The surging Baltimore Ravens are getting set to take on the Seattle Seahawks next weekend, and Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith is already warning the Seahawks that his team will be well prepared.
“We’re some angry birds over this way, so we’re gonna definitely express that on Sunday,” Smith said on The Vault: A Daily Ravens Podcast. “We’re pissed off about how this last game played out. … We have to defend our turf by any means necessary.”
Smith was referring to the Ravens’ sloppy Week 8 win over the Arizona Cardinals, where Baltimore built a 24-7 lead but ultimately had to hang on for a 31-24 victory.
The Ravens’ offense only amassed 268 yards on the afternoon in spite of the Cardinals ranking just 26th in the NFL in defense. Also, their defense gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Smith logged 11 tackles on the day.
On the season overall, Smith has totaled 82 tackles, 1.5 sacks and five passes defended.
The 26-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of Georgia, was originally selected by the Chicago Bears with the eighth overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft.
He spent the first four-and-a-half years of his career with the Bears before being traded to the Ravens in the middle of last season.
While Roquan Smith has always been a force defensively, he didn’t really get recognition until last year, when he made his first Pro Bowl as well as earn his first First-Team All-Pro selection after racking up 169 tackles, 4.5 sacks, three interceptions and six passes defended.
He posted very similar numbers in his final full season in Chicago, rattling off 163 tackles, three sacks, an interception and a defensive touchdown.
Baltimore has won three games in a row and is now 6-2. It sits atop the AFC North standings.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks are 5-2 and are in first place in the AFC West.
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