Dre'Mont Jones and Joe Burrow were teammates at Ohio State, so they don't pull punches when it comes to trash talk.
After Jones got five of the 10 quarterback hits on Burrow in Sunday's 24-0 shutout victory, the Ravens outside linebacker let Burrow know about it.
The Ravens' pass rush ramped up the pressure Sunday. Despite blitzing just three times (6.8% of the snaps), Baltimore had a 31.8% pressure rate. Jones was a big part of the success, as he played his best game yet in purple and had the defense's third-highest Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade (80.1).
Entering Sunday, Jones generated 14 pressures on 140 pass rushes over five games since joining the Ravens at the trade deadline, according to Next Gen Stats, which is tied for the most among all Ravens defenders in that span.
"I got five QB hits because we have guys who all can rush [the passer], and I can rush myself," Jones said. "I studied my tail off for this week, just because I wasn't happy about how I played last game [against the Bengals]."
The return of outside linebacker Tavius Robinson from a foot injury that sidelined him since Oct. 12 also helped spark the Ravens' pass rush.
Robinson notched a sack that drove the Bengals out of field-goal range on their opening drive. He also applied the pressure on Burrow's game-sealing pick-six, coming up the middle to make Burrow stumble as he threw. Robinson played 34 snaps (45%).
"After I got the sack, I ran out the field, hugged all the trainers that were with me from Day One when I said, 'Look, I'm going to be annoying. I'm going to be in here as many hours as possible to get this foot right,'" Robinson said. "I lost my voice yelling so much. I was trying to juice up the guys and all that."
Here are other takeaways from the PFF grades and snap counts:
- It was keeping up with the Joneses, as defensive Travis Jones had one of his strongest games of the season just days after signing a three-year contract extension. Jones was credited with four pressures.
- Safety Ar'Darius Washington played 15 snaps in his debut, just seven months after tearing his Achilles. Washington played eight snaps at slot corner, four at free safety, and three in the box, per PFF. He made two tackles and had a strong 68.0 grade.
- Safety Alohi Gilman finished with the defense's highest PFF grade (82.4) thanks to a very strong coverage grade. On four targets, he was credited with three completions allowed but for just seven yards.
- Ja'Marr Chase had 10 receptions for 132 yards, but the Ravens held him out of the end zone in both matchups this season. He got loose for 32 yards after catch (YAC) on one play, but was held to 23 yards of YAC on his other nine receptions.
- Derrick Henry's 81.9 grade was his highest of the season, as Henry churned out 100 yards on just 11 carries.
- Lamar Jackson posted his best grade (81.5) since his four-touchdown game in Miami. Jackson was an efficient 8-of-12 for 150 yards and two touchdowns. His one interception came off a dropped pass. Jackson threw gorgeous passes on his 28-yard touchdown to Zay Flowers and a 32-yard completion over the middle to DeAndre Hopkins.
- Center Tyler Linderbaum posted his best blocking grade (81.9) since Week 1.
- The offense only had 41 plays. With Rashod Bateman (ankle) sidelined, Devontez Walker played 25 snaps while Hopkins had 13.
