|
Edward Lee: The first time I approached Jacoby Jones during a minicamp in June to ask him about returning kicks and punts at M&T Bank Stadium -- the same place where, as a member of the Houston Texans, he had mishandled a punt in an AFC divisional-round playoff loss to the Ravens the season before -- he calmly answered my queries.
The second time I asked him in August about how he tries to forget gaffes like that, he made it clear that he was no longer entertaining that line of questioning. That's all well and good, I thought, but the critics will come out in droves if he makes a similar mistake.
Jones made sure they never got a chance. He earned his first Pro Bowl invitation after a regular season in which he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and one punt for a score and led the NFL with a franchise-record 30.7-yard kick-return average.
He continued his torrid streak in the postseason with a 70-yard connection with Flacco that sent the AFC divisional-round game against the Denver Broncos into overtime. (The Ravens would win, 38-35, in overtime.) And in the team's 34-31 win against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII, he caught a 56-yard touchdown strike from Flacco in the second quarter and opened the third quarter with an NFL-record 108-yard kick return for a touchdown.
Flacco was named Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, but it's hard to see how the Ravens would have won their second Lombardi Trophy without Jones. (Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam /February 3, 2013)
It was a rough season by all accounts for Ravens nose guard Terrence Cody.
The massive former second-round draft pick was controlled or knocked off the line of scrimmage on a consistent basis, getting shoved back into the linebackers.
One season after starting every game and recording a career-high 34 tackles, Cody dipped to three starts and missed one game with an elbow injury. He finished the season with 25 tackles, no sacks, no forced fumbles and no fumble recoveries, deflecting one pass.
Cody had just two tackles during the playoffs, where he seemed to do a better job of keeping blockers off of retiring middle linebacker Ray Lewis, who led the NFL with 51 tackles during the postseason.
The former Alabama All-American graded out for the season with a minus-6.5, according to Pro Football Focus, which gave Cody the lowest grade among the Ravens' defensive linemen.
Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome didn't hesitate when asked recently at a season-review news conference to identify team needs.
"We talked about it -- the middle of the defense," Newsome said. "We think we have to get better at defensive tackle."
Cody's low grade was closely followed by nose guard Ma'ake Kemoeatu, who started 13 games and was only slightly more productive than his younger colleague with 29 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble. Kemoeatu received a grade of minus-5.7.
Kemoeatu, 34, is a pending unrestricted free agent. Cody is entering the final year of a four-year, $3.064 million rookie contract and is due a $630,000 base salary this year.
He'll either be given another shot at upgrading his play, or face competition for his job.
Right now, opinions on Cody's play aren't positive ones.
"The most disappointing player on that team is Terrence Cody," former Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles scout Daniel Jeremiah, an NFL Network analyst, told the Baltimore Sun said of Cody during the season. "He's not very good. He's getting blown off the line of scrimmage. He can't rush the passer, so you know that's not a strength. And getting blown off the ball 6 or 7 yards, he's not having a whole lot of value. There are four other interior guys I'd rather put out there."
