Brent Urban’s career is a testament of perseverance young Ravens players can learn from

The veteran defensive lineman endured a slew of injuries early on and is now a walking testimony of how adversity can be overcome.

Baltimore Ravens veteran defensive end Brent Urban is preparing to head into his 11th year in the NFL but if someone would’ve asked him if he envisioned himself having a 10-plus long career after dealing with multiple injuries at its onset, he would’ve answered “no chance.”

“It was tough times – a lot of dark days, and a lot to fight through,” Urban said when posed the question during a Friday post-practice press conference.

Originally drafted by the Ravens in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Virginia, the Canadian native suffered severe or season-ending injuries in three of his first four seasons. A torn ACL cost him his entire rookie season, a torn biceps during the following training camp caused him to miss the first 10 games of the 2015 season and a Lisfranc foot injury cut his 2017 season short after just three games.

During those dark days following one debilitating setback after another, Urban leaned on and received guidance from veteran leaders including franchise legends and future Hall of Famers Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda who overcame major injuries during their respective careers.

“They dealt with a bunch of injuries throughout their career, and they were kind of there to lift me up and be like a benchmark on what to work on coming off of injury – how to have the right mindset going into the whole thing,” Urban said. “There was a lot of sitting back and watching and trying to figure out how I fit in, and that sort of thing – but you know, relying on those vets and stuff that helped me a ton, and [it] allowed me to get through that and turn that into a career – it was just one year at a time and thankfully [it] worked out.”

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh vividly recalled the day Urban sustained his first major injury that robbed him of his entire rookie season.

“I can remember him right over there, we were doing an inside-run drill against the [San Francisco] 49ers when we had the joint practices all of those years ago, and he tore his ACL right at the end of practice,” Harbaugh said. “It was like, ‘Oh.’ It was so heartbreaking, and [he] missed that whole year.”

The team had high hopes for him coming into the league as early as year one. Harbaugh shared how the coaches envision him playing a similar role to former Pittsburgh Steelers stalwart odd-front defensive end Brett Keisel.

“He’s turned out to be just that,” Harbaugh said. “He’s just that kind of player; he plays so well. But those first couple of years were tough, and here he is now. He’s got a testimony as a result of all the tests he’s been through.”

Moving forward, Harbaugh intends to use Urban’s incredible and inspiring journey of how his career came to be what it ultimately has become instead of fizzling out under mounds of adversity when motivating younger players experiencing similar struggles early on. The Ravens have several youngsters who could benefit from it after struggling to stay healthy thus far including cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis, outside linebacker David Ojabo and defensive back Ar’Darius Washington.

“I’m going to start using [Brent Urban] as an example for those guys, because it’s a perfect point,” Harbaugh said.

As far as the knowledge and wisdom Urban himself loves imparting on younger players who wish to have long and sustainable careers, he encourages them to not take anything for granted because ”just being in the league is privilege.”

“Every single day, you’ve just got to relish it, because you see so many guys in and out, and just even looking at my class now, nobody’s still around; so just finding your own role, just appreciating it,” Urban said. “As I get older, I’ve started to be able to take a seat back and really just appreciate how thankful I am to be here.

“When you’re young your nose is on the grindstone, you’re just hustling every day – you’re stressed out and all that stuff – and now I feel like I can kind of be at a luxury to sit back and just really appreciate things each and every day – and that’s kind of helped me continue to play well in this later stretch of my career.”

Urban is coming off a career-best season as a pass rusher in which he logged new single-season career highs in both sacks (three) and quarterback hits (six). He also stood out on early downs as a run defender, finishing with 22 total tackles including five for a loss.

Despite receiving interest and even offers from other teams who hired former Ravens coaches this offseason, Urban chose to extend his second stint with the Charm City franchise. He had opportunities to follow the likes of Mike Macdonald to the Seattle Seahawks and Anthony Weaver to the Miami Dolphins but opted to stay in the place that made him feel the most at home.

“Baltimore just feels like home for me, as far as football goes,” Urban said. “I have so much familiarity with everyone in the building – it’s been a great fit for me football-wise, too. I obviously appreciated the interest – I have a ton of respect for those guys, but my heart was here, and it just made a ton of sense for me to stay.”