Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh denied a report that coaches had games removed from the locker room, and clarified that a group of veteran players initiated the decision to help the team refocus.
The Ravens have lost four straight games and are 1-5, tied for their worst start in franchise history. Earlier this week, the Baltimore Sun reported that Ravens coaches removed recreational games like ping pong tables from the team locker room amid the losing streak. However, on Wednesday, Harbaugh said he was told about the removal of games after the fact by an equipment manager.
“It was the veteran players who decided they wanted to take that stuff out,” Harbaugh said. “My pinball machine, that I gifted the guys two years ago at Christmas, I don’t know where it’s at right now.”
Safety Kyle Hamilton said he didn’t realize the games in the locker room were missing, but he supported the veterans’ decision to remove them.
“It wasn’t my decision. I didn’t even realize they were gone, to be honest,” Hamilton said. “I guess it’s kind of a big thing now, but I wasn’t really into the whole thing going on. I don’t think it is that big of a deal whether it was players, coaches, in the locker room, out of the locker room.
“I don’t know if that’s really affecting us on the field too much, but if we felt like we needed to do that as a team, then I’m all for it.”
Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson returned to the practice field on Wednesday for the first time since he strained his hamstring in a Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Jackson’s availability for the Ravens’ home matchup against the Chicago Bears on Sunday is not definitive, though his attendance at practice is a good sign.
“It’s just noise,” Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy said about having the games removed. “You respect who you respect when they are talking, but for the most part, you want to keep everything internal. We feel like with the leadership we have, we’re going to continue to do that and hopefully turn this thing around and play how our standard has been for the last two seasons — and play how we know we’re capable of playing.”
