Trey Hendrickson was the first player on the field at the Ravens' first joint practice against the Minnesota Vikings. He grabbed a folding chair and brought it onto the edge of the field at Minnesota's sprawling facility.
Then, he just sat. He looked over the field like a lion gazing across the savannah, looking for prey.
Over the two-hour joint practice that followed, Hendrickson hunted the Vikings' quarterbacks. There was nothing the offensive line could do to protect them. It seemed whenever it was third down, Hendrickson was in the backfield.
Hendrickson did it again on the second day of joint practices in Minnesota. He did it again at the lone joint practice with the Washington Commanders. This is how it's been all summer, yet Hendrickson's signing in Baltimore came with controversy.
Fresh off the heels of the Maxx Crosby trade that wasn't, the Ravens inked Hendrickson to the biggest contract they've ever given an outside free agent, a reported four-year, $112 million deal.
ESPN's Seth Walder agreed that it was the right move to make, in large part, because it didn't cost the Ravens two first-round picks. As for the Hendrickson signing itself, however, Walder gave it a “B-” grade.
Pundits question Hendrickson's age (he's 31) and injury history (a core muscle injury limited him to just seven games last season). They question whether he can get back to the high-level production he had in 2023 and 2024, when he led the NFL in sacks with 17.5 sacks in back-to-back seasons.
Hendrickson has yet to play a game in purple, but after watching him operate this summer, the Ravens are happy with their investment.
"He is everything that we envisioned when we brought him in, and I feel like he is going to be a guy to really help us win games in the fourth quarter," General Manager Eric DeCosta said Wednesday.
"When the lights have come on, he has brought it. … He is going to be a closer for us, I believe, because I have seen him do it. I saw him do it in Minnesota. I saw him do it here that day [against Washington]. He loves competition, knows his body, knows how to take care of himself, very methodical in his approach. I love his routine. He is a worker. He is a very humble guy as well. So, I am excited about him."
Only two NFL teams had fewer than the Ravens' 30 sacks last season, and Baltimore's defense again struggled to close out games in the fourth quarter. Enter Hendrickson, who has a long track record of delivering in such situations and 81 career sacks on his resume.
Over his consecutive seasons with 17.5 sacks, Hendrickson ranked fourth in pass rush win rate (22.5%) in the NFL, trailing only Micah Parsons, Myles Garrett and Will Anderson Jr. Even last season, when he was dealing with the injury, Hendrickson's 19.8% pass rush win rate was very strong.
Asked whether Hendrickson can return to his previous productivity, Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver said, "without question."
"He is a Master's-level teacher when it comes to pass rush," Weaver said. "So, I do not necessarily say I am surprised — I think you have seen it throughout the years, and I would expect nothing short of everything he has ever been and probably more."
What Hendrickson does so well doesn't go out of style. His pass rush is so fine-tuned that it's going to keep winning.
"He's perfected his move. For him, it's just thousands and thousands of reps of his move," fellow outside linebacker Tavius Robinson said. "When you see Trey Hendrickson, you know what his move is. It's reps and being confident in it. It's knowing you're going to go out there and dominate."
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley competed against Hendrickson many times in the AFC North when he was with the Cincinnati Bengals and has been blocking him all summer at Ravens training camp. It's been an iron-sharpens-iron situation.
While Hendrickson isn't looked at in the same way as some of those freakishly athletic pass rushers in his class such as Garrett, Parsons and Anderson, Stanley said Hendrickson has "great twitch and great bend."
"He's good at all those things that a lot of defensive ends find really hard, like bending the edge and being strong while he's bending the edge," Stanley said.
"He knows how to counter back into power off his bend. A lot of guys, they'll rush straight up. They don't have a lot of bend in their rush. He always has bend in his rush. He always has bend towards the quarterback, always putting pressure toward the quarterback. It's never a soft rush."
As polished as Hendrickson is, coaches and teammates have raved about the way he has worked this offseason. Weaver said he has been "amazed" at the level of detail he takes with his film study, how he studies his rush angles and how he wants to attack certain offensive tackles.
First-year Outside Linebackers Coach Harland Bower said Hendrickson is a "pro's pro" who shows up every day and is extremely consistent.
"He sees the game like a coach," Bower said. "That is how he can help younger guys [whom] the game has not quite slowed down for as much. It is really cool to see how that guy works every single day, and he is kind of the catalyst, the leader in the room that you could point to him and say, 'Man, do it like he is doing it.'"
When Ravens minicamp ended in June, Hendrickson told his teammates that he was going to stay in Owings Mills and continue training at the Under Armour Performance Center. Hendrickson came to Robinson and asked if he would stay. Robinson was in.
They arrived every morning at around 7 a.m., did recovery first, hit the field around 8 a.m., lifted, then talked about pass rush.
"From the training to the recovery, we just bonded. Learned about him and his life, his family. It was honestly great," Robinson said. "A guy of that caliber, to get the opportunity to train with him, of course I'm going to do that."
In his first year, Hendrickson was voted onto the team's 10-member leadership team. He's not a rah-rah guy, but Hendrickson said his approach is to set an example by playing hard, playing physical, and doing it at a high level.
He's done that for years, and now he's looking to show he can do it again in Baltimore.
"I do not compare myself to anything but me, not even [to] previous years. I want to be the best version of myself year-in and year-out," Hendrickson said. "It has been fun to overcome adversity, and I am excited for the season."
