Jarret Johnson

Because Ravens outside linebacker Jarret Johnson plays on the same defense with Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs, he often gets overlooked when you talk about the Ravens' front seven. But Jets coach Rex Ryan won't overlook the Ravens' ninth-year strongside outside linebacker. Johnson may not get a lot of tackles because he is usually wrestling some tight end, but he has been close to pulling off several sacks this season.  “I'll tell you a guy that's underrated is Jarret Johnson,” Ryan said.

When the Ravens traded back from the first to the second round last week and still managed to get Alabama outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw, it might have been the steal of the NFL draft. A week later, it might turn out to be the deal that saved the 2012 season. Word came out from The Castle on Thursday that Pro Bowl outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, might have either a partial or full torn Achilles tendon which could sideline him four to six months.

There could be change for the Ravens this offseason, especially with former defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano becoming head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. With Pagano in Baltimore, there were only two other AFC head coaches who knew the Ravens system and the value of certain players. But both New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis have been joined by Pagano.  There will be a bidding war, or at least threats, on several of the Ravens other unrestricted free agents.

Last weekend, the Ravens drafted Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw to complement Terrell Suggs, the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. But after today's unfortunate news, Upshaw might have to try to replace him -- if not at his position, then at least in terms of impact. Suggs has sustained an injury to his Achilles tendon . It could be a tweak or a partial tear. Or it could also be a full tear, which would likely sideline him for all of 2012. Suggs will get checked out in a few days, and the Ravens asked for caution as they await an answer.

At Monday's news conference at the Castle, outside linebacker Jarret Johnson was asked about the trash-talking that will invariably take place -- think Terrell Suggs and Tom Brady yapping at each other again -- when the Ravens and New England Patriots meet for the AFC championship Sunday in Foxborough. This always cracks me up. Asking Jarret Johnson about trash-talking is like asking Ray Lewis about French modernist painters. Or asking Joe Flacco about the fuel rods in a nuclear submarine.

Numbers don't do him justice. In an understated NFL career, what you get with Jarret Johnson is more than the sum of his parts. Give the Ravens linebacker a hard hat and a ball-carrier, and you have a tackle waiting to happen. Johnson has 250 tackles in 52 regular-season games since inheriting, in 2007, the position held by Pro Bowl linebacker Adalius Thomas. He has 10½ sacks in his last 28 games, two interceptions in his last seven games. Not bad for a player who started in the NFL as an undersized defensive tackle, then moved out to a play-making position on the edge of one of the best defenses in the league.

Whenever there has been talk about the Ravens' lack of a pass rush, strong-side outside linebacker Jarret Johnson has taken it personally. The Ravens have gotten a strong season from outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata has collapsed the pocket up the middle, but there hasn't been much contribution from the other side, or anywhere else for that matter. That has changed in the past two weeks. Johnson, in his eighth season out of Alabama, was second on the team in tackles with 10 in the Ravens' 17-10 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Ravens got some good news on the injury front. Starting outside linebacker Jarret Johnson and rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith participated fully in Friday's practice. Johnson had sat out Thursday's session with a lingering back ailment, but he has played in 118 consecutive games, which ranks as the longest streak in Ravens history and the fourth-longest active streak in the NFL. Smith, who hasn't played since suffering a high left ankle sprain in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept.

After nine productive seasons with the Ravens, linebacker Jarret Johnson faces an uncertain future with the franchise. He is an unrestricted free agent and he knows that the Ravens are trying to get faster and younger on defense. However, there he was Friday, seated front and center in the auditorium at the team's complex as Dean Pees was introduced as the team's new defensive coordinator. Johnson was the lone player in attendance. “I'm not here about my future,” said Johnson, the 30-year-old who had 56 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks during the regular season.

All roads lead to the sea for Jarret Johnson. The unassuming Ravens linebacker grew up on the water under a legacy of Florida fishermen, realized his worst fear there and now is being drawn back again. From his great-grandfather on down, men in the Johnson family have always worked on the water - first as net fishermen and later as commercial crabbers - around Cedar Key, an island community three miles off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Johnson is perhaps the most unsung player on one of the NFL's most heralded defenses.

With Baltimore's selection of Alabama outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw with the 35th pick in the 2012 NFL draft, the offseason competition for the starting spot vacated by Jarret Johnson just became a lot fiercer. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that fourth-year player Paul Kruger still remains the frontrunner for Johnson's old gig, but he'll have to outperform Upshaw. “Obviously it bolsters our linebacker situation,” Harbaugh said as team officials regrouped after a busy second round on Friday.

For three years, Paul Kruger watched Jarret Johnson do the dirty work. Setting the edge. Sacrificing his body. Sometimes chasing down quarterbacks. All the while, Kruger's position and responsibilities shifted. But now that Johnson has signed in San Diego, vacating his starting outside linebacker spot, Kruger is comfortable, confident and prepared to get filthy in the trenches, too, like his “great mentor and friend” did for nine seasons. “It's a great opportunity,” he said Thursday after the team's voluntary workout in Owings Mills, standing tall with his hands tucked into his pockets.

The Ravens lost an ironman and a fan favorite when outside linebacker Jarret Johnson signed a four-year, $19-million deal with the San Diego Chargers last month. Since then, head coach John Harbaugh has twice hyped up Paul Kruger, who in his fourth season is the favorite to land the starting spot that belonged to Johnson. At Wednesday's pre-draft luncheon, Harbaugh said Kruger -- who was active for every game last season and excelled as a part-time player, recording a career-high 5.5 sacks -- is ready to become an every-down player.

Not long after one of his starting outside linebackers signed with the San Diego Chargers during the first week of free agency, Ravens coach John Harbaugh popped in film of one of Jarret Johnson's potential replacements. And after watching every play that Paul Kruger participated in during his third NFL season, Harbaugh was even more convinced. “I think Paul is probably the leading candidate for the [strong-side] linebacker job,” Harbaugh said. “I could very definitely see him doing that.

It is believed that the Ravens have hosted three free agents since the market opened last Tuesday, and now all of them have signed elsewhere. Wide receiver and return specialist Ted Ginn Jr., who visited with Ravens' officials last week in Owings Mills, has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the San Francisco 49ers. Ginn has spent the past two seasons with San Francisco after he was drafted in the first round in 2007 by the Miami Dolphins. The explosive Ginn has six career return touchdowns.

Unless you count Mario Williams , a defensive end who can also play outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense, there won't be any marquee lineback ers available in free agency this offseason . But there are a handful of solid start ers -- including a pair of Ravens -- scheduled to be available in a deep class of free agent lineback ers. Jarret Johnson, who has spent nine years with the Ravens, is among the top outside linebackers this...

The Ravens are at least a touchdown - or more, according to some oddsmakers - underdog to the New England Patriots in Sunday's AFC championship game. The fact that the contest will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., and the Ravens are just 4-4 this season on the road is probably a factor. Also, the Ravens are just 1-6 all time against the Patriots. All of that is just fine with outside linebacker Jarret Johnson. “We like being the underdog,” he said.

The Ravens' laundry list of free agents is highlighted by running back Ray Rice, left guard Ben Grubbs and linebacker Jarret Johnson, but that trio did not appear Monday when media was allowed in the locker room. However, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said keeping Rice, a two-time Pro Bowl player, is a “no-brainer.” “We're really good about that, guys who are truly Ravens, keeping them Ravens,” Suggs said. “There's no one better in the game to do it than [Ravens general manager]

There could be change for the Ravens this offseason, especially with former defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano becoming head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. With Pagano in Baltimore, there were only two other AFC head coaches who knew the Ravens system and the value of certain players. But both New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis have been joined by Pagano.  There will be a bidding war, or at least threats, on several of the Ravens other unrestricted free agents.

The NFL is poised to drop the hammer on the New Orleans Saints organization after the league revealed Friday that between 22 and 27 defensive players and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams maintained a bounty pool during the past three seasons to reward Saints defenders when they knocked opponents out of the game due to injury. A NFL investigation found that the Saints targeted players such as quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. If a player was knocked out of a game, the reward was $1,500.