Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ravens Press Pass Podcast. The Ravens wrapped
Speaker 1: up the preseason Saturday night in Tampa Bay. They filled
Speaker 1: to the Bucks twenty six to twenty and after the game,
Speaker 1: head coach Jean Harball talked about the preseason and some
Speaker 1: of the tough decisions that the team has to make
Speaker 1: with roster cuts looming. The deadline to set the fifty
Speaker 1: three man roster is coming up on Tuesday, and the
Speaker 1: coach Hardball talked about all day.
Speaker 2: All right, good seeing everybody here.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you guys being here, very much, good heart, fought game,
Speaker 3: Proud of our guys. I thought those guys were out
Speaker 3: there who played in the game did a heck of
Speaker 3: a job. Obviously we were kind of a skeleton crew there,
Speaker 3: and those guys again played very played your hearts out,
Speaker 3: played super hard. I thought fundamentally, very good, operationally, very good.
Speaker 3: You know, very few penalties, kept the ball in front
Speaker 3: of us, all those kind of things. So there's obviously
Speaker 3: numerous things we can do better, but I thought those
Speaker 3: played a really good game, especially going against the ones
Speaker 3: in the first half, you know, they showed up. So
Speaker 3: we're proud of those guys for that. Going forward. You know,
Speaker 3: it's it's all hands on deck and all eyes forward
Speaker 3: to the opener and we'll have a good practice this
Speaker 3: week and then we'll be in the game week for
Speaker 3: the Texans, and we're all excited about that. All right,
Speaker 3: what question do you have.
Speaker 4: Serious?
Speaker 3: You know, that's a good question. I think it doesn't
Speaker 3: it's not really like a strategic type deal. They'll probably
Speaker 3: be there'll probably be two levels to it maybe, but
Speaker 3: it doesn't have to be. We'll talk about that probably
Speaker 3: the next twenty four hours. That's a good question. I
Speaker 3: think you'll see that when the move gets made, you know,
Speaker 3: you'll know.
Speaker 2: Obviously.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean Josh did a great job. You know,
Speaker 3: I felt like I feel like all quarterbacks did you know,
Speaker 3: Josh taking that taking the offense down to that first
Speaker 3: drive like that against their starting defense is pretty impressive.
Speaker 3: You know, in five plays and what maybe four first
Speaker 3: downs in a touchdown, it's hard. You can't do any
Speaker 3: better than that. That was impressive. All the guys did
Speaker 3: a great job. I was really really impressed by that,
Speaker 3: and even the rest of the you know, second first
Speaker 3: quarter into the second quarter.
Speaker 2: Uh, he did well.
Speaker 3: Then I thought Anthony Brown came in and did a
Speaker 3: really nice job, you know, and made some plays and
Speaker 3: learned from a one mistake, you know it came back
Speaker 3: the next to the rest of the game and did
Speaker 3: better with that with ball security. So uh yeah, it
Speaker 3: was it was good. Uh who's that, oh, del se
Speaker 3: del Sean? Yeah, yeah, del Sean's played really well. I think,
Speaker 3: you know, special teams you kind of expected he's established
Speaker 3: as a special teams player and he's done well with that.
Speaker 3: We he hasn't had too many reps on that because
Speaker 3: we kind of know what he is on that. But defensive,
Speaker 3: I thought he really shined, you know, especially first two games.
Speaker 3: We'll see the tape on this game. Seem good this
Speaker 3: game too, But uh, he probably took a step forward
Speaker 3: definitely as a linebacker this offseason, this training camp. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I think Sola is kind of what he you know,
Speaker 3: kind of what you would expect. He's done really well.
Speaker 3: He moves his feet well, he's very physical at times.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: And then again, he's a rookie, you know, so you
Speaker 3: do you get, you get, you get fired up for
Speaker 3: a guy, and you got to remember that this is
Speaker 3: the first time these guys are playing this at this speed,
Speaker 3: with this level of communication, this level of scheme. So
Speaker 3: I think this guy, you know, this s guy's the
Speaker 3: limit for him. Uh you know, he's uh, he's got
Speaker 3: a great future and he's gonna be. He's gonna be,
Speaker 3: He's gonna be part of it this year. I mean,
Speaker 3: we need to get him ready to play soon.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: You know, uh, John's gonna be the starter. You know,
Speaker 3: he's earned that. So you guys got your news flash there.
Speaker 3: But uh, you know, I think I was pretty clear,
Speaker 3: but I'm really, I'm really I think John John deserves that.
Speaker 3: He's had a great camp and vet and physical and
Speaker 3: just love the way he played. And then Salah, he's
Speaker 3: gonna be just fine. He's going to contribute it. Does
Speaker 3: I mean, you know we've got We've got, We've got
Speaker 3: I think we have. We also have h Tyler Huntley,
Speaker 3: so you know we've got decisions to make along those lines.
Speaker 3: But I'm happy with both those guys. And even Anthony
Speaker 3: is a developmental type guy. But uh, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: Josh has jump done it for a long time. He's
Speaker 3: a guy that's always had to do it the hard way.
Speaker 3: He's always had to fight his way up. He talked
Speaker 3: to the team about that recently, and uh, you know,
Speaker 3: here he is again fighting for a spot, you know,
Speaker 3: and I think year seventeen, and uh, what kind of
Speaker 3: a career. What does that say about a career? You know,
Speaker 3: that's a career that kind of speaks for itself. I
Speaker 3: think it's something that really deserves a lot of it
Speaker 3: deserves it. There's a lot of honor, you know. It's
Speaker 3: it's an impressive thing to be able to maintain that
Speaker 3: type of tenacity, resilience, you know, that's that's something that
Speaker 3: I think people should look at and say, you know,
Speaker 3: I could learn something from that.
Speaker 2: Expectations.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, he's just gonna keep working. He's doing
Speaker 3: a good job out there. He's playing good football, you know,
Speaker 3: and uh, he's gonna play in the regular season, and
Speaker 3: I I expect him to play very well.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: All these snaps have been great for him. It's how
Speaker 3: you learn how to play, you know, and he's had
Speaker 3: a chance to get out there and learn how to play,
Speaker 3: stayed healthy through it, which was great, a great benefit
Speaker 3: to us. You know, we're very grateful for that. Thank
Speaker 3: you God for that. And uh, I expect him to
Speaker 3: play very well.
Speaker 2: This year.
Speaker 3: I think he will back job. That's right, Cliff, I
Speaker 3: high hopes for the offensive line, high expectations. That's that
Speaker 3: they're they're gonna drive us, you know, they're gonna be
Speaker 3: our rock. And uh, I expect him to play at
Speaker 3: the highest level.
Speaker 1: These guys like.
Speaker 2: That especially.
Speaker 3: Very difficult because these guys deserving to make the team,
Speaker 3: you know, And and then we'll we'll we'll hope that
Speaker 3: guys will you know, be interested in staying on the
Speaker 3: practice squad who don't make it and understand that they
Speaker 3: are part of the team. When you make the practice squad,
Speaker 3: you are part of the team because you're going to play,
Speaker 3: you know. And uh, that's something I hope, I hope
Speaker 3: some of these guys understand, and I know they do.
Speaker 3: It's it's a good team. It's a talented team, you know,
Speaker 3: and there's gonna be guys who and there will be
Speaker 3: there'll be guys get claimed. There's no doubt we'll have
Speaker 3: guys who get claimed as well. So we understand that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: just making those you know, he's become a much better
Speaker 3: blocker and the contested catches, you know, I think that's
Speaker 3: something he's really taking a step forward. With a big
Speaker 3: plays middle of the field. Controlling the middle of the field,
Speaker 3: that's his goal. You know, I think as a receiver,
Speaker 3: get in there and control the middle of the field.
Speaker 3: He's very capable of doing that. And you saw it
Speaker 3: and you start flashed really well in the preseason.
Speaker 1: That was head coach John Harball. We also heard from
Speaker 1: quarterback Josh Johnson. Johnson had a strong game in the
Speaker 1: preseason finale. He's made it difficult on the Ravens as
Speaker 1: they make the decision about who's gonna remain on this
Speaker 1: fifty three man roster. Now, Johnson has seen it all
Speaker 1: over the course of his career, and he discussed the mindset,
Speaker 1: the perspective that he has through his NFL career and
Speaker 1: what his approach is going to be heading into these
Speaker 1: custs over the next couple of days.
Speaker 5: Dad just went and saw how he felt, you know,
Speaker 5: a rhythm right off the name. I felt good.
Speaker 6: Coach mon cast some great plays, gave some great protection,
Speaker 6: guys getting to their spots.
Speaker 5: Just you know, we're in good rhythm.
Speaker 6: While was coming out going to the guys I was
Speaker 6: supposed to and you know it was just you know
Speaker 6: how I feel like that's what we're capable of doing.
Speaker 6: So we just got to you know, more ways to
Speaker 6: stack upon those type of drives and I have more
Speaker 6: points so we can come away.
Speaker 5: With a victory.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 6: It's the same level of anxiety that you experience any
Speaker 6: other year, you know. So for me, just you know,
Speaker 6: I pray, you know, I put my faith in you know,
Speaker 6: my savior and allow you know, to play out. And
Speaker 6: then you know, all I could do is control what
Speaker 6: I'm putting position to do. Is what I go out
Speaker 6: in the field, get the opportunity, and then uh from there,
Speaker 6: just you know, let the chips fall how they may,
Speaker 6: yes for that, just you know, just evolving each day.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 6: You know a lot of people try to put you
Speaker 6: in a box when you go through things that I've
Speaker 6: go through and try to you know, it's it's it's
Speaker 6: kind of the way of the world to try to
Speaker 6: lab you and do all these other different things.
Speaker 5: And I won't be I won't be defined by that.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 6: That's kind of where my story shows that you know,
Speaker 6: there is you make your own story, you know. You know,
Speaker 6: for me, it's keeping that mindset daily and and evolving
Speaker 6: my game based on my you know, my skill levels
Speaker 6: at and UH, for me, I've been able to show
Speaker 6: you know, different things with my legs, with my arms.
Speaker 6: You know, the guys get to be who and the
Speaker 6: huddle with me understand my experience that I bring to it.
Speaker 6: And you know, hopefully you know, I've done enough to
Speaker 6: be able to earn a spot you know, somewhere.
Speaker 2: So so like your perseverance in your care.
Speaker 6: What ass set you go on, just able to deal
Speaker 6: with the ups a damage that uh, A lot of faith, uh,
Speaker 6: a lot of growth and just always you know, just
Speaker 6: grateful for where I came from. Like uh, I grew up,
Speaker 6: I grew up in a situation to where you know,
Speaker 6: I never thought this was a reality, and uh, just
Speaker 6: always getting another opportunity to me was more valuable than
Speaker 6: anything else.
Speaker 5: And I always saw it that way.
Speaker 6: You know, even when you get cut or whatever, there's
Speaker 6: another team that call you, and when you look at
Speaker 6: it from a place of gratitude, you know you still
Speaker 6: have another opportunity. And UH, for me, I always been
Speaker 6: you know, lived lived through the truth of where I'm
Speaker 6: at and not you know, point try to point fingers
Speaker 6: or do different things or listen to the noise, but
Speaker 6: really just focus on where I need to go as
Speaker 6: a player, and uh, and now at the luxury that
Speaker 6: I've been so well traveled, I feel like, you know,
Speaker 6: I bring a lot to a organization and uh, for me,
Speaker 6: it's just going out there daily and trying to show
Speaker 6: that the best way I can with the things I'm
Speaker 6: able to control.
Speaker 5: So, you know, like just to answer your question, you know, a.
Speaker 6: Lot of faith, a lot of gratitude, and a lot
Speaker 6: of focus on you know, the reality and not you know,
Speaker 6: the perceptions.
Speaker 5: Are you hear you know you got? I mean that's
Speaker 5: what that's your world, man.
Speaker 6: The world of the media, you know, the world of
Speaker 6: labeling people, the world of saying where a guy's supposed
Speaker 6: to be. For a lot of people who never really
Speaker 6: been in this situation, you know, you can, you can
Speaker 6: fall victim to it.
Speaker 5: But to me, you know, I know ball and I
Speaker 5: know what it takes. I wouldn't be here if I didn't.
Speaker 6: And then, uh, you know, I also just looked at
Speaker 6: the situations that I was that I've been in. At
Speaker 6: the end of the day, that's my opportunity. They all
Speaker 6: have never been ideal, like some people would like to say,
Speaker 6: But to me, it's about how do. I make it,
Speaker 6: take advantage of those opportunities and build upon them. And
Speaker 6: in each year, I've gotten better and I feel like
Speaker 6: even at thirty seven years old, I'm still getting better.
Speaker 6: Like I'm a lot different quarterback than I was when
Speaker 6: I got drafted. Here you know what I mean, and
Speaker 6: and to know me, you would know my growth. And
Speaker 6: if you don't know me, you could put me in
Speaker 6: the box. I don't really care feel me because I'm
Speaker 6: just focused on being better and being the best I
Speaker 6: could be.
Speaker 1: Those quarterback Josh Johnson. We also heard from tight end
Speaker 1: Charlie Koher. He missed most of his rookie season dealing
Speaker 1: with an injury, but he looked good over the course
Speaker 1: of the last three preseason games, and he said it's
Speaker 1: really valuable for him to get those preseason reps and
Speaker 1: he feels good going into his second NFL season.
Speaker 5: What I guess what eras you feel like you're better
Speaker 5: than last year, you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm playing serious and that helps.
Speaker 7: Just trying to like just in the awest and just
Speaker 7: become like all around just better athletes, bigger, faster, stronger,
Speaker 7: And then when you're better athlete translate to a better player.
Speaker 2: And then just working on technique stuff.
Speaker 7: I felt I got better in training camp, got better
Speaker 7: in the run game, get better in the passing game,
Speaker 7: and just want to keep building from there. Mind you
Speaker 7: said I get march or something.
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, I definitely got better.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I I feel like I showed some
Speaker 7: things I want to show and some things always like
Speaker 7: i'd do better. I had to drop this game and
Speaker 7: the contested catching the cross, I like to catch that one.
Speaker 2: Some stuff in the run game, go clean up.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I feel like overall I got better during any
Speaker 7: training camp, but it's just like the start of the problem.
Speaker 2: So I try not to.
Speaker 7: Set too many tryna. I'm not a huge goal setter
Speaker 7: cause and if you reach the goal, like what do
Speaker 7: you do next? So I just try to like keep
Speaker 7: improving and just keep it day to day. And I
Speaker 7: feel like I've gotten better every day. And I got
Speaker 7: better from the first preseason game to the third preseason
Speaker 7: game and sexually lost them. You always wanna win, but
Speaker 7: as a team, I feel like we show us some progress.
Speaker 3: Probably important that was earlier when you saw a life
Speaker 3: in the tis and you know that kind.
Speaker 1: Of like as you're getting back the game.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I'm more just meant like when I
Speaker 7: actually got on too practicing and stuff once I got
Speaker 7: out of the rehabit. Yeah, I mean I feel like
Speaker 7: I may have I said, like dancen all it sounds
Speaker 7: like I'm like going through something really bad, but like
Speaker 7: we're so blessed, so I try to keep it in perspective,
Speaker 7: Like I'm we're in the NFL. Like, if the worst
Speaker 7: thing in my life is I get injured, I'm pretty blessed.
Speaker 7: So I just try to like really just try to
Speaker 7: take it one day at a time and be grateful
Speaker 7: for what I have. You know, if you're always worrying
Speaker 7: about when am I gonna be healthier, what snaps am
Speaker 7: I gonna get? Or what day, like you never gonna
Speaker 7: just be present in what I have. So like, yeah,
Speaker 7: it sucks, we lost, Like it sucks, it hurts, but
Speaker 7: still take a step back and just thank God for
Speaker 7: like what we have in the moment and that we're here.
Speaker 2: So just trying to put in perspective. Feel like that's
Speaker 2: a good question.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I believe myself as a player, so when I
Speaker 7: go out there and do it, like I'm happy how
Speaker 7: to show it. But at the same time, you d
Speaker 7: like when there's a big part of like earn confidence
Speaker 7: just doing it, like just getting the reps and when
Speaker 7: I play two games last year and so just getting
Speaker 7: the reps. I guess why I'm happy to get many
Speaker 7: reps as I can these games cause I need them.
Speaker 7: So yeah, like just getting on the field, getting the reps,
Speaker 7: getting the bats pop and running the routes, you know,
Speaker 7: making the mistakes like the first game, the stupid mistake
Speaker 7: that I make, not get out of bounds, like just things.
Speaker 7: I haven't played that much football in the NFL because
Speaker 7: I didn't play last year. So just the reps and
Speaker 7: this preseason are so valuable, you know, just try to
Speaker 7: take advantage of them.
Speaker 2: Just keep getting better.
Speaker 5: Outside.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean Monk obviously like us tight ends. We
Speaker 7: both tight ends with quite a few catches in the preseason.
Speaker 7: And Mark's pretty good too, so I think it gets
Speaker 7: some catches too. And we've been a good room, you know,
Speaker 7: Mark z Pat, myself and de Vok and Ben. I
Speaker 7: thought we had some good stuff. I'm excited. You know,
Speaker 7: every offense has its pros and it's cons from last
Speaker 7: year and last year we've run so much thirteen personnel,
Speaker 7: we have a ton of guys maybe to open up
Speaker 7: the playbook as much. Though with the past game this year,
Speaker 7: as you can see, it's a little different here and there.
Speaker 7: So just try to take the blessings that come with
Speaker 7: each offense. This offense, you know, among does some some
Speaker 7: fun stuff with the tempo and open up the field,
Speaker 7: and I think it's gonna be fine to keep learning,
Speaker 7: to keep getting better and try to keep earning snaps
Speaker 7: for the field and just contribute any way I can
Speaker 7: offense or specialties.
Speaker 1: That was tight end Charlie Kohler. We also heard from
Speaker 1: linebacker and special teams Ace del Sean Phillips.
Speaker 4: Just, uh, I guess see this is how rapping out.
Speaker 5: Just how you feel.
Speaker 2: Yeah, uh my mom set for me this year.
Speaker 4: It was just focusing on like how good can I
Speaker 4: be personally, like to be more valuable to the team.
Speaker 4: And that was like a switch from previous years. It
Speaker 4: was more so previous years I was focused on just
Speaker 4: getting better every day, getting better every day, But this
Speaker 4: year I wanted to see where my ceiling was on
Speaker 4: how much better could I get every day? You know,
Speaker 4: so how much more valuable could I, you know be
Speaker 4: to the team. And you know, provide my teammates some
Speaker 4: more help, not even just all throwing the field, but
Speaker 4: mentally too. So that's kind of how I feel. I
Speaker 4: feel like I still got some stuff I would need
Speaker 4: to approve on, some stuff I wanna fix, grow from
Speaker 4: a lot of areas.
Speaker 2: But like where I'm at right now, what particular did
Speaker 2: you focus on?
Speaker 4: I guess I was just satisfied with getting better every day.
Speaker 4: Like I said that, my mind said, all right, let's
Speaker 4: go in camp. Previous years, my previous years in the
Speaker 4: league was just get better every day, get better every day.
Speaker 4: That's what I was telling myself. And even if I
Speaker 4: was a little bit better, I was satisfied with that.
Speaker 4: But this year is kind of like, even if I
Speaker 4: did get a little bit better, if I didn't get
Speaker 4: as good, if I didn't do as much as I
Speaker 4: needed to do that day, I still wasn't satisfied even
Speaker 4: though I did get better.
Speaker 5: So that's that was really good switch.
Speaker 1: That was del Sean Phillips also heard from Charlie Kohler,
Speaker 1: Josh Johnson, and head coach John Harbaugh. If you want
Speaker 1: a full breakdown on the game against the Bucks, and
Speaker 1: also a discussion around who's gonna make that fifty three
Speaker 1: man roster head overs the Lounge podcast feed, Ryan Make
Speaker 1: and I break it all down for you and give
Speaker 1: you our thoughts on what we saw against the Bucks
Speaker 1: and who's gonna be on that fifty three man squad.
Speaker 1: Make sure you leave a rating and a review here
Speaker 1: on the Press Past podcast and on the Lounge podcast
Speaker 1: as well. If you haven't done so already, go ahead
Speaker 1: and hit that subscribe button so you get these podcasts
Speaker 1: delivered to you as soon as a new episode drops.
Speaker 1: That's it for us, Thanks for listening, and we'll be
Speaker 1: back with you again soon