A Ravens coach referred to as Patrick Queen the morning of June 21 with devastating information: Jaylon Ferguson, a teammate for the previous two years, a good friend who’d grown up simply 25 minutes away of their native Louisiana, had died hours earlier.
“I was just sitting there shocked and broke out crying, really, and then I still couldn’t grasp it,” Queen, a third-year inside linebacker, mentioned. “It took me, probably, a good, two, three days just to calm down and be able to accept it. But it’s still tough.”
With the Ravens reunited in Owings Mills for coaching camp, Queen, his teammates and their coaches are strolling a difficult emotional tightrope: reckoning with the lingering trauma of Ferguson’s sudden passing whereas getting ready for a pivotal 2022 season, all amid questions over star quarterback Lamar Jackson’s unsure future in Baltimore.
In a gathering forward of the Ravens’ first full-team observe Wednesday, coach John Harbaugh addressed Ferguson’s loss of life in particular person along with his crew for the primary time. He mentioned he advised his gamers “that the only thing I can think to say is that I really don’t know what to say.”
Ferguson, 26, a fourth-year outdoors linebacker and father of three, was discovered unresponsive in a North Baltimore residence lower than per week after the Ravens completed their necessary minicamp and departed for a summer time hiatus. An post-mortem discovered Ferguson died by chance from the mixed results of fentanyl and cocaine, in accordance with a spokesman for the Maryland medical expert’s workplace.
Harbaugh, who in 2016 additionally handled the loss of life of Ravens cornerback Tray Walker, mentioned the crew has made grief counselors accessible, however “everybody handles it in their own way.”
Queen mentioned he needs to recollect the “good things” about Ferguson’s life and legacy. Veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell mentioned he hopes the Ravens can present Ferguson’s household simply how a lot he was appreciated in Baltimore; the crew is planning to honor Ferguson this season, presumably on its uniforms.
“You do the best you can with it,” Harbaugh mentioned at his information convention Wednesday. “But our hearts are always going to grieve for Jaylon; they’re always going to go out to [his fiancee] Doni [Smith] and the family. And that’s kind of where it’s at.”
Campbell referred to as Ferguson’s passing “hard for all of us.” When he reported for camp together with different veterans, conversations with teammates turned to the participant affectionately referred to as “Sack Daddy,” a nickname that nodded to his defensive prowess in school.
“You definitely have that sense that you lost a really good friend, a person that you cared about,” Campbell mentioned. “It’s positively nonetheless laborious, however I feel that it’s one thing that we now have to sort of handle as a crew. I do know {that a} bunch of fellows need to do one thing for him this yr, and for his household, to point out our appreciation for his friendship and to attempt to assist his household out. …
“That’s one of those things where it’s heartbreaking, and you just pray for his family and try to make sure that whatever we can do to help each other through the process, we try to do it as a group. But it’s something that I’ll probably think about every day this season.”
Ferguson’s loss of life surprised teammates, who a day after his passing recalled latest locker room conversations they’d had with the 2019 third-round draft choose.
Ari Miller, a licensed skilled counselor who serves as Johns Hopkins’ assistant director of student-athlete psychological well being and efficiency, mentioned shedding a teammate “really feels like a loss of a family member.” Miller, who’s labored with groups reeling from a sudden loss of life, mentioned it’s essential that gamers really feel snug accessing their emotions of loss. In settings the place gamers are discouraged from being “open and honest” about their grief, Miller mentioned, it may be tough to course of tragedy.
“Social support and being able to feel — that is an essential piece to moving through the grieving process. And experiencing loss together can sometimes help with that,” Miller mentioned in an interview. “That sense of group and coming collectively in that means is basically helpful.
“Training camp or practice or something that’s already planned for a team can aid that. It can be really helpful for coaches and teammates just to be physically together to emotionally support each other and to move through this as a unit, as a family. I think it can be really productive. Sometimes that common goal that a team works toward unifies them, regardless of a tragedy, and I think that dynamic can really help with a healthy, natural process of experiencing loss.”
The Ravens have already made clear one purpose for his or her 2022 season: Get to the playoffs. Undercut by accidents all final season, the crew fell wanting the postseason for the primary time since 2017. Campbell, 35, who re-signed with the Ravens in April for an additional shot on the Super Bowl, mentioned the crew’s dreary end final yr — six straight losses that knocked the Ravens from the highest of the AFC to a disappointing 8-9 file and last-place end within the AFC North — left “a bad taste in your mouth the whole offseason.”
The greatest query in Baltimore, although, is the way forward for Jackson, the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player and one of many league’s greatest stars.
Despite a disappointing 2021, Jackson entered camp in line for by far the largest contract in franchise historical past. He resumed negotiations with basic supervisor Eric DeCosta on the Ravens’ June minicamp, and a latest megadeal for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray — a five-year extension value $46.1 million yearly, together with $105 million totally assured upon signing — might function a baseline for additional talks.
Jackson, who advised reporters Thursday that he’s nonetheless optimistic about reaching a take care of the Ravens, is getting into the ultimate yr of his rookie contract. He’s additionally representing himself in negotiations, a rarity amongst NFL gamers. Jackson mentioned there can be a “cutoff” in some unspecified time in the future within the contract talks, although he didn’t specify when. He’s declined to say whether or not he’d be prepared to play this season and not using a deal accomplished.
“It’s obviously a very strange situation for everybody else, including me,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey mentioned. “But whenever I talk to him, he’s always like, ‘I’ll get it done when it gets done.’ So, for some reason, people can’t really believe that. But all the guys on the team know that’s kind of true, and when he feels like he wants to do that, he’ll do it.”
The Ravens nonetheless have six weeks earlier than their Sept. 11 season opener to care for enterprise. Their preseason schedule kicks off in Baltimore on Aug. 11, and coaching camp closes to followers on Aug. 17. The crew’s final spherical of roster cuts can be made Aug. 30.
In Owings Mills, the Ravens have made an uncommon camp really feel like enterprise as ordinary. On one observe subject Wednesday, the crew’s outdoors linebackers labored by means of pass-rushing drills. On one other, Jackson related with receivers on downfield throws as followers clapped in delight. Harbaugh moved from station to station, checking in with gamers and coaches as they labored by means of a moist afternoon observe. Their work was simply getting began.
“It never actually gets easier, but at the same time, you know it’s coming, and you just do it,” proper guard Kevin Zeitler mentioned. “Before you know it, it will be over, and then we’ll be on to the season, which is where the fun really starts. So bring it on.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com