OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Anthony Weaver wasn’t trying to show outside linebacker Mike Green what he didn’t do well during his rookie season or make him agonize all over again about the missed opportunities.When Weaver put together a video for Green that showed all of his near sacks from the Baltimore Ravens’ 2025 season, it was meant more as an affirmation. Weaver wanted to make sure that Green understood that his new defensive coordination saw far more production than his 3 1/2 sacks.“I showed him just how close he was to potentially having a double-digit sack season,” Weaver said following Tuesday’s organized team activity. “It’s not an ability thing. We need the corresponding coverage to help out, but he is milliseconds away from having double-digit sacks. We are going to do everything we can to try to make that happen this year.”Through much of the team’s offseason, which continues with mandatory minicamp next week, the defensive focus has been largely on the team’s newcomers, starting with Jesse Minter, the team’s first-year head coach who will also call the defense. But it doesn’t stop with Minter and Weaver.What can Trey Hendrickson do to resuscitate a juiceless pass rush last year? How will the ageless Calais Campbell buoy a thin defensive interior? How can the addition of a quality third safety in Jaylinn Hawkins further free up Kyle Hamilton and solidify the secondary? Can rookie second-round outside linebacker Zion Young contribute from the jump and be more immediately than a solid edge setter?Those are all legitimate questions. However, if the Ravens are going to truly and quickly distance themselves from last season on the defensive side of the ball, it’s going to largely be on the backs of returning players.In some cases, like with middle linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Marlon Humphrey, that means rebounding from a 2025 season that fell below their high standards and fueled talk that they are on the downside of their careers. In other cases, as with Green, 2025 first-round safety Malaki Starks and 2024 first-round cornerback Nate Wiggins, it means taking a major step forward after a rookie season that featured really nice moments, but enough inconsistencies to expect more impact out of them this year.“They care, and they all have a little bit of a chip,” Weaver said. “There’s a history we’re kind of chasing defensively in this place, and I think everybody, to a man, knows we fell short of that a year ago, and we want to make that right. When they’re in the building and truthfully, probably a lot of times when they’re not in the building, they’re trying to do what’s required to make that happen.”By just about every measure last year, the Ravens, and specifically their proud defense, were a major disappointment. Baltimore finished 24th in total yards allowed per game (354.5) and 18th in points allowed per game (23.4). Only two teams had fewer than the Ravens’ 30 sacks. A lack of pass rush, coupled with ill-timed secondary breakdowns, proved a vile combination for an organization that has long been defined by its defensive approach and production.There were signs of defensive improvement from Zach Orr’s group as last season wore on, but providing no resistance in two Pittsburgh Steelers touchdown drives in the final four minutes of Baltimore’s season-ending Week 18 loss was a final referendum on the Ravens’ 2025 defense.How much last year’s defensive issues led to replacing John Harbaugh with a defensive head coach in Minter, who had two highly successful seasons as the Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator and won a national championship while leading Michigan’s defense, is unclear.There is certainly a school of thought that fixing the defense needed to be the priority, because as long as Lamar Jackson is healthy, the Ravens have always possessed a productive offense. Perhaps the best way to help Jackson get over the postseason hump is by re-establishing a dominant defense.Enter Minter and Weaver, a former Ravens player who knows all about the organization’s high defensive standard. The defense has been designed in Minter’s vision, but Weaver is very much in charge of carrying it out and leading this group.Minter is a “cool customer,” Weaver said this week. “He is very detailed in his approach to both teaching the team, talking to us as coaches. Never flustered, which I appreciate. Obviously, your team and your staff is going to reflect how you act, so I expect us to be very cool, calm and collected regardless of the situation and be at our best.”The defensive players certainly seem to understand the charge.“I don’t think we’re reinventing the wheel or anything, but we just kind of have to reestablish dominance, especially on defense,” Hamilton said earlier this offseason. “Defensively, it’s been pretty disappointing, just some results that we’ve had. We’ve had some good seasons, but we’ve also had some bad seasons, and those are inexcusable, especially here. I think confronting that, and (Minter) along with coach Weaver, they’ve both done a great job so far, just kind of laying out what’s been in the past and where we want to go in the future and how the standard has not been met and upheld. We need to fix that.”Weaver was all smiles as he stood behind a microphone Tuesday. That’s his nature. He’s known as a player’s coach and early June is the time for optimism. It was hardly surprising when Weaver expressed confidence in Smith’s ability to rebound from a season that wasn’t a bad one but didn’t feature as many high-impact plays as the Ravens have grown accustomed to from him.After two seasons in Miami as defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver returned to Baltimore to be Jesse Minter’s defensive coordinator. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)The four-time Pro Bowl selection finished without a sack or interception — both career firsts. His 130 tackles were his fewest since his second NFL season in 2019, when he played just 12 games. He also had five tackles for loss, but only one of them came after Week 3.“I see it every day,” Weaver said. “He communicates, he captains our defense, gets guys aligned and is playing at an elite level (and) speed. There’s some guys, when they operate, it almost looks like the game is in slow motion. When he’s out there right now, I feel that way. I look forward to him shutting up some doubters.”Weaver also struck an optimistic tone on Humphrey, the 29-year-old cornerback who has made four Pro Bowl teams. Humphrey was one of the most picked-on corners in the NFL last year. His decision to stay away from the team’s voluntary OTAs has only led to more questions about Humphrey’s status heading into the 2026 season.“The one thing I know with my experience with Marlon is that when he is here, he is going to be full-speed and all-in. It’s all he knows,” Weaver said. “Even though he’s not here, I have no doubt that he’s doing the things required to make that jump from his play a year ago. Admittedly, I know there’s been some disappointment there with how he played for himself, but I know we can help him reach whatever standard he wants to hold for himself.”The Ravens badly need Smith and Humphrey bounce-back seasons. They made no investment at the inside linebacker position this offseason, and there are already questions about who will start alongside Smith with Teddye Buchanan still recovering from a major knee injury sustained in December. At cornerback, the Ravens re-signed veteran Chidobe Awuzie and used a fifth-round pick on Duke’s Chandler Rivers, but Humphrey is still entrenched within the top three corners and that doesn’t figure to change anytime soon.Getting two of their most accomplished defensive players back to form would be a big first step for Minter and Weaver. Ultimately, they’ll also need Green, Starks and Wiggins to take another step and the newcomers, particularly Hendrickson, to deliver. And it really would improve the defensive outlook if two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Nnamdi Madubuike is able to return after missing most of last season with a career-threatening neck injury.Madubuike’s status, like so many of Baltimore’s other defensive questions, will be answered another day.“It’s a daily chase, but we’re just going to keep trying to do the next right thing,” Weaver said