Yannick Ngakoue’s familiarity with Baltimore and eagerness to join the Ravens’ defense runs deeper than merely three starts over nine games four seasons ago.

He once shared the field with outside linebackers coach Matt Robinson while the two were at the University of Maryland.

The summer after his sophomore year, Ngakoue saved enough money to train in Atlanta with pass rush coach Chuck Smith.

And years removed from the first failed experiment in Baltimore, he never lost faith in coach John Harbaugh.

“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Ngakoue said standing next to his new locker in Owings Mills just days after signing to the Ravens’ practice squad. “Went through peaks and valleys, just going to different spots and different places but I feel like, ultimately it was meant for me to come back here and give my best football.”Ngakoue, a 29-year-old outside linebacker from Bowie, began his career as a 2015 third-round draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he spent four years. Two weeks before the start of the 2020 season, he was traded to Minnesota.

Eight weeks later, the Vikings turned around and sent him to Baltimore.

Peaks and valleys led him here in the first place, he said. After a stint in Las Vegas, where he led the 2021 Raiders with 10 sacks, then Indianapolis, totaling 9 1/2 sacks in 2022, and finally Chicago, where he had four sacks in 13 games before a season-ending ankle injury, it brought him right back to his home state.

“I’m a Maryland guy through and through,” Ngakoue said. “Born and raised here. Love the locker room. Love the guys here. We have a great quarterback. And I just want to be able to help get the ball back to the offense.”

Ngakoue visited with both the Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers this offseason. Before that, he had been in talks with Harbaugh about a possible reunion. Communication fizzled as training camp wore on.

Then his agent called. Ngakoue signed to Baltimore’s practice squad Monday.

“He was in a situation where he was ready to get back, [he’s] healthy and ready to start playing,” Harbaugh said. “It’s good to have another legitimate pass rusher on campus. That’s a valuable thing.”

The Terps’ record book is littered with Ngakoue’s accomplishments. He holds the single-season sack record with 13 1/2 in 2015 and is fourth in career sacks (21 1/2). He’s also eighth in career tackles for loss (33) and sixth in tackles for loss yardage (176).

Ahead of the Terps’ 2014 season, Robinson told The Washington Post that he noticed Ngakoue getting in the film room more and probing veterans for help. “That’s what he loves to do,” Robinson said at the time. Now, the two are back together diagraming ways to bring down the quarterback.

After that 2014 season, Ngakoue asked himself what more he could do. “I just wanted to be satisfied with myself,” he told reporters. So he worked with Smith, a pass-rush guru in Atlanta, to add to his repertoire.

Ngakoue offers a veteran presence for Baltimore’s relatively inexperienced group of pass rushers. At 33, Kyle Van Noy is the only Ravens pass rusher over 25. That said, the youngsters rank ninth in the NFL with 10 sacks in three games.

Van Noy joined the Ravens at this point last season, signing a two-year deal before Week 4. So, although the two haven’t yet connected on the matter, he can share in the challenges of picking up a defense while working back into game shape.

“I think for him, he probably has a little advantage because he’s been here,” Van Noy said. “He knows the building, the people. … Just him [being] focused and being ready to go — and it seems like he is that way already … He’s looking good out there, and I think he’s just going to continue to put his head down and work, and if he gets that opportunity, I think he’s going to make the most of it.”

Ngakoue stayed up until about 11 p.m. watching back film from the Ravens’ bamboozling loss to the Raiders and bounce-back win over the Dallas Cowboys. He walked away from his first practice Wednesday feeling like he’s ready to make an impact right away (while acknowledging that’s not his decision).

The NFL expanded a rule this offseason about adding veterans to practice squads, allowing six players with two-plus years of experience instead of four.

“Now you have more practice squad guys [and] you can bring a guy in like [Ngakoue],” Harbaugh said. “And he can practice and get ready for the opportunity when it does come up to fill the role. I think it’s a win-win-win for everybody.”