Ravens Explain New Captain Patches

It's only fitting that the Baltimore Ravens donned their classic purple jersey and white pants combo for Saturday night's playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, but those timeless uniforms looked ever so slightly different.

For the first time in franchise history, a few select Ravens wore captain patches on the upper-right part of their jerseys. Namely, Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews and Derrick Henry wore them on offense, while Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey and Chris Board wore them on defense. Tyler Linderbaum and Kyle Hamilton were also game captains on Saturday night.

The NFL implemented the captain patch in 2007, but head coach John Harbaugh has traditionally opted to rotate his captains on a weekly basis. With the team's leadership stepping up all season, Harbaugh felt it was time to finally break out the patches for those players.

"It's been great every year, but this year, the leadership has been really outstanding," Harbaugh told reporters post-game. "It's been really something they've been locked in, in a real special way. It was just an opportunity to acknowledge that, probably."

Harbaugh mentioned Jackson, Smith and Andrews as players he specifically wanted to wear the patch, and that praise is not lost on them.

"That's an honor, truth be told," Smith said. "To have your teammates and peers view you as a captain and a leader, that's big time. I have a lot of respect for the guys, and I'll never sell the guys short. I'll always lay it on the line for those guys – not just talk, but actually go out and do it – so when you're a guy like that, guys tend to follow, and guys get behind you."

Most of the players who wore captain patches have been with the Ravens for years now, but Henry was surprised to receive such an honor in his first year with the team. Considering he ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns in his first playoff game with Baltimore, he more than earned that honor.

"I was little shocked," Henry said. "I voted for Lamar and Mark, and I definitely appreciate my teammates for seeing me as somebody – as a leader and as a captain of this team, being in my first year here. That's all I wanted to do when I came and signed [was] just earn my teammates' respect, and [I] really appreciate them, and I'm going to continue to do that."