Speaker 1: You're listening to the Ravens Press Pass podcast. Today is Tuesday,
Speaker 1: November fifth. Today we heard from head coach John Harbaugh.
Speaker 2: Okay, good to see everybody here.
Speaker 3: As we said, we are hurtling towards Thursday night at
Speaker 3: a break neck pace, getting ready to play the game.
Speaker 2: And what questions you have, John, uh, that you.
Speaker 4: Guys treated for Maybe it's white any game as a
Speaker 4: lot of.
Speaker 2: Well, just off the practice field.
Speaker 3: I think the trading deadlines at four, I'll probably just
Speaker 3: wait and see, make make sure everything's up, and talk
Speaker 3: to Eric first before I would comment on that.
Speaker 2: So we'll see John. That's all you guys care about
Speaker 2: right now. I also did not see the more practice
Speaker 2: anything he talks about.
Speaker 3: That not really nothing I really want to talk about
Speaker 3: in comment on he'll be playing Thursday night. That's probably
Speaker 3: the main thing right that you're asking, Yeah, he will
Speaker 3: be playing Thursday night.
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm sure it's always unique game plan employed
Speaker 5: division opponents, but when you're doing it on the short
Speaker 5: week like this second time you're playing them this year,
Speaker 5: is does it feel any different when you're preparing for
Speaker 5: this type of game.
Speaker 3: It definitely feels different on a short week for any opponent.
Speaker 3: I like the fact that you know, you play a
Speaker 3: team that you have a little more familiarity with, But
Speaker 3: that's a two edge sword too, because they have they
Speaker 3: have a lot of familiarity with us. So every every
Speaker 3: game is different, you know, every game is unique. Is
Speaker 3: kind of take it as it comes, attack the circumstances
Speaker 3: as they present themselves, and that's what we'll try to
Speaker 3: do and do our best.
Speaker 5: Yeah, John Lamar.
Speaker 4: Talk about wanting to score a lot of points. I mean,
Speaker 4: that's the goal obviously all the time. And the same
Speaker 4: could be said for your offense. But when you do
Speaker 4: face a team like Cincinnati, do you feel offensively for
Speaker 4: yourself you need to be more aggressive when you can
Speaker 4: get into and he's kind of shootout situation.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 3: I think a lot of that has to do with
Speaker 3: how the game's going once we get into the game.
Speaker 3: We'll we'll we look at it certain ways going into
Speaker 3: the game right now, but we'll see how the game's going.
Speaker 3: You never know how it's going to play out, you know.
Speaker 3: So I'm I'm excited for all three phases of our
Speaker 3: of our team to play play their best, play their hardest,
Speaker 3: and uh and just see where it goes as the
Speaker 3: game goes on.
Speaker 7: John, I know your internal conversations are the most important.
Speaker 7: But Marlin was all about yesterday that it feels that
Speaker 7: Zach taking some heat for player mistakes. You know, what
Speaker 7: is the mean to see Holy Gardner team talk like
Speaker 7: that and take some accountability And do you feel like
Speaker 7: things are going the right way based off last week
Speaker 7: to fix the second area?
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's a process through the whole season
Speaker 3: to get better at everything. You know, there seems to
Speaker 3: be an expectation that you're going to be perfect at everything,
Speaker 3: every every aspect of your game, from the first game
Speaker 3: to the last game to the end, and that seems
Speaker 3: to be the requirement, you know, and it's just not reality.
Speaker 3: It's not reality in anything. We have a growth mindset.
Speaker 3: We don't have a fixed mindset. We understand that we
Speaker 3: can't get better, you know, we and we work hard
Speaker 3: to get better every single day and every single thing
Speaker 3: we do. And I know Marlin speaking to that. Our
Speaker 3: guys are great about that, coaches are great about that.
Speaker 3: So you face challenges, you face circumstances, and you meet
Speaker 3: them as you find them. You meet them where they're at,
Speaker 3: where you meet your circumstances where they're at.
Speaker 2: That's what I was looking for.
Speaker 3: Meet your circumstances where they're at. I think that's pretty good,
Speaker 3: you know. So that's what you continue to do and
Speaker 3: you continue to try to grow, whether it's football or
Speaker 3: life or whatever. So that's what we're trying to do
Speaker 3: as a team, and I'm very confident our guys doing that.
Speaker 8: Speaking of leaders or kwand Smith is a guy and
Speaker 8: you know, probably one of the biggest leaders in the team,
Speaker 8: as you talked about, and you know, a guy that
Speaker 8: must not perform his very high standard is the first
Speaker 8: one to say that. What are the conversations that he's
Speaker 8: had that you guys have had throughout the course of
Speaker 8: the season to try to elevate you to do that?
Speaker 2: Well, we've had a lot of conversations.
Speaker 3: I mean we talk all the time every day when
Speaker 3: and you know, and we talk about plays specifically, we
Speaker 3: talk about I'm talking about plays in practice, we talk
Speaker 3: about in the meeting room, we talk about, you know,
Speaker 3: how we're handling coverage or a rush, or how we're
Speaker 3: handling a play. Those are those are all the little
Speaker 3: detailed conversations that you have all the time because it's
Speaker 3: a complicated game. A lot of stuff happens, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: all around the league. I mean it's challenging. You're if
Speaker 3: you're facing great plays and great players and you're talking
Speaker 3: about it all the time. You also have some big
Speaker 3: picture of conversations too, you know about how can we
Speaker 3: get better? What do we need to do, what are
Speaker 3: we missing? What what are we doing?
Speaker 2: Well? Uh, was your leaders?
Speaker 3: You have those conversations. You sell meeting out there with
Speaker 3: the leaders. Just now we're talking about scheduling thing for
Speaker 3: the next couple of days. So those are those are
Speaker 3: the type of conversations you have.
Speaker 5: John, I'm sure you don't want to have some of
Speaker 5: the issues that the defense has had to this point
Speaker 5: of this season. But when you have the turnover, especially
Speaker 5: you go to zach or in this first year, as
Speaker 5: a play called it because it was a learning curve
Speaker 5: kind of expected to a degree.
Speaker 3: Well, I think we're all expected to have a learning curve,
Speaker 3: you know, and everybody's you know, where they're at and
Speaker 3: what what what happens in your life and you try
Speaker 3: to learn and grow and become the best you can be.
Speaker 3: I mean, so that's what we're doing. We're together as
Speaker 3: a team. I got a talented team, you know. I mean,
Speaker 3: we have a talented group of people who've got talented
Speaker 3: coaches who work really hard. We have talented players who
Speaker 3: work really hard. That's what makes me happy. I'm I'm
Speaker 3: full of joy every single day. Walker in this building now,
Speaker 3: still determined, you know, still, you know it's a little
Speaker 3: pride always, I say, a little pride's a lot of pride,
Speaker 3: you know, and doing things the right way and working
Speaker 3: hard and trying to do everything you can do to
Speaker 3: to prove who you are, you know, and that's what
Speaker 3: our guys do.
Speaker 9: Jya some some uncertainty right now over to Higgins availability
Speaker 9: for doing that. And I respects, you know, all the
Speaker 9: receivers on that team. But if he is healthy, if
Speaker 9: he is you know, full go just how much more
Speaker 9: difficult does does he make that ass conference.
Speaker 2: For Joe grow Well?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know the exact number, but it's it's
Speaker 3: definitely a factor.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 3: They've got some other guys too. I mean this this
Speaker 3: young number eighty's doing a nice job too. But he
Speaker 3: got eighty one. You know, he'll be he'll be ready.
Speaker 3: I guess he'll be out there. So he's fast you know,
Speaker 3: but T Higgins, he's one of the top receivers in football.
Speaker 4: John breaking out the performance an the initial impression of
Speaker 4: how they love him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like them. I think they look good. What
Speaker 2: do you think I think?
Speaker 10: Actually I thought a little better out there than the
Speaker 10: initial photos.
Speaker 2: You know, everybody's a critic, aren't they. You know, I did,
Speaker 2: I did, I did. You're right, you're right.
Speaker 3: Asked your opinion. I asked your opinion. You're right, you're right,
Speaker 3: you're right, you're right.
Speaker 2: Appuche.
Speaker 1: We also had a special guest today as Ravens legend
Speaker 1: Brandon Williams is back in the building. He officially retired
Speaker 1: as a Baltimore raven. He played ten years in the NFL,
Speaker 1: the first nine of them here with the Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 1: was a third round draft pick who turned out to
Speaker 1: be one of the great players along this defensive front
Speaker 1: throughout his career. He was excited to be back here
Speaker 1: in Baltimore. It was a touching moment for him to
Speaker 1: officially call it a career. And here's what he had
Speaker 1: to say during that retirement announcement.
Speaker 6: Wow feels uh feels surreal being back on the on
Speaker 6: the podium a you know, being back in Baltimore. You know,
Speaker 6: I haven't been back since when I left, and you know,
Speaker 6: coming back here is definitely bringing a lot of memories,
Speaker 6: a lot of uh, a lot of memories, a lot
Speaker 6: of great times, a lot of just wars we've had
Speaker 6: on the field, the wars we had, my teammates, I'm seeing,
Speaker 6: just the people I've been around. It's it's been a wonderful,
Speaker 6: wonderful time, and you know, I'm just happy and proud
Speaker 6: to be retiring a raven.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, Brandon, why why did you wanna come back
Speaker 3: here to kind of put a period on it?
Speaker 6: Uh, That's where I started, you know in the Bible,
Speaker 6: you know, Elijah was fed by the Ravens. Then he
Speaker 6: was told to, you know, go off somewhere else he
Speaker 6: had something better for him. And then I just wanted
Speaker 6: to come back and bring it full circle. You know,
Speaker 6: that's where I started this work. You know, gave me
Speaker 6: my you know, my livelihood, you know, everything I've you
Speaker 6: know wanted, you know, Coach c b you know, teaching
Speaker 6: me everything lost with me into the player I became.
Speaker 6: And I just wanted to come back here and just
Speaker 6: be in Baltimore. For the rest of my life.
Speaker 7: Did you ever think, I knew you always accomplished yourself,
Speaker 7: but to go from where you you were from college
Speaker 7: having that long with an NFL career, I mean, did
Speaker 7: you ever imagine something with that?
Speaker 6: No, I've I've always dreamed of it. I've always wished
Speaker 6: and prayed for it, but uh, just to actually have
Speaker 6: it happen and be here now retiring, it seems like
Speaker 6: it went so quick. But I mean, I'm thankful, I'm
Speaker 6: blessed definitely, Brandon.
Speaker 4: When people see that picture right there and they think
Speaker 4: of you in a rat in uniform, what do you
Speaker 4: hope that people take away and what is the one thing.
Speaker 7: That you know that they were remember about you?
Speaker 6: That he was authentic? You know, he he gave it
Speaker 6: at all. You know, he was always real when he
Speaker 6: came out. He he was just who he was. He
Speaker 6: wasn't playing a show. He was just going out there
Speaker 6: playing his game and being who he was.
Speaker 10: Randon, you got here at a time where they you know,
Speaker 10: there's a lot of defensive veterans over that, you know,
Speaker 10: future Pro Bowlers, Hall of famers, all of that. How
Speaker 10: much did that shape you as a player, what you
Speaker 10: learned when you were a young player here around all
Speaker 10: that defensive talent.
Speaker 6: Uh, it shaped me a lot, having Hellodi, Chris Kanty,
Speaker 6: Marcus Spears, you know, Arthur Jones, even you know, Terrence Cody.
Speaker 6: Just having those guys around me, seeing how they were
Speaker 6: being the pros, seeing how they took care of their body,
Speaker 6: how they took care of the health and all that
Speaker 6: stuff like that. It was just amazing just to add
Speaker 6: to the repertoire, add to you know, my chest, and
Speaker 6: you know, be able to kind of just give that
Speaker 6: back and just be exactly who I became to be.
Speaker 5: Right And I know you've got a lot of memories
Speaker 5: here in Baltimore, on and off the field. Is is
Speaker 5: there anything that stick out to you as kind of
Speaker 5: that sums up your time as a raider?
Speaker 2: I guess the locker room dance.
Speaker 6: Uh, the locker room dance. I mean, it was one
Speaker 6: of the dog days of training camp, Siss. We were
Speaker 6: about to go out, and I'm just like kind of
Speaker 6: lolling around a little bit, like, man, dude, it was
Speaker 6: hot outside. I don't want to go out. But then
Speaker 6: Sis started playing music and I just started getting into
Speaker 6: my groove, feeling myself and then Chris Kenny had the
Speaker 6: camera and then they happened. So I think that was
Speaker 6: the biggest time right there. That just kind of explains everything.
Speaker 6: Also another time was the guy you got you carrying
Speaker 6: the ball for you now, Derick Henry. You know, when
Speaker 6: you know, I've always pride myself on stopping the run.
Speaker 6: I've always prided myself on making sure you don't get
Speaker 6: those fourth and shorts and all that stuff like that,
Speaker 6: and seeing him carry the ball with the forest now
Speaker 6: is amazing. But the one time when I, you know,
Speaker 6: got after him in the backfield, that was a great
Speaker 6: moment because I've always prided myself on taking down the
Speaker 6: best running backs. He's one the best.
Speaker 3: Did you get in a golf card and crash into
Speaker 3: the tackling gum one one last time?
Speaker 8: For no?
Speaker 6: But if it's out here, though, I'm gonna get it done.
Speaker 6: So you gotta see the shot.
Speaker 2: He can give me the keys.
Speaker 4: So much of your life an identity does get wrapped
Speaker 4: up into football. Just what has this transition been like
Speaker 4: of putting that behind you and and what is next
Speaker 4: for you? What have you been up to the last
Speaker 4: couple of years.
Speaker 6: It's definitely been definitely been in a kind of like
Speaker 6: a limbo period period time, just mostly giving that time
Speaker 6: back to my kids, giving that time back to my family,
Speaker 6: just trying to get back with them, just let them
Speaker 6: know Dad's here. Just I'm here, you know, going to games,
Speaker 6: going to you know, practices, going to you know, horse
Speaker 6: question in therapy and all that stuff. My oldest son
Speaker 6: hat special needs. So it's just being there for them
Speaker 6: and giving them all of me instead of just you know,
Speaker 6: giving all to the game.
Speaker 7: Brandon, Are you're leaving a game with any regrets that
Speaker 7: you she could have done differently?
Speaker 6: No, I mean it's been great to stay here, win
Speaker 6: the championship my guys. But other than that, I don't
Speaker 6: regret anything I've been through. I don't think great anything
Speaker 6: I've done. I appreciate every moment that I've you know,
Speaker 6: had here. It's been truly amazing career.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Raves Press Pass podcast. The Raves
Speaker 1: will take the field on Thursday night against the Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Bengals Star Purple Rising game at M and T Banks
Speaker 1: Citi and make sure you are there in the house
Speaker 1: getting your seats early. Purple Rises at eight o'clock. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much. For listening. We'll be back with you
Speaker 1: on Thursday.