Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ravens Press Pass podcast. It is Wednesday,
Speaker 1: June eighteenth. The Ravens concluded their mandatory Mini caamp today,
Speaker 1: which wrapped up the team's off season program. The next
Speaker 1: big item on the docket is training camp, which starts
Speaker 1: later next month. Now, the big news for the Ravens
Speaker 1: today was the addition of cornerback Jaiyear Alexander. The Ravens
Speaker 1: signed the former Packers two time pro bowler. And head
Speaker 1: coach John Harbwall talked after practice about what the addition
Speaker 1: of Alexander means for this team.
Speaker 2: Okay, good seeing everybody here, appreciate you being here. Crazy
Speaker 2: weather outside, well now it's nice, but it wasn't before.
Speaker 2: And so we came inside and I thought we had
Speaker 2: an excellent practice. Guys are really locked in trying to
Speaker 2: try to do everything right, so you appreciate that. As
Speaker 2: a coach. It was fast and it was pretty sharp.
Speaker 2: So that's it for this phase. I kind of look
Speaker 2: at mini camp like the start of training camp. You know,
Speaker 2: it's the first mandatory type of deal. We'll pick this
Speaker 2: up then in a few weeks start training camp when
Speaker 2: the rookies come back in the rookies will have one
Speaker 2: more week here of conditioning, strength and conditioning, so they'll
Speaker 2: get that done and and we'll be moving on into
Speaker 2: the season. Guys will get away a little bit, uh,
Speaker 2: take care of their take care of their job. They
Speaker 2: come back in the best shape of their life, take
Speaker 2: care of their family or their family's needs, and take
Speaker 2: care of their own needs and and then be ready
Speaker 2: to go. What questions you have.
Speaker 3: The addition of trays out, well, just.
Speaker 2: Really excited about it. Had a chance to you know,
Speaker 2: sit down with them today, which was awesome, awesome, awesome time.
Speaker 2: And he's he's excited to be here. We're excited to
Speaker 2: have him. He had been kind of behind the scenes
Speaker 2: in the works a little bit and uh, and I
Speaker 2: know we wanted to be here and we wanted him here,
Speaker 2: you know, So for it to work out the way
Speaker 2: it did made Lamar happy. You know, I think made
Speaker 2: everybody happy. It's just uh, an opportunity to become a
Speaker 2: better team in that sense today. So we're really excited
Speaker 2: about it.
Speaker 4: They're with the now works.
Speaker 2: Who's good timing, who's good timing.
Speaker 3: Of the last couple of questions about kind of what
Speaker 3: the new kickers, seeing how they would approach.
Speaker 5: Me and that besides has learned the other another.
Speaker 6: A few sessions in talking to the years that's seen hell,
Speaker 6: that fair is what have helped you kind of see
Speaker 6: that now that uncertas the.
Speaker 2: Provision right well, I think the biggest thing is to
Speaker 2: try to put them in tough situations as much as
Speaker 2: we can. I mean, there's there's the idea of the
Speaker 2: of the repetition, you know, and being able to replicate
Speaker 2: the swing, and Randy works that with those guys all
Speaker 2: the time. They're down there and and just putting the
Speaker 2: numbers up, you know, and those are all charted and
Speaker 2: graft and everything else. And and then you get into
Speaker 2: the situations and the team situations one thing. Then the
Speaker 2: the the the game scenarios are the next thing. They
Speaker 2: have to run out and make it like a make
Speaker 2: it like a game. Uh. Then they're working on some
Speaker 2: other things. I mean, both those guys are working on
Speaker 2: some trajectory things that you know, you don't really know about,
Speaker 2: but you know, they're trying to change the trajectory of
Speaker 2: the ball a little bit from what they've done. So uh,
Speaker 2: we get it where we want it to be, so
Speaker 2: it's a little more consistent and certain conditions and they've
Speaker 2: been working on that. So all those things I think
Speaker 2: add up and then the end result with all that
Speaker 2: going on has been really good. So a good solid
Speaker 2: job and again we'll pick it up in training camp.
Speaker 3: Does your special teams back on me, but kind of
Speaker 3: hope doesn't talking about on those about astor.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I'm the I'm the guy. I'm the guy
Speaker 2: that I'm the guy that pats on the shoulder and
Speaker 2: kicks him in the butt at the same time. So
Speaker 2: that's my job.
Speaker 7: What do you think when you've dealt with Tyler? You know,
Speaker 7: I've heard some guy his.
Speaker 3: Late consistency can just swing.
Speaker 7: Have you noticed that in what you see in this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a really good athlete. So he's got body
Speaker 2: control and he can he can he can he can
Speaker 2: make adjustments from a coaching point standpoint, and and Soak
Speaker 2: and John they're both doing a good job with that
Speaker 2: and actually pick it up really quick. He's just kind
Speaker 2: of a natural athlete, so he picking it up quick.
Speaker 2: Now it's just a matter of doing it over and
Speaker 2: over again. Uh. And he's yeah, he's done a good
Speaker 2: job with that lot of you know.
Speaker 8: He think I'm kind of a veterans of coming up
Speaker 8: from a one year.
Speaker 7: Deals tell the technical because.
Speaker 8: I guess how easy occasions is for you as a
Speaker 8: coach to have those guys had experience.
Speaker 9: When as a Gandre Adell now.
Speaker 8: Jai Year that really just come in and similar to
Speaker 8: themselves in other culture. What's the similarity scene that loves.
Speaker 7: The vetter ends have come in here.
Speaker 2: Well, all the guys who've come in here have wanted
Speaker 2: to be here. That's the number one thing, you know.
Speaker 2: I think I believe that guys understand kind of what
Speaker 2: we're about, the organization, that the culture of the program.
Speaker 9: Uh.
Speaker 2: And they're the kind of guys that see themselves in that,
Speaker 2: you know. That's that's how they see themselves as a
Speaker 2: raven so to speak. And you see DeAndre and how
Speaker 2: he's been with it, He's been phenomenal, you know, and
Speaker 2: you guys watching in practice, I would say I expect
Speaker 2: the same thing from from Jaire. That's kind of the
Speaker 2: conversation that we had today. And it's if it's the
Speaker 2: right guy, Like, if you like football and you love
Speaker 2: everything about football, you're gonna you're gonna like it here.
Speaker 2: You're gonna be happy, you know, if if a guy
Speaker 2: doesn't really feel that way, you know, it's probably best
Speaker 2: he somewhere else. So these guys have all been those
Speaker 2: kind of guys.
Speaker 10: You've got to see more of some us. He came
Speaker 10: on the defense from some of the injury issues guys
Speaker 10: that haven't in the secondary. What do you see from
Speaker 10: him coming and going into a year two?
Speaker 6: What you said?
Speaker 2: I think he said really good off season. You know,
Speaker 2: the OTAs have been really good. He's gotten better every
Speaker 2: day and and and uh, and the last two practices
Speaker 2: have been very good. So I mean you watching him
Speaker 2: out here, I think you see it. Yeah, he's looked
Speaker 2: really good. He looked like they made the stride.
Speaker 8: She looks like what he's to gas, what he wants
Speaker 8: to do?
Speaker 2: Well, I saw it catch on the sideline. That was spectacular.
Speaker 2: That was pretty awesome. Uh, he's uh, every day all
Speaker 2: he does is show up and go one hundred miles
Speaker 2: an hour. We did get him to talk today because
Speaker 2: it's his birthday tomorrow, so we have birthday wisdom, you know,
Speaker 2: birthday wise words, and so he gave us a wise
Speaker 2: word and made him stand up to do it.
Speaker 7: So he loved that, you know.
Speaker 2: But yeah, he's he's got a chance to be really good. John.
Speaker 2: Zach is a guy.
Speaker 8: Honestly in the communities out over, curious, respected to heart
Speaker 8: and see grow from thing. What do you think of
Speaker 8: the biggest difference when the gales in that for pH
Speaker 8: from your.
Speaker 2: One team too well, I mean, you know, Zack is
Speaker 2: a guy that I watch him every day. I think
Speaker 2: I know he's doing a great job day to day
Speaker 2: with a with coaching, with all the aspects of that job.
Speaker 2: It's a big job being the defensive coordinator. And he's done.
Speaker 2: He does it really well every day. I'll watch him
Speaker 2: every day and so not surprised at all by it.
Speaker 2: I mean kind of expected it, definitely expected it. So
Speaker 2: but we all grow get better, see things you learn from,
Speaker 2: learn from you know, successes and and and uh failures,
Speaker 2: you know, and Zach's great about that. He's very humble,
Speaker 2: good combination of humility and confidence, very very very charismatic guy,
Speaker 2: really smart, good teacher. All those things that I knew,
Speaker 2: and you see it every day.
Speaker 8: Jas spend a couple of months ago from them. Yeah,
Speaker 8: that's serve inside of what part of the toss the
Speaker 8: floor and the package.
Speaker 2: General manager talked.
Speaker 8: About how it open, he was maybe maintain. Can you
Speaker 8: talk about that at all during the suminal?
Speaker 7: And do you remember that?
Speaker 4: And how do you expect him to kind of play
Speaker 4: to pross there?
Speaker 2: I really don't remember it, I guess, I guess now
Speaker 2: that you mentioned it, now I remember it. I've forgotten
Speaker 2: about it. Uh and uh no, it's not part of
Speaker 2: our conversation at all.
Speaker 3: When you have especially doctosition on a corner in a
Speaker 3: big I need everybody on the kinds play a little
Speaker 3: pla when you have corners, And how couldn't it's that
Speaker 3: just I mean as a boom to blox for defense.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, when you've got corners, you don't have to
Speaker 2: worry about your corners, you know, And it's kind of
Speaker 2: a big deal because a lot of players are made
Speaker 2: out there on that red line, on that outside part
Speaker 2: of the outside third part of the field. You know,
Speaker 2: that's that's an area of the field that really needs
Speaker 2: to be defend. And then you know they'll when you
Speaker 2: play man, they'll run all those crossing routes and all
Speaker 2: those pick routes, and you guys that can keep up
Speaker 2: with that stuff. So just give you more options, you know,
Speaker 2: with your with your defensive play calls. So yeah, that's
Speaker 2: a good thing. I mean, I'm really really fired up
Speaker 2: about that. I mean, I think I thought we had
Speaker 2: an excellent bunch of corners yesterday, and we added one
Speaker 2: more excellent corner today, So it's that much better.
Speaker 4: You guys already have a playing in place for helping
Speaker 4: him get past some of these injurybos, but the development
Speaker 4: of it's always help.
Speaker 3: You guys have a product, hoping backs, you.
Speaker 4: Parse you through differents that they have plenty for.
Speaker 2: Definitely the same thing we do with our guys. I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, Cheetoh has been the same thing. We've had
Speaker 2: that same conversation, same question when he came in. It's
Speaker 2: very similar. Those two guys that are highly talented guys
Speaker 2: that have had to unfortunately deal with some injury woes,
Speaker 2: you know, and you know, obviously that's the upside for
Speaker 2: us that we want to get those guys healthy and
Speaker 2: rolling those You guys got the Commander of.
Speaker 8: Joy practice coming up later in the summer.
Speaker 7: How much are you you guys as a team looking
Speaker 7: forward to obviously.
Speaker 2: That breach it's very different from.
Speaker 8: What it was two years ago the last time you
Speaker 8: guys met up here.
Speaker 9: So how much are you guys look forward to that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, right now we're probably not looking forward
Speaker 2: to it cause it's so far away and there's so
Speaker 2: much to go between then and now. I actually have
Speaker 2: the colts in here before that, so I would say
Speaker 2: first things first, but uh uh now is a no
Speaker 2: long term.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: I'm excited about it, you know. I'm excited to go
Speaker 2: down there to their place. I've never seen it, and
Speaker 2: I have so much respect for uh coach Quinn and
Speaker 2: the whole organization and the team and everything. What we
Speaker 2: played him last year, so we know what kind of
Speaker 2: team they are, so it'll help us be a better team. Joll.
Speaker 4: No, everybody gets argued seven talks years areas ever? You
Speaker 4: still every still on craft for bringing.
Speaker 3: Camp as far as them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, in training camp, I think at some point, you know,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't. I wouldn't couldn't promise the start training camp. Uh.
Speaker 2: With that the the timeline of that, wouldn't say the
Speaker 2: start training camp unless he does something miraculous. But I'm
Speaker 2: hopeful at some point in time in training camp we
Speaker 2: see him John, I guess.
Speaker 10: Say it's you talking about his names and Lamar.
Speaker 3: Who is still improved to buy a lot of one
Speaker 3: of the best seasons quarterback last year.
Speaker 2: I guess can see the days that you've served here,
Speaker 2: what have you seen different come here and the what
Speaker 2: did you work to see if.
Speaker 9: You want to see it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's again, it's it's it's just across the board
Speaker 2: growth probably that he probably would talk about as well.
Speaker 2: I mean, I see him, I see him. He's throwing
Speaker 2: the ball great. You know, he's making he really has
Speaker 2: a really good grasp of the offense and that's only
Speaker 2: going to get better the more reps he gets. But
Speaker 2: I think he you know, I'm I'm really when he
Speaker 2: comes out here and he's practicing the last two days,
Speaker 2: I'm really glad he's our quarterback.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 2: It makes me really happy, makes me smile inside, you know.
Speaker 2: And I think it's a good room. You know, those
Speaker 2: guys have done a great job, all three of those
Speaker 2: guys with t and Daniel, So you know, we just
Speaker 2: got to go to work and and uh and just
Speaker 2: keep improving. It's really not so much about Lamar or
Speaker 2: any individual player. They work on their craft, but for
Speaker 2: me as a coach, it's all fits together. So the
Speaker 2: whole offense, the whole defense, the whole special teams, the
Speaker 2: whole team. You know, you kind of see that moving forward.
Speaker 5: If you look at the offensive line going into camp,
Speaker 5: do you see both of the guard jobs as open
Speaker 5: competitions to start or more on one side.
Speaker 2: Than the other or yeah, I mean I don't know.
Speaker 2: Kind of asking me to like like put it on
Speaker 2: the scale. I mean, you know, in one sense, you know,
Speaker 2: every job is open, you know. I mean, you never
Speaker 2: know what's going to happen the next day. You've got
Speaker 2: to be ready for every possibility. So in competition is
Speaker 2: what the NFL is all about, you know, It's what
Speaker 2: any it's what sports is all about. Competition. So everybody's
Speaker 2: always competing every day. But those are those are two
Speaker 2: of the positions that are you know that I kind
Speaker 2: of think I got a pretty good idea that the
Speaker 2: guys that you saw out there today are in the lead,
Speaker 2: you know, and they've especially a Daniel you know, he
Speaker 2: had the most experienced last year. So he did a
Speaker 2: nice job, really played well as the season went on,
Speaker 2: and then you know when when the vore, he's got
Speaker 2: his chance. I mean he looked really good too. In
Speaker 2: that one game in the Browns game. So but you
Speaker 2: know they both they know they gotta play well. You
Speaker 2: know they'll be standard, will be very high, but we
Speaker 2: expect them to play up to it.
Speaker 4: You do two more, John, think you guys are already
Speaker 4: past your man already hell and Alexampis Hicks or anything
Speaker 4: to kind out the type of close rounds team.
Speaker 9: What do you kind of how did you send all
Speaker 9: this to?
Speaker 4: You know, what do you want them to how you
Speaker 4: want them to approach the actification for the pressure?
Speaker 3: You want to hook the round as you guys have
Speaker 3: this hypness.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well they say pressure is a privilege. I think
Speaker 2: the US open right. We said that Billy is it
Speaker 2: Billy Jean King? You said that anybody anybody pretty sure
Speaker 2: is Billy Jean King? So what's that.
Speaker 9: Now?
Speaker 2: But it could have been, It could have been. As
Speaker 2: I say, You're right.
Speaker 9: The we are we are, we are.
Speaker 2: We are locked in doing everything we can possibly do
Speaker 2: to being, you know, to be the very best football
Speaker 2: team we can be with intentionality and with purpose. That
Speaker 2: is what we are doing. And I see it. You
Speaker 2: guys watch practice, you know you should be seeing it
Speaker 2: out here. I see it in practice. So where that
Speaker 2: leads us is going to be where it leads us,
Speaker 2: and we've got to take care of the process and
Speaker 2: it's our job to make it happens. Now what you say,
Speaker 2: it's not anything other than what you do, you know,
Speaker 2: And I see the guys doing it every day and
Speaker 2: I can't wait for the next day.
Speaker 11: Consistent kind of this season with this group, or so
Speaker 11: the lore of the past couple of seasons, or is
Speaker 11: it rare to feel that way at this point that
Speaker 11: you are so locked in before.
Speaker 3: Even canvas years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, it's a consistent
Speaker 2: principle for us. It's what we believe in and it's
Speaker 2: what we emphasize.
Speaker 7: But I do see it in this group, you know.
Speaker 2: I can't really compare it. You kind of forget, you know,
Speaker 2: but I see it right now in this group at
Speaker 2: a really, really high level. And that that, you know,
Speaker 2: that's what you want to see as a coach. All right, guys,
Speaker 2: thank you.
Speaker 1: We also heard from other players in the secondary, including
Speaker 1: safety Kyle Hamilton.
Speaker 9: Yeah, kind of crazy. How fast that news broke, He
Speaker 9: shout out Anthony Miller. He's requested that we were at
Speaker 9: lunch and we literally Lamar told us and five seconds
Speaker 9: later we see it on Pat McFee show, So that's crazy,
Speaker 9: but great addition. I mean, he's been one of the
Speaker 9: best in this league since he got in it. And
Speaker 9: to have anybody like that, no matter what position room was,
Speaker 9: especially as a dB, it's a super valuable And I'm
Speaker 9: super out of breath because we literally just finished practice,
Speaker 9: but excited to have him. Been talking to him a lot.
Speaker 9: Cool dude, I mean, I love that.
Speaker 1: Another another.
Speaker 3: What is that.
Speaker 2: Punch ability?
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think somebody I think it might have been aussy.
Speaker 9: I think he said you can never have too many dbs.
Speaker 9: And you know, I feel like every for every team
Speaker 9: at some point in the year, it seems like everybody's
Speaker 9: staying at dB and you know, to just add a
Speaker 9: guy like that into a room kind of what I
Speaker 9: was saying, like, not not only his play but his energy,
Speaker 9: his charisma is just leadership ball knowledge. It's uh, it's
Speaker 9: gonna be great to have in the room. And decided
Speaker 9: to get in acclimated and everything seems super eager to
Speaker 9: get in the playbook and stuff. So we're all excited
Speaker 9: to have him going into camp.
Speaker 1: Uh. Roster wise, ye literally have no homes a competition.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think I think people kind of play into
Speaker 9: the you know, every off season, there's some moves made,
Speaker 9: and I think people read a little bit too much
Speaker 9: into I think we still have our guys here and uh,
Speaker 9: we got a lot of talent that we retained and
Speaker 9: brought in obviously, just got you out here. But I
Speaker 9: was just talking to coach har Ball, like just these
Speaker 9: two days, you can kind of see the trajectory that
Speaker 9: we think we're on. And still a lot of work
Speaker 9: to be done obviously and going to continue throughout the season.
Speaker 9: But I mean we're off to a great start. Seems
Speaker 9: like we're playing twelve on eleven out there. Sometimes no
Speaker 9: offense to the offense, but they'll probably have a different
Speaker 9: answer to that. But I think we're clicking really well
Speaker 9: right now. Just clean up the little mistakes.
Speaker 3: About Bill you know, you.
Speaker 4: No, not at all.
Speaker 9: I mean he's a Georgia boy, so he was in
Speaker 9: and when he was born not Bulldogs, but he was
Speaker 9: born in state. We don't care about the Bulldogs. But
Speaker 9: now he's super eager to learn and very mature for
Speaker 9: his age. I can tell.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 9: He just is a great dude, great football player, and
Speaker 9: excited for you all to see it on display this
Speaker 9: this season. Obviously sick about what happened to Ad and
Speaker 9: think of him, prayers for him, and uh, but I
Speaker 9: mean I thought that allows Malachota kind of he's gotta
Speaker 9: grow up quicker now. And but I think he's just
Speaker 9: the right guy for it. So I'm excited for him.
Speaker 9: He's gonna do very well with the opportunity. He's gonna
Speaker 9: have a great career.
Speaker 2: That's just.
Speaker 1: Doesn't matter, just that.
Speaker 4: Type of bread talent, you know, down type game.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think that kind of comes with the added
Speaker 9: expectation that we welcome. I mean, obviously, like you said,
Speaker 9: nobody really cares that much on our side, what round
Speaker 9: you were taking. Obviously there's undrafted dudes in the league
Speaker 9: that make a make a big splash every year. But
Speaker 9: you know, to have everybody back there is talented, smart,
Speaker 9: hard worker. We really have no excuses to not go
Speaker 9: out there and do what we need to do. So
Speaker 9: it's all us at the end of the day, and
Speaker 9: pressure is the privilege, and I'm excited for us to
Speaker 9: have that privilege.
Speaker 8: You know, just curious that's stood out obviously repressive about
Speaker 8: everyone stood too.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think it's different being on a position coach.
Speaker 9: I mean, I'm speaking for him right now, but uh,
Speaker 9: being a position coach in a d C UH, you know,
Speaker 9: obviously we had some tough losses in the past when
Speaker 9: he was the DC or LB's or when he was
Speaker 9: an LB's coach, and but as of DC, you kind
Speaker 9: of I feel like you take those losses more on
Speaker 9: your back, on your shoulders. So I think he's come
Speaker 9: back this year with the great outlook. You know, we
Speaker 9: have the scar tissue from last year and it's gonna
Speaker 9: be good for us going into this year. And he
Speaker 9: just the way he commends the room, you can tell
Speaker 9: there's a difference and confidence in him and UH and
Speaker 9: everybody in the room, and you know he puts that
Speaker 9: confidence in us, so we follow his lead and he's
Speaker 9: done a great job so far.
Speaker 5: When you do any work with Malachia outside of the
Speaker 5: sort of normal work that the room does, to sort
Speaker 5: of hone in on that partnership that you.
Speaker 9: Know you had it with Ad, we know, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 9: I think so. I mean, it's I feel like in
Speaker 9: camp it's gonna be a big thing because there's so
Speaker 9: much you're doing every day. You know, everybody's messing up
Speaker 9: every day. Everybody's doing making good plays every day, so
Speaker 9: watching that stuff on a daily basis is kind of
Speaker 9: hard now people in and out only two days mini camp.
Speaker 9: But I think I'll probably talk to him and we'll
Speaker 9: do not just me and Malachi, but everybody in the
Speaker 9: dB room defense will have a group stuff going on
Speaker 9: so we can all be on the same page.
Speaker 2: With having now gone through a spring.
Speaker 8: Would have been your impressions to Chuck Pagano, I mean,
Speaker 8: we know the experience over head coach all that.
Speaker 3: What do you think you can do for your group?
Speaker 9: Yeah? I think every time he says something in the
Speaker 9: meeting room with all the DB's, it's kind of like
Speaker 9: it's like he's just dropping knowledge, like he's forgotten more
Speaker 9: football than a lot of people know. So uh, to
Speaker 9: have somebody in the room like that. And Donald two,
Speaker 9: who's been doing a great job. Honestly, he gets through
Speaker 9: those installs like a pro. It's it's impressive. But now
Speaker 9: they're both doing a great job so far. But back
Speaker 9: to Chuck, I think he's he's accomplished everything in this
Speaker 9: game besides winning Super Bowl. So he's voiced that and
Speaker 9: we want to get that not only for us, but
Speaker 9: for him too, guys like him who haven't been able
Speaker 9: to reach that pinnacle. So he's just a great guy
Speaker 9: to have and really happy about the room right now.
Speaker 9: Appreciate y'all.
Speaker 1: We also heard from cornerback Marlon Humphrey.
Speaker 2: Your initial reaction with the edition of I like It.
Speaker 7: I told him earlier.
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 6: I asked him if he deleted Instagram because I was
Speaker 6: gonna d m him. We talked a little last year
Speaker 6: when we had the joint practice, but then I can
Speaker 6: foind him on Instagram, so I asked.
Speaker 7: Him, did he deleted his Instagram? And he said yes,
Speaker 7: so yeah, but uh, yeah, I like it. I like
Speaker 7: it a lot.
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 7: We did kind of speak on teaming up last.
Speaker 6: Year, but obviously, you know, he was like I'm here
Speaker 6: and I was like, oh, I'm probably not leaving here either,
Speaker 6: So uh, it ended up working out.
Speaker 7: But uh really excited.
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 6: You can A quote that's never been said and probably
Speaker 6: will never be said in NFL history is we got
Speaker 6: too many corners that can cover. So I think that's
Speaker 6: a great that's a great problem to have, and really
Speaker 6: excited to For that addition, Well, spent.
Speaker 3: A lot of time in the slot last year.
Speaker 2: Did you relish that opportunity to play inside match up
Speaker 2: against some of the slap receivers and you get a
Speaker 2: little more fiscal blitz.
Speaker 11: Is that something you wanted to do?
Speaker 8: Is it something you've like, really enjoyed doing.
Speaker 6: You know, when I first got out there, I think
Speaker 6: maybe my second or third year, it was something I
Speaker 6: really wasn't very comfortable with. But ever since I read
Speaker 6: shirted Obama that that offseason, I went into the the
Speaker 6: spring training and my thought process was, you know, doesn't
Speaker 6: really matter what position I'm asked to do, but the
Speaker 6: special teams, no matter what it is, I always be
Speaker 6: excited to get on the field whatever the coach that's
Speaker 6: men to do. And fast forward to when I when
Speaker 6: they first asked me to do that, uh that third year,
Speaker 6: I was thinking in my head, I don't think this
Speaker 6: is gonna work too well, but they think I can
Speaker 6: do it, so I'll try it out.
Speaker 7: And it ended up working pretty well. And now I've
Speaker 7: I've come.
Speaker 6: To like it because you know, corner you gotta there's
Speaker 6: only so much aggression you can have when you gotta
Speaker 6: cover Jamar Chase.
Speaker 7: You can't be too aggressive.
Speaker 6: But Nicol you get to get in there, get in
Speaker 6: the mix, get in the trenches, as the big guys
Speaker 6: call it. So uh, I feel like I'm a smaller
Speaker 6: guy when I'm dealing with the three hundred pound guy,
Speaker 6: but I try to put on my big boy pads
Speaker 6: and and do my thing.
Speaker 7: So yeah, I've enjoyed it. It's it's been fun.
Speaker 6: I've taken notes from a lot of different guys across
Speaker 6: the league that have a lot of success, splits in
Speaker 6: Mike Hilton obviously, Kyle Hamilton, some of those guys that
Speaker 6: so a lot of just different finesse and different ways
Speaker 6: to get in there.
Speaker 7: But yeah, I've to answer your question. I've I've started
Speaker 7: to enjoy the position.
Speaker 8: Kind of similar role of issue and how much this
Speaker 8: addy guy like Jarvis and the guys flexibility guy.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so before Ad got hurt, obviously there was gonna
Speaker 6: be a ton of flexible, a lot of flexibility. Then
Speaker 6: we had Cheeto and it's like, wow, we can get
Speaker 6: even more flexibility. Then you know, Ad goes down, so
Speaker 6: we still got some spots, and then now we ad
Speaker 6: Jair and it's just I think the the options are endless.
Speaker 6: With me playing a little safety Coyle planning that it's
Speaker 6: I think. I mean, even uh Malaka in college he
Speaker 6: played kind of some of that nickel position. So it's
Speaker 6: it's gonna be a fun secondary I think, and just
Speaker 6: guys can kind of play wherever. I mean, it's added
Speaker 6: the addition to Jay along with the other guys we got,
Speaker 6: it can be serious matchup. You know, if there's a
Speaker 6: guy that we feel that this guy can cover this
Speaker 6: guy better, we can match him up with him. We
Speaker 6: can all pick kind of who we want. We can
Speaker 6: have four, you know, first round corners out there at
Speaker 6: the field. There's there's just so much that we can
Speaker 6: do it it. Uh, it's really exciting. It's really excited
Speaker 6: to add him.
Speaker 3: Last years that we ended the season.
Speaker 2: Too focus in the last year.
Speaker 1: How did you kind of describe your process approach?
Speaker 2: I meant to intel, you know, I think.
Speaker 7: When I was as I've gotten older, I've tried to
Speaker 7: as older might not be the word.
Speaker 6: As I've decided to get married, I realized I was
Speaker 6: moving a little fast and I felt in order to
Speaker 6: to get that wife that I wanted, I needed to
Speaker 6: slow down some. And that's kind of the approach I
Speaker 6: really took to my life, my family life and my
Speaker 6: football life, and that was the biggest thing. To just
Speaker 6: slow down, take your time, get to get to work early.
Speaker 6: You might not have a meeting for another hour. To
Speaker 6: get to work early, You'll find something to do. Playing
Speaker 6: leaves it too. Get to the planet two sit on there.
Speaker 6: I don't I don't ever like to rush. And I've
Speaker 6: took I've really focused in and took that approach to football.
Speaker 6: I think the year before I was hurt a lot
Speaker 6: and I realized I'm just gonna take every day like
Speaker 6: this could be my last year playing, this could be
Speaker 6: my last day living. And that's an approach I took
Speaker 6: last year. That's approach I take now. I'm usually one
Speaker 6: of the last guys to leave. I'm basically here every
Speaker 6: single day off day or not. Me and Broderick Washington,
Speaker 6: it's this one guy usually running too on every every
Speaker 6: off day. We are here very unnecessarily just here, and
Speaker 6: uh Broad is usually actually working out. I'm usually just
Speaker 6: wasting my time here a lot of times. But I
Speaker 6: just like to really slow down enjoy where I'm at
Speaker 6: because us you know the reality is, with z being
Speaker 6: our coach, you really never know when your last And
Speaker 6: now the football is gonna be. That's a that's just
Speaker 6: a true reality. You never know when your last breath
Speaker 6: is gonna be. And that's just the biggest thing I
Speaker 6: took to last season. I truly played it as obviously
Speaker 6: I knew the things coming to the season. My performance
Speaker 6: kind of depend was very dependent on if I would
Speaker 6: be playing for this team or not, and I wanted
Speaker 6: to My thought presses was if this is my last year,
Speaker 6: I really want to enjoy it. And as I'm you know,
Speaker 6: getting older, So they say, that's kind of just the reality.
Speaker 6: You just never know when a what a team wants
Speaker 6: to do. This, this game is, this place is loved,
Speaker 6: this place is great. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 6: the NFL is a business and I'm not getting no
Speaker 6: younger players can still get made. But that's just the
Speaker 6: reality how I approach it, and that's worked well for me.
Speaker 3: He's the guy who's had the stage with his career
Speaker 3: that kind of been your points the team.
Speaker 6: I like, I've got to have some conversations with him.
Speaker 6: He is mister KANDESSI catch that is for sure. Just
Speaker 6: having a conversation with him, I thought it was really humbling.
Speaker 6: We asked him me and one of the strength coaches.
Speaker 6: You know, what do you think about the team from
Speaker 6: the outside looking in since you've been in other teams,
Speaker 6: And he said, it seems like there's been a piece
Speaker 6: that's been missing. I could be that addition.
Speaker 7: I could not be that addition.
Speaker 6: And to hear a veteran guy, all pro guy, Pro
Speaker 6: Bowl guy say he could be or he could not be,
Speaker 6: to me, that was extremely humbling.
Speaker 7: And I feel that he fits the Raven mold and
Speaker 7: I think he'll fit right in.
Speaker 5: Players we just talked about a couple of them. Do
Speaker 5: you guys have the collective mindset of we're one of
Speaker 5: the best few teams and as we go into the
Speaker 5: next extra seven months, everything has to be about that
Speaker 5: final result that we want.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, obviously we end
Speaker 6: last year loss of the bills.
Speaker 7: You know, I think.
Speaker 6: Every window opens and every window closes as far as
Speaker 6: that championship, you know, ability, And I feel that I'm
Speaker 6: not gonna say we've underperformed, but we have underperformed. I
Speaker 6: feel that we've had championship caliber rosters. I feel that
Speaker 6: we've prepared like a championship team, and it's just been
Speaker 6: something we gotta do but I don't feel that we're
Speaker 6: far off. I think I can only speak on the defense.
Speaker 6: I feel that when I first came to the Ravens,
Speaker 6: it was all about the Ravens defense. It was all
Speaker 6: about the Ravens defense. It was all about the Ravens defense.
Speaker 6: And I feel like I've let that standard being here,
Speaker 6: I think the longest defensive guy, I feel like I've
Speaker 6: let that standard kind of slip, and that's something that
Speaker 6: I want to get back.
Speaker 7: I want it. Obviously we love Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 6: It's a great, great player, but I want, you know,
Speaker 6: the Ravens identity to be defense like it was when
Speaker 6: I first got here. So that's that's something that we're
Speaker 6: chirping in our room. That's something Zo's lead in the
Speaker 6: front with. We got to get the football. You When
Speaker 6: I look back at you know, I was unaware of
Speaker 6: how elite that two thousand Ravens defense was. And when
Speaker 6: I was watching some of those playoff games.
Speaker 7: You didn't really need an offense. Honestly, they were just.
Speaker 6: Making so many plays turnovers and that's that's the regular
Speaker 6: season is very important, but that is something that we
Speaker 6: are not doing. And it kind of starts in practice
Speaker 6: We've got a very detailed out like grading system of
Speaker 6: it's so much honest, it's pretty new, but it's it's
Speaker 6: really gonna tell and it's showed on our walls, on
Speaker 6: our on the video boards, in our defensive room.
Speaker 7: Everything's great.
Speaker 6: Like literally every single thing that you can possibly grade
Speaker 6: is great, and I think it'll ultimately help us be
Speaker 6: the defense that you know, I feel like Baltimore deserves.
Speaker 6: So that's the biggest thing. We got to get that back.
Speaker 6: I think that's that's crucial to to to get that
Speaker 6: standard back and that that's that's kind of all I'm
Speaker 6: thinking about as I go on this break, as you're training,
Speaker 6: you come back, it's go time, and it's all.
Speaker 7: About the ball. It's all about the ball. It's all
Speaker 7: about the ball. And I think that's what our defense
Speaker 7: is going to be focused on and that's what we're
Speaker 7: gonna do this season.
Speaker 10: We talk about DeAndre and the kind of looking at
Speaker 10: the team from the outside, and when you go back
Speaker 10: and you look at some of the postseasons, even specifically
Speaker 10: this past one, did you find yourself asking yourself, like
Speaker 10: why you aren't getting the results that you're looking to get?
Speaker 1: It was a.
Speaker 6: This is my first off season, full off season living here.
Speaker 6: And so season ended and for like a probably a
Speaker 6: solid two weeks, me and some of the staff, most
Speaker 6: of the guys that kind of got out of town,
Speaker 6: some of the guys suck around. We were just were
Speaker 6: we were trying to figure out those same answers. We
Speaker 6: never really came to anything. It just because you know,
Speaker 6: being on the inside, it just felt like we were
Speaker 6: preparing the way we should. It really seemed like everything
Speaker 6: was kind of where you wanted it, and did the
Speaker 6: the the the answer never truly came, but I do
Speaker 6: know the the very simple answer, the one that that
Speaker 6: did come is the Bills had I think three turnovers,
Speaker 6: the Ravens had zero, and that right there, I think
Speaker 6: is a is a that's just to tell the story
Speaker 6: the percentages. Three turnovers are more than likely gonna win
Speaker 6: the game. Two turnovers are more than likely gonna win
Speaker 6: the game. Even one turnover, you're more than likely gonna
Speaker 6: win the game if the other team had zero. So
Speaker 6: that's the one thing that's that's pretty evident. It doesn't
Speaker 6: really matter how good you play defensively. If you can't
Speaker 6: get the football, you're not playing good enough. And so
Speaker 6: that's that's the biggest thing to harp on And like
Speaker 6: I said, that's that's got to be our identity. That's
Speaker 6: gotta be every all eleven guys that's on the field.
Speaker 6: I didn'ty get the ball, Get the ball, Get the ball,
Speaker 6: Get the ball. And I feel like when I first
Speaker 6: got here once again, the raven flew is a real thing.
Speaker 6: All of a sudden, the guy with the hamstring, like, ah,
Speaker 6: he'll be playing next week. There was a fear of
Speaker 6: when you stepped on the field, there's a fear to
Speaker 6: throw a screen because you got for d Lineman coming
Speaker 6: to that's retracing and that standard is just we're chasing
Speaker 6: to get it back, but it's it's an urgency to
Speaker 6: get it back. Minnie Kemp was was cool. I felt
Speaker 6: like we showed a lot of got a lot of
Speaker 6: good work in OTA's and it's honestly, it's it's against
Speaker 6: it's it's OTA's looks crazy because usually it's just row.
Speaker 6: Usually you know road's coming, Well, you got three hundred
Speaker 6: pound guy's coming and on the outside, it's you better
Speaker 6: get tackled a guy or you got a lot of
Speaker 6: guys coming to hit you in their defender.
Speaker 7: So that's uh.
Speaker 6: I think the OTL was was a good glimpse of
Speaker 6: what we're preaching, putting it to practice, and then training
Speaker 6: camp comes, season comes, everybody's gotta be rolling.
Speaker 2: You're talking.
Speaker 8: You talked about one good team up with Jay years,
Speaker 8: So how do you feel like he fits in?
Speaker 1: You know, in terms of how the secondary plays, and
Speaker 1: then culture wise on the defense and with the secondary, how.
Speaker 9: Do you get fits.
Speaker 6: Pretty good just talking to him, he's excited to work.
Speaker 6: I know Lamar, Lamar loves him and I we had
Speaker 6: my my college dB coach was coaching at Green Bay,
Speaker 6: so he had talked to He said, we're very similar,
Speaker 6: which is you know, I don't think I've ever heard
Speaker 6: that before, someone being similar to me. So I think
Speaker 6: it'll fit in. Well, it's I don't think it's hard
Speaker 6: to met to fit in here. It's a it's a
Speaker 6: very easy place I feel like to to to fit
Speaker 6: in with the team camaraderie. One of the first questions
Speaker 6: he asked was, y do you guys hang out, which
Speaker 6: is always a a great thing.
Speaker 7: So, you know, he the the culture, the chemistry.
Speaker 6: I wanted him to put on some cleete today and
Speaker 6: get out there, but obviously he just got off the plane.
Speaker 6: But I'm I'm super excited to to add him. I
Speaker 6: think he'll add mesh really well with the team and
Speaker 6: it'll be uh, it'll be a good second.
Speaker 8: Hearing and that the defensive great charts out of something
Speaker 8: he didn't not to. Yeah, and then the second thing,
Speaker 8: he gave a very you know, passion kind of defense
Speaker 8: in him last year and said, hey, it's not on him,
Speaker 8: it's goods on us, and we need to step up the.
Speaker 2: Players and so on and so forth.
Speaker 8: I'm curious, how do you think he responded to after
Speaker 8: criticism last year From what we saw accept the scene
Speaker 8: that's kind of stood out from him now compared.
Speaker 7: To you know, a first shooting.
Speaker 6: I think the defensive coaches it seemed like they took
Speaker 6: a pretty hard study on what we did well last
Speaker 6: year and what we did bad. I think some of
Speaker 6: that grading that grading system is some of the notes
Speaker 6: they took from it. Turnovers was something they took from it.
Speaker 6: You know, we just have to get the ball more,
Speaker 6: especially what it matters the most. But as far as
Speaker 6: he as a coordinator, I felt that, you know, sadly,
Speaker 6: there's a lot of things that were being coached that
Speaker 6: were coached correctly, and when he put it out there
Speaker 6: for us called it, we weren't clicking as far as
Speaker 6: on the field, and it actually it actually held us
Speaker 6: back as a defense from what we could call if
Speaker 6: we couldn't execute what was called.
Speaker 7: So some of them. It had to get a lot
Speaker 7: more simple until we could show that.
Speaker 6: We could execute these things. And I think this offseason
Speaker 6: we've it's just gelling. Like I said, there was so
Speaker 6: many plays when just one guy wasn't doing the right thing,
Speaker 6: and that was it went across every single position, every
Speaker 6: single player, somebody not doing what they were supposed to
Speaker 6: do in those first however many weeks, and I think
Speaker 6: the biggest change was just all eleven guys doing their job.
Speaker 6: Is kind of what turned our defense around, putting a
Speaker 6: D out there and different things.
Speaker 7: But I like ozios I like how he's preaching.
Speaker 6: You know, he said, the best guy is gonna play,
Speaker 6: and the best guy is whoever's playing the best, and
Speaker 6: so I think last year he brought some energy, but
Speaker 6: this year it's if you're not ready to go, if
Speaker 6: you're not ready to play, you will not be grabbing
Speaker 6: your helmet on Sunday, and that's kind of what he's preaching.
Speaker 6: And I think we're all listening. But I know when
Speaker 6: we come back camp, he's gonna be ready to rock.
Speaker 6: He's gonna ready to push us, he's gonna be ready
Speaker 6: to take us. I think to where the Ravens Defense
Speaker 6: wants used to be, and I'm I'm excited to be
Speaker 6: a part of it, and I'm excited for the journey.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Ravens Prespass post, make sure you
Speaker 1: head over the Lounge podcast feed and subscribe there as
Speaker 1: well for a full breakdown of what the addition of
Speaker 1: Jaire Alexander means for this team. Thanks so much for listening,
Speaker 1: and we'll be back with you again soon.