Why Baltimore Ravens’ Calais Campbell is eager to play on ‘wise and old’ defensive line - Aaron Kasinitz
“Coach Martindale is a defensive genius,” Campbell said.
Campbell gushed Friday about how Martindale built a defense that is simple for players to comprehend, while still containing variations that allow for creativity. Under Martindale, the Ravens blitzed more than any defense in the NFL last season and brought rushers from a variety of angles throughout any given game. To Campbell, the brilliance of the Ravens’ system is rooted in the team’s ability to dial up those pressures with short and precise calls.
“To have all of these different blitzes in are very, very complicated – where he made it very simple, which I think definitely shows his genius,” Campbell said of Martindale.
50 Words or Less - John Eisenberg
Clark looms as especially important in Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale’s 2020 blueprint as the unit could have at least four new starters and an influx of rookie contributors. As the signal-caller, Clark will be prominent in making sure everyone is lined up correctly and on the same page.
Interesting to hear Calais Campbell say on a Friday media Zoom call that you have to “earn the right to rush the passer.” Meaning you have to stop the run first. Listening to Campbell, it sure seems he believes he was brought here to do that first: stop the run.
These wise words from Willie Snead IV (in a media Zoom call this week) belong on a T-shirt: “You have to be a pro. You have to know what’s on the line right now. The season is on the line. If guys test positive, that’s going to be a problem.”
Calais Campbell opted to play for Ravens despite underlying condition - Todd Karpovich
Campbell was part of the players’ executive committee and played a key role in establishing some of the guidelines with the coronavirus
“I was part of the executive committee that was setting up all the … Trying to get everything together in that process,” he said. “I definitely considered it – you have to. You can’t play football with this [pandemic] going on, and not think about the risk you’re going to put on yourself and your family. So, going through that process, I realized talking to the doctors and just setting up the protocols and everything we have to do to keep each other safe, I feel like the risks were mitigated as much as we can.
“You can’t get rid of the risks all the way, but we definitely lowered the percentage of catching it based off of the protocols we put in place. For me, I feel like that was enough. Obviously, being a bigger guy, it puts you at a higher risk, if you do catch it, to have more severe symptoms, which is kind of scary. A lot of guys still have underlying issues, which is also scary.”
Ravens coach John Harbaugh: ‘I can’t imagine there’s any safer place than an NFL football team right now’ - Andrew Gillis
Ravens coach John Harbaugh hasn’t been shy on his feelings about the NFL’s coronavirus protocols. He said in June, and repeated Friday, they’re impossible to follow to a T.
But he’s also very confident in the ability of NFL teams to create a safe and productive environment during a global pandemic.
Harbaugh said that compared to the rest of the country, most players are safer at facilities with their teams than at their homes.
“I can’t imagine there’s any safer place than an NFL football team right now, an NBA basketball bubble,” Harbaugh said. “We’re pretty darn safe. If you want to rank them, we’re all in the top five across the country. We’re right up there with anybody. We get tested every day and we are wearing masks everywhere.”
“All you can do is the best you can do and mitigate it to a great extent,” Harbaugh said. “I think we’ve done a really good job of that so far, there are no guarantees going forward. We’ve got to stay vigilant like we’ve done.”