Ravens coach John Harbaugh will fill several of his remaining coaching vacancies with promotions.

Craig Ver Steeg, who has been on Harbaugh's staff for the past nine seasons, will be an offensive assistant and work with the quarterbacks alongside offensive coordinator-quarterbacks coach Marty Mornhinweg.

Ver Steeg took on a greater role working with Joe Flacco and Ryan Mallett this past season, when offensive coordinator Marc Trestman was let go and Mornhinweg became the offensive coordinator.

Ver Steeg has a strong relationship with Flacco.

On Harbaugh's staff for the past five seasons, Chris Hewitt will coach the defensive backs. He had the title of defensive backs coach for the past two seasons, but he worked under secondary coach Leslie Frazier in 2016. Frazier left the team after the season to become the Buffalo Bills' defensive coordinator.

Mike Macdonald, a defensive assistant last season, was promoted to work with Hewitt as the assistant defensive backs coach.

Drew Wilkins, another defensive assistant in 2016, was promoted to assistant defensive line coach, where he'll work under Joe Cullen.

Harbaugh's 2017 coaching staff is now mostly set.

Gone are Frazier, offensive line coach Juan Castillo (who also went to the Bills, to be offensive line coach-run game coordinator), assistant offensive line coach Todd Washington and director of strength and conditioning Bob Rogucki.

Harbaugh brought in senior offensive assistant and tight ends coach Greg Roman and offensive line coach Joe D'Alessandris. Richard Angulo shifted from tight ends coach to assistant offensive line coach.

Mornhinweg, defensive coordinator Dean Pees, and special teams coordinator and associate head coach Jerry Rosburg will remain in their roles.

Cousins, Redskins have long-term plans: The negotiations between Washington executives and Mike McCartney, the agent for quarterback Kirk Cousins, will feature careful calculations, skill, a degree of posturing and a lot of patience.

But as they gear up for a process that could last months, high-ranking team officials see no point in keeping their plans for the quarterback a secret.

In a span of two days, coach Jay Gruden and team president Bruce Allen each expressed confidence that Cousins — who is coming off of another franchise-record-setting season and on Sunday will play in his first Pro Bowl — will remain with the team in 2017. Allen on Wednesday took it a step further and said that the Redskins aim to reach an agreement that will satisfy Cousins and his agent, and still leave the team with enough financial resources to continue upgrading the roster.

“The goal is to get long-term,” Allen said.

While some preliminary discussions took place this week in Mobile, Ala., negotiations have yet to begin in earnest.

“We will, shortly,” Allen said. “It's nothing to hurry into right now, but he knows our intent.”

Said Cousins: “Under the right set of circumstances, it'd be great to be back” [in Washington.

Although he has said he prefers a long-term agreement, Cousins did not balk at the idea of being franchise-tagged again.

“If I'm getting franchise-tagged, it means they want me back,” he said. “If they want me back, then I definitely want to be back.”

—?Mike Jones,

The Washington Post

NFL says injuries down: Injuries, including concussions, decreased this season, according to the league.

Emphasizing that players are doing more self-reporting of head injuries, the NFL released data that show overall concussions for the preseason and regular season were down from 275 in 2015 to 244 in 2016. That includes a drop of 16 in regular-season games to 167.

The 275 diagnosed concussions in 2015 were a high over the past five years and were an increase of 69 over the previous season. But the NFL enhanced its detection and examination protocols in that span.

“What we have to account for, too, are the additional protocols involved and the people involved in recognizing the injuries,” NFL executive Jeff Miller said. “We have seen a significant culture change on those points” — players themselves or teammates identifying what they could be head injuries.

Dr. Robert Heyer, president of the NFL Physicians Society and team internist for the Carolina Panthers, cited the players' willingness to report injuries as making a major difference in the numbers.

No. 88 no longer:Ty Montgomery is staying at running back with the Green Bay Packers, and he's getting a jersey number more appropriate for the position.

Montgomery, who wore No. 88 this season, will spend the offseason preparing to be in the backfield full time, coach Mike McCarthy said.

The switch epitomized the scrambling that the Packers had to do all season to cope with injuries. While Montgomery played running back in high school, he played receiver in college at Stanford.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.