October 13, 2025 • 31 mins
Head Coach John Harbaugh speaks with the media on Monday as the Ravens enter their bye week.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to the Ravens Presspass podcast is Monday, October thirteenth.
The Ravens dropped to one to five after losing to
the La Rams seventeen to three on Sunday. It's now
the team's bye weekend. Head coach John Harball talk with
the media on Monday about the areas of focus and
what the Ravens needs do to turn their season around.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Okay, good scene, everybody appreciate you being here once again
and a lot of work and you're going to do
a bye week now, our focus going forward and what
we can accomplish for the next eleven games and try
to earn our way into the playoffs, which obviously has
pointed out last night has not been done very often
(00:45):
with the record we have, but we still believe we
can do it. And really all the focus goes to
really two things, the bye week and working through every
aspect and issue that we can find every way we
can be at our best going forward with the players
we have. It's going to be good to get players back,
and then how we organize ourselves and craft our schemes
(01:08):
and then also how we work on them for the
next two days in training camp, or in the bye week,
like I guess you treat like a training camp maybe,
but in the bye week to build those things into
our offense, defense, and special teams and then focus on
the Bears game, you know, and being the best team
we can be to win that game. What questions you have, John,
(01:29):
as far as the pass rush.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Now that you know Adapi has treated and Davis is.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Hurt, you know how big of a challenge we are going
to be and generate some pressure coming off the edges.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Now, well, I mean it's been a challenge all year
to generate pressure, So you know we're gonna have to
manufacture pressure. I think we talked about that the last
couple of weeks. But also our guys are gonna have
to step up and create pressure on the four man rush.
We do it with simulator pressures too. A lot of
times we did that in the game. We were able
to move Stafford out of the pocket a few times
and hurry them up a few times, which I thought
was really good even with four man rushes and sims.
(02:03):
But we also had a few blitches in there too
that we're good. So we've got to build off those
things and and do the job with the guys that
we have, John.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
He said to Tays is broken. Is that a season
ending Ajory and you can come back?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Thanks you Franks that No, it's not. We found out
it's going to be six to eight weeks, very similar
to Isaiah likely, so he will be back during the season.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yes, related to that whole situation.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Is there updated as Isaac or what did is he
season for the Isaacca?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Is he annoyserged on a love or something? Is he
finished for the year.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
He's not finished for the year. They're talking about maybe
mid November, late November for for Isaac. Possibly. Yes.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
My week is the guys will remain around for a
couple of days and then set them for you.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Is that different or is that standard from past year?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
It's been different different years. You know, we're going to
be practicing. It's an early bye week this year, but
we'll be going Tuesday and Wednesday with practice. Will also
be doing our study all through the weeks coaches and
working really hard.
Speaker 6 (03:09):
John, do you sense that, I mean, with the injury
to Robinson and always traded, you've only got three guys.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Three outside linebackers on the fifty three. Do you anticipate looking.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
Outside of the organization, promoting from within, and I assume
you won't go what with just three?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, all the above. I would say, we have we
have a couple of guys that we like on the
practice squad right now that are doing really well. So
I wouldn't mind giving those guys a shot. One of
those guys at least, So that's no option number one,
the most obvious option, and then there's the other options
you're talking about are certainly on the table.
Speaker 7 (03:45):
Last year, as far as gold to good situations, you
guys were among the most efficient.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
This year, not so much.
Speaker 8 (03:51):
What do you feel has been the biggest change from
because it's so streme the biggest change for me last
year to this year.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know the exact comparison from
last year this year. It's hard to say. Obviously, the
biggest change is we're not effective. I mean, it's just
it's been it's been ineffective basically, and that's been I'd
have to say, it's been surprising. You know, we have
not been able to punch the ball in which last
year we were able to do it. So we're looking
at every aspect of it. Scheme keeping people more off balance,
(04:22):
effectively running a quarterback sneak, which was really disappointing. You know,
we we've had we've had a couple of situations this
year where we took the ball off the line of
scrimmage down there and didn't get in. So sometimes you say,
keep it simple and sneak it in, you know, and
but they were loaded up for it, but you still
should be able to push it in there, and then
not not executing the play for the front that we wanted,
(04:43):
and just not executing it the way we didn't block
it very very completely well. So all those things, I
think that's pretty much been the situation all the way through.
If you look at all the all the situations where
we didn't get in down there from the one or
two yard line, it's been basically the same. So we
got to work on that really hard. I mean, that's
like the number one thing in my mind on offense
(05:06):
is short yardage and goal line. We should be better.
We should be way better, way better than we are.
I mean, we've been We've never struggled in those areas,
and I don't really understand why we are. I mean
I do, I look at the plays, but you want
to step back and say why is this happening? And
we're just not getting the job done. You know, So
(05:27):
if we want to be the kind of team that
we have, if we want to have a chance, we
got to get that fixed. I mean, that should have
been fixed. We've been talking about fixing it for weeks,
and we've been trying to fix it for weeks, but
we haven't done a good job.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
So let's push.
Speaker 9 (05:40):
I know you have mentioned you guys not getting to
push up front, that you felt like you needed to
make that play successful. But I'm just curious what goes
into marking? Why Mark Andrews as that guy as opposed
to like, I guess a guy like Derrick Henry in
that spinal.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Derrick Henry under there, No, it marked the guy. He's
a good ballhand or he's been doing it. I mean
Mark versus Derek. You know, I think Mark is a
guy that's we like Mark doing it. You know, he's
he's a good ballhandler and he's had experienced doing it.
Derek is that I know I was never taken a
snap under center, you know, so we'd have to teach
him how to do that. Why why Derek over Mark?
(06:16):
You know, why would that be better. So I think
Mark's done a good job with it. We have, Charlie's
done it before. They've been successful a bunch of times. Derek,
that would I don't know where that idea comes from,
but that that wouldn't be a thought. No, that would
not be a thought. That's not something we thought about doing.
Speaker 10 (06:32):
You moving forward with it, you'll give you'll continue to
utilize the touch push.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Why'd you try it with a difference, Well, we did it.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
We did it later in the game and we got
on third and one.
Speaker 10 (06:43):
With along those lines, I know he said, guys are
always under evaluation, You're always looking at it. Are you
considering any changes on the offensive line with you know,
given a guy like Emery once he's you know, fully
back and I know he's full back, but or or
bullocks or any of those.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, absolutely, we're absolutely we're considering those kind of options
for sure. And that's that's kind of what the bye
week is for. I think it helps you with that.
Those guys will get a chance to practice on Tuesday
and Wednesday, which will be good for us to get
those guys out there and see him. I mean Emory
for instance. You know he's a young dude, he's only
been practicing for like a week, so there's a lot
(07:22):
that goes into knowing what you're supposed to do under
fire and pass protection. He hasn't done any pass protection
yet because of his shoulders, so he hasn't This will
be the first week I'll have a chance to do
pass protection. He hasn't been able to do that until
up till now, so you can kind of see the
challenges there with that. But we're trying to get him
up speed as quick as we possibly can, and so
he's he's up. We wouldn't put a player out there
(07:45):
until they're ready to be successful. That wouldn't be fair
to the player or to the team, or the fans
or anybody. But as soon as we feel like a
guy like him or anybody else is really ready or
the best guy for it, we would do it. We
do have a couple veteran guys that could at that
in the offensive line that have been practicing that would
have a shot that will take a look at this
week and see how they look. And that stuff's definitely
(08:06):
on the table of the offensive.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Line that's been appreciated. It's now with Ronnie where he's
either had to leave early or he's an active against
house team.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
We all know his history with the ankle and the
surgeries in the past.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Is this related to that in a big picture, you know,
chronic type things or a new injury.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
You know, Hey, it's the ankle. You know, it's the ankle.
So it's it's structurally good, or we wouldn't be out
there playing. But it's just it becomes a matter of,
you know, his ability to to perform on it, you know,
and that's kind of the only person that knows that
is the player, you know, so you've kind of you've
got to go by that. But he's fighting to get
(08:45):
out there and play, and he played about a quarter
and a half and so that was I was appreciative
of that. You know. But you know, we're having Ronnie
Stanley out there is a big deal. I mean it's
a really really big deal. So, you know, I think
it's probably true for most teams. You know, offensive linemen,
you know, they're important, and if you don't have your
best guys out there, that's challenging, especially at left tackle.
(09:08):
So this is going to be an important week for him,
I would think, you know, he's just a chance for
him to maybe maybe get that thing a little more
heeled up, you know. And I'll tell you this, he's
working really hard at and he really wants to be
out there, and I appreciate his effort and his toughness
and all those things.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
When you took us through those goal in plays yesterday,
you said, some of it is just you got to
get pad in your padd and win. As a coach,
how do you address that sort of thing with especially
veteran players who've been doing that their whole careers.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, I mean it's it's always a fight, like it's
not just it's the other team's getting pad in her
pad too, So how do you address it? You know,
they were stacked up to stop that play because we
didn't really have an option off of the play, So
I give him credit for that. So it was definitely
running the play uphill. So you know, we do we
acknowledge that if if if, if he check stop, get
out of the play, whatever you want to do, you
(10:01):
can do that. But we still thought we could get
it there. We felt like we could move it, you know,
half a yard to a yard, and we just decided
we were going to try to run it in and
you know that it didn't work, so we got to
rethink it. We really have to rethink it, and we're
disappointed didn't happen. I mean, to me, the game, the
game turned right there. Then it turned the next you know,
(10:24):
the start of the second half. Uh with with the
uh you know, if you turn the ball over and
the next thing you know, it's it's fourteen points, just
like that. So that's that's the biggest the biggest thing
to me, that that's where it turns. So if you
look at that game, we played a really good football
game in a lot of ways. I mean, I think
our defense played well across the board. Our offense really
(10:46):
played well. We had over eighty plays. You know, we've
been struggling. We talked about getting plays. We had had
what fifty plays average. You know, we have over eighty
plays against a really good defense. We moved the ball,
we moved the change on the ball exceptionally well. We
we revamped a few things offensively on the run. I
thought we did a really good job with that. But
(11:09):
you know, we had penalties. We had certain penalties that
were you know, they're they're close penalties, but they get
called and then they set you back so that probably
costs us anywhere from you know, seven to ten to
fourteen points with those penalties and those two drives. Then
then you get the ball in a great field, you
get a stop, you get a punt return, you get
good field position, you move, you march the ball down
(11:30):
to the to the one inside the one yard line
at the end of the half, and you got a chance.
You should be coming away with seven there, you know,
and it was right to go for it. But you
get to come away with nothing. So there's another seven points, right,
and then we come out and they go down and score. Unfortunately,
would have liked to have stopped that drive somewhere along
the way, but we didn't. And then we turn the
(11:52):
ball over and now they go score. And that's really
at the end of the day where we were at.
That was probably the game. You know, we still fought,
but we just we did we took we took the
opportunities to score the points away from ourselves, and that's
what you can't do. So that's where we just need
to get better. But I do like the fact that
we operated as an offense, you know, with with with
(12:13):
with Cooper and with Tyler out there. Uh, pretty efficiently.
We wanted to be more efficient, and we were pretty efficient.
I'd say we were very efficient actually, but we still
we did the things you can't do. We committed penalties
and you and you turn the ball over and that hurt.
Speaker 7 (12:29):
Us about a love Gilden being here and there.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Safety looks when you watch that game again with what's
your take on how it worked?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I thought it worked very well. I was really happy
with it. I think it's it's you guys have all
seen this enough. You know you kind of know how
that operates for us. So that was that was a
big plus, a big plus. I'm excited about it going forward.
I feel really good about what we can do defensively,
like we have a little more versatility back, a little
more versatility back with our eyes. It kind of gives
(13:00):
us a chance to lean into things we'd like to
do defensively more. It should help us a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Get out of that game physically, okay.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
You did, Marlin got out of the game physically okay? Yes.
Speaker 11 (13:12):
Trying to talk about believing that you can still make
the playoffs and how much Lamar's potential return at aachology
guys kind of looking into string.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Well, I'm leaning into that pretty hard. How much are
you leaning in I'm sorry, go ahead, I'm restate. How
much are you.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Hoping that I can sort of jump.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Start your team psychologically? How much am I leaning into
Lamar coming back and playing. Yeah, i'd have to. If
I was on the couch with a psychiatrist right now,
if I was spilling spilling it, I would have to say,
I'm leaning really harder to that, really hard. Yeah, for
for any kind of psychological wellbeing, spiritual wellbeing, I'm leaning
(13:54):
hard on that happening. So I'm I'm very hopeful that
that happens.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
My decision to deactivating Peoples and kind of go short alone,
I mean, to your defensive line while.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Leave each year up, oh, leaving Zai Europe well.
Speaker 6 (14:10):
Going with Alexander active, he didn't play a snaps and
then but deactivating.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Peoples, Yeah, uh. I think he just kind of feel like,
you go with the guys give you the best chance.
And I felt like, I think we felt like we
kind of as we needed maybe Jair possibly somebody gets
necked up. We needed the corner. You had to have
the corner against these guys, and I felt like we
could get by with our fronts with four defensive linemen. Really,
I mean it's a it's a it's a three wide
(14:35):
receiver offense. They put two tight ends in there. Sometimes
you know they'll go they'll go twelve a little bit,
but it's not really what they do. So you didn't
really feel like you could. You felt like you could
live with unless the line. Plus, you know, down Tavi's
got hurt, but you can kick him down inside and
Peoples is really not really a run stop on D
lineman anyway, So if you're gonna go, if you're gonna
(14:58):
go with another D lineman, you'd want to go with
a guy anyway, because Tavis can rush inside as well,
and all of our defensive ends can go inside and rush.
So we just felt like the corner gave us a
little more if somebody got hurt.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Because obviously added a Qui I took a roster with
the various fascinations. Has he impressed her over the last
couple of weeks and for showing that he really can
be a player in this league now was supposed to
its future.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I think he's come a long way, Chiles, He's come
a long way. I mean to see him where he's
at right now compared to where he was when he
got here, is just unbelievable. It's night and day. He's
really done a great job. I got to give him credit.
I got to give a coach, Dennis Johnson credit, done
a great job with him. For him to be playing,
you know, really good solid football in there, good run
defense and getting some pocket push too, is is pretty impressive.
(15:49):
And you know, John Jenkins has done a really nice job.
You got to give herb a hand for the job
he's done in there. I mean, Travis had a really
good game. I just think all those guys played really well.
And you know, we still we still could, you know,
we still we can bring back on the practice squad
some guys, you know, for defensive line, or bring some
(16:10):
guys up or whatever. We can still use those guys.
But but I think for him coming through force the
way he did, it's been kind of a real blessing.
It's not something we really expected to have happen.
Speaker 7 (16:22):
We touched on the turnover a little bit, but now
I think three last time, three three on Sunday. I
know every turnover and you can go throughly and judge
it each way, but just in general, I mean.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Is there a way to try that limit? Is it
just going over film?
Speaker 7 (16:36):
Is do you find it's more physical or would mental
mistakes and happening or what would you take one?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I think it's more physical. I mean to me, it's
like it's it couldn't be more emphasized in practice or games.
It just couldn't be, you know, but we're going to
have to find a way to make it more important
because it's happening too much. I mean, you can't win
by turning the ball over. You know, you can't win
by not getting turnovers, and we have gotten tournaments. You
want to look at why the record is the way
(17:02):
it is to start with that, I mean, that's that's
the main thing. And we knew that, and we knew
that coming out of the season last year, and that's
why we made such a big important emphasis on it.
So we just have to get there as a team,
like when we fit, when we find our when we
find ourselves that way, when we when we are able
to protect the football, especially like we've never been a
team that fumbles a lot. You know, we've had fumbles,
but we've never been a fumbling team. Now all of
(17:23):
a sudden, we fumble you know, that's that's surprising, but
it's it's happening way too much. So it's got to stop.
And that's that's the responsibility of everybody. But it's mainly
the responsibility of the person who has the ball in
their hands, you know, and they all know that, and
they're very conscientious. So it's got to get done.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
And then you guys, aren't really a team that crumbles
a lot. Obviously, Derek sound fumbles a lot when it's
people who already know the technique.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Is it more mental and how do you like the
mentality part of the turnover or a critical situation?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Uh, it's it's a hard thing to judge because there's
no way to know the answer to that. You know,
it's a great question, but there's way to know what
degree it is. It's just you coach. You coach the result.
You know, you coach the technique of it, you coach
the the mental part of it in terms of being
conscious about it, you know, being very conscientious about it,
which which they are. But you got to think about
it in battle. Like if you watch Derek during this
(18:14):
last game, he did a great job. You know, he
was he was running that ball hard. There were he
was getting hit from every different direction and and the
ball was completely secure in there, and I think he
did a great job. So there's an example of you know, success,
success with that. So that's just something everybody's got to
everybody's got to be one completely and fully locked in
(18:37):
on which is protecting the football.
Speaker 8 (18:40):
The raven claw is that would tell you hold the ball.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, I mean the raven claws. It's it's there's five
points of contact on the football. You know your your
your your hand is always going to be above your
elbow and your elbow is going to be tucked. And
then the raven claw is is to lock it in
like this over the top when you're in traffic. So
that's what we teach that ball is not coming out.
Usually when the ball comes out is when guys are
in awkward situations. If you if you study it, a
(19:06):
lot of the balls get punched out when guys are
going to the ground forward and the bottom level get
gets away from the body and the and they go
down and hit the ground and the ball gets punched
out because it's not tight. So it happened to our
punt returner in this last game, or or when a
guy's making a cut, he's moving and the ball, the
ball comes off the body just a little bit, and
the timing of the punch happens at that point in time.
(19:27):
So if you watch most turnovers, just kind of those
kind of situations.
Speaker 10 (19:30):
Now that he's practiced a few days, is it's still
your thought that Patrick Ricard is trending toward playing against Chicago.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I don't know. I don't know. It's it's it's the
way it works, the way the injury is is uh,
it's it's pretty much recovered from a from that kind
of a standpoint, it's just a matter of him being
comfortable with his level of strength and his ability to perform.
I mean, it's him being able to get out there
and push himself through practice and feel like it's going
to stay healthy, feel like he can move and on
(20:00):
change direction and power into people. I mean, it's really
up to him. I mean, the only thing we can
do is ask him how he's doing, how he's feeling,
and how if he can push himself to do more
or not, because it's it's his calf, you know, So
that's all we can do right now. So I can't
really make any promises.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
You have a team that's struggling like this, wasn't expecting
to struggle like this. People will ask about leadership coaches
that players, But from your experience looking at player of leadership,
how has that been these last few weeks of guys
building each other, accountable, et cetera, and moving forward as
to come out of the body knowing what kind of
run you have to go on?
Speaker 4 (20:39):
What do you want to see from player of leadership
to achieve that?
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Well, it's definitely really important. I mean, I think you're
exactly right to point that out. That's got to be
a critical thing. It's something that we work on all
the time. You know. It's I believe in our guys,
you know, I really I really like our guys. I
have great respect for our guys. I think our guys
are really special people, you know, And I think if
(21:04):
you looked at every one of those guys that you're
talking about, the veteran leaders that you know, you could
see why I would say that. And so but working
on that because when you when you face adversity like this,
you know, in football, just like in life, we say
all the time, but it's true. And that's why you
ask the question, Because we all live our lives. It's
(21:25):
it's something you have to really be intentional about, you know,
and you have to talk to people about and ask
them how they're doing, and see what they're thinking and
what they can do, what they think they can do,
what they think needs to be done. What the best
way is to say things are to approach things and
try to help with that as much as you can,
you know, when you're in this kind of position. So
(21:46):
that's what I try to do. I think. I think
it's really important to try to do that. So I
feel I feel like we're going to get great, great
veteran leadership. I believe that, and we're going to have
to to your point, I mean, that's going to be
nothing's gonna be more important than that.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
John Along those lines, when you have.
Speaker 10 (22:07):
A group of guys who have very high expectations and
then you take say penalties and other sort of self
afflicted things among other things, if you've gotten any sense
that there is sometimes it's almost a snowball effect where
you know guys are maybe thinking too much or or
(22:31):
sort of almost afraid to make a mistake. If that
makes sense.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
I think it's a fair question because it feels that way.
You know. It's like the old Jerry Coleman momentum question
from way back when, and.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
I don't see that transition kind of.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Well, then there's something to it. I do think there's
something to it, you know, and you've got to you've
got to find a way to put a stop to
it and kind of get it moving the other way.
And sometimes you feel like the all go against you,
you know, and it just feels that way. It's a
little bit tight of a call and you get it
against you and they don't get it against them, and
it looks the same, you know, and you just can't
you can't go down that road. You can't live there
because it's just the way it is. You just got
(23:12):
to you got to fight to play clean football, you know,
and do the best you can to play to play
clean football so they just can't call it for something.
And we try to coach all those type of scenarios,
whether it's you know, downfield blocks when you know, it's
no different on special teams at block in the back
as it is with offense. You know, you've got to
find a way to kind of just keep coaching those
(23:32):
things and talking to the guys about those things and
drilling those things, because the momentum does start to swing
if you if you keep coaching and you keep teaching,
and the guys want to and the guys want to
get better, which our guys do. So that's that's all
you can do. That's all you have to do. You
just have to keep after it, you know, and try
to do things the right way.
Speaker 8 (23:52):
I know you do a lot of studies, especially with
injury prevention or try to decrease it. But do you
sometimes feel that, you know, it's just certain units that
you just come and beat. Snake bitten sometimes? I mean
doesn't feel that way.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Sometimes it feels that way, Yeah, it does. It does
feel that way sometimes. I mean I think when you
get things like like a broken foot, you know, those
kind of things are they definitely have to do with
luck a lot of times. The soft tissue things, you
can usually trace those a little bit. Like our performance
director he he chases he he he traces those things,
(24:29):
and I think he has a pretty good understanding of
you know why we had a couple of the soft
tissue things. Uh so we can kind of monitor that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 9 (24:37):
This Cooper rush steal or second string. Is he still
a second string quarters? It's Cooper rush Stale the second
string quarterback.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Cooper Rushed the second string quarterback. I'm gonna say yes,
But I would also say that we've got we've got
two backup quarterbacks. I believe that, you know, and we're
gonna have to see how we want to do the roster.
You know, I talked to Eric about that too, So
I think Tyler's in the conversation just like he was
in the game. And you know, to be clear, I mean,
everybody knew what the plan was as far as the
possibility of both guys playing in the game. Since you
(25:08):
haven't asked it yet, I might as well because I
saw the quote. But you know, Cooper knew that was
going to be a possibility, and it was going to
be based on the circumstances of the game, which you
know that I think anybody can imagine what they might
have been. You know, if we if we're scoring those
points and we don't have the fumbles, and we scored
at the end of the half, and we're playing a
game with the lead, you know, probably nothing changes. You know,
(25:29):
we probably play that game if we're having trouble running
the ball then uh, you know, it would have been
bringing Tyler and some of the quarterback driven stuff along
with the rest of the offense. That was on my
mind as a possibility, but we weren't. We were on
the ball great or if we get behind and you
have the ability for Tyler to make some things happen
passing game and with his legs, that's a possibility too.
(25:52):
So those are those are just the front up. Those
are the scenarios that you can bring Tyler in on,
and that was going to be something I was thinking
about doing. So you could have seen Tyler early, especially
if the run game was struggling. That was kind of
my thinking early. So you can see why in the game.
Why I did it, I think, you know, when you
look at the way the game went, I think it
makes sense. I don't think it would have made sense
the way the first half was going up until halftime.
(26:13):
You know, we we were doing we were doing well.
We just had the penalties that held us back. So
that's how it went. And both quarterbacks were one hundred
percent fully aware of that.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
And do you have Mike Tomlinson kind of miffed about
the flock of trade today and he said it publicly?
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Does that trade? Did that resonate with you?
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Do you have any issue with maybe making injured division
trade with at a position like quarterback.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I didn't think about it that much, probably because we
don't play the Browns of the Bengals for four or
five weeks or something like that, so I can't say
that was on my mind. I was surprised, I will
be I will say that I was surprised, like, wow,
you know, Joe's going to the Bengals. You know, that
would be about as much as I would say I
thought about it.
Speaker 10 (26:57):
A lot of questions about how other coach and your
players are holding up.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
How about you?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
I mean, you haven't been through.
Speaker 6 (27:04):
Something like this in about ten years, and I'm sure
you hear some of the band's frustration and all that.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
I'm sure you share that frustration.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
So how's it been going for you trying to deal
with this with the expectation's coming.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Into the season right Thanks for asking that. I appreciate it.
It's been just tested. It's been a test, you know,
it's been a test of faith, you know in your family. Obviously,
it's a test for your family and a test for
everybody in the building, you know, And I think what
I really try to be intentional about is continuing to
(27:38):
respect people and to treat people the right way on
our team and in the building and our coaching staff
who are giving everything they've got every single day to
be the very best they can be. And I think
I really I just want to be really conscientious of
the fact that as a leader, you owe your people
(27:58):
that because as a leader that you're you're here to
serve them and to help them and do everything you
can to put people in the best position to be
successful with their jobs and to support them and to
you know, be honest with them too. Sure, And that's
a big part of it. I think everybody, all the
guys would tell you that I'm very honest and up
front and direct about whatever it might be, but do
(28:20):
it in a way and do it in a way
that's very respectful and appreciative of the of the amazing
talent that we have. And that's the other thing, is like,
if I didn't think we had the talent or the ability,
or the work ethic or the or the care factor
from everybody in the building, then I wouldn't be as
optimistic as I am. And what I present to you
and to the fans in this in the setting. Here
(28:43):
is the exact way I feel like. I'm not trying
to stand up here and feed anybody any bologna or
say things that aren't true, or talk out of both
sides of my mouth. I'm trying to be as honest
as straightforward as I can about where we're at and
what we need to do, and the same things that
we're saying to our team. And that's that's all. That's
all you can do. So but from a face standpoint,
(29:05):
my trust is in my is in my creator and
my God and my Lord and my Savior Jesus Christ,
and in the fact that that I stand on the
rock of of that faith, and and that's that's that's
that's unshakable. So with that, I don't think I can
be moved. I don't think I can be moved because
(29:26):
I have that. And if I have that, and I
have my family, you know, and I've got everything I need.
But you know what else I have. I have a
bunch of I have an owner who is an incredible man,
an incredible leader, and incredible support and a great friend
who wants to be great and wants to help me
do the best job I can do. And I have
(29:47):
a general manager who feels the same way, and a
team president and Ozzie Newsom, and a coaching staff and
a staff people like Chad all through the building that
all they want to do is do their best. But
and then just a bunch of coaches and a bunch
of players, that's all they care about and all they
think about, and and that's that I can stand on that.
And then a fan base that I appreciate because I
(30:09):
know how much they care and how much they want
us to be great, And even when they're frustrated, and
even if they say things that are hurtful, it's okay
because that's our job. That's our job, and it's also
going to be great. It's going to be wonderful when
things are rolling again and they can enjoy it like
they're supposed to. And that's that's why we're working so
hard to get it where it needs to be.
Speaker 6 (30:31):
We don't talk to Steve barely at all in terms
of on the record, for you.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Know, in interviews, what's his reaction to the start? Do
you hear him regularly? Is the frustration of him and
the one in five start having in it.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Uh, you know, it's hard for me to. I don't
want to speak for for for Steve. I just I
would I would just say he's been great. I can
tell you is from my perspective, he's been great. Yeah.
I think I know he wants to win, you know,
and I know he's he's he's turning over every rock too.
I mean we we we talk all the time, and
he's turning over every rock as well. So I have
just great respect for him and great appreciation for him.
(31:06):
But I don't want to speak for him and how
he feels.
Speaker 12 (31:09):
Okay, Okay, great.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Thanks.
Speaker 12 (31:12):
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Speaker 1 (31:32):
You're listening to the Ravens Press Past podcast, make sure
you hit subscribe also head over to the Lounge podcast
feed subscribe there. Thank you so much for listening. We'll
be back with you again later this week.
You're listening to the Ravens Presspass podcast is Monday, October thirteenth.
The Ravens dropped to one to five after losing to
the La Rams seventeen to three on Sunday. It's now
the team's bye weekend. Head coach John Harball talk with
the media on Monday about the areas of focus and
what the Ravens needs do to turn their season around.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Okay, good scene, everybody appreciate you being here once again
and a lot of work and you're going to do
a bye week now, our focus going forward and what
we can accomplish for the next eleven games and try
to earn our way into the playoffs, which obviously has
pointed out last night has not been done very often
(00:45):
with the record we have, but we still believe we
can do it. And really all the focus goes to
really two things, the bye week and working through every
aspect and issue that we can find every way we
can be at our best going forward with the players
we have. It's going to be good to get players back,
and then how we organize ourselves and craft our schemes
(01:08):
and then also how we work on them for the
next two days in training camp, or in the bye week,
like I guess you treat like a training camp maybe,
but in the bye week to build those things into
our offense, defense, and special teams and then focus on
the Bears game, you know, and being the best team
we can be to win that game. What questions you have, John,
(01:29):
as far as the pass rush.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Now that you know Adapi has treated and Davis is.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Hurt, you know how big of a challenge we are going
to be and generate some pressure coming off the edges.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Now, well, I mean it's been a challenge all year
to generate pressure, So you know we're gonna have to
manufacture pressure. I think we talked about that the last
couple of weeks. But also our guys are gonna have
to step up and create pressure on the four man rush.
We do it with simulator pressures too. A lot of
times we did that in the game. We were able
to move Stafford out of the pocket a few times
and hurry them up a few times, which I thought
was really good even with four man rushes and sims.
(02:03):
But we also had a few blitches in there too
that we're good. So we've got to build off those
things and and do the job with the guys that
we have, John.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
He said to Tays is broken. Is that a season
ending Ajory and you can come back?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Thanks you Franks that No, it's not. We found out
it's going to be six to eight weeks, very similar
to Isaiah likely, so he will be back during the season.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yes, related to that whole situation.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Is there updated as Isaac or what did is he
season for the Isaacca?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Is he annoyserged on a love or something? Is he
finished for the year.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
He's not finished for the year. They're talking about maybe
mid November, late November for for Isaac. Possibly. Yes.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
My week is the guys will remain around for a
couple of days and then set them for you.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Is that different or is that standard from past year?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
It's been different different years. You know, we're going to
be practicing. It's an early bye week this year, but
we'll be going Tuesday and Wednesday with practice. Will also
be doing our study all through the weeks coaches and
working really hard.
Speaker 6 (03:09):
John, do you sense that, I mean, with the injury
to Robinson and always traded, you've only got three guys.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Three outside linebackers on the fifty three. Do you anticipate looking.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
Outside of the organization, promoting from within, and I assume
you won't go what with just three?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, all the above. I would say, we have we
have a couple of guys that we like on the
practice squad right now that are doing really well. So
I wouldn't mind giving those guys a shot. One of
those guys at least, So that's no option number one,
the most obvious option, and then there's the other options
you're talking about are certainly on the table.
Speaker 7 (03:45):
Last year, as far as gold to good situations, you
guys were among the most efficient.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
This year, not so much.
Speaker 8 (03:51):
What do you feel has been the biggest change from
because it's so streme the biggest change for me last
year to this year.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know the exact comparison from
last year this year. It's hard to say. Obviously, the
biggest change is we're not effective. I mean, it's just
it's been it's been ineffective basically, and that's been I'd
have to say, it's been surprising. You know, we have
not been able to punch the ball in which last
year we were able to do it. So we're looking
at every aspect of it. Scheme keeping people more off balance,
(04:22):
effectively running a quarterback sneak, which was really disappointing. You know,
we we've had we've had a couple of situations this
year where we took the ball off the line of
scrimmage down there and didn't get in. So sometimes you say,
keep it simple and sneak it in, you know, and
but they were loaded up for it, but you still
should be able to push it in there, and then
not not executing the play for the front that we wanted,
(04:43):
and just not executing it the way we didn't block
it very very completely well. So all those things, I
think that's pretty much been the situation all the way through.
If you look at all the all the situations where
we didn't get in down there from the one or
two yard line, it's been basically the same. So we
got to work on that really hard. I mean, that's
like the number one thing in my mind on offense
(05:06):
is short yardage and goal line. We should be better.
We should be way better, way better than we are.
I mean, we've been We've never struggled in those areas,
and I don't really understand why we are. I mean
I do, I look at the plays, but you want
to step back and say why is this happening? And
we're just not getting the job done. You know, So
(05:27):
if we want to be the kind of team that
we have, if we want to have a chance, we
got to get that fixed. I mean, that should have
been fixed. We've been talking about fixing it for weeks,
and we've been trying to fix it for weeks, but
we haven't done a good job.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
So let's push.
Speaker 9 (05:40):
I know you have mentioned you guys not getting to
push up front, that you felt like you needed to
make that play successful. But I'm just curious what goes
into marking? Why Mark Andrews as that guy as opposed
to like, I guess a guy like Derrick Henry in
that spinal.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Derrick Henry under there, No, it marked the guy. He's
a good ballhand or he's been doing it. I mean
Mark versus Derek. You know, I think Mark is a
guy that's we like Mark doing it. You know, he's
he's a good ballhandler and he's had experienced doing it.
Derek is that I know I was never taken a
snap under center, you know, so we'd have to teach
him how to do that. Why why Derek over Mark?
(06:16):
You know, why would that be better. So I think
Mark's done a good job with it. We have, Charlie's
done it before. They've been successful a bunch of times. Derek,
that would I don't know where that idea comes from,
but that that wouldn't be a thought. No, that would
not be a thought. That's not something we thought about doing.
Speaker 10 (06:32):
You moving forward with it, you'll give you'll continue to
utilize the touch push.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Why'd you try it with a difference, Well, we did it.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
We did it later in the game and we got
on third and one.
Speaker 10 (06:43):
With along those lines, I know he said, guys are
always under evaluation, You're always looking at it. Are you
considering any changes on the offensive line with you know,
given a guy like Emery once he's you know, fully
back and I know he's full back, but or or
bullocks or any of those.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, absolutely, we're absolutely we're considering those kind of options
for sure. And that's that's kind of what the bye
week is for. I think it helps you with that.
Those guys will get a chance to practice on Tuesday
and Wednesday, which will be good for us to get
those guys out there and see him. I mean Emory
for instance. You know he's a young dude, he's only
been practicing for like a week, so there's a lot
(07:22):
that goes into knowing what you're supposed to do under
fire and pass protection. He hasn't done any pass protection
yet because of his shoulders, so he hasn't This will
be the first week I'll have a chance to do
pass protection. He hasn't been able to do that until
up till now, so you can kind of see the
challenges there with that. But we're trying to get him
up speed as quick as we possibly can, and so
he's he's up. We wouldn't put a player out there
(07:45):
until they're ready to be successful. That wouldn't be fair
to the player or to the team, or the fans
or anybody. But as soon as we feel like a
guy like him or anybody else is really ready or
the best guy for it, we would do it. We
do have a couple veteran guys that could at that
in the offensive line that have been practicing that would
have a shot that will take a look at this
week and see how they look. And that stuff's definitely
(08:06):
on the table of the offensive.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Line that's been appreciated. It's now with Ronnie where he's
either had to leave early or he's an active against
house team.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
We all know his history with the ankle and the
surgeries in the past.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Is this related to that in a big picture, you know,
chronic type things or a new injury.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
You know, Hey, it's the ankle. You know, it's the ankle.
So it's it's structurally good, or we wouldn't be out
there playing. But it's just it becomes a matter of,
you know, his ability to to perform on it, you know,
and that's kind of the only person that knows that
is the player, you know, so you've kind of you've
got to go by that. But he's fighting to get
(08:45):
out there and play, and he played about a quarter
and a half and so that was I was appreciative
of that. You know. But you know, we're having Ronnie
Stanley out there is a big deal. I mean it's
a really really big deal. So, you know, I think
it's probably true for most teams. You know, offensive linemen,
you know, they're important, and if you don't have your
best guys out there, that's challenging, especially at left tackle.
(09:08):
So this is going to be an important week for him,
I would think, you know, he's just a chance for
him to maybe maybe get that thing a little more
heeled up, you know. And I'll tell you this, he's
working really hard at and he really wants to be
out there, and I appreciate his effort and his toughness
and all those things.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
When you took us through those goal in plays yesterday,
you said, some of it is just you got to
get pad in your padd and win. As a coach,
how do you address that sort of thing with especially
veteran players who've been doing that their whole careers.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, I mean it's it's always a fight, like it's
not just it's the other team's getting pad in her
pad too, So how do you address it? You know,
they were stacked up to stop that play because we
didn't really have an option off of the play, So
I give him credit for that. So it was definitely
running the play uphill. So you know, we do we
acknowledge that if if if, if he check stop, get
out of the play, whatever you want to do, you
(10:01):
can do that. But we still thought we could get
it there. We felt like we could move it, you know,
half a yard to a yard, and we just decided
we were going to try to run it in and
you know that it didn't work, so we got to
rethink it. We really have to rethink it, and we're
disappointed didn't happen. I mean, to me, the game, the
game turned right there. Then it turned the next you know,
(10:24):
the start of the second half. Uh with with the
uh you know, if you turn the ball over and
the next thing you know, it's it's fourteen points, just
like that. So that's that's the biggest the biggest thing
to me, that that's where it turns. So if you
look at that game, we played a really good football
game in a lot of ways. I mean, I think
our defense played well across the board. Our offense really
(10:46):
played well. We had over eighty plays. You know, we've
been struggling. We talked about getting plays. We had had
what fifty plays average. You know, we have over eighty
plays against a really good defense. We moved the ball,
we moved the change on the ball exceptionally well. We
we revamped a few things offensively on the run. I
thought we did a really good job with that. But
(11:09):
you know, we had penalties. We had certain penalties that
were you know, they're they're close penalties, but they get
called and then they set you back so that probably
costs us anywhere from you know, seven to ten to
fourteen points with those penalties and those two drives. Then
then you get the ball in a great field, you
get a stop, you get a punt return, you get
good field position, you move, you march the ball down
(11:30):
to the to the one inside the one yard line
at the end of the half, and you got a chance.
You should be coming away with seven there, you know,
and it was right to go for it. But you
get to come away with nothing. So there's another seven points, right,
and then we come out and they go down and score. Unfortunately,
would have liked to have stopped that drive somewhere along
the way, but we didn't. And then we turn the
(11:52):
ball over and now they go score. And that's really
at the end of the day where we were at.
That was probably the game. You know, we still fought,
but we just we did we took we took the
opportunities to score the points away from ourselves, and that's
what you can't do. So that's where we just need
to get better. But I do like the fact that
we operated as an offense, you know, with with with
(12:13):
with Cooper and with Tyler out there. Uh, pretty efficiently.
We wanted to be more efficient, and we were pretty efficient.
I'd say we were very efficient actually, but we still
we did the things you can't do. We committed penalties
and you and you turn the ball over and that hurt.
Speaker 7 (12:29):
Us about a love Gilden being here and there.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Safety looks when you watch that game again with what's
your take on how it worked?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I thought it worked very well. I was really happy
with it. I think it's it's you guys have all
seen this enough. You know you kind of know how
that operates for us. So that was that was a
big plus, a big plus. I'm excited about it going forward.
I feel really good about what we can do defensively,
like we have a little more versatility back, a little
more versatility back with our eyes. It kind of gives
(13:00):
us a chance to lean into things we'd like to
do defensively more. It should help us a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Get out of that game physically, okay.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
You did, Marlin got out of the game physically okay? Yes.
Speaker 11 (13:12):
Trying to talk about believing that you can still make
the playoffs and how much Lamar's potential return at aachology
guys kind of looking into string.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Well, I'm leaning into that pretty hard. How much are
you leaning in I'm sorry, go ahead, I'm restate. How
much are you.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Hoping that I can sort of jump.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Start your team psychologically? How much am I leaning into
Lamar coming back and playing. Yeah, i'd have to. If
I was on the couch with a psychiatrist right now,
if I was spilling spilling it, I would have to say,
I'm leaning really harder to that, really hard. Yeah, for
for any kind of psychological wellbeing, spiritual wellbeing, I'm leaning
(13:54):
hard on that happening. So I'm I'm very hopeful that
that happens.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
My decision to deactivating Peoples and kind of go short alone,
I mean, to your defensive line while.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Leave each year up, oh, leaving Zai Europe well.
Speaker 6 (14:10):
Going with Alexander active, he didn't play a snaps and
then but deactivating.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Peoples, Yeah, uh. I think he just kind of feel like,
you go with the guys give you the best chance.
And I felt like, I think we felt like we
kind of as we needed maybe Jair possibly somebody gets
necked up. We needed the corner. You had to have
the corner against these guys, and I felt like we
could get by with our fronts with four defensive linemen. Really,
I mean it's a it's a it's a three wide
(14:35):
receiver offense. They put two tight ends in there. Sometimes
you know they'll go they'll go twelve a little bit,
but it's not really what they do. So you didn't
really feel like you could. You felt like you could
live with unless the line. Plus, you know, down Tavi's
got hurt, but you can kick him down inside and
Peoples is really not really a run stop on D
lineman anyway, So if you're gonna go, if you're gonna
(14:58):
go with another D lineman, you'd want to go with
a guy anyway, because Tavis can rush inside as well,
and all of our defensive ends can go inside and rush.
So we just felt like the corner gave us a
little more if somebody got hurt.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Because obviously added a Qui I took a roster with
the various fascinations. Has he impressed her over the last
couple of weeks and for showing that he really can
be a player in this league now was supposed to
its future.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I think he's come a long way, Chiles, He's come
a long way. I mean to see him where he's
at right now compared to where he was when he
got here, is just unbelievable. It's night and day. He's
really done a great job. I got to give him credit.
I got to give a coach, Dennis Johnson credit, done
a great job with him. For him to be playing,
you know, really good solid football in there, good run
defense and getting some pocket push too, is is pretty impressive.
(15:49):
And you know, John Jenkins has done a really nice job.
You got to give herb a hand for the job
he's done in there. I mean, Travis had a really
good game. I just think all those guys played really well.
And you know, we still we still could, you know,
we still we can bring back on the practice squad
some guys, you know, for defensive line, or bring some
(16:10):
guys up or whatever. We can still use those guys.
But but I think for him coming through force the
way he did, it's been kind of a real blessing.
It's not something we really expected to have happen.
Speaker 7 (16:22):
We touched on the turnover a little bit, but now
I think three last time, three three on Sunday. I
know every turnover and you can go throughly and judge
it each way, but just in general, I mean.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Is there a way to try that limit? Is it
just going over film?
Speaker 7 (16:36):
Is do you find it's more physical or would mental
mistakes and happening or what would you take one?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I think it's more physical. I mean to me, it's
like it's it couldn't be more emphasized in practice or games.
It just couldn't be, you know, but we're going to
have to find a way to make it more important
because it's happening too much. I mean, you can't win
by turning the ball over. You know, you can't win
by not getting turnovers, and we have gotten tournaments. You
want to look at why the record is the way
(17:02):
it is to start with that, I mean, that's that's
the main thing. And we knew that, and we knew
that coming out of the season last year, and that's
why we made such a big important emphasis on it.
So we just have to get there as a team,
like when we fit, when we find our when we
find ourselves that way, when we when we are able
to protect the football, especially like we've never been a
team that fumbles a lot. You know, we've had fumbles,
but we've never been a fumbling team. Now all of
(17:23):
a sudden, we fumble you know, that's that's surprising, but
it's it's happening way too much. So it's got to stop.
And that's that's the responsibility of everybody. But it's mainly
the responsibility of the person who has the ball in
their hands, you know, and they all know that, and
they're very conscientious. So it's got to get done.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
And then you guys, aren't really a team that crumbles
a lot. Obviously, Derek sound fumbles a lot when it's
people who already know the technique.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Is it more mental and how do you like the
mentality part of the turnover or a critical situation?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Uh, it's it's a hard thing to judge because there's
no way to know the answer to that. You know,
it's a great question, but there's way to know what
degree it is. It's just you coach. You coach the result.
You know, you coach the technique of it, you coach
the the mental part of it in terms of being
conscious about it, you know, being very conscientious about it,
which which they are. But you got to think about
it in battle. Like if you watch Derek during this
(18:14):
last game, he did a great job. You know, he
was he was running that ball hard. There were he
was getting hit from every different direction and and the
ball was completely secure in there, and I think he
did a great job. So there's an example of you know, success,
success with that. So that's just something everybody's got to
everybody's got to be one completely and fully locked in
(18:37):
on which is protecting the football.
Speaker 8 (18:40):
The raven claw is that would tell you hold the ball.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, I mean the raven claws. It's it's there's five
points of contact on the football. You know your your
your your hand is always going to be above your
elbow and your elbow is going to be tucked. And
then the raven claw is is to lock it in
like this over the top when you're in traffic. So
that's what we teach that ball is not coming out.
Usually when the ball comes out is when guys are
in awkward situations. If you if you study it, a
(19:06):
lot of the balls get punched out when guys are
going to the ground forward and the bottom level get
gets away from the body and the and they go
down and hit the ground and the ball gets punched
out because it's not tight. So it happened to our
punt returner in this last game, or or when a
guy's making a cut, he's moving and the ball, the
ball comes off the body just a little bit, and
the timing of the punch happens at that point in time.
(19:27):
So if you watch most turnovers, just kind of those
kind of situations.
Speaker 10 (19:30):
Now that he's practiced a few days, is it's still
your thought that Patrick Ricard is trending toward playing against Chicago.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I don't know. I don't know. It's it's it's the
way it works, the way the injury is is uh,
it's it's pretty much recovered from a from that kind
of a standpoint, it's just a matter of him being
comfortable with his level of strength and his ability to perform.
I mean, it's him being able to get out there
and push himself through practice and feel like it's going
to stay healthy, feel like he can move and on
(20:00):
change direction and power into people. I mean, it's really
up to him. I mean, the only thing we can
do is ask him how he's doing, how he's feeling,
and how if he can push himself to do more
or not, because it's it's his calf, you know, So
that's all we can do right now. So I can't
really make any promises.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
You have a team that's struggling like this, wasn't expecting
to struggle like this. People will ask about leadership coaches
that players, But from your experience looking at player of leadership,
how has that been these last few weeks of guys
building each other, accountable, et cetera, and moving forward as
to come out of the body knowing what kind of
run you have to go on?
Speaker 4 (20:39):
What do you want to see from player of leadership
to achieve that?
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Well, it's definitely really important. I mean, I think you're
exactly right to point that out. That's got to be
a critical thing. It's something that we work on all
the time. You know. It's I believe in our guys,
you know, I really I really like our guys. I
have great respect for our guys. I think our guys
are really special people, you know, And I think if
(21:04):
you looked at every one of those guys that you're
talking about, the veteran leaders that you know, you could
see why I would say that. And so but working
on that because when you when you face adversity like this,
you know, in football, just like in life, we say
all the time, but it's true. And that's why you
ask the question, Because we all live our lives. It's
(21:25):
it's something you have to really be intentional about, you know,
and you have to talk to people about and ask
them how they're doing, and see what they're thinking and
what they can do, what they think they can do,
what they think needs to be done. What the best
way is to say things are to approach things and
try to help with that as much as you can,
you know, when you're in this kind of position. So
(21:46):
that's what I try to do. I think. I think
it's really important to try to do that. So I
feel I feel like we're going to get great, great
veteran leadership. I believe that, and we're going to have
to to your point, I mean, that's going to be
nothing's gonna be more important than that.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
John Along those lines, when you have.
Speaker 10 (22:07):
A group of guys who have very high expectations and
then you take say penalties and other sort of self
afflicted things among other things, if you've gotten any sense
that there is sometimes it's almost a snowball effect where
you know guys are maybe thinking too much or or
(22:31):
sort of almost afraid to make a mistake. If that
makes sense.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
I think it's a fair question because it feels that way.
You know. It's like the old Jerry Coleman momentum question
from way back when, and.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
I don't see that transition kind of.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Well, then there's something to it. I do think there's
something to it, you know, and you've got to you've
got to find a way to put a stop to
it and kind of get it moving the other way.
And sometimes you feel like the all go against you,
you know, and it just feels that way. It's a
little bit tight of a call and you get it
against you and they don't get it against them, and
it looks the same, you know, and you just can't
you can't go down that road. You can't live there
because it's just the way it is. You just got
(23:12):
to you got to fight to play clean football, you know,
and do the best you can to play to play
clean football so they just can't call it for something.
And we try to coach all those type of scenarios,
whether it's you know, downfield blocks when you know, it's
no different on special teams at block in the back
as it is with offense. You know, you've got to
find a way to kind of just keep coaching those
(23:32):
things and talking to the guys about those things and
drilling those things, because the momentum does start to swing
if you if you keep coaching and you keep teaching,
and the guys want to and the guys want to
get better, which our guys do. So that's that's all
you can do. That's all you have to do. You
just have to keep after it, you know, and try
to do things the right way.
Speaker 8 (23:52):
I know you do a lot of studies, especially with
injury prevention or try to decrease it. But do you
sometimes feel that, you know, it's just certain units that
you just come and beat. Snake bitten sometimes? I mean
doesn't feel that way.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Sometimes it feels that way, Yeah, it does. It does
feel that way sometimes. I mean I think when you
get things like like a broken foot, you know, those
kind of things are they definitely have to do with
luck a lot of times. The soft tissue things, you
can usually trace those a little bit. Like our performance
director he he chases he he he traces those things,
(24:29):
and I think he has a pretty good understanding of
you know why we had a couple of the soft
tissue things. Uh so we can kind of monitor that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 9 (24:37):
This Cooper rush steal or second string. Is he still
a second string quarters? It's Cooper rush Stale the second
string quarterback.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Cooper Rushed the second string quarterback. I'm gonna say yes,
But I would also say that we've got we've got
two backup quarterbacks. I believe that, you know, and we're
gonna have to see how we want to do the roster.
You know, I talked to Eric about that too, So
I think Tyler's in the conversation just like he was
in the game. And you know, to be clear, I mean,
everybody knew what the plan was as far as the
possibility of both guys playing in the game. Since you
(25:08):
haven't asked it yet, I might as well because I
saw the quote. But you know, Cooper knew that was
going to be a possibility, and it was going to
be based on the circumstances of the game, which you
know that I think anybody can imagine what they might
have been. You know, if we if we're scoring those
points and we don't have the fumbles, and we scored
at the end of the half, and we're playing a
game with the lead, you know, probably nothing changes. You know,
(25:29):
we probably play that game if we're having trouble running
the ball then uh, you know, it would have been
bringing Tyler and some of the quarterback driven stuff along
with the rest of the offense. That was on my
mind as a possibility, but we weren't. We were on
the ball great or if we get behind and you
have the ability for Tyler to make some things happen
passing game and with his legs, that's a possibility too.
(25:52):
So those are those are just the front up. Those
are the scenarios that you can bring Tyler in on,
and that was going to be something I was thinking
about doing. So you could have seen Tyler early, especially
if the run game was struggling. That was kind of
my thinking early. So you can see why in the game.
Why I did it, I think, you know, when you
look at the way the game went, I think it
makes sense. I don't think it would have made sense
the way the first half was going up until halftime.
(26:13):
You know, we we were doing we were doing well.
We just had the penalties that held us back. So
that's how it went. And both quarterbacks were one hundred
percent fully aware of that.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
And do you have Mike Tomlinson kind of miffed about
the flock of trade today and he said it publicly?
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Does that trade? Did that resonate with you?
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Do you have any issue with maybe making injured division
trade with at a position like quarterback.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I didn't think about it that much, probably because we
don't play the Browns of the Bengals for four or
five weeks or something like that, so I can't say
that was on my mind. I was surprised, I will
be I will say that I was surprised, like, wow,
you know, Joe's going to the Bengals. You know, that
would be about as much as I would say I
thought about it.
Speaker 10 (26:57):
A lot of questions about how other coach and your
players are holding up.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
How about you?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
I mean, you haven't been through.
Speaker 6 (27:04):
Something like this in about ten years, and I'm sure
you hear some of the band's frustration and all that.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
I'm sure you share that frustration.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
So how's it been going for you trying to deal
with this with the expectation's coming.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Into the season right Thanks for asking that. I appreciate it.
It's been just tested. It's been a test, you know,
it's been a test of faith, you know in your family. Obviously,
it's a test for your family and a test for
everybody in the building, you know, And I think what
I really try to be intentional about is continuing to
(27:38):
respect people and to treat people the right way on
our team and in the building and our coaching staff
who are giving everything they've got every single day to
be the very best they can be. And I think
I really I just want to be really conscientious of
the fact that as a leader, you owe your people
(27:58):
that because as a leader that you're you're here to
serve them and to help them and do everything you
can to put people in the best position to be
successful with their jobs and to support them and to
you know, be honest with them too. Sure, And that's
a big part of it. I think everybody, all the
guys would tell you that I'm very honest and up
front and direct about whatever it might be, but do
(28:20):
it in a way and do it in a way
that's very respectful and appreciative of the of the amazing
talent that we have. And that's the other thing, is like,
if I didn't think we had the talent or the ability,
or the work ethic or the or the care factor
from everybody in the building, then I wouldn't be as
optimistic as I am. And what I present to you
and to the fans in this in the setting. Here
(28:43):
is the exact way I feel like. I'm not trying
to stand up here and feed anybody any bologna or
say things that aren't true, or talk out of both
sides of my mouth. I'm trying to be as honest
as straightforward as I can about where we're at and
what we need to do, and the same things that
we're saying to our team. And that's that's all. That's
all you can do. So but from a face standpoint,
(29:05):
my trust is in my is in my creator and
my God and my Lord and my Savior Jesus Christ,
and in the fact that that I stand on the
rock of of that faith, and and that's that's that's
that's unshakable. So with that, I don't think I can
be moved. I don't think I can be moved because
(29:26):
I have that. And if I have that, and I
have my family, you know, and I've got everything I need.
But you know what else I have. I have a
bunch of I have an owner who is an incredible man,
an incredible leader, and incredible support and a great friend
who wants to be great and wants to help me
do the best job I can do. And I have
(29:47):
a general manager who feels the same way, and a
team president and Ozzie Newsom, and a coaching staff and
a staff people like Chad all through the building that
all they want to do is do their best. But
and then just a bunch of coaches and a bunch
of players, that's all they care about and all they
think about, and and that's that I can stand on that.
And then a fan base that I appreciate because I
(30:09):
know how much they care and how much they want
us to be great, And even when they're frustrated, and
even if they say things that are hurtful, it's okay
because that's our job. That's our job, and it's also
going to be great. It's going to be wonderful when
things are rolling again and they can enjoy it like
they're supposed to. And that's that's why we're working so
hard to get it where it needs to be.
Speaker 6 (30:31):
We don't talk to Steve barely at all in terms
of on the record, for you.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Know, in interviews, what's his reaction to the start? Do
you hear him regularly? Is the frustration of him and
the one in five start having in it.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Uh, you know, it's hard for me to. I don't
want to speak for for for Steve. I just I
would I would just say he's been great. I can
tell you is from my perspective, he's been great. Yeah.
I think I know he wants to win, you know,
and I know he's he's he's turning over every rock too.
I mean we we we talk all the time, and
he's turning over every rock as well. So I have
just great respect for him and great appreciation for him.
(31:06):
But I don't want to speak for him and how
he feels.
Speaker 12 (31:09):
Okay, Okay, great.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Thanks.
Speaker 12 (31:12):
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Speaker 1 (31:32):
You're listening to the Ravens Press Past podcast, make sure
you hit subscribe also head over to the Lounge podcast
feed subscribe there. Thank you so much for listening. We'll
be back with you again later this week.
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