Speaker 1: Welcome into Ravens press Pass. Today we heard from head
Speaker 1: coach John Harvall and general manager Eric Takasa for the
Speaker 1: season review press conference. Here's that press conference in full.
Speaker 2: Well, everybody, thanks for coming. I just got back from
Speaker 2: the Senior Bowl, where we spent the last couple of
Speaker 2: days looking at prospects. We went down on Monday, good week,
Speaker 2: historically nice weather down there, so that was awesome and
Speaker 2: we're back. We're ready to get started and we'll take questions.
Speaker 3: The big question for the ABC Championship game is the
Speaker 3: lack of rushing attempt, specifically with the running backs. Why
Speaker 3: wasn't there were attempt to run the ball And was
Speaker 3: there any point win the game where we had conversations
Speaker 3: with Todd about possibly.
Speaker 4: Client to run the ball.
Speaker 5: Yes, we did throughout the course of the game. That's
Speaker 5: not the number you want to have when it's all
Speaker 5: said and down you look back at it. That's not
Speaker 5: really gonna win us an AFC Championship game.
Speaker 6: For sure.
Speaker 5: It's more than just calling plays. You know, we had
Speaker 5: in that game. A big part of our game plan
Speaker 5: where RPOs, which are run pass options base on what
Speaker 5: the defense gives you. Cans and check with mes which
Speaker 5: are run pass options. A lot of times sometimes there
Speaker 5: pass to pass which we had. Sometimes they're run to run.
Speaker 5: But a lot of what we were doing was directed
Speaker 5: at the line of scrimmage by what the defense gave us,
Speaker 5: and the defense was lined up to take away the run.
Speaker 5: So the next thing would be to bring it in
Speaker 5: tight and just run the ball out heavy formations and
Speaker 5: wide receivers blocking the edge and protecting the edge that way.
Speaker 5: We could have done that, but we were down, so
Speaker 5: we wanted to keep the formations open and give ourselves
Speaker 5: the best chance to, you know, try to move the
Speaker 5: ball and score points. Defense two minute offense at the
Speaker 5: end of the half, two minute offense mostly throughout the
Speaker 5: whole fourth quarter we were in. That's going to take
Speaker 5: away rushing attempt. So it's not, you know, an excuse
Speaker 5: you want to run the ball more. Sometimes you've got
Speaker 5: to be willing to get big and run the ball
Speaker 5: that way. We just didn't want to do it that
Speaker 5: way in the game, and it cost us the opportunity
Speaker 5: to run the ball more.
Speaker 7: On those lines when you mentioned you guys obviously be down.
Speaker 7: They had scored on their first possessions, went down the
Speaker 7: field possessed the ball a lot did that and those
Speaker 7: two drives and sort of that momentum that they'd garnered
Speaker 7: sort of I wish you into that or maybe change
Speaker 7: your your thinking.
Speaker 6: I guess it really say it did.
Speaker 5: It put us in two minutes at the end of
Speaker 5: the half, which are going to be in any way
Speaker 5: if you get the ball back.
Speaker 6: We played that well, we got the two minute opportunity,
Speaker 6: and it put us in two minutes in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 5: So I think that's where it came up. As far
Speaker 5: as run pass play calling. We still wanted to play.
Speaker 5: We still want to stay with our game plan. We
Speaker 5: still wanted to run the ball. I mean, believe it
Speaker 5: or not, it was a big part of our game
Speaker 5: plan to run the ball. Had the ball for nine
Speaker 5: minutes in the first half.
Speaker 6: So those two.
Speaker 5: Long drives it took us out of opportunity to call
Speaker 5: any kind of plays, and then we didn't convert. You know,
Speaker 5: we had we had mistakes, we had they stopped us,
Speaker 5: they made plays. We were off the field right away
Speaker 5: after that first drive. So I think all those things
Speaker 5: kind of played into it. Second half. We come out,
Speaker 5: we go three and out. You don't get a chance
Speaker 5: to call any kind of runs when you're three and out.
Speaker 5: We got the ball back, we started moving the ball.
Speaker 5: Then we made a couple of mistakes, you know, we
Speaker 5: had penalties, We had an opportunity to score that we
Speaker 5: didn't finish the play on, you know, and those things
Speaker 5: took us out of the scoring opportunities and kind of
Speaker 5: wasted a couple of drives there. When it's all said
Speaker 5: and done, then you're in a passing game at that
Speaker 5: point after all that happened. So I think when you
Speaker 5: look at the way the game played out, you can
Speaker 5: understand it from a football perspective. But once you get
Speaker 5: through all that, you come back. You want to run
Speaker 5: the ball against the Chiefs, There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 5: And we did want to run the ball against the Chiefs,
Speaker 5: and that we weren't able to get to it.
Speaker 8: All were even the play calling during the force of
Speaker 8: the game that changed because I know at halftime you
Speaker 8: had said, I believe on television we want to run.
Speaker 7: The ball anymore.
Speaker 8: And when did you realize it was just six carriers
Speaker 8: for the running backs?
Speaker 6: Was that post?
Speaker 5: It's not you don't think in that term during those
Speaker 5: terms during the game, you're thinking play by play, series
Speaker 5: by series, what they're doing to stop you and attack you.
Speaker 5: You know, you're not thinking, oh gosh, I'm going to
Speaker 5: have to answer for how many times you ran the
Speaker 5: ball in the press conference after the game. I mean,
Speaker 5: that's not that doesn't that's not important. During the game,
Speaker 5: you're trying to find a way to win the game
Speaker 5: whatever way you can. We could have won that game.
Speaker 5: You know, if we'd have finished a couple of plays,
Speaker 5: we would have won the game. So our defense played
Speaker 5: phenomenally in the second half. You know, I'm disappointed that
Speaker 5: we didn't win the game, But from a football standpoint,
Speaker 5: I understand the focus on it because it's one thing.
Speaker 5: But for me, it's not the focus. The focus is
Speaker 5: how can we how can we protect our run game
Speaker 5: a little bit better with our pass game at times.
Speaker 5: So if you're going to spread people out and you
Speaker 5: want to open up your formations, you've got to protect
Speaker 5: the edges against the run game, and you've got to
Speaker 5: do it different kind of ways. You can do it
Speaker 5: by bringing blockers in there. You can do it by
Speaker 5: run pass options and reads after.
Speaker 6: The ball snap.
Speaker 5: You can do it with quarterback driven stuff, which we
Speaker 5: had a few of those in there. You can do
Speaker 5: it by going to passes with check with me's, which
Speaker 5: we also called numerous times. All those passes were that way.
Speaker 5: Then you've got to decide and you've got to pick
Speaker 5: up am I throwing a pass that's going to beat
Speaker 5: man or zone or good versus all, And those are
Speaker 5: the decisions that you have to make. So it's not
Speaker 5: so much about hey, how many runs do we have
Speaker 5: right now? I think we need to get more so
Speaker 5: so I can answer for it in the press conference.
Speaker 5: You know, It's more about what's gonna give us the
Speaker 5: best chance to win the game right now in real time,
Speaker 5: and that's what we were looking.
Speaker 4: At John specifically.
Speaker 9: Lamar's legs are such a big part of what you
Speaker 9: guys do offensively. You mentioned some of the quarterback design bones,
Speaker 9: but even some of the scrambled plays. How unfortunate was
Speaker 9: it that his legs in general weren't a bigger.
Speaker 4: Part of the game.
Speaker 6: Well, I mean it was always going to be a
Speaker 6: big part of it.
Speaker 5: You know, I had a great conversation with Lamar yesterday
Speaker 5: and it was we talked about all these things. You know,
Speaker 5: we hashed it all out, and Lamar is just really
Speaker 5: good football mind, you know. And and I'll say that
Speaker 5: we were both like like lockstep, we were both already
Speaker 5: thinking the same way. So does that mean I'm saying
Speaker 5: I got a football mind, good football mind.
Speaker 6: I don't know.
Speaker 5: But I was happy with that because the challenges that
Speaker 5: you're facing schematically and personnel wise and all that against
Speaker 5: the different defenses that kind of are coming up against us,
Speaker 5: or the things that he's thinking about.
Speaker 6: So just saying he could have scrambled more or.
Speaker 5: Something like that, I don't know if that's really what
Speaker 5: your question is, but that's all going to be a
Speaker 5: huge part of it because it keeps the defense honest
Speaker 5: in a lot of ways. It didn't factor in as
Speaker 5: much in this game. It did a little bit, but
Speaker 5: we want that to be a big part of what
Speaker 5: he does, of course, because it keeps the defense honest.
Speaker 5: I mean, if they want to push out of there
Speaker 5: underneath your downfield routes, they want to match up on
Speaker 5: your checkdowns, that's gonna lead Lamar, you know. And you
Speaker 5: gotta find a way to stop him too. And we've
Speaker 5: seen that throughout the course of the season a lot.
Speaker 9: John the overall twenty twenty three season that was a success.
Speaker 2: Felt it was a great season, you know, very rewarding.
Speaker 2: I love the team, the players, the chemistry, the culture,
Speaker 2: the camaraderie. Every single day these guys came to work,
Speaker 2: the coaches, the effort they put into it, the job
Speaker 2: the scouts did. I mean, it was a great season. Disappointing,
Speaker 2: you know at the end, of course, it always is
Speaker 2: for most teams. But you know the thing that I
Speaker 2: don't have the luxury of really dwelling on a season.
Speaker 2: You know, we go to the Senior Bowl the next day.
Speaker 2: Literally woke up the next day say goodbye to the
Speaker 2: kids who went to the Senior Bowl. So we've moved on.
Speaker 2: I know I've moved on. I think the scouts have
Speaker 2: moved on, and we're excited about the future.
Speaker 4: Uh, you lost Mike.
Speaker 10: McDonald the Seattle Two questions, One, was there an aggressive
Speaker 10: play we to try to keep them or some matter
Speaker 10: if you just can't keep a.
Speaker 4: Head coach from becoming a head coach. And the second half,
Speaker 4: what are your decision to promote Zach Organ?
Speaker 7: Right?
Speaker 5: I would have loved to have kept Mike, but no,
Speaker 5: we couldn't keep him. He was gonna go take that job.
Speaker 5: He was happy and excited about it, and you know,
Speaker 5: we're happy for him. I mean, when these things come up,
Speaker 5: these are these are these are good things. These are
Speaker 5: good problems to have because you know you're doing well.
Speaker 5: And Mike, Mike did a great job. I think the
Speaker 5: whole defensive staff was phenomenal this year. The players were phenomenal.
Speaker 5: It's kind of interesting everybody talks about how talented we are,
Speaker 5: and I agreed we were super talented thanks to Eric
Speaker 5: and George Cokeenis and all those guys over there in
Speaker 5: terms of some of the veteran players they put in.
Speaker 5: But that wasn't the conversation before the season, as you
Speaker 5: all well know. And I think I think that defense,
Speaker 5: you know, proved something to a lot of people. Same
Speaker 5: conversation that was had two years ago, you know, it
Speaker 5: wasn't one of the same one everybody was talking about
Speaker 5: at the end of this season.
Speaker 6: With Mike moving on. So I'm proud of that.
Speaker 5: I mean, that's something that as a coach you look
Speaker 5: back on, you go, man, we work together, all of
Speaker 5: us to build something really special as a team. But
Speaker 5: talking about the defensive side of the ball. On defense,
Speaker 5: it was phenomenal and the opportunities are going to happen.
Speaker 5: Denard's got an opportunity now to go be the defensive
Speaker 5: coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. Zach has an opportunity to
Speaker 5: be the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. The raising
Speaker 5: tide raises all ships, and those are pretty good jumps
Speaker 5: for those three guys, and I'm excited for them, But
Speaker 5: with Zach specifically, and not just Zach. Okay, the guys
Speaker 5: that are here, you know, Chris Hewitt, who's our pass
Speaker 5: defense coordinator, Anthony Weaver, who runs the whole front you
Speaker 5: know it, does a great job with the pass rush,
Speaker 5: does a great job with the run defense. He's also
Speaker 5: my assistant head coach, phenomenal leader, was interviewing for head
Speaker 5: coaching jobs already this year. Those guys, along with Zach
Speaker 5: and the guys that we had on defense, and some
Speaker 5: of the younger coaches that are already here, including Chuck Smith,
Speaker 5: those guys are going to build another great defense and
Speaker 5: I'm going to be in the middle of it, just
Speaker 5: like I'm in the middle of the offense and the
Speaker 5: special teams. But I'm going to lean on those guys
Speaker 5: and trust those guys and empower those guys to build
Speaker 5: a great defense. Zach is super talented, super enthusiastic, He's
Speaker 5: very smart, he is prepared for that job.
Speaker 6: He's in the middle of the defense.
Speaker 5: I think when you're a linebacker coach, that's an advantage
Speaker 5: because you're in the middle of the defense. You understand
Speaker 5: the whole defense inside. Now you've got a big picture.
Speaker 5: Helps you with a defensive play calling, for sure. Anytime
Speaker 5: a linebacker coach usually hasn't a little bit of an
Speaker 5: advantage as far as that goes. And there's no reason
Speaker 5: not to put Zack in that position in my mind
Speaker 5: right now. And I think he'll do a great job.
Speaker 5: But I also think he'll do a great job because
Speaker 5: of the support he's going to get from two veteran
Speaker 5: coaches who are a great coaches, Chris Hewitt and Anthony Weaver.
Speaker 4: What a consideration wasn't though it was Zach.
Speaker 11: I mean even Mike went to Michigan for a year
Speaker 11: with a d C and Paul plays. I think of
Speaker 11: a consideration wasn't for you that he hasn't called defensive plays.
Speaker 5: It's definitely consideration. I mean, you definitely have to think
Speaker 5: about that. That's gonna be something that we have to
Speaker 5: work through. He's gonna have to he's gonna have to
Speaker 5: get on board with quick. I think he's been studying that,
Speaker 5: you know, and how to do that all the way through.
Speaker 5: So I you know, I'm talking to him. I have
Speaker 5: a comfort level that he'll be good at it. But
Speaker 5: you know, he's got to go do it. There's no
Speaker 5: doubt about it. So uh, but he's again he's gonna
Speaker 5: get support not just from the veteran coaches also, but
Speaker 5: the young coaches that are gonna help set up those
Speaker 5: game plans and and make sure that all the bases
Speaker 5: are covered that way.
Speaker 3: I do you have you have an anti weaver staying
Speaker 3: and he's gonna stay on in her roll?
Speaker 4: Or is he still jogging on some stuff?
Speaker 5: That's a good question. He's still involved with the Dolphins
Speaker 5: defensive coordinator job. And uh, and we'll see if he
Speaker 5: gets that job. I'll be happy for him if he
Speaker 5: takes the job. I don't know if he'll even take
Speaker 5: it if he gets offered, but uh, he's involved in
Speaker 5: that job and he you know, maybe I'm.
Speaker 6: Speaking on turnerk.
Speaker 5: Maybe I get in trouble and there was a league
Speaker 5: rule against this, but he'll be a great head coach,
Speaker 5: you know if he didn't get hired this cycle and
Speaker 5: great coaches got hired. But you know, some some days,
Speaker 5: some people are gonna look back and they're gonna say, man,
Speaker 5: we had a chance to hire Anthony Weaver. You know,
Speaker 5: I guarantee you that they're gonna say they missed. They're
Speaker 5: gonna see they miss their chance, and the next time around,
Speaker 5: somebody's not going to miss their chance. So that's how
Speaker 5: I feel about Anthony.
Speaker 10: As far as Joe Ortiz I personally working together for
Speaker 10: so long and what does that mean to you?
Speaker 4: And also as far as he was the plan and
Speaker 4: play sense to replace that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Joe and I worked together twenty six
Speaker 2: years and you know, for probably the last fifteen he
Speaker 2: sat next to me, you know, during the draft and
Speaker 2: had a chance to study and watch me stack the
Speaker 2: board and run the meetings. And great evaluator, a great
Speaker 2: consensus builder. He did an amazing job the last five years,
Speaker 2: especially really working closely with the scouts, managing and leading
Speaker 2: the scouts. And he's just he's this great guy. He's
Speaker 2: one of my best friends. I'm very happy for he
Speaker 2: and Jennifer and their kids, their boys. It's a special family.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: As far as replacements, we've got a great staff And
Speaker 2: one of the one of the luxuries I have as
Speaker 2: a GM is that we've all been together for a
Speaker 2: very very long time. You have, you know, someone like
Speaker 2: George Kokinis, who's who's been here forever. Uh, probably the best,
Speaker 2: you know, pro personnel guy in the league. And that's
Speaker 2: how we find these guys like the van Ney's and
Speaker 2: the Clowneys and the Molett's and the Darby's and all
Speaker 2: those kind of guys. Mark Ascevedo, David Blackburn, our director
Speaker 2: of college scouting. Uh, you know, we Uh, it'll be
Speaker 2: It'll be hard for me personally, just because I really
Speaker 2: value Joe as an evaluator and as a person as
Speaker 2: a friend. But I think we have the people to
Speaker 2: kind of take care of the process for us.
Speaker 7: Yeah, because you go.
Speaker 4: Into moving forward in the next year, do.
Speaker 8: You anticipate using franchise ty, I'm out of VIK and
Speaker 8: is there any way that you anticipate seeing him reache
Speaker 8: free agency?
Speaker 2: You know, I learned a lesson this year, and that was,
Speaker 2: you know, as as hard as uh not to revisit
Speaker 2: the Lamar negotiation. But one of the great things about
Speaker 2: that negotiation was I learned that it's beneficial to just
Speaker 2: not talk about things. And I think you know it,
Speaker 2: there is a value sometimes and not really showing your
Speaker 2: cards or showing your hand. And so we'll have all
Speaker 2: those decisions I think made at some point coming soon.
Speaker 2: We don't have a lot of time. Uh, we'll talk
Speaker 2: about it, John and I with Steve and Oz and
Speaker 2: Joe and George, not Joe, George and Nick and Patt,
Speaker 2: but you know we'll have we'll have those uh decisions
Speaker 2: made in the coming weeks. We'll know what's best for
Speaker 2: us to do.
Speaker 7: Uh.
Speaker 2: It's something that just we just we haven't just started
Speaker 2: thinking about it, obviously, something we've been thinking about.
Speaker 7: Uh.
Speaker 2: I think Justin had a great year, as did Patrick Queen. Uh.
Speaker 2: Those two guys obviously, you know pro bowlers, UH, great
Speaker 2: seasons and UH we'll have a good plan in place
Speaker 2: for those guys, either of you.
Speaker 4: You know, I think this is the time.
Speaker 7: Next week we'll be talking about Lamar having a second MVP,
Speaker 7: you know, one great visual game, not his best AFC
Speaker 7: Championship game.
Speaker 4: Where do you guys kind of fit the postseason evaluation
Speaker 4: in what Lamar did did you.
Speaker 11: Hear you separate it and how does that fit into.
Speaker 4: What you want to see warm through?
Speaker 6: Well, to me, it's a big picture.
Speaker 5: You know, this is the first year in this offense,
Speaker 5: you know, and I think if you take something you asked,
Speaker 5: you'd asked about Todd, you'd asked about how do you
Speaker 5: judge the season?
Speaker 6: And Eric, I say exactly what I would say.
Speaker 5: You know, you take it as a whole and each game,
Speaker 5: you go back through each game, each part of it,
Speaker 5: and each part of it and within that, each play
Speaker 5: within it. You know, that's how we evaluate it. And
Speaker 5: so it's pretty it's a pretty deep metric, you know.
Speaker 5: So success failure, well, it depends on your criteria.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 5: In the National Football League, unless you don't make the playoffs,
Speaker 5: your last game is not a success unless you win
Speaker 5: the Super Bowl. So you take you got to understand that.
Speaker 5: So when you when you don't win your last game,
Speaker 5: especially a home AFC championship game, which is so rare
Speaker 5: and so hard to get to, it's rare error, then
Speaker 5: it's like, well, is it a success is a failure?
Speaker 5: Lamar Jackson is a phenomenal success. Here's a phenomenal succes
Speaker 5: us as a football player. He is a phenomenal success
Speaker 5: as a person, as a leader, as a family man.
Speaker 6: But you're asking about the football player, he's there.
Speaker 5: In my opinion, there's nobody better in this league, especially
Speaker 5: nobody better for the Baltimore Ravens and for this organization,
Speaker 5: for this city, and just from a historical perspective, I'm
Speaker 5: excited about the future. I'm excited about taking this offense
Speaker 5: to the next level next year, an opportunity to pick
Speaker 5: up where we are and dig deeper with what we
Speaker 5: can give him. You say, you say, Lamar has the
Speaker 5: keys to the offense. Okay, now you build the offense.
Speaker 5: It's like setting up a car. We got to build
Speaker 5: a car. We've got to set the car up with
Speaker 5: Mar's a driver. He's got to be involved in the
Speaker 5: setup of the car. Even more last year that wasn't
Speaker 5: even possible. Right this year, he's going to be involved.
Speaker 5: And he's talked about he's already involved about what we
Speaker 5: talked about yesterday and setting up that car. Now he
Speaker 5: comes in on the front end and he's talking to
Speaker 5: the guys about how the car is set up and.
Speaker 6: Exactly how these things need to be run.
Speaker 5: This year, every day was a new day in the offense,
Speaker 5: you know, right on through to the last part of
Speaker 5: the season. Next year, it won't be a new day
Speaker 5: every single of the day. And that's that's pretty easy
Speaker 5: to figure out and make. It makes sense, right, but
Speaker 5: it's it's real and I'm looking forward to that next
Speaker 5: part of that process.
Speaker 4: When you talk to Lamar. When you talk to Lamar,
Speaker 4: what what does he feel needs to be done?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm not even.
Speaker 5: Bringing the list in my pocket right now, but he's
Speaker 5: he's he's talking exces and o's. He's talking the opportunity
Speaker 5: and how we attack the different defenses that we play,
Speaker 5: anything from how we practice to it to the options
Speaker 5: that we have, you know, protecting runs pass protection, how
Speaker 5: we protect and how we adjust the protections, how we
Speaker 5: get to certain routes against certain coverages. Those are things
Speaker 5: that are on his mind, you know, and those are
Speaker 5: things that he's going to be involved with the staff
Speaker 5: talking about. You know, I'm excited about that. He wants
Speaker 5: to do it, you know, and he's just into it, man,
Speaker 5: he's really into it.
Speaker 10: Off When you said earlier about you know, kind of
Speaker 10: being judged on the last game.
Speaker 4: I think what we've heard from Finns this week.
Speaker 10: Is they felt like it wasn't so much that you lost,
Speaker 10: but they felt like it wasn't the team they had
Speaker 10: seen all season in the last game, and they felt
Speaker 10: that way also in nineteen. Do you think that's a
Speaker 10: fair criticism and do you see anything in process that
Speaker 10: you would tweak to avoid that?
Speaker 5: I guess definitely a fair criticism because that's what you see.
Speaker 5: I mean, it's just you look at it. It's not
Speaker 5: the same, you know, it wasn't you know, a thirty
Speaker 5: point went over over a division leader, you know, obviously,
Speaker 5: and that's the result of it.
Speaker 6: It was the same team, it was the same guys.
Speaker 5: It's it's it's the game plan that was devised against
Speaker 5: that particular team that day.
Speaker 6: But we didn't play better than the team we played.
Speaker 6: They played better than us.
Speaker 5: You know, they had a better game plan, they had
Speaker 5: a better they executed.
Speaker 6: Their game plan better. They made plays.
Speaker 5: I mean, they made some great throw some great catches,
Speaker 5: a few great runs, you know, in the first half especially,
Speaker 5: and they scored those points. Their defense came up and
Speaker 5: made plays, they tackled well, they kept us bottled up,
Speaker 5: they covered us well, we didn't come up with those
Speaker 5: great plays. That's really the difference. So in that sense,
Speaker 5: it's not the same team. But in the sense of
Speaker 5: the effort, the preparation, what we were bringing to the
Speaker 5: table schematically, all those things, it was exactly the same team.
Speaker 6: It's just a different result.
Speaker 5: And every single team in the league is going to
Speaker 5: have that feeling after losing in the playoffs. So I
Speaker 5: get it, you know, I feel the same way. I mean,
Speaker 5: I'm telling you I'm heartbroken. I'm heartbroken the fact that
Speaker 5: we didn't win that game at home in front of
Speaker 5: our crowd for the first time, you know, in all
Speaker 5: these years, and get a chance to play in the
Speaker 5: Super Bowl.
Speaker 6: Because I felt the same way last year.
Speaker 5: I felt like if we hadn't, you know, not finished
Speaker 5: the game last year, made the mistakes last year that
Speaker 5: cost us the game against the Bengals, I feel like
Speaker 5: we'd been in the Super Bowl last year.
Speaker 6: I believe that with all my heart.
Speaker 5: I've told the guys that they know that, So I
Speaker 5: think that's normal and natural. Our fans care. They care
Speaker 5: just as much as we do as coaches, as players.
Speaker 5: I have to believe that and we all should be
Speaker 5: feeling that way, but we all should be excited about
Speaker 5: where we're going, you know, and what's in front of
Speaker 5: us and what we're building here.
Speaker 6: And then we're challenged by the things we got overcome.
Speaker 5: You know, there's always there's always things that you lose
Speaker 5: and you've got to make up for and find a
Speaker 5: way to even prove on.
Speaker 6: We did a great job of that last year. I
Speaker 6: hope we can do even better this year.
Speaker 4: Has over visioned by.
Speaker 11: Samley the other day express disappointment in how.
Speaker 4: He played this show.
Speaker 11: You know how the last few years agne with health fiesta.
Speaker 11: But given where he is with his health performance and
Speaker 11: also with his compensation on where is the organization with
Speaker 11: him and his left tackle a position you just start
Speaker 11: maybe looking at more carefully in a big picture sense.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the offensive line is always gonna be
Speaker 2: something that we stress here. You know, we're gonna continue
Speaker 2: to look at that every single year, particularly as you
Speaker 2: get older. You know, it gets tougher and tougher and
Speaker 2: tougher for guys to stay healthy. And unfortunately Ronnie no
Speaker 2: fault of his own, but he has had, you know
Speaker 2: a series of injuries that hurt him, hurt his performance,
Speaker 2: uh the ankle and then a series of knee injuries,
Speaker 2: and so that's definitely been a factor. You know, I
Speaker 2: love Ronnie, He's still a talented player. Think this is
Speaker 2: gonna be a big off season for him, getting himself healthy,
Speaker 2: getting himself strong again, coming back in great football shape.
Speaker 2: We'll make all those personnel decisions over the coming weeks
Speaker 2: what we decide to do. But as far as the
Speaker 2: position in general, I definitely think you know, Coach said
Speaker 2: this in two thousand and eight when we interviewed him.
Speaker 2: He said, We're always going to have a strong, physical,
Speaker 2: big offensive line, and that's kind of bled into the
Speaker 2: culture of this place and who we are as an organization.
Speaker 2: We're gonna continue to do that.
Speaker 8: What happened with Tyas Bowser and it's kind of a
Speaker 8: mystery all year.
Speaker 4: And where does that leave his status going forward?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, unfortunate for Tius they couldn't play this year.
Speaker 2: Can't really get into all the different specifics so that
Speaker 2: as you guys know, how we handle the injuries. I
Speaker 2: think Tyas has probably talked about it in some way.
Speaker 2: He had an injury. Unfortunate and you know, wasn't able
Speaker 2: to play, and we'll have to continue to assess that
Speaker 2: in the coming weeks to see where he stands with
Speaker 2: that injury. You know, great man a good player for us,
Speaker 2: just a tough deal for him this year, and we'll
Speaker 2: have to deal with it.
Speaker 12: I'm wondering how difficult it is for you to know
Speaker 12: a guy like JPP but not in the tank to
Speaker 12: go another year and then pick up guys like cow
Speaker 12: annoy clowning and they do, And how can we close
Speaker 12: that situation?
Speaker 4: And do you see guys like that and you cook
Speaker 4: be an offer of a job back next year?
Speaker 2: Uh, what do when you say difficult? I'm not really
Speaker 2: sure what you.
Speaker 4: Mean clowning out of the league?
Speaker 10: They annoy, they he was on the couch right and
Speaker 10: when they came in and.
Speaker 13: They were able to okay and where other teams didn't look.
Speaker 7: At a much.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think that's you know, partly their
Speaker 2: own ability as players and their desire at this stage
Speaker 2: of their careers. But I also think it's this place.
Speaker 2: You know, players come in here and they're part of
Speaker 2: our strength and conditioning program and the way that we
Speaker 2: practice and the way that we coach, and you know
Speaker 2: other players in the vibe that this place, as you
Speaker 2: guys see it at practice every day. Uh, we've become
Speaker 2: a place, I think where veteran players can come and
Speaker 2: really succeed and play well. And there's a lot of
Speaker 2: reasons for that. The performance stuff that we do upstairs,
Speaker 2: and the wellness stuff that we do and nutrition and
Speaker 2: Sam and the trainers and John and his program, and
Speaker 2: guys come in here and flourish, and so I think
Speaker 2: it speaks to that, but also to the type of
Speaker 2: guys that they are. I mean, van Ney, Clowney, Malette Darby,
Speaker 2: all those guys. Those guys are wired the right way,
Speaker 2: and they really really wanted to win this year. They
Speaker 2: saw potential to win this year, and they hit the
Speaker 2: ground running and they played very well. You got to the.
Speaker 4: Defense real quick.
Speaker 9: Obviously, it's a big loss when you lose a guy
Speaker 9: like Mike McDonald and you always wanted your new Cornator
Speaker 9: to be able to leave their fingerprint. But when your
Speaker 9: defense was as good as it's been, how different do
Speaker 9: you want it to know?
Speaker 4: What differences would you be looking for?
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, I'm looking for evolution and growth, just like
Speaker 5: we would if Mike was still here.
Speaker 6: You know, and that's why, that's why we have advancement
Speaker 6: from within.
Speaker 5: You know, I've seen the job that those guys have
Speaker 5: done and Zach has done, and we're building and evolving
Speaker 5: this defense ever since two thousand and eight, and it's
Speaker 5: been some sea change or sea change in twelve. There
Speaker 5: were a sea change in eighteen, and then there was
Speaker 5: change of face a little bit when.
Speaker 6: Mike came in.
Speaker 5: And that'll be another change of face with Zach in
Speaker 5: here and kind of putting his fingerprits on, like you said.
Speaker 5: But it'll still be in the world of what we
Speaker 5: do with Raven's defense schematically and even more importantly, how
Speaker 5: we like to play. And Zach hard to beat Zach
Speaker 5: in terms of knowing that because he's born and breda Raymond.
Speaker 6: So I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 8: Sure, you brought over the AFC Championship a few times
Speaker 8: when it happened with Justin Tucker.
Speaker 4: Before the game. We heard from Tucker, We've heard from
Speaker 4: the chiefs. I don't know if you have an opinion
Speaker 4: on who was in the wrong movement right, whether or
Speaker 4: not that got.
Speaker 8: Into the heads of your players, as some fans perceived,
Speaker 8: because you guys had four personal fouls throughout the game,
Speaker 8: and maybe the Chiefs were in your guys heads as
Speaker 8: a perception out there.
Speaker 5: So yeahs as far as the thing, I mean, I
Speaker 5: know Justin did the same I wasn't out there for it,
Speaker 5: so I didn't see it. I heard about it after,
Speaker 5: But same routine he's done for the last twelve years,
Speaker 5: same timing. There is no side of the field, so
Speaker 5: you know that the field doesn't split in half until
Speaker 5: a certain time. The kickers are always out there as
Speaker 5: long as well as the returns before that happens. So
Speaker 5: teams get to use both ends the field because you
Speaker 5: got a kick into both both wins, you know both,
Speaker 5: you get to kick both ways. While that was going on,
Speaker 5: their kickers were down there at the other end doing
Speaker 5: the exact same thing in the exact same spot, and
Speaker 5: there was no problem down there. So I think it's
Speaker 5: pretty normal that we do that. Played the Chiefs a
Speaker 5: bunch of times before. It was the same exact time
Speaker 5: schedule that we had all those other times, So it's fine.
Speaker 5: As far as the other part of it, now, it's
Speaker 5: a football game. It's about how you execute and how
Speaker 5: you play and and uh, and the Chiefs played a
Speaker 5: better football game than we did. But that part of
Speaker 5: it early on, I don't I don't fault Tuck at all.
Speaker 5: He was doing what he always does. I'm not blaming anybody.
Speaker 5: I could care less. Doesn't mean anything didn't get in tuckshead.
Speaker 5: And he's kicking the ball straight and kicking touchbacks, So
Speaker 5: I don't think it impacted the game.
Speaker 6: In any way.
Speaker 4: Disconnected.
Speaker 5: I don't have any thing to say about that way
Speaker 5: you asked the question, because I don't see it that way.
Speaker 5: You know, those guys are are doing their jobs and
Speaker 5: we're trying to build a pass game. Run everybody we can.
Speaker 5: I mean, Rashan Bateman has a great future. Yeah, he
Speaker 5: runs great routes. He's developed into a great, great route runner,
Speaker 5: and I know Lamar wants to get him the ball
Speaker 5: as much as he can. So the idea that he
Speaker 5: didn't maybe just saying you can get the many passes
Speaker 5: is you would.
Speaker 6: Have liked him to get or whatever.
Speaker 5: Hey, I agree, man, I want baita flourish and make
Speaker 5: a bunch of plays, and he's going to do that,
Speaker 5: and I think he'll be a bigger part of it
Speaker 5: next year. Just by the fact that he was healthy
Speaker 5: all year this year, had a chance to establish himself
Speaker 5: that way, and he'll be, Uh, he'll be He'll be starting,
Speaker 5: he'll be playing all those snaps and he'll rise to
Speaker 5: the occasion.
Speaker 14: Will be the receiver room last year. But odell agalar
Speaker 14: du Grenade. They're set to become free agents. A decision
Speaker 14: needs to be made on the Hen's fifth year option
Speaker 14: in May. Could this group undergo a lot of change again.
Speaker 4: In this season?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I love the guys have coming back.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think Bait's gonna have a great season,
Speaker 2: and uh, and we got Zay. We will talk to
Speaker 2: guys and look at potentially bringing some guys back. But
Speaker 2: I feel really good about where we are. I think
Speaker 2: we also saw the emergence of Isaiah likely this year,
Speaker 2: and we know, of course what Mark can do, Mark Andrews,
Speaker 2: and so we have a lot of guys that can
Speaker 2: make plays. And I think, you know, watching watching Jay
Speaker 2: this year and just picture and Jay and Bait out
Speaker 2: there next year is very exciting and we'll see where
Speaker 2: that leads. We've also got the draft, and like I said,
Speaker 2: you know, uh, we'll have conversations where our uh free
Speaker 2: agents as well and We've already started those conversations in
Speaker 2: some cases, and so I would expect the receiver room
Speaker 2: to be very strong next year and very productive.
Speaker 4: Up here.
Speaker 7: You guys have had such as a phenomenal success rating
Speaker 7: directors franchise.
Speaker 4: That he said a super Bowl.
Speaker 7: We know it's wide open, and are you just given
Speaker 7: where you guys are competitively early viewing, you know, potential
Speaker 7: for using those picks to whire established players players are
Speaker 7: already lead or is the franchise preference formain you just
Speaker 7: kind of applying guys three your process.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we were just you know, fundamentally, we're
Speaker 2: always gonna be focused on the draft, and we look
Speaker 2: at our history, you know. Uh, now we've you know,
Speaker 2: in the last couple of years, we have traded draft
Speaker 2: picks for players in some cases, but I think generally
Speaker 2: we're gonna be a draft centric team. And uh, you know,
Speaker 2: as we've said, the landscape has changed a little bit
Speaker 2: because we're paying a quarterback who deserves it a lot
Speaker 2: of money and that's gonna have a salary cap ramification.
Speaker 2: For sure, we'll start to feel that we've started to
Speaker 2: field that last year. We'll feel that this year as
Speaker 2: we do a lot of teams. Uh, So draft picks
Speaker 2: are very important to us. We'll continue to be very important. However,
Speaker 2: of course, if we have the chance to acquire an
Speaker 2: all pro type guy, we're gonna look at that very closely.
Speaker 2: So there's really not one set formula, of course, but
Speaker 2: generally we like to have a lot of draft picks,
Speaker 2: and I would expect us to uh have a lot
Speaker 2: of draft picks this year.
Speaker 4: You make a lot of tough decisions.
Speaker 9: Last year, you made the decision to not pick up
Speaker 9: Patrick Quinne's your option. Looking back now with him being
Speaker 9: a free agent, how do you still you feel s
Speaker 9: still feel the same with.
Speaker 2: The talent you guys didn't get that well, you know,
Speaker 2: you never know on these situations. Is to challenge. Patrick
Speaker 2: had an amazing season. I love Patrick. It's one of
Speaker 2: my favorite guys on the team. He's put himself in
Speaker 2: a great position potentially to hit the market and see
Speaker 2: what his value is. You know, you never know if
Speaker 2: you if you pick up an option, that's less money that
Speaker 2: you can spend on somebody else. And so how does
Speaker 2: that how do those dominoes fall? Really hard to say,
Speaker 2: I I I can say that Patrick, I'm very very
Speaker 2: I know coach fields the same way. He had an
Speaker 2: excellent season Pro Bowl season. His future is extremely bright.
Speaker 2: It's one of the best inside linebackers in the league.
Speaker 2: Credit to him. I'm very happy for him, very very
Speaker 2: happy for his family. He's a special player and a
Speaker 2: special person generally.
Speaker 1: Speaking with twenty plus pending on restricted free agents, with
Speaker 1: where you said the salary cap was, it's kind of
Speaker 1: first priority looking at you know, can we bring.
Speaker 4: A lot of these guys back? How do you feel
Speaker 4: about the chances of doing that.
Speaker 2: Well, we'll be busy, you know, we'll be talking of
Speaker 2: agents at the combine and we'll be talking. We started
Speaker 2: talking to agents looking at, you know, the crop of
Speaker 2: free agents that are out there, but mostly at our
Speaker 2: guys and who can we bring back, and what's that
Speaker 2: contract going to look like, and what will those long
Speaker 2: term ramifications be as well. And you know, at some
Speaker 2: point you get to the point where you have to
Speaker 2: play with who you have, and you have to draft well,
Speaker 2: and you have to hit on players. And I think
Speaker 2: we've done that the last couple of years. We've seen
Speaker 2: the emergence of a lot of younger players, and that's
Speaker 2: going to continue. We've got a great process. We've got
Speaker 2: great evaluators, our coaching staff does a phenomenal job, and
Speaker 2: we also develop players. So you know, I don't really
Speaker 2: subscribe to the idea of windows opening and closing. I'd
Speaker 2: like to believe that with careful roster building and good
Speaker 2: drafting and development of players, the window is going to
Speaker 2: always be open.
Speaker 7: One of those free agents, obviously, Kevin Zeidler. A lot
Speaker 7: of injuries this year and so forth. What's what's kind
Speaker 7: of a plan with them. I need to get a
Speaker 7: couple of freezes at the guard spot, and it's sort
Speaker 7: of how much emphasis will will the offensive line be.
Speaker 7: I guess that evaluation process be freeze, draft, et cetera.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, you know, congrats to Kevin. He's at the
Speaker 2: Pro Bowl right now, and uh, he's earned it. I
Speaker 2: think he's been a pro bowler. This was his first year,
Speaker 2: but in my mind, he's been a pro bowler, a
Speaker 2: great attitude, great player, a veteran, awesome family. His wife,
Speaker 2: by the way, she's an unbelievable baker. But you know,
Speaker 2: I'm really happy for Kevin. He's a free agent. Uh,
Speaker 2: he's one of those guys that will continue to talk
Speaker 2: to He and I met last week. We'll see what
Speaker 2: that looks like in the coming weeks. But as I said,
Speaker 2: the offensive line is going to always be a preference,
Speaker 2: you know. I know it's not a sexy position for
Speaker 2: a lot of people, my son's included, but it's a
Speaker 2: critical important for our team, and we will spend a
Speaker 2: lot of resources and a lot of time talking what
Speaker 2: that's going to look like.
Speaker 8: John, you talked earlier about the emotions coming off of
Speaker 8: Sunday's loss and now a busy week full of loss
Speaker 8: of changes personnel wise.
Speaker 11: Have you guys remembered a time in the past where we've.
Speaker 7: Had such a busy first week of the off season
Speaker 7: and you guys feeling right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I remember last year it was pretty busy. Last year,
Speaker 5: the year before it was just as busy. The year
Speaker 5: before was the same amount of busy. And I think
Speaker 5: your point is really great, because it's amazing you come
Speaker 5: off that game and the emotions of it and the
Speaker 5: challenge of it, and you have to dive right back in.
Speaker 5: And that is exactly how it feels to what you're saying.
Speaker 5: You got to go, man, you got to go to work.
Speaker 5: You have to set it and we haven't just been
Speaker 5: working on staff. We've been working on setting our path,
Speaker 5: stoking up the engines schematically, you know, defensively and especially offensively.
Speaker 5: Since the whole staff was together offensively all week. We
Speaker 5: were going to meet today and that's gonna be a
Speaker 5: presentation that's going to be made about we're going to
Speaker 5: what we're doing for the next four weeks in terms
Speaker 5: of setting up our offense for where we're going to
Speaker 5: go in the future. So that's exactly what you do,
Speaker 5: and that's exactly what you have to do.
Speaker 2: Morgan.
Speaker 4: Most is a lot room clean out of mission. You
Speaker 4: want to be looking at.
Speaker 8: A surgery options just brings Marcus Williams underwing surgery or
Speaker 8: any guys that you anticipate.
Speaker 4: Injuries of leading and you know holding.
Speaker 6: Up for the camp. Marcus is not.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I's had this conversation yesterday. Very few surgeries.
Speaker 6: Uh Uh.
Speaker 5: Morgan has to decide if he wants to have the
Speaker 5: surgery or not. He doesn't have to have it, but
Speaker 5: he might want to have it to be you know,
Speaker 5: just gotta make that decision performance wise and life wise.
Speaker 6: Uh. And then Adafe always had a thumb surgery.
Speaker 5: He'll be like full speed in like six to eight
Speaker 5: weeks and was there another one?
Speaker 6: There might have been one more that I can't remember.
Speaker 5: Nothing serious, So no, there's no there's no big major
Speaker 5: injuries at this point. We do have guys coming off
Speaker 5: major injuries that will will be they'll be rehaving like
Speaker 5: a job on some other guys.
Speaker 3: Anticipate any changes on the offensive or specialties.
Speaker 6: Uh yeah, just kind of working through that right now.
Speaker 6: That's uh. You know, guys get opportunities.
Speaker 5: I don't want to speak before all this hiring process
Speaker 5: gets done, I don't really, but then again, opportunities come along.
Speaker 4: Have you had a chance to talk to.
Speaker 15: The more since the season ended, and have you gotten
Speaker 15: in put on what he might look you know, what
Speaker 15: he might want and his kind of vision for possibly
Speaker 15: offensive editions.
Speaker 2: Now we just texted, like you know, that's probably the
Speaker 2: way that we can really communicate most of the time,
Speaker 2: it's through text. And just texted him and told my
Speaker 2: proude I was of what he was able to accomplish
Speaker 2: this year and just watching him play was pretty amazing
Speaker 2: for me to see him week to week and just
Speaker 2: his the way that he practiced. He stayed healthy this year.
Speaker 2: So we'll have those conversations. Maybe I'll go down at
Speaker 2: some point and visit with him as I have a
Speaker 2: few times over the years, and maybe take him out
Speaker 2: to dinner and just talk about things in general and
Speaker 2: get some sun. But uh, you know, maybe that that's
Speaker 2: probably gonna be.
Speaker 6: There.
Speaker 2: But you know, so you know, no, I haven't really
Speaker 2: talked to him too much, but Lamar, I'll tell you,
Speaker 2: he's great about, you know, offering suggestions and ideas, and
Speaker 2: he and I have a great, you know relationship where
Speaker 2: we can exchange different ideas on personnel and things. And
Speaker 2: he's a huge fan of college football, and you know,
Speaker 2: I appreciate his feedback.
Speaker 4: About ZACT. Do you ever go back when a guy
Speaker 4: there's a.
Speaker 7: New level Lady Sack has worneransition, look at the old
Speaker 7: notes problem when he was a player, just kind of
Speaker 7: and just in a bigger picture, what does it mean
Speaker 7: as an organization to see somebody who's a player now
Speaker 7: take on a defensive coordinator role and reach.
Speaker 2: These Yeah, that's cool. I mean, you know, you do
Speaker 2: have certain players over the years you think about would
Speaker 2: this guy make a great coach? We were just talking
Speaker 2: about a couple of guys the other day that that
Speaker 2: played here that we thought would would make great coach.
Speaker 2: As Zach comes from a football family. His brothers played,
Speaker 2: his dad played, He's got a coaching background in his family,
Speaker 2: and he's a student of the game. You know, Zach's
Speaker 2: not the biggest guy. You guys that covered him as
Speaker 2: a player, you know, I mean, I think he probably
Speaker 2: played yet I don't know to eighteen, maybe two twenty.
Speaker 2: I mean, he had a hard time keeping weight on.
Speaker 2: But what made Zach so good as a player was
Speaker 2: he had a great instinct for the game. He was very,
Speaker 2: very quick to key and diagnose, and he played with
Speaker 2: a passion and he was just relentless to the football.
Speaker 2: And those qualities make a great coach. So I have
Speaker 2: no doubt that Zach is going to be a great
Speaker 2: defensive coorter and probably if I had a crystal ball
Speaker 2: a head coach someday.
Speaker 4: Were you surprised to see Ortiz.
Speaker 6: No, I wasn't surprised, or follow up to.
Speaker 5: That, maybe you ask the question here.
Speaker 13: I was wondering, Jim's been around a lot, he knows
Speaker 13: the success that's been happier. Why not take the guy
Speaker 13: who has been watching all these college players developed into
Speaker 13: great professionals.
Speaker 4: That's a great hire. I was very upset.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I kind of agree. I mean, I think what
Speaker 6: you're saying is right.
Speaker 5: And uh, Jim and Joe already have a relationship because
Speaker 5: of all the visits that Joe makes and of course
Speaker 5: being from the Ravens. You know, I'm sure Joe gets
Speaker 5: a little more access as far as talking to Jim,
Speaker 5: you know, because they have shared interest and h and
Speaker 5: they built a great relationship already, they've they've been friends
Speaker 5: for a while. But that wasn't Joe was already involved
Speaker 5: in that job. He was involved in that job before
Speaker 5: Jim was ever even finished with a season.
Speaker 6: Joe had already I think he already interviewed there probably.
Speaker 5: So I think when they got their two finalists and
Speaker 5: then Jim was involved in both the interviews.
Speaker 6: He loved both guys and he thought they were both great.
Speaker 5: But the fact that you know they knew each other
Speaker 5: already is good for Jim, is good for Joe, and uh,
Speaker 5: you know, it's a really great higher to.
Speaker 9: Your point out to you and ahead of times.
Speaker 5: Joe, Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely, Okay, oh no, it was
Speaker 5: already No, No, he ain't. That's that maybe, sure, you
Speaker 5: know can now think about it. But the end it was,
Speaker 5: it was already in the works, you know, it was
Speaker 5: already in the works. But he asked me what I
Speaker 5: thought of Joe obviously, and I'm nothing, But I just
Speaker 5: love him and respect him. Think he's the best.
Speaker 4: Lose obviously a great pick a ball and Joe. But
Speaker 4: that's all my question.
Speaker 8: You guys have been through a lot of these AFC
Speaker 8: championships more than John.
Speaker 15: Well.
Speaker 6: I wasn't through a number of in Philadelphia I met.
Speaker 6: It's a fact, straight, all right.
Speaker 4: Question was that gut wrenching the loss? I mean, you
Speaker 4: know a lot of people want to compare it to
Speaker 4: New England? All that? Was that more gut wrenching? What
Speaker 4: happens Sunday? And did it take a while and ever
Speaker 4: for it? You guys personally, as hard as you guys
Speaker 4: take these things.
Speaker 2: You know, Jerry, they're all gut wrenching, you know for me.
Speaker 2: But I I move on, as I said, you know,
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't have the luxury. I don't get
Speaker 2: to talk about it on the radio all week and
Speaker 2: write articles about it. I have to move on. I mean,
Speaker 2: that is what it is. I got to go to
Speaker 2: the Senior Bowl. I imagine how my wife felt when
Speaker 2: I told a Sunday night, well, by the way, I'm
Speaker 2: leaving in the morning to go to the Singing Bowl
Speaker 2: for the week. But that's what we do. And it
Speaker 2: was a hard game. You know, you move on, you
Speaker 2: have to. I mean, there's been so many games over
Speaker 2: the years. You know, I could go into it. I could.
Speaker 2: I could talk about the game against the Steelers in
Speaker 2: two thousand and seven when I was at the Manhattan
Speaker 2: Beach Marriott and Monday night game when I smashed the
Speaker 2: mirror in my hotel room. I think we were down
Speaker 2: twenty one to nothing in the first five minutes of
Speaker 2: the Game's Amison, you know, right, you cover that game. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, there's so many bad games, right, there's so
Speaker 2: many great games. We're blessed to be a part of it.
Speaker 2: We're blessed to be a part of this team. And
Speaker 2: every year is a unique challenge, and we'll move forward
Speaker 2: and will be the best we can next year.
Speaker 9: You want to approach.
Speaker 4: The warning back position.
Speaker 9: Quite a few three agents in that room as what
Speaker 9: I know, you got probably think highly of Keaton Mitchell
Speaker 9: coming back with each other running back position.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'm glad we have Justice on a two
Speaker 2: year deal. You know, last year, you know, Nick was
Speaker 2: able to get a two year deal done with Justice,
Speaker 2: and Justice was really one of the unsung heroes of
Speaker 2: the team this year down the stretch. I mean, guy
Speaker 2: had a phenomenal season. You know, obviously we do have
Speaker 2: some free agents, and you know, it was a challenge
Speaker 2: this year with Jk's injury, which was unfortunate, terrible for us,
Speaker 2: and then with Keaton. But you know, we'll assess that market.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to those guys. We'll try to we'll see
Speaker 2: where things kind of lie with with Gus and j K,
Speaker 2: both two guys I have a lot of respect for
Speaker 2: to outstanding players for us over the past three or
Speaker 2: four years. We'll look at the draft, we'll look at
Speaker 2: free agency. That's kind of a position like offensive line,
Speaker 2: Like we've got to have some good running backs. I
Speaker 2: think we do. Part of that is predicated on how
Speaker 2: guys come back from injuries. But I know we've got
Speaker 2: a great running back coach and we'll be ready to
Speaker 2: go for both of you.
Speaker 4: I know you guys haven't done your big meetings with
Speaker 4: Steve yet.
Speaker 6: What I mean, has he.
Speaker 10: Offered any comment on sort of the season overall, when
Speaker 10: he thought of it, and where he kind of ticks
Speaker 10: the team as stands right now.
Speaker 2: I think Steve was extremely happy that we could bring
Speaker 2: an NFC championship game to Baltimore, and I think he
Speaker 2: was really happy with just the season in general. I
Speaker 2: think he's now turned his He's a huge draft knick,
Speaker 2: and I think he's starting to look at that. I
Speaker 2: was down there this week and he was asking me
Speaker 2: about players. But you know, it's always hard for all
Speaker 2: of us. I mean, we kind of just we love
Speaker 2: what we do and we want to see this thing,
Speaker 2: you know, finish in a great way, and it didn't.
Speaker 2: So that's a challenge for everybody, honestly. But we move
Speaker 2: on and we get excited and we understand the challenges ahead.
Speaker 2: And I think Steve is a part of that as well.
Speaker 6: I agree. I texted him.
Speaker 5: He said some great things, and of course he's he's
Speaker 5: also competitor, and he wants to find every way we
Speaker 5: can you get better, just like we want to do it.
Speaker 5: I mean, you talk about the losses just got me thinking,
Speaker 5: is what how do you rank them? I feel really
Speaker 5: bad about the Colt's loss. I was devastating. I was
Speaker 5: cutting half on that one, and the Browns loss, and
Speaker 5: then the two Steelers losses probably even if I'm ranking them,
Speaker 5: probably even worse.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 5: So those four losses during the regular season were brutal
Speaker 5: as well. So you know, we take it hard. We
Speaker 5: take it hard, man, anytime we lose a game, we
Speaker 5: take it hard. So we took that one hard too.
Speaker 5: But then, you know what, you're tough. You better be,
Speaker 5: you know, to point Eric's point, I sit up here
Speaker 5: and say that, but and maybe kind of people kind
Speaker 5: of roll their eyes. But that's that's the great thing
Speaker 5: about it. You have to bounce back, and you have
Speaker 5: to go back to work, and you have to compete.
Speaker 5: And that's that's not just football, that's life. So everybody
Speaker 5: does every single day in their life. That's what the
Speaker 5: that's what they're tasked to do. Everybody has to do that.
Speaker 5: And you can you can thrive and in plenty, and
Speaker 5: you can thrive when you have little. You know, you
Speaker 5: can still be the same person. And I think that's
Speaker 5: what we try to do. That's where all the guys
Speaker 5: try to do it. What you guys try to do
Speaker 5: with your life every single day and that's what you do,
Speaker 5: you know. And we were on the mountaintop this year
Speaker 5: many times, and we were down in the valley sometimes,
Speaker 5: we were in the middle of a lot of different times.
Speaker 5: We were still moving and we're going to continue to
Speaker 5: do that.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. Check out the Lounge podcast with myself,
Speaker 1: Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing where we talked about our
Speaker 1: top takeaways from today's press conference. As always, make sure
Speaker 1: you're a subscribe, leave of rating and review. We'll be
Speaker 1: back with you next week for Zachary Or's introductory press
Speaker 1: conference as the Ravens new defensive coordinator.