Speaker 1: Welcome into the Ravens press pass. Today you'll hear from
Speaker 1: head coach John Harball following the Ravens fifty six to
Speaker 1: nineteen win over the Miami Dolphins Bears.
Speaker 2: Harves, Okay, good to see everybody. Appreciate you coming out
Speaker 2: for the press conference. Very pleased with the victory, very
Speaker 2: pleased with our positioning at the end of the regular season,
Speaker 2: which has one more game left and then moving into
Speaker 2: the playoffs. So we have kind of a twofold thought
Speaker 2: process right now.
Speaker 3: We have.
Speaker 2: Our priority, which is the Steelers game and putting our
Speaker 2: best foot forward, playing our best game against our biggest rival,
Speaker 2: who we expected, you know, playing great football, and we
Speaker 2: expect it to be a very hard fought game. So
Speaker 2: we've got to get our minds right for that as
Speaker 2: we will, and then you know, just planning for the
Speaker 2: next step in the playoffs. So those are two things
Speaker 2: we're looking at today and after today it'll be focused
Speaker 2: on the Steelers completely. So from my perspective, the coaches
Speaker 2: are focused on the Steelers right now.
Speaker 3: So what question do you have.
Speaker 4: John, beings that you've kind of clicked everything you need
Speaker 4: to do.
Speaker 5: Have you made a decision on Lamar will he playing
Speaker 5: that final game.
Speaker 2: I have not made a decision on any personnel yet.
Speaker 2: We got to kind of work through the injury part
Speaker 2: of it first, and that'll take us probably twenty four
Speaker 2: to forty eight hours to get a real handle on that,
Speaker 2: and then we'll make those decisions. We're not going to
Speaker 2: keep it a secret, Jamison. We'll let you know what
Speaker 2: we're gonna do once we start practicing.
Speaker 5: How'd you touch the team know Howard can know Stevens
Speaker 5: and the secondary?
Speaker 6: Please?
Speaker 5: What were you mtes out?
Speaker 6: Well?
Speaker 5: What's the kids a key? This guy's always being ready?
Speaker 5: I mean I say, never know when they're gonna be
Speaker 5: able to come in there and play.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Tod, I think that's one of the best points
Speaker 2: about the game really, you know, the fact that those
Speaker 2: guys stepped up and we had some things to come
Speaker 2: up there we didn't anticipate, you know, we we had
Speaker 2: some game time decisions and we had some things happen
Speaker 2: during the game that knock guys out.
Speaker 5: Thought.
Speaker 2: I thought the corners, the safety just played tremendously well.
Speaker 2: I mean, Darren Worley comes in and plays great ball,
Speaker 2: and all three of the corners, Arthur played great, Rock
Speaker 2: played great, Ronald played great. Those guys played against an high,
Speaker 2: you know, high high powered offense. I thought they played
Speaker 2: good sound football. They covered many, they handled the motions,
Speaker 2: they handled all the different combination coverages we were in
Speaker 2: against that offense, and thought they just did a great job.
Speaker 7: You you mentioned you're still sorting through the injuries, but
Speaker 7: as of now, any of the guys who were out
Speaker 7: yesterday or who got hurt yesterday, are you worried to
Speaker 7: not be available for the playoff game?
Speaker 3: IM way too early to say that.
Speaker 2: I would say not at this point, you know, but hey,
Speaker 2: that's that's a ways a way.
Speaker 8: Specifically with Marlon, was he campaign to try to go
Speaker 8: back in.
Speaker 5: We saw him pacing on the sideline, riding a bike
Speaker 5: all that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he wanted to, He wanted to, but it wasn't
Speaker 2: It wasn't meant to be.
Speaker 9: Can you talk about Ben Cleetland's performance yesterday, A guy
Speaker 9: that you know was sat back in the dad and
Speaker 9: the third round of thing for you guys, just seating
Speaker 9: his opportunity and when he made.
Speaker 2: A bit right another one of probably the great stories
Speaker 2: of the game. He played very well and you've seen
Speaker 2: it in practice with Ben probably for really all season
Speaker 2: he's had a chance to One of the things he
Speaker 2: didn't have a chance to do sometimes earlier in his
Speaker 2: career was stacked practices because he had little nicks and
Speaker 2: bruises and things like that just kept him out of practice.
Speaker 2: He stacked the whole season's worth the practices, and to me,
Speaker 2: it showed up in the game. He played really well,
Speaker 2: run blocking, pass blocking, really all of it. Thought he
Speaker 2: had an excellent game.
Speaker 8: You guys really used Justice Hill effective in the last
Speaker 8: couple of Yames, especially as he found a use for
Speaker 8: himself getting more involved in the passing game.
Speaker 2: Especially especially Yeah, you know that we've seen it in
Speaker 2: practice a lot. Justice has really good hands. He's excellent
Speaker 2: route runner. He's also excellent in pass protection too. And
Speaker 2: then Lamar, you know, saw the coverage diagnosed it a
Speaker 2: couple of times and got us into certain routes that
Speaker 2: freed Justice up on some of those rail routes. And
Speaker 2: that was I was pretty impressive to see those two
Speaker 2: guys working together at the last scrimmage like that.
Speaker 4: Every team nowadays kind of his next man up, and
Speaker 4: successful teams are the ones that kind of usually don't
Speaker 4: see a big drop off when you know, some major
Speaker 4: injuries happen.
Speaker 5: Do you kind of feel like one of the defining
Speaker 5: characteristics of.
Speaker 4: This team to this point has just been that the
Speaker 4: ability for guys to kind of come in when you've
Speaker 4: had some front line gets get injured and not have
Speaker 4: a drop off.
Speaker 2: Yes, I mean I think absolutely it's it's a defining
Speaker 2: you have to it has to be that way in
Speaker 2: the National Football League for sure. You just have to
Speaker 2: have that quality to sustain and have stamina through the
Speaker 2: whole season as a team. You know, team stamina requires
Speaker 2: guys to step in and play and play at the
Speaker 2: same high starter level. I mean, in our minds, everybody's
Speaker 2: a starter. You have to be because you're one. You're
Speaker 2: one click away from being out there, and you know,
Speaker 2: everything riding on your shoulders, so you've got to prepare
Speaker 2: that way. I think our guys have always done a
Speaker 2: good job of that. I think if you go back
Speaker 2: in past years, many any past years, you'll see the
Speaker 2: same thing, the same trait with this team. So you know,
Speaker 2: just appreciate about that type type of players that we have,
Speaker 2: and they've done that this year.
Speaker 7: John as we as we talked to the players up
Speaker 7: for the game, yesterday.
Speaker 5: The guys who were here four years ago, it.
Speaker 7: Seemed like all of them said that experience does stick
Speaker 7: with them, that it will inform kind of how they prepare.
Speaker 5: For this opportunity.
Speaker 7: I guess for you, what do you think are the
Speaker 7: best lessons you took from that experience and how that
Speaker 7: played out?
Speaker 3: Which experience?
Speaker 2: That was a disappointment, you know, it just was a disappointment.
Speaker 2: We we did our best we had. You know, certain
Speaker 2: kind of season's different than this season. It's a different team,
Speaker 2: different circumstances, different everything, you know, except for the record
Speaker 2: was about the same, you know, and the bye I think,
Speaker 2: I you know, I remember the experience and the choices
Speaker 2: we made. But the decisions we made we made for
Speaker 2: certain reasons and we thought they were the right decisions.
Speaker 2: What impacted what how? In terms of us not playing
Speaker 2: our best football that day, It's really hard to say,
Speaker 2: you know what the cause and effect was. We just didn't,
Speaker 2: you know, we didn't go out there and we didn't
Speaker 2: do it, you know, And that's the thing that I
Speaker 2: kind of take from.
Speaker 3: It the most. Of course, you want to, you don't
Speaker 3: want to. We want to be better.
Speaker 2: We have to play way better than that in this
Speaker 2: next game if we want to win so and we
Speaker 2: do want to win so uh, but you got to
Speaker 2: look at everything kind of in the in the from
Speaker 2: the framework or through the lens of today this team
Speaker 2: and the challenges that we're facing, and that's what we'll
Speaker 2: try to do.
Speaker 5: Gener along those lines.
Speaker 8: What kind of easier philosophy you're weighing, you know, what
Speaker 8: kinds obviously injuries that you know that it plays a part,
Speaker 8: but waying the decisions on guys to play and how
Speaker 8: much to play and so forth, versus versus.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think it's a really good question.
Speaker 2: It's a little bit over stated just because you just
Speaker 2: it's not like the preseason. We a bunch of guys.
Speaker 2: I mean, you have you have six spots to work with,
Speaker 2: and there's gonna be probably somewhere in that range with
Speaker 2: different guys who have injuries, you know, somewhere three, four, five,
Speaker 2: six guys every week. That's how it is every week.
Speaker 2: So it's not gonna be different this week, especially on
Speaker 2: another short week. So that pretty much dictates for you, you
Speaker 2: know what you're gonna do. So I don't really have
Speaker 2: a philosophy. I think we'll probably make decisions. And the
Speaker 2: good thing is I feel like the depth we have,
Speaker 2: you know, like like we're doing an offensive tackle, we
Speaker 2: can share time with guys, and that's a very valuable thing,
Speaker 2: you know, So that comes into play as well. We
Speaker 2: just look at all that, but we're gonna the team
Speaker 2: we put out there, which is gonna be the team
Speaker 2: we have.
Speaker 3: It's our team.
Speaker 2: It's gonna go out there and do everything they can
Speaker 2: to win the game, play our best football game of
Speaker 2: the season and win the game and gets a real
Speaker 2: tough opponent.
Speaker 9: John winning a super Bowl and making it to February
Speaker 9: of the mottos for this team this season, how much
Speaker 9: has Jackson and some of the others ask you about
Speaker 9: what it felt.
Speaker 5: Like and what it takes to when a super Bowl
Speaker 5: be you have done?
Speaker 2: So, yeah, that's not been part of our conversation. Our
Speaker 2: conversation has been on the on the week at hand,
Speaker 2: you know, framed up by the idea that we are
Speaker 2: goals to go, want to know, and that's really all
Speaker 2: we focused on.
Speaker 8: I guess from the perspective of coaches staff communicating the
Speaker 8: players in these past four weeks spend for you guys
Speaker 8: in terms of getting ready to face.
Speaker 5: These very unique, very challenging offenses.
Speaker 9: And what it may be, you know, showed to you guys,
Speaker 9: got how you can prepare how much how beneficial could
Speaker 9: be in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean I don't I don't take any
Speaker 2: great like takeaway from it, other than the fact that
Speaker 2: it's what you do.
Speaker 3: It's a process.
Speaker 2: We have a defensive system that we continue to evolve,
Speaker 2: you know, the offensive system that is new to us
Speaker 2: but has evolved throughout the course of the season. Same
Speaker 2: thing on special teams. And then you just try to apply,
Speaker 2: you know, your system, your players, uh to the opponent
Speaker 2: you're facing, you know, and just try to try to
Speaker 2: do the best you can to take away what they
Speaker 2: do well or to attack, you know, what they don't
Speaker 2: do well, and to put your guys in position to give.
Speaker 3: Them an advantage. I mean, we always seek advantages.
Speaker 2: We always try to find ways to give our guys
Speaker 2: some advantage in the play if we can to at
Speaker 2: least be equal. And there's always gonna be sometimes that
Speaker 2: guys are disadvantages because of the way it's set structured.
Speaker 2: You might you might put the coverage over here and
Speaker 2: over here, we're a little light and man you've got
Speaker 2: you've got the ankle weights on. You know, you've got
Speaker 2: to come through for us and and overcome the disadvantage,
Speaker 2: you know. So, but we weigh all that out, you know,
Speaker 2: with every every call or every scheme that we that
Speaker 2: we do all three phases. I think our coaches do
Speaker 2: a phenomenal job of that. Everybody's got their area, you know,
Speaker 2: and they just go through the process. And I will
Speaker 2: say to your point that I think our coach has
Speaker 2: done a great job of that. You know, I think
Speaker 2: everybody in their area, you know, whether it's backed up
Speaker 2: coach or the or the red zone coach or the
Speaker 2: low red zone coach or whatever it might be, those
Speaker 2: guys have all done a great job.
Speaker 5: So change out after the game. There's we saw some
Speaker 5: of the postgame celebration in that hot How would you
Speaker 5: evaluate some of the dancing, some of the dance moves, Yeah,
Speaker 5: dance moves.
Speaker 2: Well, I can I can say this. I think that
Speaker 2: probably as I look at this crowd out here, you
Speaker 2: all can probably relate to this. While I was dancing, okay,
Speaker 2: I would thought it was pretty darn good. I mean
Speaker 2: I thought it was impressive, you know, I mean I
Speaker 2: thought I was.
Speaker 3: Smooth, you know, rolling.
Speaker 2: Then my daughter showed me later on tape and it
Speaker 2: looked a lot like what happens at home when she
Speaker 2: video takes me.
Speaker 3: It wasn't too much different.
Speaker 2: So, uh, I was a little bit disappointed. And the
Speaker 2: when you know, the tape doesn't lie, I was a
Speaker 2: little bit disappointed in the performance.
Speaker 10: But uh, but you the other well, you know I
Speaker 10: got low. Did you notice I was ever bed?
Speaker 3: You know, there's a lot to be said for that.
Speaker 2: But uh, but like I think my advice would be
Speaker 2: to any any any young people who are working away
Speaker 2: into with dancing at like dances and proms and things
Speaker 2: like that. Here's my advice. It's like, don't be shy,
Speaker 2: don't be afraid. Bring the energy, man, get off the wall,
Speaker 2: get out there and dance.
Speaker 3: Bring the energy.
Speaker 10: Doesn't matter what you look like it, but it's how
Speaker 10: much fun you have, all right, No wallflowers, you.
Speaker 5: Can have energy.
Speaker 8: Ill back and obviously had a huge catch yesterday. He's
Speaker 8: had some games down the stretcher where he's played really well, obviously,
Speaker 8: and I'm curious what aside from him he had the field,
Speaker 8: what what's his impact been? Particularly is we get to
Speaker 8: this part of the season for a guy who's been there,
Speaker 8: done that, right.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I think he I think that part of
Speaker 2: the leadership part is really good. I mean, Dell's leadership
Speaker 2: is been outstanding and he's a he's a real relational
Speaker 2: type leader. Uh he is, like to the point, he's
Speaker 2: been there, he's done that, He's been in these big games.
Speaker 2: He's had great success, you know. I mean, he just
Speaker 2: he knows, he knows what takes, you know. And uh
Speaker 2: so I do think he's he's with the guys, he
Speaker 2: encourages guys, really was very encouraging kind of a leader.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 2: The other part of it, though, is his ability to
Speaker 2: make plays. I mean, to me, he's a major factor
Speaker 2: out there. I mean, people are, they're they're they're giving
Speaker 2: him attentions. He's there, They're man, sure they cover him,
Speaker 2: and he's he's coming up with the ball.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: So he's a guy that could break out and have
Speaker 2: ten catches in any time in a game, or he
Speaker 2: has the one that makes a huge difference in the game.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: That's really kind of one of those great Odell Beckham
Speaker 2: type of catches.
Speaker 9: Man.
Speaker 3: I mean, wow, you know.
Speaker 10: So, uh, he's he's a.
Speaker 3: He's a factor, a big factor.
Speaker 5: John on that video of the postgame shot Baby.
Speaker 4: Kind of looked kind of emotional when he's talking about
Speaker 4: how much the team means means, don't just talk about
Speaker 4: the strides he's made, just you know, how hes you know,
Speaker 4: not everything's got his way this year totally, but it
Speaker 4: seems to you know, his attitude and all that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think Rashad like he's been through
Speaker 2: so much adversity personally with the with basically the injuries,
Speaker 2: you know, high pick, you know, high expectations, and then
Speaker 2: fighting through injuries, fighting through injuries, you know, and then uh,
Speaker 2: and then this I think this year kind of that
Speaker 2: settled out kind of early season and then just grinding
Speaker 2: every single day, going to work, stacking practice is knowing
Speaker 2: at some point in time and yeah, disappointing sometimes after games,
Speaker 2: you know, you know, maybe maybe the Dan gets may
Speaker 2: balls he wanted or you know, maybe he didn't make
Speaker 2: a catch he wanted to make, yet not letting him
Speaker 2: get it, not letting that get him down, you know,
Speaker 2: and uh, and knowing a big day was coming. You know,
Speaker 2: I don't he wants me to tell you, but I
Speaker 2: told him, I said man, I said, he came to me.
Speaker 2: I saw him Friday. I said, you know, big game,
Speaker 2: bait Man, It's gonna be a big game for bait,
Speaker 2: and and he came up with some massive catches for us,
Speaker 2: kept some drives going. I think that's just a prelude
Speaker 2: to what's coming.
Speaker 4: Because times was around a time at this point, just
Speaker 4: because I mean, you have imagine he did the long land,
Speaker 4: but you still't have.
Speaker 5: To retire it off.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I honestly, it's hard for me to say. It's
Speaker 2: not something I'm directly involved with every single day Medically.
Speaker 2: Eric's involved with that with the team, doctors and stuff.
Speaker 2: So I don't know if I could really add anything
Speaker 2: to it that would be helpful.
Speaker 6: Reason meets big plays. Obviously Thailand's return. You know San
Speaker 6: Francisco there's a long punt return lead in the game yesterday.
Speaker 6: What do you think has really kind of come together
Speaker 6: for the special team sceneit where they're making this splash plays.
Speaker 2: Now, Yeah, the old thing, Preparation meets opportunity, and those
Speaker 2: guys have been out there practice. You see them every day.
Speaker 2: They practice for early and they they work hard. And
Speaker 2: that return, that particular return we've been working on for
Speaker 2: about six weeks and it's a little you know, cutback
Speaker 2: return that we had and it was executed beautifully.
Speaker 5: Good celebrations home court. Is it throughout the season to
Speaker 5: have those moments of fun and do you feel like
Speaker 5: through something different about the culture of the slabern this year.
Speaker 3: It's a good question.
Speaker 2: I think this is a really special, mature team, a
Speaker 2: team that really has is connected, is really emotionally. You know,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of bonds there. I think they love
Speaker 2: each other, I really do. I think there's a strong
Speaker 2: brotherhood family. It's a family type of a team, and
Speaker 2: they're genuinely happy for one another when they do well.
Speaker 3: And so when they do well, you know.
Speaker 2: Opportunity they're able to celebrate it because they're really happy
Speaker 2: for each other, you know. And that was what you saw,
Speaker 2: you know, especially in a moment like that, a defining
Speaker 2: moment when you win a division title. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: a big deal in the National Football League to win
Speaker 2: a division championship. It's really hard to do. Everybody's really
Speaker 2: good our division, especially you know, so our guys. It
Speaker 2: was great to see what guys think it likely is again.
Speaker 5: To the point where you see him make these big
Speaker 5: clutch plays, and it's like, okay, you're kind of almost
Speaker 5: it's expected now for him to kind of be in
Speaker 5: that situation and produce.
Speaker 3: Do I expect it?
Speaker 10: Of course?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, just not really a surprise anymore.
Speaker 5: It's calling it always like, yeah, that's kind of what
Speaker 5: he does now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, funny, the guys that see
Speaker 2: in practice every day were kind of like, hey, you
Speaker 2: know what you been waiting for. You know, he's been
Speaker 2: that way since he got here, kind of making those
Speaker 2: kinds of plays. But yeah, just the experience, the game
Speaker 2: playing experience, I think is really kind of has gotten
Speaker 2: to the point where he's been able to take it,
Speaker 2: take that, get the confidence out there and say hey
Speaker 2: I can really do this in big games.
Speaker 3: He's been he's been great. You know, it's been It's
Speaker 3: been fun to watch.
Speaker 9: I was.
Speaker 2: I turned around like, oh, you know, you had that
Speaker 2: smile at Todd's that grinch smile that he's got there,
Speaker 2: you know, and he was all happy, you know, Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was great, It was great.
Speaker 3: It was fine. It was fine.
Speaker 2: That and Travis Switzer, all those guys, Craig Versus, all
Speaker 2: those guys are down there, so it was cool, be
Speaker 2: fast about this.
Speaker 9: Guy before, But Kyle Annoys had a new single season
Speaker 9: career sacks numbers, Jenny Clowney's one sack from setting a
Speaker 9: time of personal best.
Speaker 5: What about this team and this unit allows them to
Speaker 5: foster that kind of success.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that I don't know that's a good
Speaker 2: question for those guys, but I do think our system
Speaker 2: is built in such a way as we are equal opportunity,
Speaker 2: you know, uh, scheme builders. I guess you could say,
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's set up for it's set up
Speaker 2: for everybody. You know, everybody can do something. You know,
Speaker 2: do your job really great, you know. But it's also
Speaker 2: and you try to put guys. Those guys are in
Speaker 2: position and they do their job really and they play
Speaker 2: super hard. I mean it's really them, you know, they're
Speaker 2: the one making the plays. So I think they deserve
Speaker 2: the credit. I hope they get their records, man, I mean,
Speaker 2: let's go, let's smash those records.
Speaker 3: That's the goal, all right, as clinching the Once.
Speaker 5: You make it easier to watch Michigan.
Speaker 2: Coples gonna say it again, you know, once you make
Speaker 2: it easier, that's a good question. Yeah, sometimes you gotta
Speaker 2: be able to do two things at once, but I
Speaker 2: will have an eye on that game and probably two
Speaker 2: eyes in that game, you know, for that period of time.
Speaker 3: I have to admit that, Yeah, it's gonna be Go Blue, Man,
Speaker 3: Go Blue.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. As always, check out the Lounge Podcast
Speaker 1: with me, Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing where we broke
Speaker 1: down the Ravens big win over the Dolphins, and make
Speaker 1: sure you stay tuned for later this week when you'll
Speaker 1: hear from more Ravens players.
Speaker 9: Thanks for listening,