Roquan Smith Talks Defensive Potential for 2025 Ravens Roster | Baltimore Ravens

Roquan Smith Talks Defensive Potential for 2025 Ravens Roster | Baltimore Ravens

At the same time, we still have miles to go in our journey to get to where we’ll be ready to play the kind of football that we need to play early in the season. So, we’ll be working on that, trying to have one great day at a time. Okay. What questions you have? I mean, you hear a lot of the accolades, expectations, people saying best in the NFL. How do you even take that, you know, just expectations? How do you do? I saw all the other people saying we don’t, you know, we’re not this or that or the other. I I noticed those articles more than I noticed anybody that says we’re good. So, I don’t know what maybe that’s a personal issue. But, John, what were your early impressions of Jer Alexander? I mean, came in at the very end of the mini camp, but first practice thought he looked good. I mean, had a heck of a play on the sideline there. uh so important both sides of the ball to make plays on the outside throwing lane that part of the field you know from what we call the red line to the sideline or anything in that area you know games are won and lost in that area it’s your ability to play single high making plays on either side or attacking single high so that’s something that’s going to be a point of emphasis for us I thought our DBs did a real nice job today and we made some nice one or two nice plays at wide receiver too and some good throws so that’s uh that’s important afternoon. Well, we’ve been doing that for quite a few years now and uh most of the games get played in the middle of the afternoon, so it makes the most sense. But also the opportunity to get your guys ready for practice. We found that the guys are more physically prepared for practice uh with some time to prepare for practice, not early in the morning. So, that’s what we’re doing right now. Hey, you can do it a lot of different ways. We’ve done it both ways. I don’t think it’s be all end all either way, but that’s how we’re doing it. Coach three with Todd Mer year two with Lamar and Derek together. What are the expectations for their growth this year? Well, we’re just trying to have a great day, a great day today, you know, and uh we have a lot of u a lot of goals uh in terms of what we’re trying to do specifically with our offense. You know, we’re trying to get better at a thousand different things that apply to what we’re trying to do. And we’re trying to be very intentional about working on the things that are going to apply in games during the season. Practice what we’re going to we’re going to use during the season. And that’s kind of an advantage probably year three going into it where we have a a really good handle on who we are, what our guys are good at and uh our identity, if you want to call it that, the type offense we want to run. So let’s get to work on getting good at it because it’s more about being good at what you do than what you do. If we can be great at what we do, we got a chance to be successful. John adding DeAndre Hopkins to a group of guys coming off great years. Um Mark said it’s going to be really key to be unselfish and talking hammering that point. What what do you kind of see the need for that mentality going out? I mean it’s a team game. You’d like to be able to I I really don’t it’s a Wouldn’t it be an advantage if the defense doesn’t have a real good idea where the ball’s going in any given play at any given time or if you can if you can react to the defense after the ball’s snapped. Uh kind of like if you think about warfare like maybe the Civil War, you know, it’s you got all these lines of battle. maybe we can attack them where their their defense isn’t isn’t displayed quite as strongly and we try to do that with every aspect of our defense. Personnel being one of those things. If you got guys all across the front that can attack effectively, that’s a good thing. You played against Derrick Henry a lot of times and I you’ve seen him for a long time as an opponent now you had him for a year. What’s most impressed you about him in the year that he’s been here? Well, the intangible thing is is the work ethic and the attitude. uh the enthusiasm for the day. I mean, you talk about my dad talks about attacking the day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. I mean, I see that in him every day. And it’s not necessarily in what he says, although he’ll he’ll have fun. It’s what he does, you know, and the way he works at it and and uh how how hard he works to get better, how intentional he is about being the best player he can be. It’s uh that’s that’s his biggest trait, I think. So, it’s rare to have that many players out there helping you to start. You want to try and lock down all the little things, develop chemistry to have everybody out there in the beginning of camp. How’s critical? It’s important. I mean, it’s just we we we try to work hard at that and you don’t control everything, but we’re in a good place with that. We have a couple guys to come back. Uh Jake uh had a had a a non-OT issue with his hand. He had a cut on his hand that’s healing. So, he’ll be back soon, week or so. Uh I think that’s really all we got right now. When you get the energy of camp and having this full roster, 90 plus out here and with the expectations knowing what you want to do this season, do you have to tell guys to dial it back and maybe take it step by step, day by day when you have all this happening? Now, we do talk about step by step, day by day. We want to have one great day at a time. Then we want to within that, we want to have one great meeting at a time. We want to have one great lifting and conditioning session at a time. You know, the guys like to eat, so we should be able to have one great meal at a time, too. you know, uh then one one one period at a time, one series at a time, one play at a time, uh and and then try to finish as strong as we can and be at our best at the end. Just be intentional about all those things and then put that day away and and try to do it again the next day. John, one more. I mean, every year kind of just gets better and better. I mean, the trajectory goes, why why do you think that? What What about Lamar does does his game just a second? Well, I mean, you know, he works really hard at being better and, you know, can’t we all improve? Uh, I I think probably that position, I mean, there’s so much that goes into playing that position. And Lamar’s young. He’s been he’s in his eighth year, yet he’s only 28 years old. You know, I I think that’s pretty rare. So, his his window to improve is pretty big. But, here’s a guy that is first of all, he works really hard. Secondly, he really wants to get better, you know, and he’s already great. He’s not one of these guys that says, “I’m there. I’ve arrived.” He never looks at it that way. He always looks at what can I do to get better. If there’s something that happens on the field, even when it’s not quote unquote his fault, it’s his fault in his mind. What can I do to make it right? And I think he I know he’s done a good job of communicating that with the team as well. You know, uh that kind of mindset. So, uh he’s grown in every way. The kickers um you know, they were pretty good out there. A little one miss between the two guys probably since early. We’ll see how it plays out. what what’s your impressions that you see from how competition play out. I mean with the kickers it’s a process and it’s nobody’s more process than the kickers. It’s more like it’s probably more like golf than any other sport uh in terms of process swing and replicating that time and time again. Making a good kick. Arnold Palmer used to talk about making a good putt. Did I make a good putt? If I made a good putt, whether it goes in or not is not the point. The point is if I make a good putt, I’m gonna give myself the best chance to be successful. We want our guys to learn how to make a good kick over and over again in every circumstance. So that process goes into, you know, when they’re over there on the side, nobody’s paying attention to them. When they bring it over to the team period, when they bring it over to a team situation period, like we did the second period today in practice where they had to run on the field, make a kick. As game like as we can kind of make it now, and then when we take it into the game, replicate the kick every single time, uh, that’s what we’re chasing with those guys. John, how do you approach having 11 rookies this year? Um, especially considering Eric said not all of them will make the team. Uh, well, you know, we’re approaching it to try to coach every guy as best we can and know that all all those guys can help us and it’s not just the draft picks. You know, I think it’s also the undrafted free agents are looking really good as well. So, uh, we don’t really worry about the the outcome on that right now. You know, the more good players we have, the better camp we’re going to have, the the more competition we’ll have, the higher caliber every play will be. That’ll make our team better. We do two more for John. You visited the White House with your brother, obviously political time in the past. Donald Trump has said kind of denigrating how Baltimore. Um, you know, as a prominent representative of Baltimore. Well, how you frame that question? I would frame the question like you got a chance to go visit with the president, man. What was that experience like? It was amazing. It was awesome. And I promise you, I root for our president. You know, I want our president to be successful just like I want I want my quarterback to be successful and I want my team to be successful. Uh and uh and it was it was an amazing experience. You know, it’s it’s not often you get invited and you get a chance to do something like that as a family. You know, we were there, my daughter was there, Jim’s daughters were there, my mom and dad were there. uh my mom and President Trump, you know, was just seeing that the how he treated her was was really meaningful, you know, and that’s the fourth president. Now, Jim met seven. Jim has met seven presidents, so he’s got the lead on me. I think he pointed it out. Did you guys notice that, right? He’s got seven. I got four. So, had a chance to meet President Obama twice. Uh, incredible experience. Had a chance to meet President Biden when he was vice president in Iraq and spent a lot of time with him in Iraq, which was amazing. And then, you know, 24 25 years old, Jim got invited also to the uh White House to meet President Reagan because he was a Heisman Trophy uh candidate and we got to go as a family. So, I met President Reagan have a picture in my office of that. So, those are moments that I definitely cherish and and it means a lot. John, I want to ask about uh Carson Vincent, the rookie. What did you like from him today? Uh you know, I’m a I’m a reg can I can I wait till I see the tape to give you the exact details of it? Oh, there he is standing back there. Oh, see this is setup. Where’s Oh, no. No, he’s not there. I’m sorry. I saw I thought I saw him back. Your face. You look a little bit like Carson back there. Um I don’t know yet. We’ll see. I know this. He’s worked really hard on his strength. I think his lower body strength from the day he got in here till now is is dramatically improved. He always can move his feet. He can bend. And he’s really kind of a physical guy. So, uh didn’t see anything bad. Looked good to me. Once the pads come on, we’ll know more. All right. Thanks. Good. Great. I heard how he’s doing. Huh? Ask Jameson how he’s doing. Roll my ankle. How you do that? Trying to avoid some fans. Damn. Oh, sorry. My bad. My bad. So, how would you say your first uh training camp practice went 2025 went out there? Um, I’m going say it went awesome. You know, just being with my guys. Uh, I pretty much say that every year, but it’s the truth, you know, just being with my teammates, man, and just getting ready for this ride. I believe it’s going to be a great year this year. How are you different? Um, I’m 28. Last year I was 27, so I’m a year older. Yeah, that’s it. A year wiser. That’s all I’m saying. Yeah. along those lines of this is your eighth training camp. When you think back to your first or second training camp, how is your preparation different this time of year? I mean, do you do you try out more things during practice? Do you experiment more with throws you can get away with? Like take us through that a little bit. I mean, I try to like coach M probably get on me a little bit cuz he be wanting me to uh throw the ball certain places, but I’m like sometimes in the game it might not happen the way you know it is in practice. So I pretty much just try to hit passes that I normally might not get in the game. Looks I might not get in the game and I try everything and then sometimes coach let me get away with it. Sometimes he going, you know, he going to coach me. Yeah. Like to have your first practice with since college. I tried him out there today. I tried to get him on a favor with Dehawk. We was a little bit out of bound. We was we was out of bounds a little, but he’s still that guy. J still that guy, man. Come on. Did you know anything different to the point this being your eighth camp? Did you feel anything different like I know you talked about things like that. You do anything different in terms of preparation? Oh, I’ll say I watch more TV. That’s about it. Usually I don’t watch that much TV, but I watch a lot more TV. Movies if that. Yeah. Huh. like ride along, stuff like that. Like comedy movies. I like comedy. I like to laugh. I like action movies, too. But ride along kind of comedy in action a little. So, I got a little bit of both. Yeah. You played some pretty impressive offenses during your time here. So much has been said about the roster construction, and I know it’s early. I know it’s on paper right now, but do you feel like this is one of the best you could have and that’s around you? Uh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Um, I say that every year though. But yeah, man. We got we got a great group of guys, great wide receiving core, great running backs, great tight ends, great offensive line. We got the same guys back. Um, probably one guy missing out the old line. Um, defense is looking incredible as always. Man, we looking great on paper like I said, but we going to see when the time comes. Now, third year with Todd Monk, how how important is that when you take the field today? You know, you know, you know each other. Yeah, pretty much. Um, I’m pretty much knowing what coach thinks and like I just said earlier, you know, I pretty much try different things. So, he going to he going to coach me, you know, he want me to do certain things what he has designed. Um, just got to follow suit and and it’s pretty good, you know. Um, just pick it back off of each other is great. It’s great to do. I think everyone says Ranger should be you guys. Why is there a reason? Can you tell just maybe this one maybe a reason why you think this year might be might be the year? Um, I’m to be honest, I’m really not trying to think that far, you know, cuz every time we have those discussions, man, we we get to the playoffs, but we know we don’t punch in. We don’t finish. So, I’m pretty much just trying to finish camp the correct way and then get ready for the Bills. I’m not really trying to think about, you know, the Super Bowl yet. How do you evaluate individual success for yourself? How do you evaluate yourself year to year? Do you kind of go back and rewatch film or is it solely based on team decisions? How do you just evaluate Lamar from year to year? I pretty much I pretty much go back and see like what went wrong in the in the games we lost and and see how I can get better, you know, see my mistakes. See what we could have did better as a team. See what I could have did better individually and just go from there. Did you evaluate yourself from last year? What do you think? I did all right. I did all right. Could have did better. I feel so I think a lot of people look at last year and say, gosh, how how could you play any better than Lamar played last year? In your mind, is is there another level for you still? Yeah, I’m only 28. I’m really just getting started for real. Yeah. To the stadium, back to the facility. I love it. Got the fans out here. Focus on football right now. I’m not, you know, I’m not worried about that right now. You know, that happened. It is what it is. Focus on this right now. What do you make of what’s happening with the NFL PA? I’m making up what happening right here on this field with my guys trying to get better, trying to win games. To that to that point, last time we saw you talking about the turnovers. How do you like some of that’s just obviously a chance? Is that something? How do you go about working? Just hold on to the ball, man. Uh how many interceptions I throw in regular season? Like four. Four, five. Sorry, Jameson. Why you got to give me an extra one, man? Yeah, man. That’s crazy, man. You like five or something. But anyways, yeah. Uh, man, just hold on to the ball cuz we did a pretty good job. We played the Steelers, man. You know, in the playoffs, we it just happened, you know, first snowing game. Not trying to get out an excuse, but that’s the first no game. Things happen, bro. It happens, man. It’s football. Things meant to happen, you know. It’s God time. It’s not my time. Because if it my time, we would have had seven Super Bowls in a row already. You know, real talk. You talked about different things that you’re trying to do in training camp, whether it’s add weight or lose weight or be be more vocal, all different things. Is there anything this year in camp and this season that you’re really focused on? Everything, man. Whatever it takes to get my team to that to that ticket, you know, to that to that big dance, but got to take care now, you know, take care of camp, get better in camp each and every day. That’s all I’m focused on. a lot of talk about. You know what I’m saying? You embrace that though the way that fans been out there. Um I to be honest with you, I really don’t worry about the media, you know? It’s pretty much the fan base and my teammates, you know? Um like how how everyone else feel, you know? Um they I’m wrecking with these guys, these guys working with me, and it’s like we getting there, but we’re not finishing. How can we get better, you know? But how can we make the the Baltimore City um even more happier? You know, we having regular season success. We making it to the playoffs, but we got to get to that dance like I said, and it starts here. Played a lot more slot today and and with DOP in the fold, obviously could move him inside a little more. What does that do for your offense and for him potentially, do you think him being able to play a little bit more inside? Man, our offense is I I I believe our offense has no limits because we got guys that can play any position, you know, like you just said, like Ze going a slide, got dehop outside, bait outside, man. It’s it’s it’s no roof. You know, the sale is unlimited, you know, for our guys. And I really don’t want to get our offense away. You pretty much just put Z on the spot, put me on the spot. We going to keep it under the radar until teams got to see us. Uh, for one, DeHop is a pro. All pros, Hall of Famer, you know, um, one of the greatest in the league ever. Um, so him just being a new audition going to make my job a lot easier. And me just being older and and being in the league eight years now, um, everything just pretty much just backhand. like I know everything like the back of my hand and I’m I’m knowing what I’m seeing out there for coverage wise, a coverage standpoint. He he just getting with me, you know, it’s it’s like it’s going to be bread and butter when the time comes, but for right now, we just grinding, you know, it’s going to be a grind the first day and it’s great, you know. It’s a great process. It’s a great process and I it’s a learning process for both of us. Blow your mind at it. They do because it happened so fast. I remember just walking in the locker room and talking to Lavine, Anthony Lavine, and it was like he telling me like, “Man, you going to be one of the ones and I’m I’m don’t get me wrong, I’m I’m I’m looking up to him cuz like, you know, he’s a vet, a co- cap, man, it was dope for him to speak to me, you know, just me being a rookie and n year eight and then the way he said it’s like the everything happened so fast like a whirlwind for me, you know? pretty much just score on our defense cuz we got one of the best defenses in the league and if we can put points on our defense or move the ball on our defense, I feel like we having a lot of success. Two more plays are uh heading one of the season against Buffalo the way last season ended in. Have you kind of had a circle on the calendar for week one since they released the schedule? How have you been preparing for that? You know, I’m like I said, you know, I’m starting here, you know, starting with camp. I’m trying to get better in camp, trying to get me and my guys on the same page, you know, build chemistry much as we could for when that time comes. You know, I’m not worried about them because obviously we got to play on week one and there’s no shine away from that. You know, we already know we’re ahead of just focus on now. Good. Appciate Hey D, can you share with us the experience you had uh with Adam Sandler and upcoming movie and what it mean to you to uh hit the two 2K in order to make a movie with him? Yeah, it was really cool. um very appreciative and thankful they got opportunity. Shout out to Netflix and Adam and the whole Netflix team uh inviting me and um getting me there to be able to meet Adam who’s a down to earth guy. Um really cool, chill guy. Uh a surreal moment for me for sure. So very cool man. Is that the motivation? I mean I mean no not really. Um, you know, I kind of try to keep it focused on the team aspect. If it’s meant to be for me, it it’ll be. But, um, you know, I got to meet Adam Sandler, you know, my my favorite actor. So, that was, uh, you know, surreal moment for me. And, um, you know, just just blessed to get the opportunity. What’s the best? That’s hard. It’s too many. Um, I got a list. I like Big Daddy, Click, Mr. Deeds. Um, I think I think those are my top three, but I could go on and on about his movies. I’m I’m a I’m a huge Adam Sandler fan. Uh, Adam Sand show today that you don’t need to hit 20,000 to to get the movie. I mean, like, have the terms changed? Are you expecting to be in regardless of what you do this season? I mean, I’m I’m not expecting anything, you know, for me to even get there and be able to meet him and have that whole experience. Um, you know, really I was just, you know, telling Dan Patrick, you know, just tell Adam, you know, he’s my favorite actor. Uh, just just out of love and, you know, it turned into all of that, which I’m really appreciative of. But for me to get there and be able to meet him, you know, that have been good enough. You know, he wants to put me in the movie, I’d be happy as hell, too. But, um, yeah, this a, uh, a cool moment, um, that I’ll never forget. You come out of high school. My understanding is a lot of colleges say you’re just too big to be running. What do you remember of that and how much did it motivate you? Um they might have kept that to themselves but um they never really told me much about it. Um maybe they had ideas but I was stuck on playing running back. I know that’s why I wanted to play. I knew that you know I wanted an opportunity when I go when I went into college and um that that’s what I was I was focused on. I mean, I know the the norm wasn’t my size of of running backs, you know, coming around these days, but um I was determined. That’s what I played since I was a kid, and that’s what I wanted to do. Your room with you guys was obviously very impressive with the production you guys had. How much room is there for to grow and what can be especially not just with Lamar, the chemistry, with hot, the whole thing running back? Yeah, there’s always room to grow, room to improve, and that’s why you have training camp the offseason to focus on those things and continue to hound on those things, hold each other accountable um on the field in meetings. Um leaders step up, guys pushing each other each and every day on all three phases uh of the ball. And um I think that’s what we focus on, growth, getting better every day, making each other better every day, and see where it takes us. with your training reg to the same thing. Like I said, if it ain’t ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So, I keep doing my same thing. to the roster. Talk about playing at the bar. What’s your head look around? So much talent. They added a couple guys, Dehop and other guys off season. I’m just curious if you ever go out and take that into something level. Yeah, I mean it’s always cool to building a team with high caliber players who have incredible talent, but I think you got to put the work in. Um, you know, everybody can look good in the jersey and don’t have the big name, but you know, it’s about the work you put in, the chemistry you build on the field each and every day, pushing each other to get each other better, just so when we get to the season, we’re cooking on all cylinders. But you know we we all more interested in the work than you know all the hype and you know what it looks like reaction when you hear what’s Yeah’s like a brother I played with him in Tennessee so you know we know each other everywhere. Um and you know just just chatting it up. Um just we happy to be back together playing football, being out here and um you know just building chemistry with one another. What’s your what’s your reaction when you hear pundits and so forth talk about age 30 being some sort of fault line to running racks production drop? Well, I’m 31 now, so the age 30 thing is should be gone now. Um, I don’t worry about it too much. Uh, just focus on how I can be a be a better teammate, be a better player for this organization, and um uh play at a high level to help this team go where it wants to go and um just come in and do my job every day the best way I can. Derek, a year ago at training camp, you were still learning the offense and and how everything operates. Now that you’ve had a year under your belt and you know how it operates, how does that change your focus, if at all in training camp this year? Yeah, I mean, of course, uh being having a year under my belt, you you’re a lot familiar uh with uh the the offense, but there’s still room to grow, still room to improve, still room to learn. And you know, that’s what I’m trying to focus on. How can I improve being a year under this offense and get better than I was last year? Derek, last year to start the year with a lot of uh turnover on the offensive line. Obviously, a lot of those sitting back brought back a lot of continuity. Does that give you, I guess, optimism that you guys can get off to that fast start that you wanted to last year? I mean, I think the main focuses right now is being out here in training camp and putting the work in and and getting better and then letting that transition. I don’t want to look too far ahead and say too much, but you know, just being present right now. um focus on what we need to do out here on the field just so when we get in the season um we doing what we supposed to do to get what we want Mitchell is back and healthy just from your perspective what do you see from Katon in the practice field he was flying got that speed back um that everybody knows him for he worked hard um throughout last year to to get back and it’s good to see his feet back under him and um you know he he’s fun around I think he’s back to the old Katon of being fast, being super sonic, and being wink, and um being his normal self. So happy to see him get his feet back on him and being healthy. And know he’s going to help us a lot this year. Here we are. Take away from last season and anything you want to take and say, “All right, this is what I want to get better at.” Uh, I just say control what you can control and uh just doing my best. That’s all it is. I feel like if I do that, uh, everything else will take care of itself. Nobody said something maybe about the safety play this year. Safety’s weren’t disarray. At the end of the day, it’s we all one unit at the end of the day. So, one fall, we all fall. Uh can’t point fingers at anything like that. And I’m just more so focused on this season. Last year is in the past for a reason. And it’s about more so controlling what we can control and going out here right now and taking care of business. How much improved does this defense look to you? Yeah, I think on paper don’t mean much though. It’s all about what you do on the field. So today was a great start for us. Uh the start of training camp uh felt like we got after it had a great day. Um so that’s all we can do is just you know focus on the focus on the plan not the end goal. Last year was year one for Zack Morris defensive coordinator. Did you two get together and talk about what you think year two should look like and what were some of the pain points? I think that that like worked itself out throughout the uh season and uh we obviously seen that and it was just like something that was uh understood uh not necessarily needed to be explained in a sense but uh definitely can see the uh level of comfortability from him u how he see things and you know it’s like at the end of the day you know first year but he’s like a rookie at the end of the day but uh I got all the respect for uh Zo uh all the confidence in Zo and I know that we’re going to be a darn good defense uh under uh Zo, was there anything that was a specific area of focus for you over the course of the offseason to getting ready for the season? Um, more so just making sure my body is good, staying healthy, and more so coming into camp healthy, staying healthy throughout and just like cuz when I’m that obviously I put out great film, what all pro last year I think maybe, but obviously we didn’t get to uh where we needed to personally, but it is what it is. Rocoan Tren more so sorry Trent Simpson this year heading into a little probably positional battle he’s got to prove himself what have you seen out of him and his growth from last year yeah I think Trent’s Trent’s taking a big step uh like mentally physically the dude looks like a Greek god uh him and uh 40 uh both man them boys them boys are yolked up I was like I never looked like that like whatever plan they own on I probably need to look into it but I leave that to them. But, uh, at the end of the day, yeah, he looks really good. He’s matured a lot. Uh, I think he’s going to take, well, I know he’s going to take the, uh, big step, and I’m excited to see him, uh, just prove to himself play in and play out, game in and game out. How excited are you about Jaier Alexander joining the defense now? Yeah, I think that’s a great addition for us. Uh, I remember coming out of college with that guy in 2018 and, uh, guys been playing great ball for a long time. um just to have that addition on our defense. Uh I think it’s very special and obviously we got a we have a loaded secondary. So, but it’s not about paper, it’s about what you do out on the field and I know those guys know that as well. So, we’re excited about the opportunity to continue to keep getting better uh with each other and knowing that the sky’s is the limit and we just have to uh keep chopping away. Teddy, other than being yolked up, what what do you like about the rookie? What do you see out of him? Yeah. No, he’s he’s well advanced for a rookie. Yeah, Teddy. Uh, mentally, obviously, physically, but just the way he processed things, like even throughout the springtime, just like I know I as a rookie, luckily I played in a defense very similar, so it was kind of like a little head start for me, but just the way things click for him mentally. And then obviously with two coaching, um, the way he is breaking things down, I think it’s uh, very special. And I think he’s going to be a really good player in this league. This team is used to having high expectations. It’s kind of the same thing again this year. Does it feel any different, I guess, with the off season that they’ve had and you guys have had and how you continue to get close. Does it feel like the expectations are any different this year than years past? I think the expectations are high here ever since the Ravens been an organization. Ever since I’ve been born and known of the Baltimore Ravens, but at the end of the day, you can’t focus with the outside stuff. It’s just more so about the people that’s in this building each and every day cuz that’s what truly matter and that’s who you truly have to answer to like your brothers who you’re going out there to war with. Because at the end of the day, that’s who you have regardless of what may happen here or there. At the end of the day, we only have each other and you just got to focus on that day in and day out, play in and play out and do it for one another. Ro, you just said it. I mean, you guys have a ton of talented, versatile defensive backs. In light of that, do you think there’s going to be a lot of times this year where you’re the only inside linebacker on the field? I guess that’s up for uh Zo’s and uh for you guys to I guess maybe type some things out and give some more clickbait uh or something like that cuz we’re we’re a special unit and there’s 20 guys that can really play out there. So like I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of different combination whether that’s linebackers, safeties, DNS, dackles, or whatever the case may be there. There’s probably the most talented defense that uh I’ve like been on. So I’m excited about the opportunity uh to get out here with these guys and go to work. Bro, you mentioned the offseason focus on on fitness and your body and stuff. Did you want to get a little bit slimmer or was there any kind of specific goals for you this offseason? Uh coming coming to camp and uh pretty good shape uh like I try to do uh always and I think that was just more so the plan and uh eating better and just more so focusing on that day in day in and day out. I think that’s like the main thing and just taking care of yourself more so uh in the offseason too and taking care of the things that needs to be taken care of like not let letting just letting things linger in a sense. I know you spent a lot of time with Trenton this off seasonason. You said you two were were pretty much connected the whole offseason. Why was it so important for you to take that time to be with him? Yeah. No, it was it was awesome just being with him. Um great dude, man. Like he he’s the type of guy you want to like marry your sister in a sense if I Yeah. So it’s like he’s he’s that type of guy truly a great dude. Someone who you always want there like alongside of you and just like getting to know him just knowing how he roll. He’s like one of those dudes you’re like man what a special guy. And that’s just like off the field and on the field obviously he’s a special talent. Like last year was like a rookie year for him because obviously didn’t play uh the year the first year with PQ being here and stuff. So, I just think the step that he’s going to take this upcoming season, I’m very excited to uh actually see it and I’m excited for him to show everyone as well because he got a lot of potential and it’s just just awesome being able to just break bread with him. Got a couple of the leaders on the team today. What do you think today? How would you like to be progressing out? Yeah. No, absolutely. I thought it was I thought it was a great it was a great message that we sent to ourselves more so cuz that’s more so the mission sending it to ourselves and just knowing what we’re about day in and day out. And I felt like today when we went out there we truly got better uh despite the like the little heat or whatever like that. And you know at the end of the day everybody has the plan to be the best team around this time. Everybody’s saying the same thing. Oh, we’re going to horse this, do that. But it’s more so about the plan and like getting there. And I felt like we put a foot in the right direction on the big picture plan and not just like talked about it. you a couple months now with with coach Sanushi. Uh what’s impressed you about him as a teacher and as a communicator? Yeah. No, I think he’s really a really good teacher and uh I think it goes back to probably coaching uh in college as long as he’s dead, which I think he’s a really good teacher uh able to uh break things down for the guys uh and like in the simplest terms and like you know have your guys and technique as well. That’s a big thing of his. So I think he’s a great addition to the staff. I’m excited to continue to keep to getting to know him, getting to know him and just what he’s all about. I know he’s a great dude and yeah, I have a lot of ton of respect for him. Has it changed at all from the summer like offseason mode? Is that kind of getting ready for the season or does it stay the same? Yeah. No, it pretty much it pretty much stays the same like throughout. Yeah. How about Huh. Go to training camp? Uh whatever they have in the calf. You ever been in? Seen a little bit. Oh, so you haven’t been in? No. Uh well, you got to go in. Maybe check it out one day. of

Inside linebacker Roquan Smith on the addition of Jaire Alexander, standout young talent on the defense, and more.

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