Baltimore Ravens' Kyle Van Noy, coming off 9 sack season, becoming a defensive leader

BALTIMORE - Baltimore Ravens pass rusher Kyle Van Noy has a better grasp of the defense this season, and this is coming off a nine-sack season in 2023.

He was signed by the Ravens mid-season a year ago, played 14 games, and established himself in a needed role of putting pressure on the quarterback.

After re-signing in the offseason, Van Noy feels comfortable with his teammates and the playbook.

"There are a lot of differences," Van Noy said. "I know the playbook, my teammates, the expectations, the standards."

The Ravens led the NFL with 60 sacks last season, and Van Noy's presence was one of the reasons.

With a full training camp under his belt, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh sees Van Noy as one of his defensive leaders.

"I think he's enjoyed being here from the beginning," Harbaugh said. "You come in here once the season has begun and you are trying to play catch-up with the defensive schemes, but also the relationships. Now he's one of the guys. Everybody knows him, respects him and he's definitely a leader. He knows the defense very well and is practicing really hard."

 Van Noy wasn't involved in training camp last season.

But this year, he's out with his teammates at the practice facility in Owings Mills.

"I'm here so I'm going to do what I have to do to get better," Van Noy said. "We are getting better as a unit, just the growth from the first day on the field to where we are now...you can see a huge difference."

Van Noy is entering his 11th season since he was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of BYU.

He has 500 career tackles, 42.5 sacks, 12 forced fumbles, nine fumble recoveries, three interceptions, and two Super Bowl championships.

This season, Van Noy is mainly focusing on playing on the ball, meaning he is a full-go at attacking the opposing quarterbacks.

"I haven't played on the ball like this for very long," Van Noy said. "Out of my 11 years now, this will be year three that I solely haven't had to worry about playing middle linebacker with the green dot. There's not as much communication and I'm just focusing on my task and opportunity to win a one-on-one and getting better at it."

Dodging injury disaster

It sounds like the Ravens have dodged injury disaster.

Head coach John Harbaugh says rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins's injury is not serious. It also doesn't sound like there is major concern about safety Kyle Hamilton who injured his leg in practice on Sunday.

Wide receiver Rashod Bateman, who had missed time last week due to a rib injury, was back on the practice field on Monday.

The Ravens' pass rush is also getting healthier throughout camp.

It appears that the Ravens are waiting for the doctors to David Ojabo to play. TJ Tampa, a rookie cornerback from Iowa State, made his training camp debut on Monday. He started training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list following hernia surgery. 

Veteran Kyle Van Noy says as a group the pass rushers are getting better and it helps when you are working against quarterback Lamar Jackson, the reigning MVP, each day in practice.

"It's fun to go against a top quarterback like that every day to get better," Van Noy said.

The Ravens play host to the Atlanta Falcons at noon on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.

They open the season on Sept. 5 at the Kansas City Chiefs, the team the Ravens lost to in the AFC Championship Game last season.