Speaker 1: Welcome into Ravens Press Pass. Today we'll hear from head
Speaker 1: coach John Harball during his Monday press conference following the
Speaker 1: Ravens twenty seven to twenty four victory or the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 2: Here's Harps.
Speaker 3: Okay, good to see everybody, appreciate you coming out a
Speaker 3: lot of great things this weekend. One of the things
Speaker 3: happened today was community relations. Had some service events around
Speaker 3: town for kids and for young women that were great.
Speaker 3: I know because my wife is a part of it
Speaker 3: and I was just talking to her about it. So
Speaker 3: had tons of volunteers from the Ravens players, significant others, moms,
Speaker 3: family members. So it's just neat to see that in
Speaker 3: the community and really proud of that. Also proud of
Speaker 3: the victory yesterday, obviously, that was another thing to be
Speaker 3: proud of. So happy with the way we played. Go
Speaker 3: back and study the tape. A lot of great things,
Speaker 3: so many great things that led to a victory in
Speaker 3: a hostile environment against the division rival, a very good
Speaker 3: football team. But also things that we can work on.
Speaker 3: So many things that we can get better at and
Speaker 3: work on that we'll go to work on this week
Speaker 3: to try to get pointed toward next week, which will
Speaker 3: be a bigger challenge because as you go along in
Speaker 3: the season, everybody gets better, so you've got to keep
Speaker 3: getting better just to stay the same, and then you've
Speaker 3: got to outpace your opponents in terms of improvement. So
Speaker 3: that's what we'll be working on doing this week. What
Speaker 3: question do you have, John?
Speaker 4: I think after gave a little bit about the offensive line,
Speaker 4: why do you think we were so effective up front?
Speaker 2: And what led to a little while Morgan Moses being
Speaker 2: that left art to what Morgan Moses I think was
Speaker 2: that court wasn't he for bringing Harrietta?
Speaker 3: Well, we had different formations, unbalanced formations that that we
Speaker 3: were in. So as one of our formations, you know,
Speaker 3: the guys were in different spots. You saw Daniel Fileley
Speaker 3: got out there for a little bit, so those are
Speaker 3: all good things. Daniels at tight end at one point
Speaker 3: did real nice job. So yeah, that's just part of
Speaker 3: it formationally, you know, because a lot of people thinking okay,
Speaker 3: two star is not going to be part of the
Speaker 3: audits line, why do you think that group was was
Speaker 3: so effective? I do think the guys played well, you know,
Speaker 3: and we'd we'd you know, they people concerned about stuff,
Speaker 3: and I understand it. And but we've kind of maintained
Speaker 3: all one that those guys would come in and play well,
Speaker 3: and they did so. Sam Mustfard deserves you know a
Speaker 3: lot of credit, a ton of credit. Played so well
Speaker 3: and uh just really just kept it going, you know,
Speaker 3: and at a high level. Obviously, Pat you know, he's
Speaker 3: done that so many times before, so nobody should be
Speaker 3: surprised by that. H So that's that's what those guys did.
Speaker 3: And then Morgan really had a good game. I think
Speaker 3: he really had one of his best games. You know,
Speaker 3: he really had some big blocks for us. Kevin's was
Speaker 3: his usual uh, you know, excellent playing self. So just
Speaker 3: just really John Simpson had had a great game, a
Speaker 3: great weekend. I don't know if he made the announcement yet,
Speaker 3: but he had a real positive family thing. Did he
Speaker 3: make his announcement, I didn't. I don't wanna speak for
Speaker 3: him or his family. You know, it's out okay good.
Speaker 3: So he had a baby, he had his his wife
Speaker 3: had a baby there first, their son seven pounds nine ounces,
Speaker 3: and uh he uh I it was just really wonderful. So, uh,
Speaker 3: his his son got a game ball on the plane
Speaker 3: after the game, so he how I'm gonna carry?
Speaker 2: Was there talk this summer about him getting involved in
Speaker 2: that left guard job of competition?
Speaker 4: Or do you tell him or you talk to him
Speaker 4: and say we love you because in your ability to
Speaker 4: play everywhere, but that could also mean you don't play
Speaker 4: anywhere if everybody else is healthy.
Speaker 3: And how how did that come about with him this summer?
Speaker 2: I know you've talked to him about him before and
Speaker 2: the events just kind of feeling what would you say
Speaker 2: about him this time around?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, yeah, well you know that you know
Speaker 3: the history of it. So it's a very good question.
Speaker 3: That's exactly. It's you know, it's kind of conversation we've
Speaker 3: had with Pat and in terms of his versatility, probably
Speaker 3: greatest blessing and probably for him somewhat of a curse,
Speaker 3: you know, but but it ends up being the right
Speaker 3: thing because he goes in there and does so well,
Speaker 3: and the idea being that he could have he could
Speaker 3: have played been the starting left guard for sure, and
Speaker 3: that was kind of the plan if if, if, if
Speaker 3: nobody stepped up, but you know, John stepped up in
Speaker 3: a big way, so that that was good for us
Speaker 3: because now it allows us to have Pat you know,
Speaker 3: he backs up really both tackle spots. Of course Daniel
Speaker 3: does is the next backup, and then he can also
Speaker 3: be your center if you needed to do that and
Speaker 3: didn't get as many reps in training camp at center,
Speaker 3: so you know that was something that he would you know,
Speaker 3: we were working on that now in just in case.
Speaker 3: She always working on all the just in cases. But
Speaker 3: Sam gave us a backup center, So that just really
Speaker 3: helped us in this game a lot. That whole scenario.
Speaker 4: You look at the committee you guys made to the
Speaker 4: wide receiver room this all season was yesterday kind of
Speaker 4: the vision you had not just with the balance production
Speaker 4: across the board, but even sustaining an drink to one
Speaker 4: of your star wars and still being able to put
Speaker 4: somebody else in there that can actually you know, do
Speaker 4: a lot doing a wholestle game.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean I think that's kind
Speaker 3: of the first the opening salvo, so to speak. You know,
Speaker 3: you hope, and that's that's where we want to keep
Speaker 3: building in terms of just the depth of those guys.
Speaker 3: I mean to see Nelson come in and make those
Speaker 3: plays you talk about clutch plays in the game clutch
Speaker 3: first downs and conversions. Boy he he made him the touchdown.
Speaker 3: All those guys just played so well. You know, Rashan
Speaker 3: Bateman didn't have a ton of catches, but he played well.
Speaker 3: Ran Routes moved around different spots to your point. After
Speaker 3: you know, we went down, you know our guy, and
Speaker 3: and then you know, of course a duke came in
Speaker 3: and did really well. I had some good runs and
Speaker 3: almost made a great catch in that third down play.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think that's a big part of who
Speaker 3: we are is at that wide receiver depth. Did you
Speaker 3: get an explanation on the products that you'd be picked
Speaker 3: up and from watching it on tape, I mean, did
Speaker 3: you feel like that of the Palalt teachers said there. No,
Speaker 3: that we got an explanation was that it was a
Speaker 3: it was a low block, which is illegal by them,
Speaker 3: but he got pushed into it by one of our guys,
Speaker 3: and it was on tape a good it was the
Speaker 3: right thing. They they correctly ruled that. So that was
Speaker 3: on us all the way. We made numerous mistakes and
Speaker 3: that was really poor coverage, you know, on our parts.
Speaker 3: So we it's about us, and we were we were
Speaker 3: to blame, you know, so we've got to do better
Speaker 3: with that. Can you talk about.
Speaker 2: You know, often we've seen Lamar come to you on
Speaker 2: unfour down situations wanting to keep the offense on the fuel.
Speaker 5: We saw Mark Andrews is so in this game that
Speaker 5: you've removed.
Speaker 4: The offense and put the special teams in and.
Speaker 3: You came the field.
Speaker 1: Can you talk about where you have to make those
Speaker 1: decisions and what leads you to your decision.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, uh, I didn't see Mark. I don't
Speaker 3: know what what you know what we're talking about there.
Speaker 3: I was down at the end by the twenty five
Speaker 3: yard line. So but I'm sure you know, the guys,
Speaker 3: the offensive guys always want to go for it. You
Speaker 3: know they should. I mean, they have confidence, they want
Speaker 3: to go make those plays. You know. That's what I
Speaker 3: love about our guys. And my job is to make
Speaker 3: the decision, you know, in terms of what's best for
Speaker 3: the team at the time, what's the best chance. And
Speaker 3: I always go by what's our best chance to you know,
Speaker 3: whether to get it or to get the points. You know,
Speaker 3: it boils down to what's our best chance to get
Speaker 3: the most points. And sometimes you take a chance, you know,
Speaker 3: we kick the field goal from fifty nine yards. Who
Speaker 3: does that? You know, very few teams do that, and
Speaker 3: it's a chance you take a shot, and it's a
Speaker 3: risk because you give them an opportunity to get the
Speaker 3: ball midfield, which is what ended up happening. Our defense
Speaker 3: stepped up, thankfully, and so you factor in your defense.
Speaker 3: I mean, I have confidence in our defense to get
Speaker 3: to stop. Also have confidence and talk to be probably
Speaker 3: fifty to fifty plus on that. In my mind at
Speaker 3: fifty nine yards, you know, I'm thinking he's gonna he's
Speaker 3: gonna have a shot to make that, a real good
Speaker 3: shot to make it, and those points were going to
Speaker 3: be a premium. So we went forward tore That was
Speaker 3: an aggressive move and it didn't work out, but our defense,
Speaker 3: you know, had our back. So that's kind of all
Speaker 3: those decisions to me that the points there were important.
Speaker 3: I mean it was fourth and three and we we
Speaker 3: wanted those points, you know, at that point in time
Speaker 3: and you and you and you know Tuck's have a
Speaker 3: great chance to make that kick. So that's what we did. John,
Speaker 3: I know you're optimistic yesterday with any anything further on
Speaker 3: O way or Yeah, We've got a lot more information
Speaker 3: I'm just gonna keep that close to the vest though.
Speaker 3: You know, right now, if there's any if I can
Speaker 3: tell you this, if there's any long term issue, you know,
Speaker 3: we'll let you know what it is. If it's gonna
Speaker 3: be something where it's gonna be anything like any kind
Speaker 3: of an ir thing or anything like that. But we're
Speaker 3: not there yet with anybody. Uh, And when we get there,
Speaker 3: we'll let you know. There's no way out.
Speaker 5: How pleased were you with Al Clowney and the job?
Speaker 4: Probably you didn't have.
Speaker 5: A ton of defensive places.
Speaker 3: Sure, Yeah, those guys really played well. I mean, I
Speaker 3: mean h J. D. Clowney man, Wow, he played great.
Speaker 3: He was he was he was disruptive. He was a
Speaker 3: wrecking ball in there. And then a job to a
Speaker 3: Jaba playing a really solid, sound, physical game. You know,
Speaker 3: ran to the ball, was really good. Set in the edge,
Speaker 3: he had good help get pet pressure, you know, good
Speaker 3: bul rushes and was around the quarterback. So he's he's
Speaker 3: just kind of getting better every week. And the Hofey
Speaker 3: was playing good, but he had he had a you know,
Speaker 3: he had the ankle spraying, so that was kind of tough.
Speaker 3: But that's where we're at.
Speaker 2: So you talking about this last night, but just efficiency
Speaker 2: of mar which way operated, things seemed to flow smoother
Speaker 2: out of the hollow, faster players, et cetera.
Speaker 3: How much of the point of that is was.
Speaker 2: That one of the things you guys did you to
Speaker 2: go from week one to that?
Speaker 3: Sure, Brian, I mean, yeah, the operation we call it,
Speaker 3: you know, I guess that's an appropriate term. But it
Speaker 3: goes from the press box, through the sideline to Lamar,
Speaker 3: through the whole offense, and back again to Lamar. You know,
Speaker 3: there's there's there's a lot of moving parts with that,
Speaker 3: and it's really about communication, you know, and doing it efficiently.
Speaker 3: And we work on that really hard from day one
Speaker 3: of OTAs because that's everything is based on that. And
Speaker 3: we were kind of disappointed and how it went the
Speaker 3: first week, but it was the first week, and so
Speaker 3: it was Yeah, to your point, it was a big
Speaker 3: point of emphasis. Last weekend it was much improved. And
Speaker 3: on the road with all the crowd noise and silent
Speaker 3: we had silent count too. So I was really just
Speaker 3: happy and proud of those guys. You know, Todd was
Speaker 3: real happy with those guys. And yet, like Todd said
Speaker 3: this morning, we still can get a lot better at that.
Speaker 3: You know, it's something we'll keep working on to try
Speaker 3: and improve, because you have to be really everything is
Speaker 3: based on that.
Speaker 5: La Markley, it is most snaps from under center. I
Speaker 5: think of his career in a single game. You just
Speaker 5: talked about the advancements that he's made under center.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, yeah, Well we haven't done it a lot,
Speaker 3: you know, but he's always been good at it. He's
Speaker 3: never been a problem with him under center. I think
Speaker 3: it's something he does really well. And it was going
Speaker 3: into the season. We've talked about that before. It was
Speaker 3: it was part of the plan to be under there
Speaker 3: more and and you know, you see it happening now.
Speaker 3: So as long as it's successful, I'm sure we'll keep
Speaker 3: doing it. And I think it creates a lot of problems.
Speaker 3: I mean, people have to defend us that way, and
Speaker 3: all the formations and all the all the play actions
Speaker 3: that come off of that. The run game, they have
Speaker 3: to defend us in the pistol like always, and now
Speaker 3: the gun stuff is has become a bigger part of
Speaker 3: what we're doing than ever too. So those are really
Speaker 3: all make us more diverse.
Speaker 2: Let me talk about the secondary more specifically, your cornerbacks.
Speaker 1: They had a tough assignment this weekend and came away
Speaker 1: was successfully.
Speaker 3: He really did as Really you got to be proud
Speaker 3: of those guys. I think every Ravens fan should be
Speaker 3: really happy with the way the corners played. I mean,
Speaker 3: you're going against arguably the most talented receiver group in
Speaker 3: the league with you know, a great quarterback, so a
Speaker 3: proven quarterback, the highest bid quarterback in the league. You know,
Speaker 3: he's he's been doing it the last couple of years.
Speaker 3: And I know he's got the calf and all that,
Speaker 3: but but you know, he's still throwing that ball and
Speaker 3: playing really well, and he's gonna have They're gonna they're
Speaker 3: not going anywhere, promise you that. So we just, uh
Speaker 3: but we didn't. You know, we didn't back off. We didn't.
Speaker 3: We played our game. We were pressed, we played press man,
Speaker 3: we played zone, press zone, we played cloud zone, We bailed,
Speaker 3: we were played off at times, we played zero. We
Speaker 3: played everything we play, you know, and those guys playerftely well.
Speaker 3: And really I don't think they had any long passes,
Speaker 3: you know, over fifteen or so yards completed, you know
Speaker 3: air yards, and that's that's really incredible. So We'll take
Speaker 3: that all the time, you know, from those guys, and
Speaker 3: this week's a new challenge and we'll keep getting healthy
Speaker 3: back there and keep building on that. But I think
Speaker 3: we're really building some depth in there. To that point.
Speaker 5: The rally on tackling is so important against the Bengals
Speaker 5: because the run us or catchability. Just what are you
Speaker 5: seeing from your teams team in terms of the tackling.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're tackling really well. I mean, they stress you
Speaker 3: big time with the RPO game. So you know, they
Speaker 3: had some long drives out there where we basically didn't
Speaker 3: get off the field. That's that's something we really have
Speaker 3: to work on. Because they were in third and five
Speaker 3: or less pretty much the whole game ten out of five.
Speaker 3: They were ten out of fifteen third down. That's that's
Speaker 3: an area that we have to improve. And it really
Speaker 3: it's because they were in third manageable because they did
Speaker 3: so well on first down. You know, they when when
Speaker 3: when the box was lighter, they were handed off and
Speaker 3: they were bleeding out you know, four or five yards,
Speaker 3: and when when we got a little more stacked, they
Speaker 3: threw the screen out there and they execute the screen
Speaker 3: so well, so fast. Uh, they get up field so quick.
Speaker 3: With those guys, it's one thing, like you say, they're
Speaker 3: great at and uh you know we we we're really
Speaker 3: good at defending it. But they led us for some
Speaker 3: yards there and they got themselves in third manageable and
Speaker 3: then they were able to convert. Uh So that's something
Speaker 3: that we've got to continue to work on. John.
Speaker 5: Not to go.
Speaker 4: Back to the injuries, but I know Marcus Williams you
Speaker 4: were saying he would have to make a decision soon.
Speaker 4: Does that the process you guys are still trying to
Speaker 4: figure out right now?
Speaker 3: Right Marcus is not getting the surgery. Uh so he's
Speaker 3: just rehabbing right now to get himself back on the field.
Speaker 3: These were I mean kind of ball. I mean, if
Speaker 3: there's a sort of a vague time frame right now. So,
Speaker 3: but I just don't want to put it out there
Speaker 3: and then everybody be mad at me later. Are he's
Speaker 3: not going to go on? Ir right? Thanks for asking,
Speaker 3: definitely time to express that. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Else, did you take a chance to celebrate the Ools
Speaker 5: playoff for any any time to kind of celebrate as well?
Speaker 3: Well? Yeah, it was all one big celebration. You know,
Speaker 3: it was all great. But I love the Oils. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I love those guys. I love I love I love
Speaker 3: I love Coach Hyde, you know, the manager, he's I
Speaker 3: think he's a great leader. And uh, I just love
Speaker 3: the way that team plays. I just I see I
Speaker 3: see a lot of us and them and them and us. Man.
Speaker 3: They they're gritty. They're gritty and they're tough and they
Speaker 3: fight and uh yeah, I love them. Congratulate ools. That's
Speaker 3: that's just the beginning. You know, they're they'll they'll be ready,
Speaker 3: they'll be read to roll. I'm sure this situation with
Speaker 3: their quarterback kind of I guess he started the week
Speaker 3: in protocol.
Speaker 5: Does that complicate preparations for this team or you.
Speaker 3: Get enough of seeing the other guy and what they
Speaker 3: ran with the other guy to kind of get a
Speaker 3: good idea the differences of the kind of the two
Speaker 3: attacks with different quarterbacks. Yeah, the problem is gonna be
Speaker 3: the reps. You know, they're they're they're they both do
Speaker 3: a lot of the same things in the system and
Speaker 3: coach stich And brought the system from a Philly and uh,
Speaker 3: you know, we kind of understand that system. You know,
Speaker 3: we've had a lot of that system in our in
Speaker 3: our system as well. Over the years. But uh, different
Speaker 3: quarterbacks for sure, you know, and uh, Richardson has been
Speaker 3: has been, he has been. Man, he's been tough to
Speaker 3: defend the last couple of weeks the minshew you know,
Speaker 3: you know how he is. I mean, he can get
Speaker 3: hot and he's he's a very dynamic player. So but
Speaker 3: they're just a little bit different in what plays they
Speaker 3: run specifically. So we'll just have to get a feel
Speaker 3: for that as we goes on, and really we'll have
Speaker 3: to prepare for both.
Speaker 2: Pologize, but I think it's the fastest and Morris got
Speaker 2: him rid of the balls as a drawback passer.
Speaker 3: I know some of that is attributable to the game
Speaker 3: screams that you've thrown, but does it does it kind
Speaker 3: of nasty?
Speaker 2: I tess with what you're seeing with him just being
Speaker 2: able to, you know, get the time of his job
Speaker 2: and get rid of it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean he's doing a really good job of
Speaker 3: seeing the field and is pretty much reflective of the offense.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, that's what he's being asked to
Speaker 3: do now and he's you know, he's doing it really well.
Speaker 3: So there's times when he holds it more. We're pushing
Speaker 3: the ball downfield and all that, and other times more
Speaker 3: often you know, the ball's coming out on time and
Speaker 3: in rhythm, and he's doing a great job with it,
Speaker 3: and I know he's just gonna keep building on that.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. Make sure that you're subscribed, leave
Speaker 1: a rating and review, and go check out the lounge
Speaker 1: where me, Ry Mink and Garrett Downing give our reaction
Speaker 1: to the Ravens big win in Cincinnati. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and we'll be back on Wednesday with player press Compasses