Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton told reporters on Wednesday that he learned of his former coach's firing while playing video games.
As he and other Ravens see it, the 2026 season is anything but a game.
"The standard has not been met and upheld," Hamilton said on Wednesday as the Ravens begin their offseason workout program, via The Athletic. "We need to fix that."
Baltimore has routinely carried Super Bowl ambitions into every season since the arrival and ascension of quarterback Lamar Jackson, yet the Ravens have only reached the conference title game once, which resulted in a stunning loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 season. Since then, they've declined, falling in the Divisional Round to the Bills after winning the AFC North in 2024 and missing the playoffs entirely in 2025.
The most recent result led to John Harbaugh's unceremonious dismissal after 18 seasons at the helm. With a change in leadership came a reality check for the Ravens, as demonstrated by Hamilton's concise summary of where the franchise currently stands.
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Fortunately, Baltimore still has Jackson at the center of its plans. The same is true of Hamilton, although the Ravens would be wise to build a stronger defensive unit in 2026 in order to avoid so being exceptionally dependent on Hamilton to bail them out of bad situations as they did too often in 2025.
Jackson has his own demons to exorcise. Despite winning two NFL MVP Awards and narrowly missing out on a third in 2024, the quarterback is still without the most coveted prize of all and has yet to lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl appearance, serving as the face of a club that is also uncomfortably occupied by Buffalo star QB Josh Allen.
With new head coach Jesse Minter in charge and the fresh air of a reset filling the building, Jackson's teammates believe their quarterback, who was present for the start of voluntary workouts on Tuesday, is more prepared than ever to finally deliver on his potential.
"He's ready. He's always ready, probably more so this year," receiver Zay Flowers said on Wednesdy, per The Athletic. "We want to finish. We want to get a ring."
A former Ravens lieutenant, current Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, proved it's possible to take over a new team and lead them to the NFL's mountaintop in 2025. Baltimore is hoping the same is true for Minter, another product of the Harbaugh coaching tree with a bright future ahead of him.
The expectation has already been set. Now, it's time to follow through.