Ready to rise up
With spot on NFL’s Top 100, Humphrey looks to receivers to help him get better
Marlon Humphrey’s debut this week on the NFL’s Top 100 list as voted by the players earned the Ravens starting cornerback some gentle ribbing from his coaches.
“They asked me today if there were 91 guys better than me,” the 2017 first-round selection said with a smile after the team’s first day of training camp Wednesday. “We’ll see, but any sort of ranking that players put out, it’s always an honor.”
The honor would seem deserving after a 2022 season in which the 27-year-old Humphrey started all 17 games, tied a career high with three interceptions and made 71 tackles en route to earning his third Pro Bowl invitation. And his reputation continues to precede him.
During Wednesday’s opening practice, quarterbacks Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley, Josh Johnson and Anthony Brown rarely tested Humphrey, opting instead to target other options on the field. Coach John Harbaugh noticed the light traffic in Humphrey’s direction.
“Yes, maybe they were throwing away from him,” he said. “You’ll have to ask the quarterbacks and coach [Todd] Monken [the team’s offensive coordinator]. But I think Marlon is in great shape. He’s a hardworking guy, and I think he’s really determined to have a great season.”
With a chuckle, Jackson later promised to challenge Humphrey, who said he welcomes the work. The latter said the Ravens’ wide receiver group headlined by Rashod Bateman, Odell Beckham Jr. and rookie first-round choice Zay Flowers is a talented unit that will help him in his quest to improve his abilities in the defense’s press coverages.
“For me, the good thing about having really good wide receivers is, a lot of different releases, a lot of different speeds, a lot of different tempos,” he said. “I want to get back to winning in press man, winning in the first 5 yards. I think I can stop anybody, I think I can run with anybody, but I want to make my job a lot easier at the line of scrimmage. So [I’ve been] trying to get in front of Zay, Odell, Bateman, [James] Proche, trying to get in front of these guys and trying to get hands on them. I really want to try to make these guys better, but also get myself better as well.”
Humphrey credited the arrival of defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson with giving him an assist. While he continues to rue the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to sign cornerback Darius Slay to a two-year extension (“Should’ve been a Raven,” Humphrey grumbled), he said Wilson, a former Maryland safety who coached the Eagles’ defensive backs in 2021 and 2022, has been a complementary fit with pass game coordinator and secondary coach Chris Hewitt.
“Coming into this year, we want to be the best secondary in the league, and I think Coach Chris elevated his game, and the players elevated their game,” he said of the secondary. “Everyone in the room, we decided, ‘Let’s all step up, let’s all take a step up.’ I think Coach Dennard was the perfect piece to that pie to make it full.”
The 6-foot, 201-pound Humphrey looks his usual trim self. But one new addition to his attire on Wednesday was a Guardian cap on his helmet.
Designed to reduce the impact of physical contact that can lead to head injuries, the soft Guardian cap is usually worn by offensive and defensive linemen, running backs and linebackers. Humphrey appeared to be the only member of the Ravens secondary to don one.
Why? Humphrey said he wore it after he told 6-1, 238-pound running back Gus Edwards, whose locker is next to Humphrey’s, that he planned to prepare him for the season by tackling him during training camp.
“It was really just talk, but now that I’ve got the cap on, I guess I’ve got to stick to my word,” he said.