Ravens safety Jim Leonhard said what impresses him most with defensive coordinator Rex Ryan is his ability to mix starters and reserves during practice.
Now, Leonhard will learn if the strategy works in a game.
The Ravens’ secondary has been decimated by injuries and suspensions for Sunday’s season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium.
Cornerback Chris McAlister is questionable with a knee injury, and it’s likely safety Ed Reed will be sidelined with a nerve impingement in his neck and shoulder.
Reserve cornerbacks Derrick Martin and Fabian Washington are suspended, which means Leonhard, who signed with the Ravens in the offseason, will be counted on the halt a potent Bengals’ attack led by quarterback Carson Palmer and receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
“Coming in, I was mainly thought of being a special teams guy and any package I could get in on defense would be great,” Leonhard said. “Now with Ed’s status unknown a little bit, I’ve picked up my role and played well this preseason.”
Leonhard made a career-high 54 tackles to go along with two interceptions in his third and final season in Buffalo, where he began his career after the Bills signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2005.
But Leonhard said he signed with the Ravens because he felt he had the best chance to succeed on special teams, which is Coach John Harbaugh’s area of expertise, and he could thrive in Ryan’s zone-blitz schemes.
“They do a great job of rolling guys in and out and having different, safeties, corners and even linebackers working with each other,” Leonhard said. “That’s something a lot of teams don’t do and if you’re a second-string guy, you never work with the first unit which isn’t how they do it here. That’s great because when you see someone goes out, you see other guys step in without missing a beat.”
The 5-foot-8, 186-pounder solidified his roster spot by compensating for Reed’s loss by making 19 tackles, two pass deflections and an interception in four preseason games.
The Ravens ended the preseason at 1-3 following a 10-9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons this past Thursday. The Ravens didn’t see as much improvement from their defense as they had hoped, as opponents converted 28-of-65 (43 percent) third-down attempts. Last season, the Ravens ranked 20th out of 32 teams last season in passing defense by allowing an average of 222.3 yards per game.
Leonhard could be one of several reserves, including safeties Haruki Nakamura and Tom Zbikowski, who’ll start against the Bengals.
“To see those guys come into a not very easy defense to learn, they can go out there and have the mental game be able to communicate and make plays,” Reed said. “We have three guys that can go in there and make a play for us. When I do come back, we’re still going to need them. Everybody is a starter.”
NOTE: The Ravens finalized their roster by cutting defensive tackle J’Vonne Parker and cornerback David Pittman and signing defensive tackle Lamar Divens and kicker Steve Hauschka, rookies who were claimed off waivers from the San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings. The team signed quarterback Casey Bramlet, wide receivers Justin Harper, Matt Willis and Ernie Wheelright, tight end Nate Lawrie, defensive end Bryan Mattison, running back Marcus Mason and offensive tackle Joe Reitz to their practice squad.
