Speaker 1: Welcome into the Ravens Press Past podcast. The Ravens are
Speaker 1: gearing up for a matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday
Speaker 1: at four thirty pm at M and T Bank Stadium.
Speaker 1: As the Ravens put together their final game plan and
Speaker 1: practice preparations for this game, we had a chance to
Speaker 1: hear from head coach John Hardwall.
Speaker 2: Okay, good to see everybody here. Appreciate you being here.
Speaker 2: Good day, good workday for the guys. All our at
Speaker 2: tension pointed toward Sunday and between now and then doing
Speaker 2: everything we can to be prepared and go play our
Speaker 2: best game. Well questions, Yeah.
Speaker 3: John, didn't see the college taking it out there.
Speaker 2: Anything you can say about I really have nothing to
Speaker 2: report on any of that stuff. We'll be working through
Speaker 2: all those things next a few hours and a few
Speaker 2: days even, but we'll be uh, we'll be in good shape.
Speaker 2: We'll be ray to roll on Sunday.
Speaker 4: I guess that's it, John, I mean, obviously, second time,
Speaker 4: big game going against these guys. Is there anything that
Speaker 4: you know that was a point of emphasis maybe in
Speaker 4: the first matchup that you weren't able to check that
Speaker 4: box that you're open to do this time?
Speaker 2: Around. There is a lot of things, no question about it.
Speaker 2: I mean at different levels of things. You know, there's
Speaker 2: a big picture of things offense, defense, special teams that
Speaker 2: we've we've talked to our guys about. Then there's the
Speaker 2: details in every position room in terms of things that
Speaker 2: we want to do better. But instead of the same
Speaker 2: game either, you know, it's gonna be different things. Different
Speaker 2: players are gonna be run on both sides, different schemes.
Speaker 2: So you take them as you can as they come,
Speaker 2: you know, going forward, and the idea that we can
Speaker 2: play good, winning football you know out there, and and
Speaker 2: we've been doing that, you know for the most part
Speaker 2: all season, and continue to improve in those things. That's
Speaker 2: we're trying to do. And and and go play football,
Speaker 2: Go play some ball.
Speaker 5: John.
Speaker 3: Is there a benefit of seeing these guys so close,
Speaker 3: like you only play them a couple weeks ago and
Speaker 3: it's a big game that matters.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know we've had that before. We had I
Speaker 2: think we've played Cleveland, was it we had back you
Speaker 2: know one week in between last year. Maybe kind of
Speaker 2: happens in the division sometimes. So these division games are
Speaker 2: pretty pretty pretty well. We know these guys, they know us,
Speaker 2: but there's always wrinkles, you know, So you just try
Speaker 2: to try to have our guys ready to play. It's
Speaker 2: a big game, it's some important games. Try to focus
Speaker 2: on playing our best football.
Speaker 3: Really, John hard knocks.
Speaker 1: They've showed that a scoring player that apparently was named
Speaker 1: after you, but they didn't say why it was.
Speaker 2: It wasn't named after me, to be clear, Now, my
Speaker 2: point in that thing was it it should have been
Speaker 2: named after me. That's what I was trying to say.
Speaker 2: Why wasn't it named after me? Well, I mean it was.
Speaker 2: It was my idea, you know, being being clear, you know,
Speaker 2: we all we all contribute, we all can. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of contributions to the game plan, and I don't
Speaker 2: have that many on the offensive side, but that was
Speaker 2: one of them. And uh, to see it get into
Speaker 2: the game plan. First of all, it was a huge victory. Uh,
Speaker 2: I was, I was. I was pretty satisfied with that.
Speaker 2: Then it got you know, and then it scored. That
Speaker 2: was That was. That was a big moment, big moment
Speaker 2: in my career.
Speaker 3: It's in the game plan.
Speaker 2: They don't give you one a week where you're just
Speaker 2: saying that would that would you got to do that
Speaker 2: way they do not. They do not give me that
Speaker 2: one a week. It's got to be a really good play,
Speaker 2: you know, but that's probably a good standard, right. We
Speaker 2: prefer that the good ones is getting the game plan.
Speaker 3: Another kind of nugget from from Hard Knocks was, I
Speaker 3: think they captured you complementing t t on a good plate.
Speaker 3: Had he called something in the second half.
Speaker 2: Uh, I'm not sure what you're talking about, which play specifically,
Speaker 2: I'm not sure. Maybe you know, That's what I kind
Speaker 2: of goes back to. I don't know those specific player
Speaker 2: you're talking about, but I think what's it's good to know.
Speaker 2: I mean maybe that comes through a little bit on
Speaker 2: the show, is that everything's a collaboration. You know. Of course,
Speaker 2: you know there's decision makers, you know, and in this
Speaker 2: case Todd, you know, he's the officer of coordinator, so
Speaker 2: he calls to play. Finally at the end, he makes
Speaker 2: all the final decisions in terms of those sort of things.
Speaker 2: And you know, yeah, you can head coach, you can override,
Speaker 2: and I have I have input. It's things I say
Speaker 2: and make clear and things I really want to see
Speaker 2: and things I want to suggest and things I stay
Speaker 2: out of. You know, you try to make those decisions.
Speaker 2: But but but everybody's involved. I mean, you know, t
Speaker 2: to your question, he's heavily involved in the game planning,
Speaker 2: you know, and he does a great job with every
Speaker 2: aspect of it, and so does Willie, and so does Greg,
Speaker 2: and so does George and Travis. Of course with a
Speaker 2: run game. I mean all of our coaches are are
Speaker 2: a part of it. That's coaching has always been that way.
Speaker 2: It's always been a collaboration. It's always been a staff.
Speaker 2: You know, everybody works together. And maybe that maybe that
Speaker 2: shows in the in the Hard Knock Show. I'd be
Speaker 2: cool if it does. That'd be a be a real
Speaker 2: plussible if that comes through.
Speaker 3: John, is there does there have to be an awareness
Speaker 3: among your staff among the players about how like certain
Speaker 3: rep crews officiate certain games based on their tendancies based
Speaker 3: on what you guys kind of see.
Speaker 2: Uh, yes and no, because you can never say that
Speaker 2: this this crew calls more of this this guy I've
Speaker 2: learned that. I've learned that by by we're going all
Speaker 2: down that road, and they call more holding, they call
Speaker 2: more passing reference, they never call defensive holding, whatever it
Speaker 2: might be. And then all of a sudden next thing,
Speaker 2: you know, the flags fly or they don't fly, you know,
Speaker 2: and I think that the I know that the League office,
Speaker 2: you know, Walt Anderson, Perry Fuel, they really try to
Speaker 2: communicate with their officiating crews in terms of what they
Speaker 2: want the interpretations to be on a different call. So
Speaker 2: they're training those guys all the time, and we get
Speaker 2: those tapes. We were privy to what they're telling the guys,
Speaker 2: so we have an understanding what they're telling the cruise.
Speaker 2: So we try to keep our guys updated on that.
Speaker 2: So what what are they looking for with holding? What
Speaker 2: are they looking for with passing interference? You know, why
Speaker 2: are they calling? Why are they calling you? And that one?
Speaker 2: Why are they calling that? We show a lot of
Speaker 2: other tape, you know why they call this one in
Speaker 2: that game? And try to trading guys as much as
Speaker 2: you can. But the bottom line really is just played
Speaker 2: play the technique, you know, as best you can the
Speaker 2: wage coach in every circumstance, and the penalty should should
Speaker 2: come down, you know, they should, They really should by
Speaker 2: playing good technique and and we'll be chasing that in
Speaker 2: this game for sure.
Speaker 3: Kind Of it doesn't seem like there's a lot of
Speaker 3: optimism in Pittsburgh for Pickings to play. I mean, if
Speaker 3: he's missing on Saturday, what is best dealers offense lose.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, you know, it's it's a it's a
Speaker 2: great player. It's no different than any of their other
Speaker 2: players or any of our guys who player don't play.
Speaker 2: It's a it's a factor, you know, but it's not unusual.
Speaker 2: This is the type of thing that happens throughout the
Speaker 2: course of the season with every team. You got to
Speaker 2: find a way to play and win games without players
Speaker 2: when they can't play, and you know, hopefully you don't
Speaker 2: have too many of those. From our perspective, We've been
Speaker 2: been pretty good this year with the injuries, and I
Speaker 2: appreciate that and it's been a good year that way,
Speaker 2: and hopefully you know, it continues. But it doesn't it
Speaker 2: doesn't change. No player specific player changes things too dramatically.
Speaker 2: You know, the quarterback obviously missing a game that would
Speaker 2: be the most dramatic for any team. And then you know,
Speaker 2: you kind of work your way through and uh, a
Speaker 2: player of that caliber is it's a factor. But they
Speaker 2: still have other really good players that they'll be playing with,
Speaker 2: and just like we will if some of our guys
Speaker 2: don't play on I.
Speaker 3: Know Nelson's concussion protocol there.
Speaker 1: Now is there a change? Does he have enough time
Speaker 1: to get cleared by the game?
Speaker 2: He does?
Speaker 1: He does.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the same question I asked this morning, and yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a very good question, and there's your answer.
Speaker 1: In the locker room today, we also heard from tight
Speaker 1: End isaa likely? Well? Isay? Just go into this game
Speaker 1: against Steelers? What's the mindset going into this AFS North rivalry?
Speaker 5: I really just you know, preaching the fundamentals, keeping them
Speaker 5: one from in front of their major in the minor details,
Speaker 5: you know, snap in, snap out, and really just you know,
Speaker 5: keeping that all the way to the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: I know ball security has been a big point of
Speaker 1: emphasis and Tom Mulkin emphasized that yesterday. How big of
Speaker 1: a focus is that for you guys going into this game?
Speaker 5: Uh, you know, it's a big emphasis. I mean in
Speaker 5: the last three games they said we had eight turnovers,
Speaker 5: so you know that's just you know a big reason
Speaker 5: why you know we have men in the lost column
Speaker 5: when we played them. So really just harping on that
Speaker 5: especially and really just going from there, what is.
Speaker 1: Your feeling about always kind of being ready in terms
Speaker 1: of you never know, there's a pick your poison offense
Speaker 1: every week. It could be a different guy, but what
Speaker 1: is your mindset going into it knowing that it could
Speaker 1: be you or it could be anybody who has a
Speaker 1: big game on any given week.
Speaker 5: Really, just you know, like you just said, like just
Speaker 5: staying ready, I mean, just you know, having you know
Speaker 5: that you know that blessing to have that kind of
Speaker 5: explosive offense where it could be running past you know
Speaker 5: every given Sunday, Thursday or Monday where it's you know,
Speaker 5: well now Saturday. But really just you know, harping on
Speaker 5: the little things when you go into the game, so
Speaker 5: when your number is called, those big plays happen. So
Speaker 5: they got to keep honest to everybody.
Speaker 1: Obviously there's the AFC North race at stake here. Do
Speaker 1: you think about that at all going into this or
Speaker 1: how do you approach the knowledge of where this the
Speaker 1: playoff implications.
Speaker 4: Of this game?
Speaker 5: I say, everybody keeps in the mindset I want to
Speaker 5: know and then we let you know, like everybody else
Speaker 5: media wise, or you know, sometimes even coach harp playing
Speaker 5: to the factor on what happens when you finished the
Speaker 5: week want to know, But I feel like, you know,
Speaker 5: thinking that far ahead, you know, you don't live in there,
Speaker 5: and I feel like that's you know, where ever everybody's
Speaker 5: mindset on the team needs to be for Saturday, just
Speaker 5: in the present, finishing that game.
Speaker 4: Wan to know ex yeah, yeah, uh, it's it still
Speaker 4: experience having a.
Speaker 3: Reputation of travel pretty well, but whenever they come to
Speaker 3: Baltimore doesn't seem like it's a whole lot of lack
Speaker 3: of gold of a stands. I guess what was that
Speaker 3: to say about the Ravens fan base and what do
Speaker 3: you kind of meet from them at the game's biggest Saturdays.
Speaker 5: Uh, it just shows you the type of rivalry it is.
Speaker 5: I mean, they you know, they don't like us as
Speaker 5: much as we don't like them, So, you know, just
Speaker 5: keeping the home game a home game. I feel like
Speaker 5: that's the biggest thing that the Flowed Nation tries to
Speaker 5: pro uh preach in that every giving someday when we
Speaker 5: have a home game Saturday or Saturday, get used to it.
Speaker 5: Get used to when you look at them, think about mean,
Speaker 5: obviously they had to make a ton of feel goals
Speaker 5: to beat you guys last time.
Speaker 2: But one of the biggest critiques of this team right
Speaker 2: now is the penalties.
Speaker 1: How has that been expressed or in practice?
Speaker 2: To clean that up?
Speaker 5: Uh really just you know, just making an emphasis. I mean,
Speaker 5: I feel like those are the hard questions and the
Speaker 5: hard answers nobody wants to hear. But I feel like
Speaker 5: as a offense, you know, just a growing offense. Everybody
Speaker 5: getting older, you know, the vents leaning on it. I mean,
Speaker 5: they just wanna see in practice. So just Understan and
Speaker 5: you know, clean technique and clean footwork, everything mining the
Speaker 5: minor details and practice that's going to you know, get
Speaker 5: into Sunday Saturday. Well, you know we can, you know,
Speaker 5: be able to clean that stuff up.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Ravens Press Past podcast. Make sure
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Speaker 1: Saturday after that game against the Steelers.