Ravens coach John Harbaugh declined to comment Monday on whether demoted starter Marcus Williams would return to action Sunday against the Denver Broncos, saying only that the safety would play “great football for us all season and very soon.”

Williams, who has struggled all season in his first year under new defensive coordinator Zach Orr, was active in Sunday’s surprising loss to the Cleveland Browns but did not play a single snap. Ar’Darius Washington and Eddie Jackson, who allowed two touchdowns in coverage, including the decisive late score, were the Ravens’ starting deep safeties, along with the versatile Kyle Hamilton.

After Sunday’s game, Harbaugh called the decision to not play Williams a “personnel decision” and said the Ravens were “kind of working through some things there.” On Monday, he called Williams a “heck of a player” but declined to comment on when he’d play. The 28-year-old is in the third year of a five-year, $70 million contract he signed in the 2022 offseason.

“I have the utmost confidence in him as a player, as a person, as a pro,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a great person. He’s a hard worker. Plays hard, practices hard. Does everything at the highest level, and I anticipate him playing great football for us all season and very soon.”

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Williams has allowed 163 yards when targeted in coverage this season, according to Pro Football Focus, and is on pace for a career high. Among the 62 safeties who’ve played at least 300 defensive snaps this season, he’s graded out as PFF’s No. 57 player at the position. Jackson is No. 56.

Williams was not seen in the locker room after Sunday’s game, in which the Ravens allowed 334 passing yards to Jameis Winston. When a reporter pointed out Monday that Harbaugh had said Williams’ demotion was “an internal type of situation,” Harbaugh interjected.

“I don’t really think I have anything else to say about that,” he said. “It’s what we do. There’s a lot of things going on all the time. And a lot of it’s kind of our business. It kind of belongs in-house. It’s between us. And it’s not something that we need to tell everybody everything about. I don’t think you’re telling everybody about your family business. I don’t think everybody’s asking about everybody’s kind of things. There’s some things that we can just choose to kind of keep to ourselves, and that’s going to be one of them. I never get up here and talk about why we put guys up or put guys down. I never have. So probably not going to start doing that now.”

Still, Harbaugh left open the possibility that the Ravens’ defense, which is last in the NFL in passing yards allowed, could undergo further changes. The team shook up its coaching staff nearly three weeks ago with the hiring of former coordinator Dean Pees as a senior adviser.

“It depends what kind of changes are available to us,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to continue to turn over every stone with our defense and with every other part of our team, too, to get as good as we can get during the course of a long season.”

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Notes

  • Harbaugh said the Ravens have a “tough situation” along their defensive line, which lost Michael Pierce (calf) and Brent Urban (concussion) to injuries Sunday and played Travis Jones at less than full strength against Cleveland. The Ravens signed defensive tackle Josh Tupou to their practice squad Monday ahead of Sunday’s game against the Broncos, who’ve rushed for over 100 yards in six straight games. Harbaugh declined to comment on the severity of Pierce’s injury.
  • Harbaugh said an “illness issue” kept rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins from playing Sunday. Wiggins, who also dealt with a shoulder injury last week, is “doing OK,” said Harbaugh, who was hopeful the rookie would return to practice this week. Fellow starter Marlon Humphrey (knee) also missed Sunday’s game.
  • Harbaugh criticized the Ravens’ execution on kick returns, saying the returners “haven’t had a green light yet this year” on kicks into the end zone, even though they’ve returned several. Rookie running back Chris Collier brought back two such kicks Sunday for 24 and 27 yards, respectively. “Doesn’t make sense to us if they’re going to give us the ball at the 30-yard line, and the way the angles work, it’s really tough to block that — this new style — when the ball is kicked into the end zone. And I do think they lose a sense of where they’re at sometimes, especially a young guy.”