C.J. Mosley is gone from the Baltimore Ravens, but he’s not forgotten, especially by Patrick Onwuasor.

In March, Mosley left the Ravens in free agency after earning four Pro Bowl invitations during five seasons in Baltimore. The New York Jets signed the former Alabama All-American to a five-year, $85 million contract.

Onwuasor started at inside linebacker with Mosley for the Ravens the past two seasons, and Baltimore is relying on him to take the leadership mantle that had been carried by Mosley.

As he prepares for that task, Onwuasor isn't going it alone.

“I still talk to C.J. a lot,” Onwuasor said during a Thursday press conference.

Onwuasor said it was “still kind of weird” not to have Mosley calling the defensive signals, which makes this year’s offseason practices "a lot different. Now I feel like I have to step up in that role and communicate a lot more, be loud, vocal, get a couple players lined up, adjust the front and do a lot of different things that we really had C.J. do. I just used to play fast and play off of him. But now I have to step up into that role and just make certain communication calls a lot quicker. …

“With C.J. being here, I kind of watched him and tried to learn from him, so as the call would come in, I would try to make the call before he did, or just try to say it to myself and things like that.”

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said Onwuasor had done a good job stepping into Mosley's role, but he expected the entire defense to take up the slack.

“I’m not going to put over-importance on one guy communicating in our defense,” Harbaugh said on Thursday. "Our defense is a communication defense. A loud practice is a great practice on defense. If you don’t hear our guys talking, then we’re not having a good practice. They should all be talking. But Patrick is in the middle of the defense. He understands the defense inside and out right now, and he’s communicating exceptionally well. Our offense makes checks, I see him making checks, so he’s been directing those guys back there really well, and I expect him to have a great season. …

"I know there’s a lot of talk about the linebacker position. I’m not worried about it one bit. I like the guys we have. The guys we have are going to be more than good enough. They’re going to play great, and I think you’re going to be talking about a lot of these guys, even these new guys. Whoever rises to the occasion, we’ll be talking about these guys for many years to come.”

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said on Wednesday that Baltimore decided not to use its franchise tag on Mosley because the team was "cleaning up our salary cap." Instead of committing to pay Mosley $15.443 million for the 2019 season, the Ravens hoped to sign the former Theodore High School star to a long-term contract. That opened the door for the Jets to make their offer to Mosley, which Bisciotti called "shocking."

The total value is $23.2 million more, the guaranteed money is $16.4 million more and the average annual value is $3.5 million more in Mosley's deal with the Jets than the contract of any other inside linebacker in the NFL.

“From a timing standpoint, we really didn’t feel like we could give that kind of (franchise-tag) money dedicated to one year," Bisciotti said. "We were also a little disheartened when we found that the number for inside linebackers was indeed going through the roof. I don’t want to say that it caught us flat-footed, but it was a shocking number and something that C.J. deserves. I think the world of him. But I would not have wanted to put a franchise tag on him and hold him here if we weren’t planning on offering that kind of money. When we got wind that it was going to be that high, we thought it was the right thing to do to let him sign with the Jets. We wish him all the luck in the world.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.