, his players appear overly eager for a different way forward. Linebacker Roquan Smith seems reenergized and motivated, while veteran Calais Campbell, back in Baltimore and reunited with Anthony Weaver, called the defensive coordinator his “favorite coach” and described Minter as a “football junkie” and “brilliant guy.”

Outside linebacker Mike Green recently offered one of the clearest explanations of what feels different under Minter and Weaver.

“I think it’s a little bit more attacking rather than containing,” Green said on the team’s “The Lounge” podcast.

The second-year pass rusher did not stop there.

“I feel like last year we [were] a little bit more containing, a little bit more conservative,” he said. “But I think now it’s like, ‘Yo, go attack the quarterback. Do your best moves.’ … When [Minter] came over here and we’re going over the philosophies and things like that, it aligned up to what a lot of us bring to the table.”

There’s bound to be a learning curve with Minter and company, but as Green alludes to, it was time for new leadership at the Castle.

With former coach John Harbaugh and a majority of his staff out of the building, Minter’s staff has swooped in, hopeful to steer the ship back in the right direction after the Ravens finished last season with the NFL’s 24th-ranked defense. Minter and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s staff features four new defensive coaches with no prior full-time NFL coaching experience, including safeties coach PJ Volker, pass game coordinator and secondary coach Mike Mickens, defensive line coach Lou Esposito and outside linebackers coach Harland Bower.

Too often last season, Baltimore’s defense lacked consistent disruption as opposing offenses stayed on schedule, extended drives and dictated terms against a group with All-Pro talent across all three levels. In turn, the Ravens allowed the third-most passing yards in the NFL, while Baltimore gave up 5.5 yards per play, allowing opponents to score on 43.3% of their drives, the eighth-worst mark in the league.

That is not at all close to the Ravens’ standard.

So, yes, I have doubts about the pass rush until it proves otherwise. But I also understand why there is intrigue across the fan base.

A potential return from veteran defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike would immediately change the complexion of the defensive front and add depth alongside Travis Jones. The addition of veteran pass rusher Trey Hendrickson provides the Ravens a proven edge presence with a history of showing up late in games, while rookie Zion Young, whom Minter praised Tuesday for his physicality and swagger, adds another young piece to a group that desperately needs more juice.

Minter said when Young, a second-round draft pick from Missouri, strikes a sled, “it looks different.”

Ya-hoo. Looks aside, the Ravens need more playmakers who make this defense feel different, a unit that is capable of stressing opposing offenses in an assortment of ways. Last summer, former senior defensive assistant/secondary coach Chuck Pagano labeled Baltimore’s secondary “the most talented group” he’s been around across his four decades of coaching.

We all know how last season turned out.

In Minter’s case, he helped engineer an impressive defensive turnaround with the Los Angeles Chargers, and is tasked with doing the same in Baltimore. The difference for Minter, though, is the expectation. The Ravens need a quick fix that gets them back into contention.

Steve Bisciotti set that expectation earlier this year, and the Ravens owner was in attendance Tuesday, observing Minter’s first mandatory minicamp in a gray polo, blue jeans, and white sneakers, moving between players and coaches from the sideline. With quarterback and two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson in place, Bisciotti’s team is not starting over with a complete reset.

Rather, the Ravens are attempting to correct everything that went wrong without wasting another year of a roster built to contend. Despite last season’s forgettable Week 18 finish in Pittsburgh, the Ravens own the second-shortest odds (+1000) to win the Super Bowl behind only the Los Angeles Rams.

Even with several key defensive pieces absent Tuesday — defensive tackles John Jenkins, Jones and Madubuike were among the players not practicing — Minter is “very confident” everyone on the roster will be ready for the start of training camp in late July. The selling point, for now, is not full participation, but early belief.

After Green praised how individualized the Ravens’ new defensive operation feels, I asked Minter how he balances the structure of a system with the freedom required to maximize players inside it.

“The job that we have is to put these guys in the best position to be successful,” the first-year coach said. “Figuring out what everybody does best before you just throw out your defense and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ Every year, ironically, over the last four years, whether it’s different positions where the strength of the defense was or different levels of the defense where the strength of the defense was, you can tailor what you’re doing around the players that you have.

“I think that’s the beauty of coaching … you’re given a little bit of freedom, but also [players] understanding what it takes to play great team defense and trying to find that balance. The guys have done a great job with that, and I’m really happy with where that’s headed.”

Let’s see. Everything that was broken in 2025 is not magically fixed.

But after hearing from multiple defensive fixtures and their leader in Minter, I am ready to believe the players recognize the opportunity in front of them and understand what has to change.