December 22, 2025 • 19 mins
Head Coach John Harbaugh speaks with the media on Monday following the Ravens' 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome into the Ravens Press Pass podcast. It is Monday,
December twenty second. The Ravens lost to the New England
Patriots twenty eight to twenty four on Sunday. They are
now seven and eight on the season. Today we had
head coach John Harballs weekly Monday press conference.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good seeing everybody appreciate you being here. Focus, had a
chance to look at everything and study it and talk
to all the coaches and see a few of the players.
And we have a short week, quick turnaround. We'll be
back in tomorrow with the players, so we'll have to
have our game plan ready tomorrow at least getting started
on it with the first and second down plan tomorrow
when we practice and beginning way for Saturday night for
(00:41):
a game that we will be all in to play
our best football, our most complete game of the season.
That'll be our goal and come out with a win.
What question do you have, John, Do.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
You have anything any updates as far as.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Laur and his back.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Lamar has a back contusion, painful certainly saw him in
here getting treatment this morning and this afternoon early and
he'll be working. He's been classified as day to day
on that. Nothing beyond the contusion, but I don't want
to I don't want to minimize the severity in the
pain level of that because it's legit and that's where
it stands.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
I don't talk.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
About Derek Henry's usage in the last two possessions.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
A sense of a rotation. It was a rotation that
Keith Mitchell at.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
The time, who decides the rotation, and if not you,
why not say no, no, this is Derek Henry.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
We need to have him in the game right now.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Yeah, well, we have a rotation.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
The rotation is Derek and Keaton are first and second downbacks,
and we came to that in the last few weeks
and made sure that on all those plays it was
one of those two guys that that obvious pass was
third down only for Rachiene, which I think he had
nine plays on and then the rotation was two to
one as far as start the series off, and depending
(02:01):
on how long the series goes, you know, Derek gets
four or five three, four, five runs and uh, then
he's ready, he needs a break, so Keaton comes in
or vice versa. The last series, Uh was a conversation
between Willie and Derek and they decided that Keaton was
going to start the series off as part of the rotation,
(02:21):
and then Derek was going to come in on that
in that series. If i'd looking back on it right now,
to your point, i'd have grabbed it and I said,
now I'll put Derek in the game, you know, But
that's not really the way it works in real time.
It's the guys doing the rotation, the coach doing the rotation,
and it's also the plays that are called. Certain plays
are set up for Keaton, and that opening play was
more of a Keaton play of the series. So I
(02:43):
think that had a lot to do with him starting
the series. Then the idea would bring to bring to
bring Derek in after.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
A few plays.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I at least probably would have wanted him in after
we got the first down, you know, if i'd have
grabbed it, if i'd have seen it. But I'm also
looking at the play. The play that was set up
first down was a play action pass initially. That's that's
a sweep play that Keaton takes most of the time,
So that's gonna draw eyes and draw attention to the play,
And I can see why you'd want to put Keaton
(03:11):
out there in that play. So I think there's a
lot of layers to it. In game, things are moving
fast and that's the way it goes, and you look
back at it and you say, you know, you know,
I think I think there's logic going the other way
for sure, and you just put Derek out there for
whatever the play is and we'd all been happy with
that as well.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
So that's how it went in real time.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
Were you aware that Derek could not touch the ball
after the second TV?
Speaker 4 (03:36):
And how much conversation do you.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Have, Well, we're talking about six plays, so we're talking
about six plays that went back to back in a series.
We're trying to get the first down. So no, the
conversation is not really geared toward you know, who's going
in the game on a play, because players are getting
called fast and players are running on the field fast
based on the game plan, what the rotating coach decides
to do with the tag on the players, and who's
(03:58):
got that play, and there's reasons for allut there game plan.
So I'm not defending all that, and you heck, no,
you can pick plays or who goes in or when
they go in, but it's not just as simple as oh,
Derek Henry didn't play the whole fourth quarter, you know,
it was it was those plays back to back he
was going to go in. That was part of the plan,
and it was felt in making those decisions, guys running
on off the field as players are being called in
(04:20):
the rotation to go that direction. As I look back
on it, I'm like, sure, I see the point, but
I'm also not in the midst of saying, oh, oh,
time out. You know, Keaton, come on, I want Derek
in the game in that moment. So that's a reality too.
So just I'm not trying to make excuses for it,
but try to put it in perspective, you know, that's
how it works.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
Communication or maybe even an intervention with Todd saying hey
we need to get Jayrek go on the field or
got them more involved.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Well, I think I just answered that.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And in that fast real time as those players were
going and those players were being called, and that player's
going on the field and he's on there for that
reason for that play, I'm thinking about the play going
to work, maybe what the next play is going to be,
and what our fourth down idea is going to be
if we get for one, two, three, four five yards
out or whatever it might be situationally, So there's a
lot of things you're thinking about and it's not necessarily always.
(05:13):
Oh man, I'm gonna have to answer for Derek not
being on the field in this play later if it
doesn't work. You know, that's not what you're thinking in
real time. Just being honest.
Speaker 6 (05:22):
Clarification, I know you're saying this a very speedy process.
So in the case, I'm like you said, you guys
did get the first down before it ended up putting
on a second to last drive. If you were to
say we want Dark to go in after this, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Of course I could. I could definitely. Absolutely. I've done
that before. I put players in. I've taken players out,
put defensive players in, put defensive put brushers on the
field during the game and in real time during the
game when I see that stuff. Absolutely, But I also
I knew what the play call was and what there's
a check.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
It was actually a check with me play.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I knew what it was, and I knew the idea
was to get marked the ball over the middle off
a fake toss sweep. That Keaton's been running pretty effectively,
and that they think he's an outside runner, and that
they're going to run to that play, and then the
defense itself, the look checks us out of the play.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
So you know, there's a lot going on. There's a
lot of layers to it.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
On a fundamental level, though, Isn't the thought, at least
for a lot of people, is Derek Henry was signed
to be in the game at that time, at the times.
Speaker 7 (06:30):
Of these games.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
I'm not arguing that. That's why.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That's why I'm saying, if I look back at it now,
I'd rather have him out there. Absolutely, I'm not arguing
that at all on a fundamental level.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
On the other side of the ball, and when we
talked to Kyle Hamilton after the game, he said, it
got to the point where we knew that Drake Man
was going to drop back and for almost every play,
and yet he's still able to propel him down the
field and those two touchdown rest When you look back
at it, why was he able to be that successful
on this trucks.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
He made a lot of good plays and we didn't
make the plays we need to make. I mean, we
had opportunities. You know, we had the ball in our
hands a couple of times, we had a chance to
bat the ball down in a critical situation, We had
chances to sack him in the backfield. We got him.
Sometimes we hit him. Sometimes sometimes we hit him. We
got there and the ball was out and guys made
great catches. I mean, all the plays you saw in
the game are the things that I saw, you know,
and that's why it's what you saw transpire during the game,
(07:23):
and that's what happened.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
Have you had a chance to talk with Mark about
that play where he kind of just ladders called, He
kind of talked about what went through his mind at
that point.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, he said he made a mistake. He said it
wasn't wasn't smart play.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Then talked to Tyler Luke came up short on a
kick that that's not a kicking web we've seen him
kick longer.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Was that just not a struck ball or what did
he say about that kid? Yeah, he didn't like his
technique on it. I saw.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I watched it this morning with him, and his timing
on his start was off and it just messed up
his footwork a little bit and ended up pushing it,
got under it a little bit and pushed it right.
A lot of rotation on it, and that's why I
came up short. He's definitely I'm certain he's capable of
making that kick, but it wasn't a good approach to
the ball.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
John, how serious is that where he's at the foot
injury And how did you think Hendry Jones played?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I don't know how serious. I don't think it's It's
got another day to day one. You know, we'll see
how it goes. I thought Emory played okay, you know.
I mean, there's gonna be plays that he's gonna want
back from a past protection standpoint, But he competed. He's tough,
he looked like a young player, but he looked like
a good, talented young player. So I was really happy
about that, you know. But there's nuances involved there that
(08:37):
that he's gonna want to keep improving on. But you
improve on those things by playing, There's no question about that.
And I believe he's got a great future.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
John say, someone like you say, who's you know? You
want them to stay confident with the ball. Security issues
continue to.
Speaker 8 (08:53):
Kind of linger with him, you know, as a young player,
and any kind of.
Speaker 6 (08:56):
Coaching through that.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
We had a conversation, uh during the game, you know
about some of the plays he was making and and
he was doing well. After the game happened with the
last player or two of the game. I haven't had
a chance to talk to him about it yet. I
didn't see him in the locker room with all the
media stuff going on. But I'll talk to him in
a sense, you know, just like like I did the
(09:20):
last time in the time before about trying to build
in you know, the the idea that you know, practice
makes your habits, you know, and you've got to continue
and he nobody practice is harder. The thing about Zaya
is he works really really hard to practice and he
focus on those things, and yet man, the ball gets
(09:42):
punched out, you know, from a blind spot. So we
just got to keep on working on catching it, putting
away and getting up field and protecting the football when
you're in traffic like that, when you're when you're what
we call catch and run puncture type situation in the
middle of the field, that's that seems to be where
the issue is so or going to the ground, that's
the other issue. So to try to keep working on
(10:03):
those things like you would with anybody from a technique
standpoint and also from an emphasis standpoint. But you don't
want to just you want to keep leaving in a
player like Zay, Like you got a talented player like
Zay who is a playmaker in every sense of the
word for you, who works really hard and cares a lot.
As a coach, that's not that's not a throwaway. That's
(10:24):
something you want to embrace that player and that person
because they deserve it. And that's your job as a
coach is driven you can to help them work through
it and become better at that one area that he
needs to continue to improve. And the good thing about
Jay is I'll tell you he understands, you know, he
wants to improve on that. He doesn't want that to happen.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
With Lamar.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
I mean you, I know you never want to sort
of step on the instincts of an excellent playmaker like
that moove Wasay Do you ever think about telling him?
You know, there are situations where you don't want to
try to make the extra move where you do just
want to get a field or get out of bounce
or what have you.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Absolutely, absolutely, you know we talk about keep it simple.
You know, the simple the simple player is usually the
best play uh. And then there's gonna be plays where
he's gonna make an extra move and he's gonna go
make a bunch of yards, which he's done before. So, uh,
that's you're talking about. You're talking about world class athletes here,
you know, and do amazing things. So there's there's It's
not like there's a balance to it. It's just you
(11:17):
have to respect the player and then in that situation,
you have to trust his ability to make those decisions.
And over time, you know, those things need to be
worked out. You know, he needs to, he needs to
needs to you know, prove you right in that sense
world the war got injured?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
How how how old did you think he was playing.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
In that first fan, I thought he was playing well,
you know, I thought Lamar is competing and doing a
good job and fighting and made some really good throws.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Uh. Yeah, I thought he was playing well.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Uh he kind of thought like he was already done.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Did you think there was anything with that that hit
at all? With it lead or it was? It was?
It was? It was close, It was close.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
But I don't I don't really, I don't assign any
malicious intent to it by the player.
Speaker 7 (12:01):
On the court, and too where you knows goes for
the deflection just looking at the deep film. You know,
you know Seande's all the best of see or I
know you guys have so much state in Arderious Washington,
But did you like that matchup considering just the talent
that you guys have in that secondary for him to
be in the body.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
That's the matchup that we had, you know. So that's
the players on the field matching up. That's the way
it works, the way the coverage is set up. And
you know you can't you can't organize it everything perfectly
after the fact. But I come confident in our Darius.
I think if he doesn't slip, I think he makes
the play. You know, he's gonna get both hands on
the ball. He might catch it. He knew the route
was coming. I mean, he was very prepared for it.
(12:42):
He was ready for that, for that out route in
the slot and uh and you can just see his
feet kind of got tangled up. It's probably a function
of he hasn't been playing a lot, you know, so
if anything, but you know, he's the best guy to
put out there in that situation that we had.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
And we love our Darius.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
I mean, he's made a bunch of plays before the
play I'm thinking he's going to make play, you know,
and if he doesn't slip, he makes the play. And
that's the frustrating part of it, I mean for all
of us, for Darius more than anybody, but for all
of us, fans and coaches and players alike, is that
sometimes your best plans don't work out the way you
want them to, you know, and we're off the field
right there, just like Nate. You know, Nate makes a
(13:18):
great great great coverage, great eyes, great technique, everything you coach.
The ball's right there. You know, it pops out of
there for some reason. If he can get creator that
ball in there, the game's over.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Those are two plays that end the game. So those
are That's how close it is in terms of just
playmaking that makes the difference in games like that.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
Why has it been so difficult to get with shot, babe.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
And involved.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
That's a really hard question to answer the way you
put it, you know, the way the games go, where
the ball goes you can't control as a coach. You know,
even the play caller can't control where the ball goes.
I mean, we had some play action passes. We had
one I'm gonna think my mind, we had a that
came wide open, but he didn't have time. He didn't
have time to get him the ball, you know, because
(14:04):
of the way the pass protection went on that play.
He was off his back foot and he couldn't get
him there. You might remember that play. Maybe that's what
one of the players you're referring to. So it's different
things like that. You know that that happened in the
course of the game. I'll say this about Rashot. I mean,
I was really impressive the way he played, you know,
and I think he deserves the ball more. There's no
doubt he's running really good routes and he's blocking really well,
(14:27):
you know, which you appreciate, so we want the ball
to go his way. And I appreciate the way he
asked the question there, Jeff in that sense, because you
know it's challenging. But and we threw the ball how
many times? Twenty times? Right, ran the ball thirty three times,
through the ball twenty times. We threw the ball and
dropped back nine times. Eleven of those times were run
(14:48):
down passes that were play action passes or quick ball
out passes, you know, for run type defenses. So you
only have nine true drop back passes out of twenty
total passes. I gonna limit everybody's opportunity. We did get
the ball to d hop, which we hadn't been able
to do for a while. We got the ball to say,
seven times for seven catches. Uh so that's where the
(15:11):
ball went this game, you know. But also I want
you know Bait and Bait didn't play before. I mean,
Bait wasn't playing for like three weeks the high ankles.
The first game he's been back, you know, in a month,
three weeks. So the reason he didn't get the ball
in the last three weeks, he.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Wasn't out there. So he's definitely a guy.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I mean, I just I appreciate the way he played,
you know, I I guess I look at it more
like that, you know, we're gonna try to get the ball.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
The ball is going to go his way. But I
watched the tape.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I said, you know, Bait played really well and I
felt good about that part of it.
Speaker 7 (15:40):
Situation with Isaiah, I don't think he's been targeted in
the last the last two games.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Is that's just I think.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So, you know, I mean, he was targeted against Cincinnati,
but we couldn't get to throw off. You remember on
that first down play where ran the wheel route. So
it's really the same answer.
Speaker 5 (15:59):
You know, there is the possibility of the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
You need help now. I get that when teams.
Speaker 7 (16:04):
Don't make the playoffs, there's a focus on potential staff turnover.
Speaker 8 (16:08):
Do you all?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I mean, do you have any fear for your own
job security here or do you anticipate.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Being here next year? Yeah, thanks for asking that question.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
Bro.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Well, first of all, yeah, no, that's good. That's a
it's a great question. I mean, it's a sports it's
how it works, you know. And one thing I always
have believed is that, first of all, coaching at any
in any any level is a day to day job,
you know, and your job is to do the best
job you can today and to do anything you can
to help your players and your coaches, if you're a
(16:43):
head coach, be the best they can be every single day.
And it's never been about keeping a job. And there's
no such thing as like your job or my job.
You know, we we have, we have responsibilities, we're given
opportunities to steward those responsibilities, and you're given a job
to do that until you're not you know, then you
(17:05):
try to do the best I try to do the job,
not try to keep the job, because there's no such
thing as having a job, just doing a job, and
so my focus is on always it has been for
the last eighteen years here, in the last forty one
years in coaching, or is it forty two, it's up there.
It's been to try to do the best job I
can today and fight as hard as I can so
(17:25):
the guys can have the best chance to be successful today.
And anything after today I'm not thinking about because you know,
it's not given for us to think about. We don't
have control over that except for the job we do today.
If we do a good enough job today, then the
opportunity to do that job or a different job will
be there tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
And that's what you hope for.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
On the one, what is the dialogue in life that
you would see recently, I mean, last Free Going, the
age getting lost. It's kind of on characters to you.
What is his message? What is his tone in those discussions?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, I mean a lot of messages. Steve has been fantastic.
You know, he's a great leader. He's support of he's
also challenging, you know, Steve wants. Steve wants to win,
and he wants to be successful. He's one of the
I've been around a lot of competitors, you know, and
in this in this job, or even my family, you know,
(18:13):
And uh, there's no bigger competitive Steve Bashatti. And that's
one of the one of the many things I admire
about him and appreciate of him. So, Uh, he's been great.
He's been challenging in every great kind of way and
and I appreciate that, and he helps me to be
better and uh, and that's that's what I'm grateful for.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
In induced the discussion type, you know, there's been talks
about the future, has there been any kind of a.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
SHORTSS or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
The future is is today. The future is the Green
Bay Packers, and that's what we're looking at.
Speaker 8 (18:45):
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Speaker 1 (19:04):
If you're listening to the Ramis pres Past podcast, make
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much for listening. We'll be back with you again tomorrow
Welcome into the Ravens Press Pass podcast. It is Monday,
December twenty second. The Ravens lost to the New England
Patriots twenty eight to twenty four on Sunday. They are
now seven and eight on the season. Today we had
head coach John Harballs weekly Monday press conference.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good seeing everybody appreciate you being here. Focus, had a
chance to look at everything and study it and talk
to all the coaches and see a few of the players.
And we have a short week, quick turnaround. We'll be
back in tomorrow with the players, so we'll have to
have our game plan ready tomorrow at least getting started
on it with the first and second down plan tomorrow
when we practice and beginning way for Saturday night for
(00:41):
a game that we will be all in to play
our best football, our most complete game of the season.
That'll be our goal and come out with a win.
What question do you have, John, Do.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
You have anything any updates as far as.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Laur and his back.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Lamar has a back contusion, painful certainly saw him in
here getting treatment this morning and this afternoon early and
he'll be working. He's been classified as day to day
on that. Nothing beyond the contusion, but I don't want
to I don't want to minimize the severity in the
pain level of that because it's legit and that's where
it stands.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
I don't talk.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
About Derek Henry's usage in the last two possessions.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
A sense of a rotation. It was a rotation that
Keith Mitchell at.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
The time, who decides the rotation, and if not you,
why not say no, no, this is Derek Henry.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
We need to have him in the game right now.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Yeah, well, we have a rotation.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
The rotation is Derek and Keaton are first and second downbacks,
and we came to that in the last few weeks
and made sure that on all those plays it was
one of those two guys that that obvious pass was
third down only for Rachiene, which I think he had
nine plays on and then the rotation was two to
one as far as start the series off, and depending
(02:01):
on how long the series goes, you know, Derek gets
four or five three, four, five runs and uh, then
he's ready, he needs a break, so Keaton comes in
or vice versa. The last series, Uh was a conversation
between Willie and Derek and they decided that Keaton was
going to start the series off as part of the rotation,
(02:21):
and then Derek was going to come in on that
in that series. If i'd looking back on it right now,
to your point, i'd have grabbed it and I said,
now I'll put Derek in the game, you know, But
that's not really the way it works in real time.
It's the guys doing the rotation, the coach doing the rotation,
and it's also the plays that are called. Certain plays
are set up for Keaton, and that opening play was
more of a Keaton play of the series. So I
(02:43):
think that had a lot to do with him starting
the series. Then the idea would bring to bring to
bring Derek in after.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
A few plays.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I at least probably would have wanted him in after
we got the first down, you know, if i'd have
grabbed it, if i'd have seen it. But I'm also
looking at the play. The play that was set up
first down was a play action pass initially. That's that's
a sweep play that Keaton takes most of the time,
So that's gonna draw eyes and draw attention to the play,
And I can see why you'd want to put Keaton
(03:11):
out there in that play. So I think there's a
lot of layers to it. In game, things are moving
fast and that's the way it goes, and you look
back at it and you say, you know, you know,
I think I think there's logic going the other way
for sure, and you just put Derek out there for
whatever the play is and we'd all been happy with
that as well.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
So that's how it went in real time.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
Were you aware that Derek could not touch the ball
after the second TV?
Speaker 4 (03:36):
And how much conversation do you.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Have, Well, we're talking about six plays, so we're talking
about six plays that went back to back in a series.
We're trying to get the first down. So no, the
conversation is not really geared toward you know, who's going
in the game on a play, because players are getting
called fast and players are running on the field fast
based on the game plan, what the rotating coach decides
to do with the tag on the players, and who's
(03:58):
got that play, and there's reasons for allut there game plan.
So I'm not defending all that, and you heck, no,
you can pick plays or who goes in or when
they go in, but it's not just as simple as oh,
Derek Henry didn't play the whole fourth quarter, you know,
it was it was those plays back to back he
was going to go in. That was part of the plan,
and it was felt in making those decisions, guys running
on off the field as players are being called in
(04:20):
the rotation to go that direction. As I look back
on it, I'm like, sure, I see the point, but
I'm also not in the midst of saying, oh, oh,
time out. You know, Keaton, come on, I want Derek
in the game in that moment. So that's a reality too.
So just I'm not trying to make excuses for it,
but try to put it in perspective, you know, that's
how it works.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
Communication or maybe even an intervention with Todd saying hey
we need to get Jayrek go on the field or
got them more involved.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Well, I think I just answered that.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And in that fast real time as those players were
going and those players were being called, and that player's
going on the field and he's on there for that
reason for that play, I'm thinking about the play going
to work, maybe what the next play is going to be,
and what our fourth down idea is going to be
if we get for one, two, three, four five yards
out or whatever it might be situationally, So there's a
lot of things you're thinking about and it's not necessarily always.
(05:13):
Oh man, I'm gonna have to answer for Derek not
being on the field in this play later if it
doesn't work. You know, that's not what you're thinking in
real time. Just being honest.
Speaker 6 (05:22):
Clarification, I know you're saying this a very speedy process.
So in the case, I'm like you said, you guys
did get the first down before it ended up putting
on a second to last drive. If you were to
say we want Dark to go in after this, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Of course I could. I could definitely. Absolutely. I've done
that before. I put players in. I've taken players out,
put defensive players in, put defensive put brushers on the
field during the game and in real time during the
game when I see that stuff. Absolutely, But I also
I knew what the play call was and what there's
a check.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
It was actually a check with me play.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I knew what it was, and I knew the idea
was to get marked the ball over the middle off
a fake toss sweep. That Keaton's been running pretty effectively,
and that they think he's an outside runner, and that
they're going to run to that play, and then the
defense itself, the look checks us out of the play.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
So you know, there's a lot going on. There's a
lot of layers to it.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
On a fundamental level, though, Isn't the thought, at least
for a lot of people, is Derek Henry was signed
to be in the game at that time, at the times.
Speaker 7 (06:30):
Of these games.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
I'm not arguing that. That's why.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That's why I'm saying, if I look back at it now,
I'd rather have him out there. Absolutely, I'm not arguing
that at all on a fundamental level.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
On the other side of the ball, and when we
talked to Kyle Hamilton after the game, he said, it
got to the point where we knew that Drake Man
was going to drop back and for almost every play,
and yet he's still able to propel him down the
field and those two touchdown rest When you look back
at it, why was he able to be that successful
on this trucks.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
He made a lot of good plays and we didn't
make the plays we need to make. I mean, we
had opportunities. You know, we had the ball in our
hands a couple of times, we had a chance to
bat the ball down in a critical situation, We had
chances to sack him in the backfield. We got him.
Sometimes we hit him. Sometimes sometimes we hit him. We
got there and the ball was out and guys made
great catches. I mean, all the plays you saw in
the game are the things that I saw, you know,
and that's why it's what you saw transpire during the game,
(07:23):
and that's what happened.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
Have you had a chance to talk with Mark about
that play where he kind of just ladders called, He
kind of talked about what went through his mind at
that point.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, he said he made a mistake. He said it
wasn't wasn't smart play.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Then talked to Tyler Luke came up short on a
kick that that's not a kicking web we've seen him
kick longer.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Was that just not a struck ball or what did
he say about that kid? Yeah, he didn't like his
technique on it. I saw.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I watched it this morning with him, and his timing
on his start was off and it just messed up
his footwork a little bit and ended up pushing it,
got under it a little bit and pushed it right.
A lot of rotation on it, and that's why I
came up short. He's definitely I'm certain he's capable of
making that kick, but it wasn't a good approach to
the ball.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
John, how serious is that where he's at the foot
injury And how did you think Hendry Jones played?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I don't know how serious. I don't think it's It's
got another day to day one. You know, we'll see
how it goes. I thought Emory played okay, you know.
I mean, there's gonna be plays that he's gonna want
back from a past protection standpoint, But he competed. He's tough,
he looked like a young player, but he looked like
a good, talented young player. So I was really happy
about that, you know. But there's nuances involved there that
(08:37):
that he's gonna want to keep improving on. But you
improve on those things by playing, There's no question about that.
And I believe he's got a great future.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
John say, someone like you say, who's you know? You
want them to stay confident with the ball. Security issues
continue to.
Speaker 8 (08:53):
Kind of linger with him, you know, as a young player,
and any kind of.
Speaker 6 (08:56):
Coaching through that.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
We had a conversation, uh during the game, you know
about some of the plays he was making and and
he was doing well. After the game happened with the
last player or two of the game. I haven't had
a chance to talk to him about it yet. I
didn't see him in the locker room with all the
media stuff going on. But I'll talk to him in
a sense, you know, just like like I did the
(09:20):
last time in the time before about trying to build
in you know, the the idea that you know, practice
makes your habits, you know, and you've got to continue
and he nobody practice is harder. The thing about Zaya
is he works really really hard to practice and he
focus on those things, and yet man, the ball gets
(09:42):
punched out, you know, from a blind spot. So we
just got to keep on working on catching it, putting
away and getting up field and protecting the football when
you're in traffic like that, when you're when you're what
we call catch and run puncture type situation in the
middle of the field, that's that seems to be where
the issue is so or going to the ground, that's
the other issue. So to try to keep working on
(10:03):
those things like you would with anybody from a technique
standpoint and also from an emphasis standpoint. But you don't
want to just you want to keep leaving in a
player like Zay, Like you got a talented player like
Zay who is a playmaker in every sense of the
word for you, who works really hard and cares a lot.
As a coach, that's not that's not a throwaway. That's
(10:24):
something you want to embrace that player and that person
because they deserve it. And that's your job as a
coach is driven you can to help them work through
it and become better at that one area that he
needs to continue to improve. And the good thing about
Jay is I'll tell you he understands, you know, he
wants to improve on that. He doesn't want that to happen.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
With Lamar.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
I mean you, I know you never want to sort
of step on the instincts of an excellent playmaker like
that moove Wasay Do you ever think about telling him?
You know, there are situations where you don't want to
try to make the extra move where you do just
want to get a field or get out of bounce
or what have you.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Absolutely, absolutely, you know we talk about keep it simple.
You know, the simple the simple player is usually the
best play uh. And then there's gonna be plays where
he's gonna make an extra move and he's gonna go
make a bunch of yards, which he's done before. So, uh,
that's you're talking about. You're talking about world class athletes here,
you know, and do amazing things. So there's there's It's
not like there's a balance to it. It's just you
(11:17):
have to respect the player and then in that situation,
you have to trust his ability to make those decisions.
And over time, you know, those things need to be
worked out. You know, he needs to, he needs to
needs to you know, prove you right in that sense
world the war got injured?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
How how how old did you think he was playing.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
In that first fan, I thought he was playing well,
you know, I thought Lamar is competing and doing a
good job and fighting and made some really good throws.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Uh. Yeah, I thought he was playing well.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Uh he kind of thought like he was already done.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Did you think there was anything with that that hit
at all? With it lead or it was? It was?
It was? It was close, It was close.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
But I don't I don't really, I don't assign any
malicious intent to it by the player.
Speaker 7 (12:01):
On the court, and too where you knows goes for
the deflection just looking at the deep film. You know,
you know Seande's all the best of see or I
know you guys have so much state in Arderious Washington,
But did you like that matchup considering just the talent
that you guys have in that secondary for him to
be in the body.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
That's the matchup that we had, you know. So that's
the players on the field matching up. That's the way
it works, the way the coverage is set up. And
you know you can't you can't organize it everything perfectly
after the fact. But I come confident in our Darius.
I think if he doesn't slip, I think he makes
the play. You know, he's gonna get both hands on
the ball. He might catch it. He knew the route
was coming. I mean, he was very prepared for it.
(12:42):
He was ready for that, for that out route in
the slot and uh and you can just see his
feet kind of got tangled up. It's probably a function
of he hasn't been playing a lot, you know, so
if anything, but you know, he's the best guy to
put out there in that situation that we had.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
And we love our Darius.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
I mean, he's made a bunch of plays before the
play I'm thinking he's going to make play, you know,
and if he doesn't slip, he makes the play. And
that's the frustrating part of it, I mean for all
of us, for Darius more than anybody, but for all
of us, fans and coaches and players alike, is that
sometimes your best plans don't work out the way you
want them to, you know, and we're off the field
right there, just like Nate. You know, Nate makes a
(13:18):
great great great coverage, great eyes, great technique, everything you coach.
The ball's right there. You know, it pops out of
there for some reason. If he can get creator that
ball in there, the game's over.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Those are two plays that end the game. So those
are That's how close it is in terms of just
playmaking that makes the difference in games like that.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
Why has it been so difficult to get with shot, babe.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
And involved.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
That's a really hard question to answer the way you
put it, you know, the way the games go, where
the ball goes you can't control as a coach. You know,
even the play caller can't control where the ball goes.
I mean, we had some play action passes. We had
one I'm gonna think my mind, we had a that
came wide open, but he didn't have time. He didn't
have time to get him the ball, you know, because
(14:04):
of the way the pass protection went on that play.
He was off his back foot and he couldn't get
him there. You might remember that play. Maybe that's what
one of the players you're referring to. So it's different
things like that. You know that that happened in the
course of the game. I'll say this about Rashot. I mean,
I was really impressive the way he played, you know,
and I think he deserves the ball more. There's no
doubt he's running really good routes and he's blocking really well,
(14:27):
you know, which you appreciate, so we want the ball
to go his way. And I appreciate the way he
asked the question there, Jeff in that sense, because you
know it's challenging. But and we threw the ball how
many times? Twenty times? Right, ran the ball thirty three times,
through the ball twenty times. We threw the ball and
dropped back nine times. Eleven of those times were run
(14:48):
down passes that were play action passes or quick ball
out passes, you know, for run type defenses. So you
only have nine true drop back passes out of twenty
total passes. I gonna limit everybody's opportunity. We did get
the ball to d hop, which we hadn't been able
to do for a while. We got the ball to say,
seven times for seven catches. Uh so that's where the
(15:11):
ball went this game, you know. But also I want
you know Bait and Bait didn't play before. I mean,
Bait wasn't playing for like three weeks the high ankles.
The first game he's been back, you know, in a month,
three weeks. So the reason he didn't get the ball
in the last three weeks, he.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Wasn't out there. So he's definitely a guy.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I mean, I just I appreciate the way he played,
you know, I I guess I look at it more
like that, you know, we're gonna try to get the ball.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
The ball is going to go his way. But I
watched the tape.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I said, you know, Bait played really well and I
felt good about that part of it.
Speaker 7 (15:40):
Situation with Isaiah, I don't think he's been targeted in
the last the last two games.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Is that's just I think.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So, you know, I mean, he was targeted against Cincinnati,
but we couldn't get to throw off. You remember on
that first down play where ran the wheel route. So
it's really the same answer.
Speaker 5 (15:59):
You know, there is the possibility of the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
You need help now. I get that when teams.
Speaker 7 (16:04):
Don't make the playoffs, there's a focus on potential staff turnover.
Speaker 8 (16:08):
Do you all?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I mean, do you have any fear for your own
job security here or do you anticipate.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Being here next year? Yeah, thanks for asking that question.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
Bro.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Well, first of all, yeah, no, that's good. That's a
it's a great question. I mean, it's a sports it's
how it works, you know. And one thing I always
have believed is that, first of all, coaching at any
in any any level is a day to day job,
you know, and your job is to do the best
job you can today and to do anything you can
to help your players and your coaches, if you're a
(16:43):
head coach, be the best they can be every single day.
And it's never been about keeping a job. And there's
no such thing as like your job or my job.
You know, we we have, we have responsibilities, we're given
opportunities to steward those responsibilities, and you're given a job
to do that until you're not you know, then you
(17:05):
try to do the best I try to do the job,
not try to keep the job, because there's no such
thing as having a job, just doing a job, and
so my focus is on always it has been for
the last eighteen years here, in the last forty one
years in coaching, or is it forty two, it's up there.
It's been to try to do the best job I
can today and fight as hard as I can so
(17:25):
the guys can have the best chance to be successful today.
And anything after today I'm not thinking about because you know,
it's not given for us to think about. We don't
have control over that except for the job we do today.
If we do a good enough job today, then the
opportunity to do that job or a different job will
be there tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
And that's what you hope for.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
On the one, what is the dialogue in life that
you would see recently, I mean, last Free Going, the
age getting lost. It's kind of on characters to you.
What is his message? What is his tone in those discussions?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, I mean a lot of messages. Steve has been fantastic.
You know, he's a great leader. He's support of he's
also challenging, you know, Steve wants. Steve wants to win,
and he wants to be successful. He's one of the
I've been around a lot of competitors, you know, and
in this in this job, or even my family, you know,
(18:13):
And uh, there's no bigger competitive Steve Bashatti. And that's
one of the one of the many things I admire
about him and appreciate of him. So, Uh, he's been great.
He's been challenging in every great kind of way and
and I appreciate that, and he helps me to be
better and uh, and that's that's what I'm grateful for.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
In induced the discussion type, you know, there's been talks
about the future, has there been any kind of a.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
SHORTSS or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
The future is is today. The future is the Green
Bay Packers, and that's what we're looking at.
Speaker 8 (18:45):
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Speaker 1 (19:04):
If you're listening to the Ramis pres Past podcast, make
sure you hit subscribe. Also head over to the Lounge
podcast feed and subscribe there as well. Thank you so
much for listening. We'll be back with you again tomorrow
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