October 2, 2025 • 28 mins
Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken, Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr, Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton, and running back Derrick Henry speak with the media after practice Thursday.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome into the Ravens Press Past Podcast. The date is Thursday,
October second, and today after practice, we heard from the
Ravens coordinators Todd Monkin, Zach Orr, and Chris Horton, as
well as running back Derrick Henry. First up on Ravens
Press Past Podcast, you'll hear from offensive coordinator Todd Mounkin.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So, obviously, if more is unable to play, Cooper would
get the start.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
What if what kind of stands out to you in
your dealing with Cooper.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
And Hallie handle this preparation. I mean, he's the consummate pro.
I mean from the moment he got here, he was
here the whole off season. I mean you can see
why he's been successful, played a lot of football in
this league. I mean, you forget his record as a starter,
I mean it's outstanding.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
I mean he he did a great job.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Everybody that you spoke to in Dallas, I mean it
was glowing about and the guys that went, you know,
Meira went to the Saints and Kellen Moore, they loved him.
I mean they were and he's been as good as advertised.
Speaker 6 (01:07):
He caught on.
Speaker 7 (01:08):
Monday, John was quite openly critical of the offensive approach,
the play calling, all of that, how do you respond?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Well, first off, there's not one thing John said that
we didn't already talk about, not one thing, you know,
So there was nothing about that that I hadn't already
heard or that he didn't already feel. And one thing
I've done throughout my career is that you got to
look at what you do, and that's that's what I've
done my whole career. Is Okay, how do we scheme it,
(01:37):
how do we coach it, how do we execute it?
Speaker 5 (01:40):
How was our plan?
Speaker 4 (01:41):
All of those things when you go into it, and
when it's below the line, you got to own it
and fix it. And that's what you do. I mean,
that's what we do as human beings. Right's what I've
always done my whole career. It's how I got to
where I'm here now. Like I mean, there wasn't anything
he said that wasn't you know that we hadn't already
talked about.
Speaker 5 (01:56):
So that's what you do.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
You look at it and you say, okay, was that
good enough? I mean, the expectation here's to be elite,
and we've been elite, We're going to continue to be elite.
But I got to do it better. We got to
do it better, and we'll continue to do it better.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
You said you guys didn't follow through your plan to
deal with their pressure. From your perspective, what happened.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Well, like I said, I already really addressed it. You know,
he already talked about it. We didn't execute the way
we planned.
Speaker 8 (02:22):
Tom When you look at the ground game, I mean
the numbers are far on, you're leading the league and
yards for carry, but success rate and some of those
arenis good. In your mind and understanding, there's always nuanced
down and just to show that what needs to happen
for this running game to be more prominent and consistent,
like I want to say week one and all of
last year.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Well, it can start by calling it more often, you know,
and stacking plays. I mean that's you know, I'm gonna
start with calling it more often. Okay, that's a part
of it. And stacking plays. I mean, we've you guys
hit it over the weeks that I've gotten up here before,
which is okay, we're either getting the point where we're
scoring pretty fast or we're getting off the field fast.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
And that's not a.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Great recipe because you can't stack plays. The idea of
being able to run the ball, stay out of the chains.
That's a part of it that's not deflecting. I mean,
we need to be able to run it better, need
to call it more often because we got really good
players back there. But we have really good players at
a lot of spots. So bottom line is, we've had
games where we've had some explosive runs and someone where
(03:22):
we haven't been nearly up to the level that we expect.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
But it's early and I expect us to really get
back on track.
Speaker 9 (03:30):
Like you guys have been able to get into the
right plays in terms of changing the play at the
line of scumbers, you feel like you've gotten into the
right plays versus certain looks.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Sure, I mean I think with any offense, you're not
gonna be one hundred percent.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
I mean, we know that.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
I think our quarterbacks have done a really good job
of getting us into plays against the looks that we're
trying to get although we practice against. Is every play
in that category, No, it is not. But I think
our quarterbacks has done a good job. I think they're
got have done a good job of understanding the plan.
When we've gone into the week of how we plan
to attack people.
Speaker 10 (04:09):
Cursiyund that stuff out play a rage team, particularly on offense,
has something to do with the run. Would you say
you are still searching a little bit for an identity
or absolutely probable?
Speaker 5 (04:21):
Well, each game, to me, every game is a game
within itself. I don't.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
After game one, no one said that. After Game two,
played a really good defense, and we struggled a little
bit to run the ball and really gain some traction.
Against Detroit, we had some self inflicted on a couple series.
We had twice second and three and we went three
and out. I mean, that's that's not going to get
you on track. And then this last game started fast,
(04:49):
just didn't capitalize that on the road. So I wouldn't
say it as a trend. Certainly, we got to be
able to run the ball better. Certainly have to be
able to stab drives together and plays together. That's for sure.
Speaker 7 (05:04):
Curious when you step back from it, look at it
half the stuck.
Speaker 8 (05:09):
Because it's surprising that.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
A running.
Speaker 8 (05:13):
Some of it.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Some of it's that way.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
But I think, first of all, I'm not going to
get away with we have to be able to run
it more often and better. Okay, let's start with that,
but uh, staying away from getting back on track, because
when you're when you're second and long, it really puts
you in a tough spot. You're more often going to
be at least more balanced, maybe a little more throw
and then stacking drives. I mean, the number of plays
(05:37):
we have after four games is staggering, the few of
what we've had. I mean, that's that's a fact. I mean,
we just and and some of that is self inflicted.
We just haven't stacked enough drives together because that's where
you're going to accumulate more first downs, more opportunities to
run it. When we start doing that, Uh, then I
think you'll see fo washings. You're going to see it
(05:58):
go up when we're able to stack drives and put
it together.
Speaker 10 (06:01):
I know, just sils a doumen player on this team,
But are there certain situations, particularly short yards maybe you'd
like to see Derrick Henry on the field more that
Maybe he's not been part of the package before, you.
Speaker 9 (06:13):
Know, but we do well.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
The thing is this year.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Again, it's year to year, so short yardage depends on
what we're calling short yardage. Okay, we up until this
last game, we really didn't have a lot of short yardages,
and I think we had three third and ones. One
of them happened to be on the one yard line
where we tossed it to Derek. So he's a big
part of our short arge package against Detroit. The first drive,
we're third and one, we handed it to him. Some
(06:38):
of them are you know, maybe on the books are
third and one, but to me they were third and two.
And you know, we're using justice in the past game
and he's a part of that that comes into play.
It came into play last year. Derek, I mean, is
a huge part of our shortyardage package. Just haven't really
had enough of them, and we got to get to,
you know, the short yardage package where he's a big
part of that.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
For sure.
Speaker 7 (06:58):
I do it's you know, it's next man up and
you don't played behalf And how much is not having
Pat car I packed some of those play designs falls etet.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
I'm not going to put it on that. I mean,
we love Pat. Pat's a tremendous player, but Zaire has
done a great job. I mean he's filled in admirably.
You know, there's certain things that you may do with
Pat out there, but that's that's not excuse. I mean,
the bottom line is is, you know we've had all
the other pieces.
Speaker 8 (07:30):
Some of the stats sites last year. Last year had
you guys among the best in the NFL at limiting
the unblocked pressures.
Speaker 11 (07:36):
Seems like that has crept up.
Speaker 8 (07:38):
I think Bolt got through a couple of times on
Sunday with the continuity of the offensive line.
Speaker 7 (07:42):
Is at a surprise for that uptick.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I didn't even know that there was a stat for that.
I shouldn't say that I know there's a stat for it.
I guess I'll say I wasn't aware of that. Obviously,
every game, each team poses a different you know element
in terms of scheming up your pressures, in terms.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Of you know, challenging you.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
What will help us is if we run the ball better,
right and more often, if we stay out of the chains,
it will stack plays together.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
We'll stay out of those exotic looks.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I mean, that's really where you get it is you're
not going to have those issues when you're in base
looks because you're staying out of the chains a set
of the chains, you're running the ball well and then
and then you'll stay out of some of those where
you get it that when we've gotten behind the chains
or when we've gotten behind in games, that's when you're
going to see all that. That's when the pressures in
the sacks occur and they're going to challenge us.
Speaker 5 (08:37):
We certainly can be better there. We certainly can be
better scheming it.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
I mean that's a part of it too, us putting
our guys in our in the right position. So we're
certainly going to again, like everything that we feel like
we can get better at, we're going to fight like
hell to fix it. I mean that's all you can do.
That's I promise you. That's what we're doing every single
day to fight to fix it. And that's how we've
gotten to where we're today. And to me, we can
(09:02):
either end up as a speed bump or a much
higher mountain, which is not going to be that. I
can promise you that we're going to fight to fix
it and get back on track, and I know we
got the people to do it.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
If you don't have Lamar, does it take certain run
plays off the table? I mean how much does it
affect your game planning that way that well?
Speaker 4 (09:22):
I mean obviously, I mean as athletic as coop is
some of those things are not going to look the
same as as Lamar. That doesn't mean you can't still
be effective and efficient. It's just a different way of
approaching certain aspects of your game.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
I mean, that's that's obvious.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
But our staff and myself have enough background in history
with guys that we can still play winning football. Otherwise
we wouldn't have We wouldn't have signed Cooper, right, We
wouldn't have put ourselves in that position if we weren't
confident enough to be able to build a game plan
that would allow us to score and be really efficient.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
The games to need as you feedback. Does Jean give
you feedback? Sure he does. Our coaching staff does always.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
I mean, I think people are a little bit surprised that, Well,
the feedback is constant. The feedback during the week is constant.
The feedback after games is constant.
Speaker 9 (10:19):
Good and bad.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
That's part of what you do.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Hopefully, in any relationship or any job, you're getting immediate
feedback and what we can do better, how we're seeing
the game right. And that's throughout the game, that's before
the game, that's after the game.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
That's what you do. I mean, that's that's to me,
that's winning football.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
It's what I love about coach Harball and one thing
he is going to confront anything that gets in the
way of winning football.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
That's a fact, okay, and everybody needs that, whether it's football.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
My wife does that to me, She confronts anything that
gets in the way of us having a great relationship.
And then what the hell do you do? You fight
like hell to fix it. And that's what you when
it's when it's damn important.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That was oc Todd Monkin ahead of the Ravens Week
five matchup with the Houston Texans this Sunday. Now you'll
hear from defensive coordinators Zach.
Speaker 9 (11:13):
Or how much these injuries on the defensive side. How
much does that create a challenge? First, what you do
is for as a defensive game plan man, definitely creates
a challenge. You know, obviously you want to be able
to do what the guys can go out here and
feel comfortable executing. You know, obviously we got a lot
(11:34):
of young guys who are gonna go out there and
play football for us. But I think the preparations drought
the week can help handle that. And all these guys
been here with us throughout the spring man, so a
lot of the playbook, they already know that we worked
the mess out of the rookies within the rules, and
we tell them this for a reason like this, you
never know when you have to be out there, and
that time is now. So you know, we're excited about it,
(11:56):
and we're gonna still be able to get to a
lot of things because, like I said, good rookie class.
Been impressed with them. They've been a mature group, so
I think they'll be able to handle what we have
in the game plan and be able to go out
there and execute it.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You guys first got together and met after this this
last game. What was kind of your overall message and
what was your sense of kind of how the players
were feeling, like, what were you getting back from them?
Speaker 12 (12:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (12:20):
Man, I mean obviously we were disappointed. I mean we
were disappointed. We went in that game fully expecting to
play better and and win that game, but obviously it didn't.
And you know, the message really was is I can't
remember the guy who said the quote, but it was
adversity causes some men to break and then it caused
some other men to break records. Man, So let's go
(12:42):
break records. So there's nothing that man can can say
or write that should be able to change your mood
if you know that you're going about your business the
right way and you always trying to grind and get better.
So that's the approach we have and we know we
got to get better. We have to. It's a must.
That's what we're focusing on, and that's what we're doing.
Nobody can hang their head and feel sorry for themselves.
(13:02):
We're in a position that we're in. We're one to three.
We haven't been playing good football, specifically on defense. That's
there's nothing we can change about that that's already happened.
We could just change about how we going forward. So
that's how we focus on doing exactly one.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Of the criticisms about this defense currently beyond the golfer
Wakes doesn't look like you see hypto Railes defense, or
you see the physicality and the push value that offend
you're playing the scene is fit out the stage.
Speaker 9 (13:29):
Or Yeah, I think I think we I think we
are a physical team, but we got we gotta take
it up a notch. And I talked to the guys
about that, man, like, we we have to really take
it up a notch to another standard. It hasn't been
where we want it to be at Like we are
guys playing hard, yes, are our guys striking blocks, yes,
But we got to take it up to a whole
other level. And that that that fixes a lot of
things from a defensive perspective, and that starts upfront in
(13:51):
the trenches. So we challenging our guys in the trenches.
We need to dominate man, going forward, matter who the
point opponent is, we gotta start putting people in the ground,
putting people in the dirt. And that's what we got
to do. So you know, I know it sounds good
up here me saying it, but we got to go
do it on Sunday.
Speaker 8 (14:05):
Exactly like that.
Speaker 13 (14:07):
Are you surprised that tackling has been as big of.
Speaker 9 (14:10):
An issue as has been the Yeah, Man, Tackling something
that we work. That's what we got to improve on.
That's one of the improvements that we talked about coming
out these first couple of games. It's like you never
know you play however many plays, sixty seventy plays throughout
the game, right, and you never know which plays are
gonna affect it. And in reality, all of them affected.
So I just think of situations we had in the
game last week where it's like, hey, it's second and
(14:32):
second and ten, we have a guy tackle. Now it's
gonna be third and eight, where percentages for us to
get to stop off the field they're gonna be high.
Now we miss it, it's third and two, third and three,
or it's first and ten, we get a guy surrounded,
it's gonna be second and nine. Right, Okay, we missed
a tackle. Now the ball goes for fifteen seventeen yards.
So I think we look at it two ways. It's
something we definitely have to improve and get better at.
(14:54):
We work at it. We got good people who can tackle.
We do that. Look how better we're gonna be on
defense by just simply doing the small fundamental things.
Speaker 10 (15:03):
Will play who won't play it?
Speaker 6 (15:04):
But we noticed bro Con Smith and Kyle Hamilton were
both not on the field today.
Speaker 7 (15:09):
But how do you go about deciding who wears that
green dot helmet if you're so shorthanded?
Speaker 9 (15:14):
Yeah, I mean, the good thing about it is a
practice we're allowed to have multiple guys with the green dot,
and we've been having that since the springtime. So I
personally feel comfortable with all the different options that we
have going into a game. Preseason, we good good work
with that, like Kyle Hamilton and rokwand Smith didn't play
in the preseason, so we'll have guys. It won't be
anybody's first time doing it if they have to do it.
Speaker 13 (15:38):
But you got to put your finger on why you
guys aren't generating turnovers?
Speaker 9 (15:43):
What would you say and how do you fix it?
I think it starts going back to kind of what
Jeff was talking about. I think we got to hit
people harder. Let's start knocking the ball loose. You know,
guys are going for the football. I think fundamentally we're
being intentional about tacking the ball, getting our hands up
and throwing lanes and we can't we can't lose sight
of that. So it goes back to saying I think
(16:05):
our process has been real good. Can it get better? Yes?
So we continue to chase those details on the practice
field in the meeting room on game day. But hey,
sometimes you can do things the right way and approach
things the right way and it doesn't go It doesn't
go your way immediately. So are we gonna sit and
soak and stop doing the things the right way just
because he in the first four games it hasn't turned
(16:27):
out the way we wanted to know, We're gonna keep
on doing it, keep on finding ways to get better,
and when that well breaks, it's gonna break. So you
can't just say, oh, I'm not getting tip past it.
I'm not getting interceptions because I'm getting my hands in
the window and the ball's missing my finger by this
amount or not, and I'm just gonna stop putting my
hands up. Nah. So I'm gonna keep doing it, and hey,
when those balls gonna tip our way and we'll be
off and running.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
When you talk a lot about wanting to turn it
up a notch on defense, having to prepare throughout the
week when a lot of the guys you might normally
look to to be the ones to turn it up
a ox, you don't even know if they're gonna be
able to play. How tough is it to prepare a
team throughout the week like that?
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (17:00):
Man, it's not tough at all.
Speaker 7 (17:01):
Man.
Speaker 9 (17:01):
Like everybody and everybody in that building at one point,
whether they said it publicly or whether they say it
to themselves or to their friends or family at home,
I'm that dude, I'm ready. I'm a dog. It's time
to go do that. Here go your opportunity, and just
the way we roll here is what the expectation is.
Whoever goes out there on Sunday with that black helmet
(17:21):
and that purple jersey on expectation to go out there
and go be great and go play dominant. So it's
not tough at all. I'm confident in the group that
we have whoever goes out there on Sunday, because you're
here for a reason. Now it's time to go show it.
Speaker 14 (17:33):
Exactly.
Speaker 8 (17:34):
It was right around this time last year that DMPs
joined the staff, not suggesting bringing an outsider in anything
like that, but how much dialogue and discussion has there
been amongst the defensive coaching staff in terms of changing
up responsibilities maybe just fresh guys on a different part
of the defense. How much of dialogue has there been
in that regard.
Speaker 9 (17:50):
Yeah, man, we as a staff, we always talk. We
got a great staff, I honestly believe that, and nobody
we have a selfless staff. And I always preach like, look,
I don't know, I don't I personally do not care
how it gets done or which way we do it.
I care about the end result and if it's if
whatever is gonna help us go play dominant defense and
help our team win games, I'm down for doing it.
(18:13):
So we definitely have those discussions constantly.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
How much on Chuck Pagano just his experience as a
defense coordinator with trying to sit through everything going.
Speaker 9 (18:22):
On right First and foremost, Happy birthday to him. So
if y'all se him, y'all got tell him happy birthday.
Speaker 6 (18:25):
Man.
Speaker 9 (18:26):
I ain't gonna put his age. I do who birthday is? Oh,
happy birthday, man, Shoot happy birthday. But I lean on
him a lot. I mean I lean onhim a lot, man.
I'm always he's coming in my office. Were talking one
on one. He brings up great ideas and great thoughts,
great perspective in the in the staff room, to the defense,
to the team, to the team room. And I go
to him and ask him to ask him advice from
(18:47):
football and just how to navigate being in this position.
So he's been helpful man. And he actually, like I said,
with his birthday, coach does a thing where he lets
people speak wise words on their birthday. I thought his
message was great. He was like, Hey, the position that
we want to be in. But this is a test
and in life, you're gonna get tested and hey, you're
either gonna step up or you're gonna turn it down.
(19:10):
And we don't have that type of people here in
this building. So, uh, you know it was wise words.
That's just a little sneak peak of the perspective that
he brings to.
Speaker 10 (19:17):
Us the league.
Speaker 8 (19:20):
You guys are pretty static when it comes to like stunts, twists,
past rush games.
Speaker 10 (19:25):
Is that just personnel? Is it strategy? Is its situational?
I mean what kind of goes into that?
Speaker 9 (19:29):
Yeah, I think it's been I think it's been a
it's a mix of that, you know what I mean.
I think it's a mix of that. So I'm excited
to see what we got going coming up Sunday and
going forward. But it's a mix of strategy, uh, situation
and personnel. Like I think that honestly, we got to
get teams into more third and long situations like right now.
(19:52):
Besides the Cleveland game we had, it was a lot
of third and longs. Had a couple in Detroit. But
we're living in third and four or third and three,
third and five, and you can run all the games
you want to ball gonna be out in those situations.
So I think it's a combination of all those things.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
This comes up most weeks. But is Jy or Alexander
getting closer to being that gyr Alexander you thought.
Speaker 9 (20:15):
He might be getting close? He getting close. I'm saying
that he's getting close. I think he's stacked a good
couple weeks of practice. You could see that he's getting
his swagger back, like I said last week, and that's
continued to trend upwards. So when he's fully ready, he'll
he'll know and and they'll let us know, and we'll
be ready for him and he'll play great football for us.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
Yeah, I was does.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Having played help you with kind of the public facing
part of your job where when things aren't going well,
half the city's mad at you.
Speaker 9 (20:44):
Yeah, for sure, definitely. I think that's That's definitely something
that I learned from watching when I first got to
this level as a player. And just like it was
crazy coming into the league in college, I saw, you
know how pressman athletes got top about and debated and
it's people's job to talk, you know what I mean.
But I honestly thought when I got up here, I
(21:06):
was like Oh, they don't pay attention to that. They
don't listen to that, they don't see it. You know,
they got other stuff they're doing. And I came in here,
I'm like, dang, TV's on ESPN, everybody's on their phone.
I'm like, they're seeing it. But I saw how they
handled that, and it's like, look, you know people are
gonna talk. That's what we signed up for. So what
we're gonna do about it? And if you let that
distract you, it's all it is a distraction, whether it's
good or bad. If you let that distract you and
(21:28):
take your eyes off of the prize of getting better,
being the best player or coach or whatever your job
description is, then you're wrong. You're not gonna be able
to reach the level that you're supposed to reach. So
that definitely helped me navigate the public perception for sure.
Appreciate y'all. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
You're listening to the Ravens Press Past podcast. That was
defensive coordinator Zach Or addressing the media after today's practice.
You'll now hear from Special Teams coordinator Chris Horton.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Good to see you guys.
Speaker 15 (22:07):
See I hope all you guys are doing well, uh,
just a little quick, little recap from last game. You know,
I thought our guys went out, uh tried to try
to be as detailed as they can.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
In our plan.
Speaker 15 (22:18):
But there's obviously some things that we need to get fixed,
some things we need to work on, and that's what
we came out this week and that's what we're looking
forward to doing when we go out and face this
Houston team.
Speaker 9 (22:27):
Questions.
Speaker 10 (22:30):
Chris DJ is a TJ.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Tampa his side with I think Jake for the league
special Teams tackles.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
You know, you might get an opportunity on defense this week.
But as it pertains to you know, coaching up TV
at what makes.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Him enjoy play, enjoyable player to coach.
Speaker 14 (22:47):
And what are just some attecutes.
Speaker 9 (22:50):
That's a that's a great question.
Speaker 15 (22:51):
I think I think the more a more guy plays,
you know, and we talk about young guys, right as
a second year guy, the guy's got a lot of length,
the guys got the guy's got speed, and he's a
physical player, right, So when you put all those things
together on the different phases, they start to show up.
Speaker 9 (23:07):
He's very detailed.
Speaker 15 (23:08):
He's gotten so much better and just being detailed in
his study and things like that, which has allowed him
to go out and play faster and not think.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
And it's and he's making plays.
Speaker 9 (23:17):
And it's showing up on tape.
Speaker 15 (23:18):
So given that you know he might get more opportunities,
I think, I think we'll still have a role for
him and we'll find a way to keep keep him
playing and making sure that he's still living up to,
you know, being.
Speaker 9 (23:29):
Able to succeed have success on both phases.
Speaker 14 (23:32):
When we when there's a team that's really banged out
with a bunch of injuries, how much does it affect
you in particular, or when there's so many questions about
guys that could impact who you have.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Available, who you go on.
Speaker 15 (23:46):
Jeff, it's like a it's like a trickle down effect, right,
But I think now I've been I've been in this
situation for a long time now, and these things, these
things show up to me. The messages is very simple, Right.
You get a lot of guys that ask for opportunities.
You get a lot of guys that want to play, right, Well,
here's your moment, here's your opportunity.
Speaker 9 (24:03):
So it's really it's football, man, The next guy is up.
Speaker 15 (24:06):
The next guy's got to be ready, and he has
to have prepared himself so he can go out there
and have success. Right, they look forward, and I don't
worry about who I have who I don't have, because
I know that every guy that's in that room is
putting in the same amount of work. Right, might have
played less snaps, but still football, you go out there,
you execute, we should be fine.
Speaker 10 (24:26):
Is there anything in particular you see with the kick
cover and Chris that you wanted to get fixed?
Speaker 15 (24:31):
Of course, you know, just thinking about that, just thinking
about that game, I think that's one of the errors
that I'm talking about that just really really needs to improve.
I think our kickoff team's really good, right, and we
got some we got some guys out there. We just
got to understand that there's lanes and there's leverages that
we need to make sure that we hone in and
we don't give up our space, right, and we got
to tackle. You look at a couple of those plays,
(24:52):
the returner on the forty seven yard or it got
bounced off of tackle and got loose.
Speaker 9 (24:56):
Right, But again, if.
Speaker 15 (24:57):
We're where we're supposed to be, that tackles probably made
somewhere around the twenty eight thirty yard line. So those
are the things that I'm talking about. I don't think
these are big problems. These are things that I know
we can get fixed, and we should get them fixed
this weekend.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Now that you have months or at the data, do
you feel like you have a better feel for what
constitutes sort of success and failure in this new kickoff world?
Speaker 5 (25:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 15 (25:18):
I think I think you know when you when you
really look at it. Okay, for us, it's like, hey,
we want to keep every ball inside the twenty five, right,
That's like to us, that's that old school like mentality,
Like those are tackles inside the twenty, right, and then
and then if a ball gets to the thirty five
yard line, then choot. We tell our guys, man, if
we're gonna allow the ball to get to the thirty
five yard line, we might as well hit the touchbacks.
Speaker 9 (25:38):
Right.
Speaker 15 (25:38):
So anything from that from that twenty to that thirty
yard line in those are those are kind of wins
for you, right, because that's five yards of field position.
So that's kind of how that's kind of how we
think about it. We want to be as stingy as possible.
We still can get tackles inside the twenty those things
still do exist, but we got to work a little
bit harder, right, and we got to be on point,
and we got to be detailed about.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
That was Special teams coordinator Chris Hordon answering questions from
the media before the Ravens returned to M and T
Bank Stadium to face the one in three Texans on Sunday.
Speaker 12 (26:15):
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Speaker 1 (26:35):
Next up on Ravens Press Pass Podcast, we have running
back Derrick Henry.
Speaker 11 (26:43):
So, Eric, what is kind of the.
Speaker 9 (26:44):
Mindset for on this team?
Speaker 10 (26:46):
There?
Speaker 9 (26:47):
You know the mindset of this team. You know, with
a one and three start and having all these injuries, now.
Speaker 11 (26:51):
At your fats were still to go play a game?
And mine said no, Winns the ball game. You may
change day.
Speaker 13 (26:59):
I know you don't get caught up in carriage and all,
but uh, Tom Munklem was saying that it's important for
you guys to run the.
Speaker 9 (27:05):
More and ball more and run it.
Speaker 13 (27:06):
Well, how important do you think it is for you
guys to start getting back to the run the way
you guys know you can't.
Speaker 11 (27:11):
Yeah, I'm just focused on doing my job better than
I have done the last four weeks. And you know
it starts out there, and just keep focusing on that
and let it translate to the game. You know, it
takes all of us in the run game. I'm sure
everybody else is focused on that, and we need to
go out there and look and make it happen.
Speaker 7 (27:27):
What do you feel like you guys need to do.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
To execute the ending up getting And that's the way
you're up to.
Speaker 11 (27:33):
Like I said after the game of Sunday, donat don't
dominate a lone of scrimmage execution exhibit thing right, every
man doing their job, yeah, the way that they know how,
and then.
Speaker 7 (27:43):
Letting them go out there and putting it all together
so we can have success.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Arry could it's it is Cooper Russian stead of the Mark.
Speaker 7 (27:49):
Does that your sure job the walls?
Speaker 11 (27:51):
Does it change my job cause Cooper wor No, My
job is to.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Say that was better? And running back Derek Henry answering
questions ahead of the Ravens Week five matchup against the
Houston Texans. That's it for today. Thanks for listening to
the Ravens Press Past podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to
this feed as well as the Lounge podcast, where Ravens
insiders are previewing matchups, breaking down game footage, interviewing players,
(28:19):
and much more. Thanks for listening to Raven's Press Past
podcast and we'll talk to you again soon
Welcome into the Ravens Press Past Podcast. The date is Thursday,
October second, and today after practice, we heard from the
Ravens coordinators Todd Monkin, Zach Orr, and Chris Horton, as
well as running back Derrick Henry. First up on Ravens
Press Past Podcast, you'll hear from offensive coordinator Todd Mounkin.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So, obviously, if more is unable to play, Cooper would
get the start.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
What if what kind of stands out to you in
your dealing with Cooper.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
And Hallie handle this preparation. I mean, he's the consummate pro.
I mean from the moment he got here, he was
here the whole off season. I mean you can see
why he's been successful, played a lot of football in
this league. I mean, you forget his record as a starter,
I mean it's outstanding.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
I mean he he did a great job.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Everybody that you spoke to in Dallas, I mean it
was glowing about and the guys that went, you know,
Meira went to the Saints and Kellen Moore, they loved him.
I mean they were and he's been as good as advertised.
Speaker 6 (01:07):
He caught on.
Speaker 7 (01:08):
Monday, John was quite openly critical of the offensive approach,
the play calling, all of that, how do you respond?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Well, first off, there's not one thing John said that
we didn't already talk about, not one thing, you know,
So there was nothing about that that I hadn't already
heard or that he didn't already feel. And one thing
I've done throughout my career is that you got to
look at what you do, and that's that's what I've
done my whole career. Is Okay, how do we scheme it,
(01:37):
how do we coach it, how do we execute it?
Speaker 5 (01:40):
How was our plan?
Speaker 4 (01:41):
All of those things when you go into it, and
when it's below the line, you got to own it
and fix it. And that's what you do. I mean,
that's what we do as human beings. Right's what I've
always done my whole career. It's how I got to
where I'm here now. Like I mean, there wasn't anything
he said that wasn't you know that we hadn't already
talked about.
Speaker 5 (01:56):
So that's what you do.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
You look at it and you say, okay, was that
good enough? I mean, the expectation here's to be elite,
and we've been elite, We're going to continue to be elite.
But I got to do it better. We got to
do it better, and we'll continue to do it better.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
You said you guys didn't follow through your plan to
deal with their pressure. From your perspective, what happened.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Well, like I said, I already really addressed it. You know,
he already talked about it. We didn't execute the way
we planned.
Speaker 8 (02:22):
Tom When you look at the ground game, I mean
the numbers are far on, you're leading the league and
yards for carry, but success rate and some of those
arenis good. In your mind and understanding, there's always nuanced
down and just to show that what needs to happen
for this running game to be more prominent and consistent,
like I want to say week one and all of
last year.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Well, it can start by calling it more often, you know,
and stacking plays. I mean that's you know, I'm gonna
start with calling it more often. Okay, that's a part
of it. And stacking plays. I mean, we've you guys
hit it over the weeks that I've gotten up here before,
which is okay, we're either getting the point where we're
scoring pretty fast or we're getting off the field fast.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
And that's not a.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Great recipe because you can't stack plays. The idea of
being able to run the ball, stay out of the chains.
That's a part of it that's not deflecting. I mean,
we need to be able to run it better, need
to call it more often because we got really good
players back there. But we have really good players at
a lot of spots. So bottom line is, we've had
games where we've had some explosive runs and someone where
(03:22):
we haven't been nearly up to the level that we expect.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
But it's early and I expect us to really get
back on track.
Speaker 9 (03:30):
Like you guys have been able to get into the
right plays in terms of changing the play at the
line of scumbers, you feel like you've gotten into the
right plays versus certain looks.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Sure, I mean I think with any offense, you're not
gonna be one hundred percent.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
I mean, we know that.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
I think our quarterbacks have done a really good job
of getting us into plays against the looks that we're
trying to get although we practice against. Is every play
in that category, No, it is not. But I think
our quarterbacks has done a good job. I think they're
got have done a good job of understanding the plan.
When we've gone into the week of how we plan
to attack people.
Speaker 10 (04:09):
Cursiyund that stuff out play a rage team, particularly on offense,
has something to do with the run. Would you say
you are still searching a little bit for an identity
or absolutely probable?
Speaker 5 (04:21):
Well, each game, to me, every game is a game
within itself. I don't.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
After game one, no one said that. After Game two,
played a really good defense, and we struggled a little
bit to run the ball and really gain some traction.
Against Detroit, we had some self inflicted on a couple series.
We had twice second and three and we went three
and out. I mean, that's that's not going to get
you on track. And then this last game started fast,
(04:49):
just didn't capitalize that on the road. So I wouldn't
say it as a trend. Certainly, we got to be
able to run the ball better. Certainly have to be
able to stab drives together and plays together. That's for sure.
Speaker 7 (05:04):
Curious when you step back from it, look at it
half the stuck.
Speaker 8 (05:09):
Because it's surprising that.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
A running.
Speaker 8 (05:13):
Some of it.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Some of it's that way.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
But I think, first of all, I'm not going to
get away with we have to be able to run
it more often and better. Okay, let's start with that,
but uh, staying away from getting back on track, because
when you're when you're second and long, it really puts
you in a tough spot. You're more often going to
be at least more balanced, maybe a little more throw
and then stacking drives. I mean, the number of plays
(05:37):
we have after four games is staggering, the few of
what we've had. I mean, that's that's a fact. I mean,
we just and and some of that is self inflicted.
We just haven't stacked enough drives together because that's where
you're going to accumulate more first downs, more opportunities to
run it. When we start doing that, Uh, then I
think you'll see fo washings. You're going to see it
(05:58):
go up when we're able to stack drives and put
it together.
Speaker 10 (06:01):
I know, just sils a doumen player on this team,
But are there certain situations, particularly short yards maybe you'd
like to see Derrick Henry on the field more that
Maybe he's not been part of the package before, you.
Speaker 9 (06:13):
Know, but we do well.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
The thing is this year.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Again, it's year to year, so short yardage depends on
what we're calling short yardage. Okay, we up until this
last game, we really didn't have a lot of short yardages,
and I think we had three third and ones. One
of them happened to be on the one yard line
where we tossed it to Derek. So he's a big
part of our short arge package against Detroit. The first drive,
we're third and one, we handed it to him. Some
(06:38):
of them are you know, maybe on the books are
third and one, but to me they were third and two.
And you know, we're using justice in the past game
and he's a part of that that comes into play.
It came into play last year. Derek, I mean, is
a huge part of our shortyardage package. Just haven't really
had enough of them, and we got to get to,
you know, the short yardage package where he's a big
part of that.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
For sure.
Speaker 7 (06:58):
I do it's you know, it's next man up and
you don't played behalf And how much is not having
Pat car I packed some of those play designs falls etet.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
I'm not going to put it on that. I mean,
we love Pat. Pat's a tremendous player, but Zaire has
done a great job. I mean he's filled in admirably.
You know, there's certain things that you may do with
Pat out there, but that's that's not excuse. I mean,
the bottom line is is, you know we've had all
the other pieces.
Speaker 8 (07:30):
Some of the stats sites last year. Last year had
you guys among the best in the NFL at limiting
the unblocked pressures.
Speaker 11 (07:36):
Seems like that has crept up.
Speaker 8 (07:38):
I think Bolt got through a couple of times on
Sunday with the continuity of the offensive line.
Speaker 7 (07:42):
Is at a surprise for that uptick.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I didn't even know that there was a stat for that.
I shouldn't say that I know there's a stat for it.
I guess I'll say I wasn't aware of that. Obviously,
every game, each team poses a different you know element
in terms of scheming up your pressures, in terms.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Of you know, challenging you.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
What will help us is if we run the ball better,
right and more often, if we stay out of the chains,
it will stack plays together.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
We'll stay out of those exotic looks.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I mean, that's really where you get it is you're
not going to have those issues when you're in base
looks because you're staying out of the chains a set
of the chains, you're running the ball well and then
and then you'll stay out of some of those where
you get it that when we've gotten behind the chains
or when we've gotten behind in games, that's when you're
going to see all that. That's when the pressures in
the sacks occur and they're going to challenge us.
Speaker 5 (08:37):
We certainly can be better there. We certainly can be
better scheming it.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
I mean that's a part of it too, us putting
our guys in our in the right position. So we're
certainly going to again, like everything that we feel like
we can get better at, we're going to fight like
hell to fix it. I mean that's all you can do.
That's I promise you. That's what we're doing every single
day to fight to fix it. And that's how we've
gotten to where we're today. And to me, we can
(09:02):
either end up as a speed bump or a much
higher mountain, which is not going to be that. I
can promise you that we're going to fight to fix
it and get back on track, and I know we
got the people to do it.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
If you don't have Lamar, does it take certain run
plays off the table? I mean how much does it
affect your game planning that way that well?
Speaker 4 (09:22):
I mean obviously, I mean as athletic as coop is
some of those things are not going to look the
same as as Lamar. That doesn't mean you can't still
be effective and efficient. It's just a different way of
approaching certain aspects of your game.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
I mean, that's that's obvious.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
But our staff and myself have enough background in history
with guys that we can still play winning football. Otherwise
we wouldn't have We wouldn't have signed Cooper, right, We
wouldn't have put ourselves in that position if we weren't
confident enough to be able to build a game plan
that would allow us to score and be really efficient.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
The games to need as you feedback. Does Jean give
you feedback? Sure he does. Our coaching staff does always.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
I mean, I think people are a little bit surprised that, Well,
the feedback is constant. The feedback during the week is constant.
The feedback after games is constant.
Speaker 9 (10:19):
Good and bad.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
That's part of what you do.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Hopefully, in any relationship or any job, you're getting immediate
feedback and what we can do better, how we're seeing
the game right. And that's throughout the game, that's before
the game, that's after the game.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
That's what you do. I mean, that's that's to me,
that's winning football.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
It's what I love about coach Harball and one thing
he is going to confront anything that gets in the
way of winning football.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
That's a fact, okay, and everybody needs that, whether it's football.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
My wife does that to me, She confronts anything that
gets in the way of us having a great relationship.
And then what the hell do you do? You fight
like hell to fix it. And that's what you when
it's when it's damn important.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That was oc Todd Monkin ahead of the Ravens Week
five matchup with the Houston Texans this Sunday. Now you'll
hear from defensive coordinators Zach.
Speaker 9 (11:13):
Or how much these injuries on the defensive side. How
much does that create a challenge? First, what you do
is for as a defensive game plan man, definitely creates
a challenge. You know, obviously you want to be able
to do what the guys can go out here and
feel comfortable executing. You know, obviously we got a lot
(11:34):
of young guys who are gonna go out there and
play football for us. But I think the preparations drought
the week can help handle that. And all these guys
been here with us throughout the spring man, so a
lot of the playbook, they already know that we worked
the mess out of the rookies within the rules, and
we tell them this for a reason like this, you
never know when you have to be out there, and
that time is now. So you know, we're excited about it,
(11:56):
and we're gonna still be able to get to a
lot of things because, like I said, good rookie class.
Been impressed with them. They've been a mature group, so
I think they'll be able to handle what we have
in the game plan and be able to go out
there and execute it.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You guys first got together and met after this this
last game. What was kind of your overall message and
what was your sense of kind of how the players
were feeling, like, what were you getting back from them?
Speaker 12 (12:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (12:20):
Man, I mean obviously we were disappointed. I mean we
were disappointed. We went in that game fully expecting to
play better and and win that game, but obviously it didn't.
And you know, the message really was is I can't
remember the guy who said the quote, but it was
adversity causes some men to break and then it caused
some other men to break records. Man, So let's go
(12:42):
break records. So there's nothing that man can can say
or write that should be able to change your mood
if you know that you're going about your business the
right way and you always trying to grind and get better.
So that's the approach we have and we know we
got to get better. We have to. It's a must.
That's what we're focusing on, and that's what we're doing.
Nobody can hang their head and feel sorry for themselves.
(13:02):
We're in a position that we're in. We're one to three.
We haven't been playing good football, specifically on defense. That's
there's nothing we can change about that that's already happened.
We could just change about how we going forward. So
that's how we focus on doing exactly one.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Of the criticisms about this defense currently beyond the golfer
Wakes doesn't look like you see hypto Railes defense, or
you see the physicality and the push value that offend
you're playing the scene is fit out the stage.
Speaker 9 (13:29):
Or Yeah, I think I think we I think we
are a physical team, but we got we gotta take
it up a notch. And I talked to the guys
about that, man, like, we we have to really take
it up a notch to another standard. It hasn't been
where we want it to be at Like we are
guys playing hard, yes, are our guys striking blocks, yes,
But we got to take it up to a whole
other level. And that that that fixes a lot of
things from a defensive perspective, and that starts upfront in
(13:51):
the trenches. So we challenging our guys in the trenches.
We need to dominate man, going forward, matter who the
point opponent is, we gotta start putting people in the ground,
putting people in the dirt. And that's what we got
to do. So you know, I know it sounds good
up here me saying it, but we got to go
do it on Sunday.
Speaker 8 (14:05):
Exactly like that.
Speaker 13 (14:07):
Are you surprised that tackling has been as big of.
Speaker 9 (14:10):
An issue as has been the Yeah, Man, Tackling something
that we work. That's what we got to improve on.
That's one of the improvements that we talked about coming
out these first couple of games. It's like you never
know you play however many plays, sixty seventy plays throughout
the game, right, and you never know which plays are
gonna affect it. And in reality, all of them affected.
So I just think of situations we had in the
game last week where it's like, hey, it's second and
(14:32):
second and ten, we have a guy tackle. Now it's
gonna be third and eight, where percentages for us to
get to stop off the field they're gonna be high.
Now we miss it, it's third and two, third and three,
or it's first and ten, we get a guy surrounded,
it's gonna be second and nine. Right, Okay, we missed
a tackle. Now the ball goes for fifteen seventeen yards.
So I think we look at it two ways. It's
something we definitely have to improve and get better at.
(14:54):
We work at it. We got good people who can tackle.
We do that. Look how better we're gonna be on
defense by just simply doing the small fundamental things.
Speaker 10 (15:03):
Will play who won't play it?
Speaker 6 (15:04):
But we noticed bro Con Smith and Kyle Hamilton were
both not on the field today.
Speaker 7 (15:09):
But how do you go about deciding who wears that
green dot helmet if you're so shorthanded?
Speaker 9 (15:14):
Yeah, I mean, the good thing about it is a
practice we're allowed to have multiple guys with the green dot,
and we've been having that since the springtime. So I
personally feel comfortable with all the different options that we
have going into a game. Preseason, we good good work
with that, like Kyle Hamilton and rokwand Smith didn't play
in the preseason, so we'll have guys. It won't be
anybody's first time doing it if they have to do it.
Speaker 13 (15:38):
But you got to put your finger on why you
guys aren't generating turnovers?
Speaker 9 (15:43):
What would you say and how do you fix it?
I think it starts going back to kind of what
Jeff was talking about. I think we got to hit
people harder. Let's start knocking the ball loose. You know,
guys are going for the football. I think fundamentally we're
being intentional about tacking the ball, getting our hands up
and throwing lanes and we can't we can't lose sight
of that. So it goes back to saying I think
(16:05):
our process has been real good. Can it get better? Yes?
So we continue to chase those details on the practice
field in the meeting room on game day. But hey,
sometimes you can do things the right way and approach
things the right way and it doesn't go It doesn't
go your way immediately. So are we gonna sit and
soak and stop doing the things the right way just
because he in the first four games it hasn't turned
(16:27):
out the way we wanted to know, We're gonna keep
on doing it, keep on finding ways to get better,
and when that well breaks, it's gonna break. So you
can't just say, oh, I'm not getting tip past it.
I'm not getting interceptions because I'm getting my hands in
the window and the ball's missing my finger by this
amount or not, and I'm just gonna stop putting my
hands up. Nah. So I'm gonna keep doing it, and hey,
when those balls gonna tip our way and we'll be
off and running.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
When you talk a lot about wanting to turn it
up a notch on defense, having to prepare throughout the
week when a lot of the guys you might normally
look to to be the ones to turn it up
a ox, you don't even know if they're gonna be
able to play. How tough is it to prepare a
team throughout the week like that?
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (17:00):
Man, it's not tough at all.
Speaker 7 (17:01):
Man.
Speaker 9 (17:01):
Like everybody and everybody in that building at one point,
whether they said it publicly or whether they say it
to themselves or to their friends or family at home,
I'm that dude, I'm ready. I'm a dog. It's time
to go do that. Here go your opportunity, and just
the way we roll here is what the expectation is.
Whoever goes out there on Sunday with that black helmet
(17:21):
and that purple jersey on expectation to go out there
and go be great and go play dominant. So it's
not tough at all. I'm confident in the group that
we have whoever goes out there on Sunday, because you're
here for a reason. Now it's time to go show it.
Speaker 14 (17:33):
Exactly.
Speaker 8 (17:34):
It was right around this time last year that DMPs
joined the staff, not suggesting bringing an outsider in anything
like that, but how much dialogue and discussion has there
been amongst the defensive coaching staff in terms of changing
up responsibilities maybe just fresh guys on a different part
of the defense. How much of dialogue has there been
in that regard.
Speaker 9 (17:50):
Yeah, man, we as a staff, we always talk. We
got a great staff, I honestly believe that, and nobody
we have a selfless staff. And I always preach like, look,
I don't know, I don't I personally do not care
how it gets done or which way we do it.
I care about the end result and if it's if
whatever is gonna help us go play dominant defense and
help our team win games, I'm down for doing it.
(18:13):
So we definitely have those discussions constantly.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
How much on Chuck Pagano just his experience as a
defense coordinator with trying to sit through everything going.
Speaker 9 (18:22):
On right First and foremost, Happy birthday to him. So
if y'all se him, y'all got tell him happy birthday.
Speaker 6 (18:25):
Man.
Speaker 9 (18:26):
I ain't gonna put his age. I do who birthday is? Oh,
happy birthday, man, Shoot happy birthday. But I lean on
him a lot. I mean I lean onhim a lot, man.
I'm always he's coming in my office. Were talking one
on one. He brings up great ideas and great thoughts,
great perspective in the in the staff room, to the defense,
to the team, to the team room. And I go
to him and ask him to ask him advice from
(18:47):
football and just how to navigate being in this position.
So he's been helpful man. And he actually, like I said,
with his birthday, coach does a thing where he lets
people speak wise words on their birthday. I thought his
message was great. He was like, Hey, the position that
we want to be in. But this is a test
and in life, you're gonna get tested and hey, you're
either gonna step up or you're gonna turn it down.
(19:10):
And we don't have that type of people here in
this building. So, uh, you know it was wise words.
That's just a little sneak peak of the perspective that
he brings to.
Speaker 10 (19:17):
Us the league.
Speaker 8 (19:20):
You guys are pretty static when it comes to like stunts, twists,
past rush games.
Speaker 10 (19:25):
Is that just personnel? Is it strategy? Is its situational?
I mean what kind of goes into that?
Speaker 9 (19:29):
Yeah, I think it's been I think it's been a
it's a mix of that, you know what I mean.
I think it's a mix of that. So I'm excited
to see what we got going coming up Sunday and
going forward. But it's a mix of strategy, uh, situation
and personnel. Like I think that honestly, we got to
get teams into more third and long situations like right now.
(19:52):
Besides the Cleveland game we had, it was a lot
of third and longs. Had a couple in Detroit. But
we're living in third and four or third and three,
third and five, and you can run all the games
you want to ball gonna be out in those situations.
So I think it's a combination of all those things.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
This comes up most weeks. But is Jy or Alexander
getting closer to being that gyr Alexander you thought.
Speaker 9 (20:15):
He might be getting close? He getting close. I'm saying
that he's getting close. I think he's stacked a good
couple weeks of practice. You could see that he's getting
his swagger back, like I said last week, and that's
continued to trend upwards. So when he's fully ready, he'll
he'll know and and they'll let us know, and we'll
be ready for him and he'll play great football for us.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
Yeah, I was does.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Having played help you with kind of the public facing
part of your job where when things aren't going well,
half the city's mad at you.
Speaker 9 (20:44):
Yeah, for sure, definitely. I think that's That's definitely something
that I learned from watching when I first got to
this level as a player. And just like it was
crazy coming into the league in college, I saw, you
know how pressman athletes got top about and debated and
it's people's job to talk, you know what I mean.
But I honestly thought when I got up here, I
(21:06):
was like Oh, they don't pay attention to that. They
don't listen to that, they don't see it. You know,
they got other stuff they're doing. And I came in here,
I'm like, dang, TV's on ESPN, everybody's on their phone.
I'm like, they're seeing it. But I saw how they
handled that, and it's like, look, you know people are
gonna talk. That's what we signed up for. So what
we're gonna do about it? And if you let that
distract you, it's all it is a distraction, whether it's
good or bad. If you let that distract you and
(21:28):
take your eyes off of the prize of getting better,
being the best player or coach or whatever your job
description is, then you're wrong. You're not gonna be able
to reach the level that you're supposed to reach. So
that definitely helped me navigate the public perception for sure.
Appreciate y'all. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
You're listening to the Ravens Press Past podcast. That was
defensive coordinator Zach Or addressing the media after today's practice.
You'll now hear from Special Teams coordinator Chris Horton.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Good to see you guys.
Speaker 15 (22:07):
See I hope all you guys are doing well, uh,
just a little quick, little recap from last game. You know,
I thought our guys went out, uh tried to try
to be as detailed as they can.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
In our plan.
Speaker 15 (22:18):
But there's obviously some things that we need to get fixed,
some things we need to work on, and that's what
we came out this week and that's what we're looking
forward to doing when we go out and face this
Houston team.
Speaker 9 (22:27):
Questions.
Speaker 10 (22:30):
Chris DJ is a TJ.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Tampa his side with I think Jake for the league
special Teams tackles.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
You know, you might get an opportunity on defense this week.
But as it pertains to you know, coaching up TV
at what makes.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Him enjoy play, enjoyable player to coach.
Speaker 14 (22:47):
And what are just some attecutes.
Speaker 9 (22:50):
That's a that's a great question.
Speaker 15 (22:51):
I think I think the more a more guy plays,
you know, and we talk about young guys, right as
a second year guy, the guy's got a lot of length,
the guys got the guy's got speed, and he's a
physical player, right, So when you put all those things
together on the different phases, they start to show up.
Speaker 9 (23:07):
He's very detailed.
Speaker 15 (23:08):
He's gotten so much better and just being detailed in
his study and things like that, which has allowed him
to go out and play faster and not think.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
And it's and he's making plays.
Speaker 9 (23:17):
And it's showing up on tape.
Speaker 15 (23:18):
So given that you know he might get more opportunities,
I think, I think we'll still have a role for
him and we'll find a way to keep keep him
playing and making sure that he's still living up to,
you know, being.
Speaker 9 (23:29):
Able to succeed have success on both phases.
Speaker 14 (23:32):
When we when there's a team that's really banged out
with a bunch of injuries, how much does it affect
you in particular, or when there's so many questions about
guys that could impact who you have.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Available, who you go on.
Speaker 15 (23:46):
Jeff, it's like a it's like a trickle down effect, right,
But I think now I've been I've been in this
situation for a long time now, and these things, these
things show up to me. The messages is very simple, Right.
You get a lot of guys that ask for opportunities.
You get a lot of guys that want to play, right, Well,
here's your moment, here's your opportunity.
Speaker 9 (24:03):
So it's really it's football, man, The next guy is up.
Speaker 15 (24:06):
The next guy's got to be ready, and he has
to have prepared himself so he can go out there
and have success. Right, they look forward, and I don't
worry about who I have who I don't have, because
I know that every guy that's in that room is
putting in the same amount of work. Right, might have
played less snaps, but still football, you go out there,
you execute, we should be fine.
Speaker 10 (24:26):
Is there anything in particular you see with the kick
cover and Chris that you wanted to get fixed?
Speaker 15 (24:31):
Of course, you know, just thinking about that, just thinking
about that game, I think that's one of the errors
that I'm talking about that just really really needs to improve.
I think our kickoff team's really good, right, and we
got some we got some guys out there. We just
got to understand that there's lanes and there's leverages that
we need to make sure that we hone in and
we don't give up our space, right, and we got
to tackle. You look at a couple of those plays,
(24:52):
the returner on the forty seven yard or it got
bounced off of tackle and got loose.
Speaker 9 (24:56):
Right, But again, if.
Speaker 15 (24:57):
We're where we're supposed to be, that tackles probably made
somewhere around the twenty eight thirty yard line. So those
are the things that I'm talking about. I don't think
these are big problems. These are things that I know
we can get fixed, and we should get them fixed
this weekend.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Now that you have months or at the data, do
you feel like you have a better feel for what
constitutes sort of success and failure in this new kickoff world?
Speaker 5 (25:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 15 (25:18):
I think I think you know when you when you
really look at it. Okay, for us, it's like, hey,
we want to keep every ball inside the twenty five, right,
That's like to us, that's that old school like mentality,
Like those are tackles inside the twenty, right, and then
and then if a ball gets to the thirty five
yard line, then choot. We tell our guys, man, if
we're gonna allow the ball to get to the thirty
five yard line, we might as well hit the touchbacks.
Speaker 9 (25:38):
Right.
Speaker 15 (25:38):
So anything from that from that twenty to that thirty
yard line in those are those are kind of wins
for you, right, because that's five yards of field position.
So that's kind of how that's kind of how we
think about it. We want to be as stingy as possible.
We still can get tackles inside the twenty those things
still do exist, but we got to work a little
bit harder, right, and we got to be on point,
and we got to be detailed about.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
That was Special teams coordinator Chris Hordon answering questions from
the media before the Ravens returned to M and T
Bank Stadium to face the one in three Texans on Sunday.
Speaker 12 (26:15):
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Speaker 1 (26:35):
Next up on Ravens Press Pass Podcast, we have running
back Derrick Henry.
Speaker 11 (26:43):
So, Eric, what is kind of the.
Speaker 9 (26:44):
Mindset for on this team?
Speaker 10 (26:46):
There?
Speaker 9 (26:47):
You know the mindset of this team. You know, with
a one and three start and having all these injuries, now.
Speaker 11 (26:51):
At your fats were still to go play a game?
And mine said no, Winns the ball game. You may
change day.
Speaker 13 (26:59):
I know you don't get caught up in carriage and all,
but uh, Tom Munklem was saying that it's important for
you guys to run the.
Speaker 9 (27:05):
More and ball more and run it.
Speaker 13 (27:06):
Well, how important do you think it is for you
guys to start getting back to the run the way
you guys know you can't.
Speaker 11 (27:11):
Yeah, I'm just focused on doing my job better than
I have done the last four weeks. And you know
it starts out there, and just keep focusing on that
and let it translate to the game. You know, it
takes all of us in the run game. I'm sure
everybody else is focused on that, and we need to
go out there and look and make it happen.
Speaker 7 (27:27):
What do you feel like you guys need to do.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
To execute the ending up getting And that's the way
you're up to.
Speaker 11 (27:33):
Like I said after the game of Sunday, donat don't
dominate a lone of scrimmage execution exhibit thing right, every
man doing their job, yeah, the way that they know how,
and then.
Speaker 7 (27:43):
Letting them go out there and putting it all together
so we can have success.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Arry could it's it is Cooper Russian stead of the Mark.
Speaker 7 (27:49):
Does that your sure job the walls?
Speaker 11 (27:51):
Does it change my job cause Cooper wor No, My
job is to.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Say that was better? And running back Derek Henry answering
questions ahead of the Ravens Week five matchup against the
Houston Texans. That's it for today. Thanks for listening to
the Ravens Press Past podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to
this feed as well as the Lounge podcast, where Ravens
insiders are previewing matchups, breaking down game footage, interviewing players,
(28:19):
and much more. Thanks for listening to Raven's Press Past
podcast and we'll talk to you again soon
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