The Baltimore Ravens have tried to create a more serious environment in their locker room following their shocking 1-5 start to the season, but it sounds like head coach John Harbaugh does not want people to think that was his decision.
A story that was published in the Baltimore Sun on Tuesday provided a behind-the-scenes look at what has gone wrong for the Ravens this season. One of the claims made in the story is that Harbaugh removed some of the recreational items from the locker room, likely to send a message to his players.
“The Ravens promptly removed several recreational staples from the locker room, including the basketball hoop near [Lamar] Jackson’s and [Trey] Flowers’ stalls, the pingpong table that rookies [Teddye] Buchanan and Mike Green often battled on after practice, the once-popular corn hole boards, and yes, the video game consoles, often lit up with intense rounds of Super Smash Bros., that regularly drew small crowds of teammates late in the day,” the story reads.
On Wednesday, Mike Garafolo confirmed that some of those items have been removed from Baltimore’s locker room. However, the reporter says he was told veteran leaders on the team made the decision, not Harbaugh and the coaching staff.
Speaking of the #Ravens, I’m told the removal of the ping-pong tables and other games from the locker room initiated with veteran leaders on the team, not the coaching staff. Not a punishment. The players wanted them out.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 22, 2025
That sure sounds like public relations spin from the Ravens. If Harbaugh did take the toys away from his players, it would make sense for him to not want that information out there. Players would probably prefer to keep everything in-house as well to avoid unnecessary drama, so Garafolo’s update might be best for everyone.
The Ravens are in need of a historic turnaround coming out of their Week 7 bye. Lamar Jackson is expected to return from a hamstring injury to play against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. The quarterback seemed to take aim at some of his critics with a cryptic social media post on Wednesday.
Harbaugh has led the Ravens to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons and six of the last seven. He has not had to deal with much negative publicity about the team, especially this early in the year. It would not be a surprise if Baltimore’s PR team leaked a response to the ping-pong table story.
