Bad news rocked Ravens Nation yesterday, as the team announced that upon further examination of Jimmy Smith’s foot by team doctors and officials, it was revealed that he would need season-ending surgery.
Losing Smith doesn’t just affect the secondary; it affects the entire Ravens defense. They’ll all have to pitch in a little bit more knowing opposing quarterbacks will be heavily focused on exposing the questionable pass defense.
Rookie linebacker C.J. Mosley understands the importance of raising his level of play in pass coverage to overcome the adversity the Ravens are facing heading into Week 10.
“This past game was a great test for me,” Mosley remarked earlier this week. “I had a few plays where I was in man coverage on [Le’Veon] Bell. They have guys play bad leverage on them, so you just have to learn every game.
“For this practice, when I had the chance to be the man on the running back, I tried to make sure I kept my eyes on it and played low. I just have to try to get better every day. It just comes down to technique, pretty much.”
The former Alabama standout is gaining a lot of attention for his play on the field through nine games. Grading website Pro Football Focus has the rookie rated as the top inside linebacker (+12.4) in the NFL.
In coverage this season, Mosley has been targeted 50 times allowing 40 receptions (80%), for 281 yards including 193 YAC, per PFF.
For rookies like Mosley, adjusting to the speed of the game in the NFL takes getting used to. With every snap experience is gained, as Dean Pees alluded to yesterday following practice in reference to C.J. improving in coverage.
“I think probably what he’s alluding to is the fact that in college ball,” Pees explained, “it’s not really a drop-back game anymore. Everything is kind of off the option read, some play-actions and all this kind of stuff. And I think that him getting used to just route concepts on, ‘OK, when this guy does this, my eyes go to here,’ and then you multiply that times 10 different coverages.”
“To me, with C.J., he has all the talent, all the knowledge [and] all that stuff. Now it’s just a matter of the more he sees it, the better he’ll be. That’s true of any linebacker. Whether it is the run scheme or the pass scheme, the more you see something … You can go and ask Ray [Lewis] or [Tedy] Bruschi or any of those guys: The first couple of years, it just all of the sudden becomes second-hat – especially in coverage, because they’re just not used to all the concepts that you see at this level. And he’ll get better just the more he does them, the more he sees them, even out here in practice.”
With some bigger-name quarterbacks still left on the schedule, the Ravens will certainly need all hands on deck to adjust for life without Jimmy Smith for the remainder of the season.
For Mosley, he knows there will be bumps along the way, but he will continue to strive to improve each and every day.
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