Speaker 1: Welcome into Ravens Press Best. This is your credential to
Speaker 1: all Ravens interviews and press conferences with players, coaches, and
Speaker 1: front office members. There's gonna be a rotating cast of hosts,
Speaker 1: but mostly just a no frills, quick and easy way
Speaker 1: to listen to all Ravens press conferences and other media availabilities.
Speaker 1: We'll kick off the first episode with head coach John
Speaker 1: Harball and general manager Eric Takasa as they reviewed the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two season and looked ahead to the off
Speaker 1: season to come. So I just want to welcome everybody here,
Speaker 1: really appreciate everybody coming out. Eric and I are we're
Speaker 1: looking forward to doing this and kind of start off
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three season in terms of what our
Speaker 1: hopes are, our vision, where we're planning on going. And
Speaker 1: with that, I think every ending is a beginning, and
Speaker 1: where we leave off from the twenty twenty two season
Speaker 1: and where we begin in twenty twenty three season is
Speaker 1: really right now, and we've had an opportunity to talk
Speaker 1: a little bit, and there's a lot of things going
Speaker 1: on where things are moving fast, as you all know.
Speaker 1: But the thing that I feel, I know Eric feels
Speaker 1: the same way. I feel great excitement and great hope
Speaker 1: for what we're what we're heading into, for the challenges
Speaker 1: in front of us and the opportunities in front of us,
Speaker 1: because we have a really good football team and we're
Speaker 1: a kind of on a curve of building this football
Speaker 1: team right now. We have been on it for about
Speaker 1: three years, i'd say, and putting this thing together, and
Speaker 1: you can see the pieces coming together. You can see
Speaker 1: it coming together on the field in terms of scheme
Speaker 1: and process, personnel in coaching, and a lot of hard
Speaker 1: work has gone into it, and I think it's starting
Speaker 1: to become apparent where we're going. So I'm really excited
Speaker 1: about it. Eric's excited about it, and we're excited for
Speaker 1: whatever questions you might have. So with that, Eric, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it was a you know, certainly a disappointing
Speaker 1: ending to a season, a long season with a lot
Speaker 1: of different challenges, But we're also excited by I think
Speaker 1: the potential of the off season everything that goes along
Speaker 1: with that, the draft, free agency, it's my favorite time
Speaker 1: a year. We're excited to start up negotiations again with
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson. We're excited to attack this roster to make
Speaker 1: it the very best it can be in the hopes that,
Speaker 1: you know, we'll be a championship team at some point.
Speaker 1: And I want to thank John and the coaches and
Speaker 1: the players for all the work they did this offseason.
Speaker 1: We overcame a lot of different adversities along the way.
Speaker 1: Very proud of the team. It wasn't the ending that
Speaker 1: we wanted, but as John alluded to, I think we're
Speaker 1: on the right path. You mention, what is your confidence
Speaker 1: level one getting the chief, Well, it certainly takes two
Speaker 1: to tango. But I think Lamar and I have a
Speaker 1: great relationship. I think we communicate quite often. We spent
Speaker 1: some time together today. As a matter of fact, we've
Speaker 1: spoken throughout the season multiple times. And you know, these negotiations, Jamison,
Speaker 1: they all happened differently. You know, Ronnie Stanley's contract about
Speaker 1: a year and a half. Mark Andrews contract took probably
Speaker 1: three or four days. You know, we did Roquin's contract
Speaker 1: over the span of six days, over the course of
Speaker 1: one month, basically is what we did. So they happen
Speaker 1: in different ways. UM, I wouldn't characterize the percentages of
Speaker 1: getting any deal done or how long it's going to take,
Speaker 1: except to say that we'll communicate effectively, we'll be as
Speaker 1: fair as we can be, and we'll try to hammer
Speaker 1: out a deal and hopefully we can get to that
Speaker 1: point of this team for years to come. Is that
Speaker 1: as much the case today as it was said? One
Speaker 1: hundred percent? You know, two hundred percent, There's no question
Speaker 1: about it. Uh, Lamar Lamar Jackson is our quarterback. I
Speaker 1: mean he's been our quarterback. Everything we've done in terms
Speaker 1: of building our offense and building our team, how we
Speaker 1: think in terms of people and put people around them,
Speaker 1: is based on this incredible young man in his talent,
Speaker 1: his ability, and his competitiveness. You know, he and I
Speaker 1: were talking today too, and the things about Lamar that
Speaker 1: to me stands out. He's an incredible competitor. I mean,
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, all he wants to do is win at
Speaker 1: everything he does. You know. Yeah, he's got a lot
Speaker 1: of talent, he's a very bright guy, he's got a
Speaker 1: big heart. But he's just a massive competitor. And that's
Speaker 1: the kind of guys we want to build this team around.
Speaker 1: Guys that love football and guys that love to compete. So, uh,
Speaker 1: that's not hasn't changed, it will never change. You know,
Speaker 1: we I've loved Lamar, Eric loves Lamar, and it's not
Speaker 1: going to change in the future. So you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know anything about the details of the whole thing,
Speaker 1: but I know one thing. I'm like all the fans
Speaker 1: out there and everybody else. You know, I'll have my
Speaker 1: fingers crossed and my toast cross and I'll be saying
Speaker 1: prayers and I have every faith that's going to get done.
Speaker 1: And uh, and we've got the best people in the
Speaker 1: world doing it. I mean, Eric de Costa is nobody better.
Speaker 1: And Eric wants him here, I want him here, Steve
Speaker 1: wants him here, and Lamar wants to be here. So
Speaker 1: it's gonna work out it exactly. I just can't see
Speaker 1: that forty five minute Peloton workout not to do an
Speaker 1: advertisement for Peloton. But it's no joke. Yeah I did,
Speaker 1: I did already. Yeah, thanks, uh, thanks for pointing that out.
Speaker 1: You know who else who else but VITTI you know, um,
Speaker 1: of course, I mean, you know, Greg and I spent hours,
Speaker 1: you know, talking about this. You know, in the last
Speaker 1: couple of days, let alone. You know, every day when
Speaker 1: you're together for four years. You know, the challenges that
Speaker 1: Eric's talking about Uh, you become really close you know,
Speaker 1: as coaches and scouts, and uh, this is something that
Speaker 1: you know, is something I think is is good. You know,
Speaker 1: it's an opportunity for him, uh to move in some directions.
Speaker 1: With the things he accomplished here, we're kind of we're
Speaker 1: pretty historical. You know, they're they're a record set here
Speaker 1: you know in the National Football League. They're gonna stand
Speaker 1: for a long long time. So uh, you know, we're
Speaker 1: all really proud of those things. And and Greg's a
Speaker 1: great coach and he did the best he could every
Speaker 1: single week, every single day. Great family, Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: another great competitor. So you know, I I you know,
Speaker 1: I leave, I leave. We leave that era kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, we're move into the next era now in
Speaker 1: terms of our offense. And uh and I did I
Speaker 1: did ask Lamar about it, you know, and he will
Speaker 1: be involved in it, you know. I'll keep him abreast
Speaker 1: of what's going on, and I'm sure he'll have some
Speaker 1: input along the way. But I know his focus, like
Speaker 1: he told me, he's gonna be on getting himself ready
Speaker 1: and getting his guys ready, you know, for next season.
Speaker 1: Concerning the business side of Lamar and all the different
Speaker 1: tag all those different things that you know, is there
Speaker 1: some concern as far as attracting an outside person Robin's
Speaker 1: coordinator knowing that there is uncertainty with his short term
Speaker 1: at all in terms that you know, I think that's
Speaker 1: a great question, Luke, and I would say I would
Speaker 1: say my my answer would be, no way. This is
Speaker 1: going to be a highly sought after job. This is
Speaker 1: one of the top football coaching jobs in the world.
Speaker 1: Everybody's gonna want this job. So I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: getting started, and we're gonna have won't just be me,
Speaker 1: you know, It'll be other coaches and scouts involved in it.
Speaker 1: And we're gonna cast a wide net and we're gonna
Speaker 1: look far and wide and close, you know, and and
Speaker 1: we'll get the best fit for what we try to accomplish.
Speaker 1: And it's going to be a highly qualified candidate turned
Speaker 1: to the wide receiver position. The production wasn't I'm so
Speaker 1: what you guys wanted to be in even a target
Speaker 1: U see the last few all seasons. Do you plan
Speaker 1: to change your approach in terms of how you go
Speaker 1: out killing that position? Well, it's certainly something we're gonna
Speaker 1: look at, you know, obviously, Uh, this season didn't end
Speaker 1: up the way we wanted it too. We had some
Speaker 1: injuries obviously with Bait and with Devin. Um. You know, Uh,
Speaker 1: we traded Hollywood last year, so we definitely took on
Speaker 1: some water this year at that position. We'll continue to
Speaker 1: look at that, you know, via free agency in the draft,
Speaker 1: and our role is really just to find the best
Speaker 1: guys that fit our situation. And you know, we hear
Speaker 1: the fans, We hear you guys with the questions. Um, certainly,
Speaker 1: our goal is to build the very best team we
Speaker 1: can build. And you know, last year one of our
Speaker 1: key i think missions was to build the offensive lineback
Speaker 1: and we feel excited about that and the way that
Speaker 1: we're able to do that in different ways. We think
Speaker 1: we're very very close to building a championship team and
Speaker 1: everything that goes with that, and so we'll do that.
Speaker 1: We'll do that this offseason, um, you know, and that'll
Speaker 1: be through the draft, through free agency, potential trades and
Speaker 1: things like that. But we will build the best team
Speaker 1: we can to compete every single week. I'm talking about
Speaker 1: talking about the extension. We're talking Mr Jacks on extension possibility.
Speaker 1: If it doesn't happen to find the tag that on
Speaker 1: end you tag them. Are you willing to entertain trade
Speaker 1: offers about Lamar Jack? You know that's something that we're
Speaker 1: not going to talk about it at this point. Um.
Speaker 1: I talked to Lamar to day, as I said, and
Speaker 1: our focus right now is really to get a long
Speaker 1: term deal done. That's our singular focus at this point.
Speaker 1: It's gonna take some time, it's gonna take some effort,
Speaker 1: it's gonna take great communication, give and take. But I'm
Speaker 1: confident that we'll be on the right path to get
Speaker 1: that done. And five picks up, D is that challenge
Speaker 1: for You're gonna try and helate more sort of we're
Speaker 1: going to you know, every draft is different. I mean,
Speaker 1: ultimately we'd love to have more picks. I think most
Speaker 1: years we do. UM. Sometimes what we find is if
Speaker 1: you have too many picks over three or four years span,
Speaker 1: it's hard for all those guys to make the team
Speaker 1: and contribute. And I go back, you know, it was
Speaker 1: a draft many years ago. I think Ozzie had four picks.
Speaker 1: One of our best drafts, Um, I think we took uh.
Speaker 1: It might have been a callister Brandon Stokely Van Mulitalo,
Speaker 1: and it was one other guy, I think Jamison you
Speaker 1: might know. It was a hell of a draft. It
Speaker 1: was a hell of a draft. Every single guy contributed
Speaker 1: right away. And so my goal, my mentalities, take every
Speaker 1: one of those picks this year and nail every single
Speaker 1: one of those picks a year. Getting hurts your conversation
Speaker 1: the relationships players point, Yeah, yeah, I think it's It's interesting.
Speaker 1: Our relationship with Lamar, I think is fantastic. Every single day.
Speaker 1: Now you can say, well, what's it like negotiating that's
Speaker 1: a challenge, you know, because that's a business relationship and
Speaker 1: there's you know, anytime you negotiate with anybody, it's not
Speaker 1: always going to be an easy conversation to have. But
Speaker 1: that doesn't affect our feelings for each other, or John's
Speaker 1: feelings for Lamar, the organization's feelings for Lamar every single day,
Speaker 1: how his teammates team We all understand it's a business transaction.
Speaker 1: That's the challenge really for a player to represent himself,
Speaker 1: I think, and we have to keep those two personalities separate.
Speaker 1: The Lamar Jackson the agent versus Lamar Jackson the player.
Speaker 1: The player is somebody who I hold in extremely high regard,
Speaker 1: and you know, he's a fantastic competitor, one of the
Speaker 1: most infectious personalities you'll ever see, one of the most
Speaker 1: talented players in the league, a truly wonderful person in
Speaker 1: the community and everything else that he does. So that
Speaker 1: hasn't changed. That won't change. We'll get put our heads together,
Speaker 1: we'll negotiate a contract. I told Lamar that, hey, this
Speaker 1: thing has been a burden for both of us, and
Speaker 1: I said, you know, but when this thing is over,
Speaker 1: we are going to feel like a million bucks. And
Speaker 1: that's truly how I feel. There. You go, how much
Speaker 1: has the more expressed a desire for a fully year
Speaker 1: indeed contract, and this is the organization willing to put
Speaker 1: that on the table for it. So I told you
Speaker 1: guys last year that, you know, I was willing to
Speaker 1: talk about the negotiation, but I can't talk about the negotiation,
Speaker 1: and so that type of question really is not something
Speaker 1: I would talk about. I'm actually really sort of proud
Speaker 1: of the fact that for the last year, most details
Speaker 1: regarding the negotiation have not come out. There's been little
Speaker 1: pieces out there that the NFLPA has put out at
Speaker 1: one point last year, but other than that, you know,
Speaker 1: I think our conversations in our negotiations have been very
Speaker 1: very private, and that's a very satisfying thing for Lamar
Speaker 1: and me as well. And so I'm not going to
Speaker 1: get into all the specifics of different things and you know,
Speaker 1: what we're looking to do and what he's looking for
Speaker 1: in all those types of that would be kind of
Speaker 1: productive and that would hurt out a negotiation. It's time
Speaker 1: for about sure, Pete. Yeah, I mean I can't. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna be able to take you through every every
Speaker 1: step of the way because it's this ongoing process. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're talking every day throughout the season, you know, and
Speaker 1: these conversations are going on consistently and constantly. So I
Speaker 1: think just after the season Monday, we talked, Tuesday, we talk, Wednesday,
Speaker 1: we talk, you know, and they're just hours of conversations
Speaker 1: at Delvin, all kinds of different things, directions, and we're
Speaker 1: talking families, we're talking our kids, you know, we're talking
Speaker 1: the team, we're talking the plays in the game. You know,
Speaker 1: we're talking about everything. And I think just through all that,
Speaker 1: you know, really a couple of you know, we're partners,
Speaker 1: but we're also friends, and um, it just worked its
Speaker 1: way into that place where you know, I think he
Speaker 1: felt like that was the best and we felt like
Speaker 1: that was the best too, and we just understood where
Speaker 1: we were at. John a two part question about one
Speaker 1: we interview internal and external candidates, and the second part
Speaker 1: is has the philosophy of the offense and in your
Speaker 1: mind your vision for how do you want this to
Speaker 1: offense to look? Given Lamar now has several years under
Speaker 1: his belt, has that changed all that? Will that impact
Speaker 1: the kind of offensive coordinatory you hire? Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: great question. The first part again was the interview, right,
Speaker 1: we will, Yes, we'll interview internally and externally in terms
Speaker 1: of the vision for the offense. The identity of the
Speaker 1: offense is what is important in that vision. And we've
Speaker 1: established an identity for our offense. I think everybody knows
Speaker 1: that it plays against us and watches us play. That's important.
Speaker 1: That's a good identity. That's an identity that we're going
Speaker 1: to carry forward. I think it speaks well the organization
Speaker 1: in the city, kind of what we're all about within that,
Speaker 1: the schemes that you run, the formations, the type of
Speaker 1: players you put out there, that's all kind of methodology
Speaker 1: and you kind of work through that as you go,
Speaker 1: so I'll be looking to explore into that some more too.
Speaker 1: You know, what kind of ideas come up in these interviews,
Speaker 1: you know, what kind of ideas do guys have. How
Speaker 1: can they merge you know, their thoughts and their vision
Speaker 1: for for this offense with what's been done here in
Speaker 1: the past too, and how does it all fit together
Speaker 1: with the players? You know those all the questions you ask.
Speaker 1: So I think nothing set in stone, nothing ever stays
Speaker 1: the same, you know, everything changes, everything evolves. You got
Speaker 1: to keep it moving, you know. So we'll definitely keep
Speaker 1: it moving in ways that fit the players that we have.
Speaker 1: And but it's definitely be within the identity you know
Speaker 1: that we have for our offense brings anything you know,
Speaker 1: for you and you know the office guys, it's not
Speaker 1: there and when he shows up, you know right well,
Speaker 1: I mean there's no guarantee all go that way, So
Speaker 1: I think you cross those bridges when you get there,
Speaker 1: for sure. It's a great question. It's definitely, it's definitely
Speaker 1: there's a history of that with guys that are given
Speaker 1: the tag. But Lamar is a unique guy too. You know,
Speaker 1: Lamar doesn't always he's not. He's not beating to everybody's drum.
Speaker 1: You know. He does he does his own thing the
Speaker 1: way he wants to do it. So those things will
Speaker 1: all come down the road as they common will. We'll
Speaker 1: adjust and adapt as we as we face him. Eric,
Speaker 1: if you do put the franchise tag on Lamar forty
Speaker 1: five million dollars, how much would the impact with Drey
Speaker 1: would do free agency wary Well. I mean, any any
Speaker 1: deal with Lamar is going to affect the salary cap.
Speaker 1: Whether we get along term deal done or we do
Speaker 1: a exclusive franchise or the traditional franchise, it's going to
Speaker 1: affect the cap. I mean, those are big, big numbers.
Speaker 1: We're fortunate. I think that we have a better salary
Speaker 1: cap than most um. You know, we have a lot
Speaker 1: more room than most teams do, which was by design
Speaker 1: three or four years ago. You know. I think one
Speaker 1: of the things that we saw years ago with with Joe,
Speaker 1: as when we had to do Joe's deal, we didn't
Speaker 1: have enough for room to franchise Joe back then, so
Speaker 1: we kind of planned accordingly. We have a lot of
Speaker 1: salary cap room that we can use, so that creates
Speaker 1: some aspect of flexibility with us contract wise and also
Speaker 1: franchise wise as well, gives us a different couple different
Speaker 1: options regardless, it's it's not going to be a situation
Speaker 1: where the you know, the market's open and we're just
Speaker 1: going and signing guys left and right. That's not going
Speaker 1: to happen in any way. There's really no scenario that's
Speaker 1: probably going to be the case. We'll be selective, we'll
Speaker 1: be targeted. We'll find guys like we always do that
Speaker 1: we think can build this team and help us be
Speaker 1: the best we can be. Eric Lamar and Roquan situations
Speaker 1: of different but considerment, and neither of them necessarily have
Speaker 1: an agent. Do you feel like getting a deal done
Speaker 1: with Roquon will help you in terms of just your
Speaker 1: own tactics and your own strategy in terms of getting
Speaker 1: a deal done tomorrow. You know, everybody has their own
Speaker 1: style and everybody has their own strategy that they're looking for.
Speaker 1: So the only you know, potential advantage maybe that you
Speaker 1: know we got from getting Roquon's deal, as you guys
Speaker 1: have all written about, as we have a franchise tag
Speaker 1: that we can use and we can keep both players
Speaker 1: if we want to. I mean that's basically how it
Speaker 1: factors in. But Lamar has his own style of negotiation
Speaker 1: and what he's looking for in his own personality. Um
Speaker 1: and Roquan had his own personality and style and what
Speaker 1: he was looking for. Totally different animals. Um. I was
Speaker 1: very happy to get Roquan done, and I'll be even
Speaker 1: more happy when we get Lamar done. Yeah, John and JK.
Speaker 1: Dobbins was pretty frustration following the last game. Uh do
Speaker 1: you hear that? Do you have you spoken with him?
Speaker 1: And what are your thoughts about him coming as he did? Right? Yeah? No,
Speaker 1: I we talked Monday morning and uh, he happened to
Speaker 1: be at breakfast. I happened to walk in and saw him.
Speaker 1: So I sat down with him, you know, and we
Speaker 1: had a good talk and uh, you know, he made
Speaker 1: it very clear to me, you know, what he meant,
Speaker 1: you know, in terms of that versus kind of the
Speaker 1: way it came out and where he's coming from in
Speaker 1: the heat of battle and all that. So I was
Speaker 1: real good with that conversation and what he told me.
Speaker 1: There's another guys usually that potentially are retiring, like a
Speaker 1: Kalis Campbell, just you have you haven't talked to you
Speaker 1: about what shortly wanting to come back? Would you welcome
Speaker 1: to the Magic So well, I did meet with both guys.
Speaker 1: I would probably keep those conversations private, you know, out
Speaker 1: of respect for those guys, um. But you know, actually,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, I met with over twenty players this year,
Speaker 1: so I had a long day. Normally it's usually like
Speaker 1: five or six m I think John was trying to
Speaker 1: create some time for himself and he would send some
Speaker 1: guys over to me. But uh, you know, they were
Speaker 1: really really good conversations. I enjoyed my time with the
Speaker 1: team this week. Um. I did speak with Klis and
Speaker 1: just in a lot of respect for both those guys
Speaker 1: the way they played this year and just their whole career,
Speaker 1: really in the respect that they command in the locker
Speaker 1: room and on the field. So you know, those are
Speaker 1: the kind of guys you want to have on your team,
Speaker 1: those veteran presences who play well and really back it
Speaker 1: up by how they play, and uh, you know, those
Speaker 1: are the kind of guys you want to add. Are
Speaker 1: you sure what you are with? Marcus Peters is come
Speaker 1: a previous cornerback. In general, we clearly would feel pretty
Speaker 1: good about Marland, but after that seems like there's a question. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well crazy respect from Marcus, one of my favorite guys
Speaker 1: on the team, you know, tremendous competitor, and at some
Speaker 1: point Marcus and I'll probably speak, and his agent, Doug
Speaker 1: Hendrickson's one of the best in the business as well.
Speaker 1: Regarding the corner position, you know, we're a team that
Speaker 1: always feels like you can never have enough good corners,
Speaker 1: so I would expect that at some point in free
Speaker 1: agency and or the draft, we'll try to augment that position.
Speaker 1: I think we've got some good, young, promising players for sure,
Speaker 1: Jalen Arma Davis. We drafted Pepe this year as well.
Speaker 1: Both of those guys we think hep bright futures. Brandon
Speaker 1: Stevens was playing his best football I think late in
Speaker 1: the year, and we're excited about his progression and growth
Speaker 1: as well. And you know, we had some other guys
Speaker 1: this year that stepped up too as well. Daryl Worley
Speaker 1: is a guy that played well. He's a free agent.
Speaker 1: Keevan Seymour, Um, you know, Kyle Fuller, a free agent.
Speaker 1: Um played really well Week one before his knee injury. Unfortunately, Um,
Speaker 1: there's always the potential that some of those guys could
Speaker 1: return as well. Anticipated Patrick, we'll keeping him the club. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we were really excited by the way Patrick played this year. Um,
Speaker 1: we think he made a jump. He showed uh, playmaking ability, leadership,
Speaker 1: He just really really, over the course of the season,
Speaker 1: became the player that we kind of envisioned him being. UM.
Speaker 1: Specifically speaking to the fifth year option, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm probably not prepared to make that announcement at this point. Um,
Speaker 1: does it make it difficult to sign him long term?
Speaker 1: If he's a great player, We'll find a way to
Speaker 1: make it work. If he's playing at a high level.
Speaker 1: We want to keep as many good players as we can,
Speaker 1: so I would never rule out right now, Uh signing
Speaker 1: a player two years from now potentially, Um, he's a
Speaker 1: good player. I think we've got the best two young
Speaker 1: inside linebackers, the combo, the tandem. It's exciting in football,
Speaker 1: and they make our defense a problem for other teams
Speaker 1: and something that is going to cause a lot of
Speaker 1: teams problems, you know, moving forward. So you know, I
Speaker 1: think we're in a great position there. I think our
Speaker 1: defense is exciting and uh, we can't wait to see
Speaker 1: him next year. Exclusive, non exclusive. I think it comes
Speaker 1: to that having been a decision whether you would put
Speaker 1: the noon. Have we made a decision? Have I made
Speaker 1: a decision? I've thought about it every day. Um, but
Speaker 1: I'll be honest Jamison, you know we don't have to
Speaker 1: make that decision for whatever it is. Six weeks maybe
Speaker 1: I don't even maybe two months, six weeks, I guess.
Speaker 1: And um, you know we're going to be going down
Speaker 1: to Florida at some point with Steve. Have our conversations
Speaker 1: like we always do. We talk about a lot of
Speaker 1: different things that will probably be something. We talk about
Speaker 1: the risk reward, the strategies and all that. I'm whole full,
Speaker 1: you know. I would love to be able to go
Speaker 1: down and not have to talk about Lamar Jackson because
Speaker 1: we got a deal done. But no matter what, we
Speaker 1: will have a planet players like we always do. We've
Speaker 1: been down this road before in different ways but different players. Hey,
Speaker 1: we'll do what we think is best for the club. Yeah. Obviously,
Speaker 1: when you get a new or from quarter, sometimes bring
Speaker 1: some long guys or yeah, set up. Has there been
Speaker 1: any and there don't spend any changes right now that
Speaker 1: you know on your offensive defensive coaching staff? Yeah, No,
Speaker 1: this just happened with Greg in the last day. So no,
Speaker 1: we haven't thought about that too much. But off the
Speaker 1: top of my head, no, it's not something that we're
Speaker 1: planning on doing, but guys get opportunities. Things happen. That's
Speaker 1: never predictable. We'll see where it goes. It was a
Speaker 1: little challenge at the beginning of the season, but the
Speaker 1: way he ends up, he's saying, oh, how confident. Maybe, Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I Mike McDonald. I've known Mike a long
Speaker 1: time because he was here for seven years, you know,
Speaker 1: so pretty much we all had a really good, uh
Speaker 1: feel for what what Mike was going to do and
Speaker 1: how he's going to go buy his business. So I
Speaker 1: thought he's been great since the first day he got here.
Speaker 1: And uh, it was very clear in terms of what
Speaker 1: we were trying to accomplish with our defense, in terms
Speaker 1: of building a certain visions and a certain scheme set
Speaker 1: into into our structure and teaching the guys and training
Speaker 1: the guys how to do it. And you saw it
Speaker 1: evolved throughout the course of the season, you know, as
Speaker 1: we were growing as a defense and guys were beginning
Speaker 1: to understand better and better what we're trying to do
Speaker 1: and and we're just beginning with that. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of things we can we can still build
Speaker 1: into the defense that we'll be able to do now
Speaker 1: we're going into our second year. So uh, Mike did
Speaker 1: a great job. All the coaches on defense did a
Speaker 1: great job of growing the defense. And I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to what we're going to build into going forward. This
Speaker 1: is the thing year growing out time for the year
Speaker 1: that could becoming trading And I guess, how do you
Speaker 1: guys go out insulting intuition that? Yeah, I mean that's
Speaker 1: kind of your your last probably sentences is the point
Speaker 1: of the whole thing. You do the best you can.
Speaker 1: But not I'll anticipate just being any kind of a trend.
Speaker 1: I mean, Lamar, I don't believe as a guy that
Speaker 1: you know, is going to have those issues going forward.
Speaker 1: You can't think that. And really it's just football, you know,
Speaker 1: those are both those plays the last two years are
Speaker 1: kind of freaky plays that happen. They can happen. So
Speaker 1: Lamar is a very he's a very durable player. I
Speaker 1: know that people might take issue with that, you know,
Speaker 1: I get it, but I don't believe that there's gonna
Speaker 1: be a problem going for because I know how hard
Speaker 1: he's gonna work. You know, Lamar Jackson works hard. I
Speaker 1: mean he's whether it's in the weight room, on the field,
Speaker 1: running in the classroom. Lamar is all football. You know,
Speaker 1: he works really hard at it. And that's really what
Speaker 1: you do. You work hard, you get yourself in great shape,
Speaker 1: you go play the game the way you play it.
Speaker 1: And that's what he'll do next year. Players can position
Speaker 1: in the last two or three years. It's Lamar Andrews,
Speaker 1: how difficult has been to integrate any new players a
Speaker 1: complex offense and you planned to pass and continutely future,
Speaker 1: especially when you're looking for the court. Right. That's a
Speaker 1: good question. I mean, you're right about that, and that's
Speaker 1: a challenge and I think I think those challenges came up,
Speaker 1: you know, during the course of this season. And if
Speaker 1: you if you look at the tape or you look
Speaker 1: at the plays themselves, and some of the things that
Speaker 1: we had a lot of great plays, but we also
Speaker 1: had some we had mistakes. You know, we had things
Speaker 1: that weren't executed the way they were drawn up in practice,
Speaker 1: and that has to do with just what you're talking
Speaker 1: about there. So that's real continuity does matter. You know,
Speaker 1: you're able to work together on things. So the offensive line,
Speaker 1: as Eric mentioned, is together. That offensive line is going
Speaker 1: to be wholly intact or almost wholly intact next year
Speaker 1: coming back. That's big. The tight end room is together.
Speaker 1: That that tight end room should be wholly intact, completely intact.
Speaker 1: Back again, the running back room intact. You know, we
Speaker 1: now we can add a player to any of those spots.
Speaker 1: Of course, the one area that needs to be you know,
Speaker 1: built is is a wide receiver room. So that'll be
Speaker 1: a new room. Basically, there'll be pieces of but still
Speaker 1: there you know, you know, the guys, and then we'll
Speaker 1: be adding a lot of pieces to that room. And
Speaker 1: it'll be competition too, So that'll be the room that'll
Speaker 1: start together in this new offense and we'll build with
Speaker 1: those guys. So I think, you know, you're talking about
Speaker 1: seventy five of the offense is intact and twenty five
Speaker 1: percent and it's all in the same room. We'll be
Speaker 1: new and that's probably pretty normal. But that's uh, that
Speaker 1: makes me happy because I feel like we got a
Speaker 1: lot of guys at No Ball and I've had a
Speaker 1: lot of experience here and the and that room that
Speaker 1: you're talking about, the wide receiver croom room can't be
Speaker 1: built up. And you know that's those are pieces we
Speaker 1: can give Lamar and give him a chance to really,
Speaker 1: you know, thrive these conversations. Where does the confidence from
Speaker 1: the potentially happen? Just I think you know respect um,
Speaker 1: you know our feelings about him, that we know him,
Speaker 1: we know the person, um, a confidence level that he's
Speaker 1: the right type of guy to'll lead the team. UM.
Speaker 1: And just optimism. You know, I think that I try
Speaker 1: to be positive. I mean most if you go into
Speaker 1: a negotiation with a negative feeling, then your chances of
Speaker 1: getting that done probably aren't going to happen. So you know,
Speaker 1: we've done a lot of a lot of contracts. I
Speaker 1: think in the league we've second most extensions in the
Speaker 1: league over the last four years. So we know what
Speaker 1: can happen. I think we we we we try to
Speaker 1: be creative and strategic, and I truly believe Lamar wants
Speaker 1: to finish his career in Baltimore. I just believe that
Speaker 1: in my conversations with him and just watching him and
Speaker 1: talking with him and communicating. I think John feels that
Speaker 1: way too. So all of those things kind of work
Speaker 1: together for me. That tell me that we still have
Speaker 1: a chance, and you know that I should be as
Speaker 1: optimistic as possible. We know that great Roman is one
Speaker 1: of the most respective designers run gaming in the world.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you'll be able to hold on
Speaker 1: to some of those concepts that have worked so well
Speaker 1: even even with a new boarding place? Really really great,
Speaker 1: you know, perceptive point to make, because yeah, you want
Speaker 1: to do that. You know, you want to be able
Speaker 1: to hold onto those things. And you know, we've got
Speaker 1: coaches here, players here that have run those schemes, that
Speaker 1: have a field for those schemes. So yeah, that'll be
Speaker 1: part of the new process. I mean, I'd like to
Speaker 1: keep a lot of those schemes around, you know. And
Speaker 1: and that's passing the schemes too. I mean, Greg's a
Speaker 1: great you know, the passing game that we put together,
Speaker 1: the schemes we have are excellent. So you know that's uh,
Speaker 1: whatever parts of the offense are able to kind of
Speaker 1: go forward and we'll see, we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1: But I think the answer your questions, yes, I'm sorry, Eric,
Speaker 1: you mentioned you're disappointed that of the season ended when
Speaker 1: you're building a football team. Do you think about building
Speaker 1: for playoffs success and the difference in what playoff playoff
Speaker 1: team is versus a regular season successful team. Is that
Speaker 1: part of your equation moving forward? I think Mark, we
Speaker 1: try to build a team that you know, first of all,
Speaker 1: can win the division, that can plays as long as possible,
Speaker 1: whatever that means, you know. I mean, we look at
Speaker 1: the talent on the team. We're trying to build strategically,
Speaker 1: positions that we feel like we have to address. But
Speaker 1: our goal is always first to play and to win
Speaker 1: as many games as we can, to win our division,
Speaker 1: to hopefully get a buy and just play as long
Speaker 1: as we can, and to get as far as we can.
Speaker 1: A lot goes into that, and so you know, some
Speaker 1: of our some of my disappointment is, you know, things
Speaker 1: outside our control, injuries and things like that, a play
Speaker 1: that we almost make that we don't make, things like that.
Speaker 1: You know, this team was really close in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways. We could have won a lot more games
Speaker 1: and probably could have lost some games too, no doubt
Speaker 1: about that. But when we look at the team, when
Speaker 1: we look at the roster, we see the talent that
Speaker 1: we have. I think John and I are both encouraged
Speaker 1: that we have the potential to build something that's sustainable
Speaker 1: over a long period of time. We can win a
Speaker 1: lot of football games and we've seen it, and we
Speaker 1: can go very far into playoffs as John as a
Speaker 1: head coach and with the right players on the field.
Speaker 1: So Clark to the last year to anticipate we don't
Speaker 1: have the team. That's dude. You know what, Chuck had
Speaker 1: a phenomenal season and um, we have many decisions about
Speaker 1: any players right now. The season just ended. Again, we'll
Speaker 1: make those decisions later on. Chuck has proven to be
Speaker 1: an outstanding safety in this league. He has been probably
Speaker 1: one of the most consistent guys we've had. He's probably
Speaker 1: started as many games as anybody over the last what
Speaker 1: three four years. John, He's been a great teams player
Speaker 1: in the past. He's an excellent safety, He's tough, he's
Speaker 1: a competitor, he's a leader, and he's a player that
Speaker 1: we're very proud of about. Lamar and you were still
Speaker 1: playing with give it a possibility to come back? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he would have. He would have you know the details
Speaker 1: of all that. It's kind of hard to say, and
Speaker 1: you know, I have I have some thoughts in that
Speaker 1: probably that I'm allowed to say, but I can tell
Speaker 1: you Lamar wanted to be back. Lamar planned on being back.
Speaker 1: He was close, you know, you can you'd ask him that,
Speaker 1: but he can speak for himself on that. But he
Speaker 1: was working so hard to get back and very determined
Speaker 1: to get back. And and uh, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: go back to Mark's point if if I can't, because
Speaker 1: it kind of goes with your question as well. Eric said,
Speaker 1: whin the division, win the playoffs. You know that that
Speaker 1: is exactly what we try to do. You know, goes
Speaker 1: deep as we can in the playoffs, try to win
Speaker 1: the super Bowl. We want to be at our best,
Speaker 1: you know, to win the division. And you gotta put
Speaker 1: yourself in position to win the division, right That's why
Speaker 1: you have to win games early. But our be our
Speaker 1: best at the end. Uh. In December and January, we
Speaker 1: talked about that a lot, and I really believe that
Speaker 1: we were. You know, we had the injury to Lamar.
Speaker 1: That was the biggest challenge that we had faced and
Speaker 1: getting Lamar back was the biggest uh not you know,
Speaker 1: it was a it was a priority, but it's the
Speaker 1: biggest thing we had to overcome, you know, Lamar comes back,
Speaker 1: which I believe he would if you know, because he's
Speaker 1: working so hard. And we had rolled and we played
Speaker 1: well in that game, and we played a really good game.
Speaker 1: The game plan was working exceptionally well, and we were
Speaker 1: in position to win the game and a play went
Speaker 1: the other way. So that's what happened. You know, if
Speaker 1: if they're butts, but if we were playing this week,
Speaker 1: you know, I'd feel real good about our chances to
Speaker 1: win this week too. So I feel like we're playing
Speaker 1: our best football down the stretch, and especially we would
Speaker 1: have right there and we were in that game. We
Speaker 1: want to said, having a hired player coaches in your career,
Speaker 1: is there a key in the energy process that gives
Speaker 1: you an insight to whether that coach will fix it
Speaker 1: in this organization? Since was a little late dating, everybody's
Speaker 1: going to show you the best. You probably did a
Speaker 1: lot more dating than I did, Jerry, You know, I
Speaker 1: don't know that's really important. I mean the type of
Speaker 1: person you know that that Steve Bischotti would be looking for.
Speaker 1: I think that's what Eric and I try to look for.
Speaker 1: I mean, Steve's got an incredible understanding of you know,
Speaker 1: people and that's that's his business. That's what he did
Speaker 1: so well with. So he's taught us a lot along
Speaker 1: those lines. And we're gonna want to want somebody that
Speaker 1: fits in well, he belongs, and then you know, with
Speaker 1: that can stand out, and then after that can go far.
Speaker 1: And that's what we'll be looking for. Eric. You hear
Speaker 1: a lot of people outside the organizations they said because
Speaker 1: mor Taxans didn't have a guarantee long term deal, that
Speaker 1: played more early not playing. Do you feel wrest absence
Speaker 1: throughout the six games where what was that contract relays?
Speaker 1: I mean Lamar could speak to that, but my feeling
Speaker 1: is no. I think Lamar was hurt. We we seem
Speaker 1: every single day Jamison Um he's hurt. And his unique
Speaker 1: style as a player, Um as a quarterback, but as
Speaker 1: a mobile quarterback, as really a freaky type of athlete
Speaker 1: out there on the field. Having a knee injury, a
Speaker 1: serious knee injury, UM, you know makes it difficult. And
Speaker 1: so UM's just unfortunate. You know that he got hurt.
Speaker 1: The timing of it, I know he was trying to
Speaker 1: come back. We'd see him daily. I spent a lot
Speaker 1: of time, well I've spent a lot of time over
Speaker 1: the last two years down the training room, and you know,
Speaker 1: Lamar along with a lot of other guys, we're trying
Speaker 1: to get back and play, and it's just bad timing
Speaker 1: and I think bad luck for us and bad luck
Speaker 1: for Lamar. The injuries a year ago, you guys made
Speaker 1: some significant changes to your training programs and staff. A
Speaker 1: year later, again, injuries, some of whom free you can
Speaker 1: just football by nature. Are you satisfied with where you
Speaker 1: stand in terms of preventing those? Yeah, I'll take that mark.
Speaker 1: You know, it's really we did really well this year
Speaker 1: with injuries. I mean, Lamar had his injury, but if
Speaker 1: you look at the numbers soft tissue injuries and other injuries,
Speaker 1: this has been our best year in quite a long time.
Speaker 1: So you know, the changes that Eric made, the changes
Speaker 1: that we made, the protocols we put in were incredibly successful.
Speaker 1: A lot of the early season injuries that we had
Speaker 1: were guys coming off the injuries from the previous year.
Speaker 1: Right had Ronnie coming off the previous year, Tis coming
Speaker 1: off the previous year, Marcus coming off the ACL, both
Speaker 1: running backs coming off the injuries from the previous year.
Speaker 1: Those were the early season issues that we had as
Speaker 1: those guys got back out there, we didn't add a
Speaker 1: lot of injuries towards the end of the year. As
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, we were the healthiest we were
Speaker 1: all year at the end of the season. So I
Speaker 1: thought we did a great job through training camp, did
Speaker 1: a great job through the season with injury prevention, maintenance.
Speaker 1: We did some things that we're even a little uh,
Speaker 1: a little different than some of the normal protocols that
Speaker 1: were testing tried and true that our people Sam rosen
Speaker 1: Garden and and our trainer Adrian Dixon and Steve Saunders
Speaker 1: and Sarah Snyder all put in place that we're just
Speaker 1: concredibly effective. So we're definitely on the right track with that,
Speaker 1: and we had a good year in that sense in
Speaker 1: terms of improving from the previous two years. Oh kind
Speaker 1: of just kind of things in the level. What do
Speaker 1: we have to have anything art I actually think there's
Speaker 1: only this is crazy, but we only have one player
Speaker 1: right now that's going to have an offseason surgery, which
Speaker 1: is a record for us. I can't talk who the
Speaker 1: player is, but that's unusual to say the least. I mean,
Speaker 1: if Annie knows, like you know, with his experiences at
Speaker 1: the end of the year, you always have a bunch
Speaker 1: of guys that are having surgeries and clean ups and
Speaker 1: various things. We only have one guy, so that's you know,
Speaker 1: if you're going to look for a real positive this
Speaker 1: year moving forward to the offseason program, that's a huge positive. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, we are extremely excited about Dave came off
Speaker 1: the Achilles. Obviously, he worked very very hard to come back.
Speaker 1: You know, probably could have played a little bit earlier,
Speaker 1: but quite honestly, we stayed very healthy at that position.
Speaker 1: We loved our depth at the outside linebacker position. We
Speaker 1: didn't want to rush him in there. And uh but
Speaker 1: he's a long, tall guy, explosive, great attitude, tremendous, tremendous potential,
Speaker 1: and we just can't wait to see what he's gonna
Speaker 1: do this year. I mean, I think having a great
Speaker 1: offseason for him, you know, considering what he went through
Speaker 1: last year, is really critical. His attitude is awesome, He's
Speaker 1: got an infectious personality and a lot of ability to play.
Speaker 1: Was that kind of a myerstanding and Eric had probably
Speaker 1: winning this too, that the screws can come out if
Speaker 1: it's the best thing for me to come out, and
Speaker 1: I think they will come out, but they don't have
Speaker 1: to come out right. I'm not exactly sure how that works.
Speaker 1: But the point about Batman is is he's almost He's
Speaker 1: gonna be ready real soon to run full speed. So
Speaker 1: to Eric's point, he's gonna have a great offseason. You know,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be up and running, just like Marlon was
Speaker 1: in the office today talking about his offseason plans. All
Speaker 1: these guys are healthy going into the offseason, which gives
Speaker 1: him a chance to train, you know, from now until
Speaker 1: then to get ready to go. And that helps your
Speaker 1: injury outlook going forward to because it's gonna do with
Speaker 1: some of your injuries on the offense. Obviously, we just
Speaker 1: talked to the offense and wanting to building this year
Speaker 1: and Bateman, as you mentioned earlier, identity Other's offense. With
Speaker 1: all those guys healthy and staying healthy, what do you
Speaker 1: hope at the offens full play? Well, I mean, first
Speaker 1: of all, you want to be a winning offense, Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean that's where it starts, and what entails are
Speaker 1: winning offense. You've got to be able to do everything
Speaker 1: well and so situational football, you've got to be balanced,
Speaker 1: you've got to be you gotta be able to run
Speaker 1: the ball. We're gonna always believe in running the ball,
Speaker 1: and you know we've done that really well over the
Speaker 1: last number of years. With that, you've got to have
Speaker 1: a complimentary passing game. You've got to have a standalone
Speaker 1: passing game with a drop back passing, situational passing game
Speaker 1: third down, especially long and in the red zone. And
Speaker 1: then you've got to have a play action passing game
Speaker 1: that goes with whatever runs you run, whether it's quarterback
Speaker 1: driven runs or power runs or whatever. And they've got
Speaker 1: to fit your run game. So those are the things
Speaker 1: that kind of play off of each other. It's just
Speaker 1: a well rounded, balanced offense. And to do that, you
Speaker 1: need you need a strong offensive line. Eric did an
Speaker 1: amazing job of building this offensive lineup last year. You
Speaker 1: need tight ends that can block the edge. You also
Speaker 1: need tight ends that can block the edgen can be
Speaker 1: factor in the passing game. Running backs that can run,
Speaker 1: pass protect and catch passes. You know, we were unique.
Speaker 1: We have a quarterback that can do everything that's that's
Speaker 1: pretty unusual. And we have to get that wide receiver room,
Speaker 1: that room where we want it. You know, that'll be
Speaker 1: the last part of the personnel party, we be able
Speaker 1: to gey, we be able to afford, receive you know, rookie,
Speaker 1: you know, just normal Yeah, yeah, I mean I think
Speaker 1: you know, I know what the fans would like, Um,
Speaker 1: manybody as we look at it. Honestly, you know, when
Speaker 1: you have a big ticket item at quarterback, UM, it
Speaker 1: makes it more challenging and not impossible. We'll have to
Speaker 1: get creative and there's things we can do. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of different ways to go about constructing the team
Speaker 1: and finding players and affording players and various things like that.
Speaker 1: But we've got to be really creative. We'll have to
Speaker 1: make some tough calls on players, um that we have
Speaker 1: on the team, of course. Uh, and we'll consider everything.
Speaker 1: There's different ways to do it. But um, you know,
Speaker 1: what we don't want, I think, is to mortgage two
Speaker 1: years from now, three years from now by paying a
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys this year. Our goal, I think
Speaker 1: is to be a really competitive, strong team every single year.
Speaker 1: You know. And John's jokes with me all the time
Speaker 1: he didn't really have any interest at this stage of
Speaker 1: his coaching career being in a total rebuild, you know,
Speaker 1: and what that entails. And I really don't either. Our
Speaker 1: goal is to always have that window open when we
Speaker 1: can compete to win the whole thing. So, you know,
Speaker 1: I think we've made a lot of good decisions with
Speaker 1: the cap over the last four years. I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see where we are this year. But it goes without
Speaker 1: saying you can't pay everyone. You can't have you know,
Speaker 1: eight or nine players at the top all make an
Speaker 1: X amount, because what happens is you have nothing below,
Speaker 1: and we've seen teams like that this year. We've seen
Speaker 1: teams like that. Depth is a critical thing in this
Speaker 1: sport because players get hurt, and I believe personally that
Speaker 1: depth is probably one of the most important things we're
Speaker 1: building a roster across the board, because guys do every
Speaker 1: single week. You know, whether it's a Friday and a
Speaker 1: guy gets hurt, Okay, this guy's gonna play. Guys out
Speaker 1: for eight weeks. This guy's gonna play and that's you know,
Speaker 1: we saw it during COVID. Depth really does matter. It's
Speaker 1: great to have all those star players, but you got
Speaker 1: to have some young, ascending players beneath them who can
Speaker 1: pick up when those guys you know aren't aren't there.
Speaker 1: And it's hard when you just you have all these
Speaker 1: enormous salaries at the top of your ledger. What were
Speaker 1: your impressions of this year's rookie class Hunton til about
Speaker 1: in the class. Yeah, I think they did well, Ryan,
Speaker 1: I mean, we're excited about you know, what these guys
Speaker 1: are gonna do. It was a huge draft for us
Speaker 1: last year. We had a lot of picks. We spent
Speaker 1: a lot of energy on that draft. You know, there
Speaker 1: was a lot of anxiety, I know for me, you know,
Speaker 1: just looking at players. There were so many players last year.
Speaker 1: I think those guys did well across the board, but
Speaker 1: we think they have a lot more to give to
Speaker 1: I mean, these guys are young players, and so what
Speaker 1: we see oftentimes is guys get a lot better. They
Speaker 1: come in here their second year. There in the offseason program,
Speaker 1: they learn, they understand what it means to be a pro,
Speaker 1: and they play a lot better. And that's what we
Speaker 1: expect and that's what we demanded. So the fact that
Speaker 1: some of these guys played as well as they did
Speaker 1: this year, that that is a good indication that their
Speaker 1: futures are very bright. And I think a lot of
Speaker 1: these guys have a chance to be good players. When
Speaker 1: we look at the eighteen draft, I think eight or
Speaker 1: nine of those guys that starters now in the league
Speaker 1: and looking at this draft, I'm not going to say that,
Speaker 1: but when we look at it, we think a lot
Speaker 1: of these guys have a lot of potential to play
Speaker 1: and be significant players for us at some point. Talking
Speaker 1: about the offensive line keeping out of strength and powers
Speaker 1: is also said to be a free stars disdeal at
Speaker 1: this point. Yeah, Ben's a player that as we look
Speaker 1: at it, I would say this and Coach would probably
Speaker 1: say it too. And Ben is probably improved and as
Speaker 1: much as anybody on our team. He had a phenomenal
Speaker 1: season this year. Started every game. I don't even know
Speaker 1: if he missed a snap, and UM, you know, Ben's
Speaker 1: a guy that we'd love to keep. UM My feeling
Speaker 1: is Ben's probably going to be sought after in free
Speaker 1: agency based on the way he played this year. UM,
Speaker 1: we would never close the door and a player like Ben, Um,
Speaker 1: we would always want to keep as many good players
Speaker 1: as we can. We'll have discussions at some point with Ben. Um.
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just really happy and proud of Ben
Speaker 1: for the way that he played and the way that
Speaker 1: he's really come on. I'm matured over his time with us,
Speaker 1: and uh, I'm very happy for he and his family.
Speaker 1: They put themselves in great position, and uh he's a
Speaker 1: player that I think is is going to do really well.
Speaker 1: Eric And in eight months when you start the season
Speaker 1: of the twenty twenty three season, uh, it was more Jackson.
Speaker 1: You're starting quarterback. I don't see any reason why I
Speaker 1: won't be Jamison. Yeah, I know he's outside and we
Speaker 1: know Marside. Well. Fortunately I'm not on social media, so uh,
Speaker 1: well I shouldn't say that. I do have an Instagram
Speaker 1: so I can track my my daughters and my daughter
Speaker 1: and my son's really but I'm not on social media,
Speaker 1: so I kind of hear about things or Chad might
Speaker 1: share something with me. But quite honestly, you know, we're
Speaker 1: in this It's almost a cocoon in this building. You know,
Speaker 1: we are the team. That's what it is. It's a team,
Speaker 1: and we try to drown all that stuff out. We
Speaker 1: focus on the day to day, coming in, getting our
Speaker 1: worke done, competing as a team. I'm out at practice
Speaker 1: every day. I love being out of practice with John.
Speaker 1: I love the energy and the enthusiasm and all that
Speaker 1: I love this building. When I'm in this building, I'm
Speaker 1: at peace, and so I don't pay too much attention
Speaker 1: to all that stuff. Um, is it a distraction? Not
Speaker 1: for me. It might be for my kids, might be
Speaker 1: for my family and for all of you, but it's
Speaker 1: really not a distraction for me. I can't speak to John,
Speaker 1: but I know I come in here and just try
Speaker 1: to build the best team and we can build and
Speaker 1: win as many games as we can win. Hang out.
Speaker 1: John and I hang out together every day. We laugh
Speaker 1: and talk about stuff when neighbors. To me, that's what
Speaker 1: this thing's all about. So good to hear from head
Speaker 1: coach John Harball and Eric Tacassa and the season review
Speaker 1: press conference. Obviously, Lamar Jackson a huge talking point in
Speaker 1: this one. What's his contract going to be? The Ravens
Speaker 1: made it very clear that their intention is still to
Speaker 1: sign Lamar to a long term contract extension. Whether that
Speaker 1: happens or what happens from there, we don't know the
Speaker 1: franchise tag. Eric Tacassa said he's thought about that every
Speaker 1: single day of what the tag would be, but he
Speaker 1: hopes that he's not even having that conversation because he's
Speaker 1: locked Lamar Jackson up to a long term deal to
Speaker 1: stay in Baltimore for many years to come. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: Ravens made a big change and offensive coordinator Greg Ruman
Speaker 1: left to pursue other opportunities and the search begins for
Speaker 1: the Ravens new offensive coordinator. John harb All made it
Speaker 1: clear that the passing game needs improvement and the wide
Speaker 1: receiver room is also going to get to upgrade this offseason.
Speaker 1: That will be a major area of focus. So those
Speaker 1: are the things from the season review press conference. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for our next press
Speaker 1: conference in Ravens Press Pass, which will likely be the
Speaker 1: introduction of the Ravens next offensive coordinator. Thanks so much,