BALTIMORE RAVENS POST-GAME QUOTES
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening Statement:
I appreciate you guys being here. Congratulations to the Vikings, they played very well; they're a good football team. Our attention goes to Thursday night; we're playing Thursday night and that's what I told the guys in there. We have to find a way to improve and get better and win the game Thursday night and that's where we are at.
Q: Where will you make improvements to get out of this losing streak and win on Thursday?
A: We have a lot of good players. We have guys that can make plays defensively. If all of our [guys] can get healthy a little bit, our offensive line is playing pretty well, the run game is good. I think we need to tighten up the run defense, so tighten up the run defense and our pass defense is solid. We'll try to find a way to win the game.
Q: It seems like the run defense was worn down. What do you think caused that?
A: I mean those clichés - worn down, gap control - it's just all meaningless chatter. We have to play better against the run, you know? We have to get a stop. They did a good job; we didn't.
Q: How much of a challenge is playing without your top three receivers?
A: We're not in to all that. Reality is what it is. We have to find a way to do what we have to do. We did not turn the ball over and that was a goal in this game. We thought that would give us a chance. We didn't do enough of the other things we need to do to win the game.
Q: Was Mike Wallace close to returning?
A: That was a done deal.
Q: Was Mike Wallace trying to come back and play?
A: Oh yeah. That's Mike. That's not surprising. Mike is a tough guy and he was adamant about coming back in to the game, but he has some kind of concussion, to some degree. We will find out over the next couple days how that shakes out, but it does not surprise me.
Q: Was offensive play calling a challenge against these matchups and did that impact Joe Flacco's ability to pass today?
A: Well I think they did a great job of defending and covering and doing the things they need to do. They played a lot of two-deep man coverage against us. We already had the one-on-one match-ups with the pass rusher, so that was the essence of what they did. They mixed their coverages a little bit but mostly, a lot of man coverage.
Ravens Quarterback Joe Flacco
Q: How tough is it to execute these plays without some of your top receivers playing?
A: It's tough to talk about how tough it is. It is what it is. We have to go out there and we have to play and that's why we have 53 guys on the roster that are active every week so that everybody gets a chance to step out and make it happen. It obviously isn't the best situation but we've got to make it work.
*Q: Was it difficult with communication on certain plays with wide receivers when you're not used to throwing to them? *
A: It's part of it. We got Griff (Whalen) a couple days ago, we've just got to go make it happen. We've been working with Mike Campanaro for a while now, and Chris Moore has had a couple years now and he's been doing really good. When he has stepped up and gotten the chance he has done his part. You don't normally have much time to think about it when you're out there playing, because it all happens on Sunday. I think you're probably lucky in that sense because you don't think about it.
Q: How difficult is it to try to fix the fact that you went so long in this game without a touchdown?
A: You go back to work. You get better, you look at where you made mistakes. But I wouldn't say that overall we are trying to fix something that is completely broken. We can't look at it that way. We have to look at the areas that we can do things well in, and continue to exploit the defense in those things that we do well. We will make it happen. We have to keep our heads up and play one game at a time. This is where we are right now and there's nothing we can do to go back in time to change it at this point. We work hard. We are in the building 24/7 trying to get everything as good as it can be, so we will continue to do that.
Q: Did you expect them to do a lot of man defense or do you think they switched to that after Mike Wallace got hurt?
A: They pretty much did what we expected. We expected Xavier Rhodes to cover Mike Wallace, and follow him around, and once he went out he was just over on the left side. Once he went out we weren't really able to take any deep shots over top of them for whatever reason, whether it was what they were giving us or their front. Obviously there was a stretch there where we tried to throw the ball deep a couple of times, but there just wasn't much happening on that end of it so they were able to sit on some underneath stuff and then forced me out of the pocket there, or they were able to get a little bit of pressure here and there with guys sneaking through.
Q: You talked about improving on what you guys do well, what do you see that this offense does well right now?
A: Alex Collins has given us a spark and we're running the ball well. When we're doing it we can't have a three-yard loss in the middle of the drive and put us in a situation where we have to convert a 2nd and 14, 2nd and 13, therefore 3rd and 1. I think we have to hit some crossing routes and get our guys that have some speed the ball. I think we can easily improve our screen game a little bit. That's an area that should be pretty easy to get things going in, every time we drop back and throw a screen we're either not completing it or getting tackled right at the line of scrimmage, so I think that can be something that we can pretty quickly turn around and get some yardage out of.
Q: You had the one screen open early to the tight end…
A: Yeah, I've got to do a better job getting to the ball. The defensive end there was kind of in between us. I've just got to maybe hold it for a click and just do a better job of getting to him.
Q: Is there a level of frustration when you see the defense and they're holding up the field goals, keeping the game close, and you just can't get into that end zone?
A: We knew it was going to be that kind of game and that's the kind of game we planned for. They had a good defense, we had a good defense. We knew both teams probably saw each other in a similar fashion. We were going to be the offense to go out there and break through and score a couple touchdowns and get ourselves ahead, and it didn't turn out that way. They were able to run the ball a little bit and eat up some clock, and we just weren't able to do the same. We thought we were going to be a little better than them at doing so and it didn't turn out that way.
Q: When you lose Mike Wallace that early how much does that affect the game plan when you're thinking he's going to be in for the game?
A: I guess it's just one of those things, you guys know how much he can effect the game. He's one of the best players on our team and when you lose a guy like that it's definitely going to have an effect on you. I'd like to overcome that and move forward and win the ballgame anyway, but we weren't able to do that.
Ravens Kicker Justin Tucker
Q: Do you wiish you could kick in a domed stadium like this every week?
A: No. I am happy to play for the team I play for. I don't think about that. I take it week-by- week and assess the conditions every pregame and whatever they are, they are. We roll with it.Today we happened to be playing in a much more controlled environment. We were able to take a couple shots from long range. Morgan Cox was throwing back good snaps, Sam Koch was giving me good spots, and the ball was flying pretty well for us today. That is a positive for us for sure.
Q: When you say us, it was flying pretty well for Kai Forbath too. How do you make six field goals and miss an extra point? How is that? Is that a mental thing?
A: I don't care to get into that. At the end of the day, they won the game, they scored more points than us. The good news is we have a quick turnaround so we can move on to the next one pretty quickly. You have to give credit to Kai Forbath for hitting the ball pretty well today. As a specialist, as a kicker, you like to see guys do well. You just don't want to see them too well. At the end of the day, it is what it is. We will just move on and we got a short week.
Q: I saw you talk to Kai Forbath after the game. What did you say to him?
A: Just congrats on the win and he's doing a great job. I hope he is able to stay healthy and that's it.
Q: You have a game in four days. You can regroup pretty quickly, I'm sure. How does everyone else regroup?
A: Well, that's a pretty annoying assumption that as a specialist I can just go out there and kick a ball. The short week does present challenges for everybody in here. Coaches and players alike. In the years that I've been blessed to be here we have done pretty well on Thursday nights so it's a challenge that we look forward to. I think it will be a great atmosphere, it will be fun, like it always is. I think if you ask anybody in here we are all chomping at the bit to play another game. Just to get back in the win column.
Ravens Defensive Tackle Brandon Williams
Q: How do you feel like the run defense did overall?
A: I feel like we did well. I mean we still gave up over 100 yards which is unacceptable for us but, it's definitely better than 231 yards last week.
Q: Can you explain Minnesota's first run of the game when you hit Latavius Murray for a three-yard loss?
A: That was me doing my job. That's what I'm paid to do. I just went out there and played my game. That's what I'm used to doing, so that's what I am going to keep doing.
Q: How did you feel? Did you feel like you got through the game feeling okay?
A: Yes, I feel good. I am ready for Thursday. I am ready to get back and practice these next few days and get ready for Miami.
Q: Do you feel, for the defense, that there is just a small margin of error?
A: Yeah. But, we know that. Obviously the Ravens defense is historical here. We know that it comes down to us getting out there and keeping offenses at bay. At the same time, I am proud of my guys. We only gave up one offensive touchdown – the rest were field goals. I am proud of my guys. They are fighting their butts off, just doing everything the possibly can to keep it a close game. I wouldn't go to war with anyone else.
Ravens Linebacker Terrell Suggs
Q: How do you take it when your defense plays like that?
A: It's disappointing, and extremely frustrating. The team is built around defense, its just disappointing. We are not playing good football right now. I don't really have any answers for you. Defensively? Yeah, defensively we are not playing really good football. I read something one of you wrote, that we are 30th against the run. 15 years of me being here, we have never been that low. I think we gave up two back-to-back 100-yard rushing games. For me, being the veteran on the defense, I take more of the blame for that than anything because I know how we are supposed to play. I know how it is supposed to look. Like I said, I am just extremely frustrated and disappointed. But we can't concede, because we are not out yet. The magic can still happen, we only have 2 AFC losses. We saw in 2012 what momentum can do, we just have to get the momentum rolling on our side. We have to stick in there and get this stuff fixed.
Q: Is there something specific with the run game that you are seeing?
A: It just seems like its leakage, like its bleeding. It seems like teams are just trying to stall us out and eat up the clock. We have to be better, we have to get off the field. We have to identify what they are doing, and play better. I mean, I don't even think it is an X's and O's thing. We just have to click and get our chemistry and play better, together. We just are not playing Raven football. Like I said, the team is built around the defense and we don't have to be perfect, but we have to play better than we are. We are seven games in, we have nine left. Right now we stink, you can write it in there 'yeah the Ravens suck, yada yada yada.' But with the schedule going ahead, I still think we can do something magical. You know what kind of team we are, once we get in the show. We have a home game on Thursday, an AFC home game on Thursday. So, you defend your home turf and everything can look up for you.
Q: How much do you think depends on the defense creating turnovers?
A: Every good defense in the league gets turnovers. Like I said, we have to get more of them (turnovers) and give our offense more opportunities. That was a goal of ours going in.
Baltimore Ravens Safety Eric Weddle
Q: How did the defense play today?
A: There were many mistakes and right now we are just not good enough to overcome those and that's the bottom line. We were put in some tough situations. We held them to field goals but bottom line is, we didn't get it done. We have a short week ahead of us, which is probably good for our team right now. We got to get back to it. Get back late tonight and start working on Miami.
Q: What is the margin of error for you?
A:* *Zero.
Q: What would you say is your level of confidence that you guys can bounce back?
A: What do you think? 100%. I think we are going to win every game, so I don't really understand a question like that. Do you want me to say we are going to lose next week? I think we are going to win every game, until the season is done and I can't play anymore games. If anyone else says otherwise, they probably shouldn't be on the team.
Q: How do you feel about the defense holding them to field goals?
A: Yeah, it kept us in the game but we still got to create more turnovers. We had a couple third down situations where we could've got up the field and maybe make it a longer field goal or make them punt. So when you're in a game like that where it's a defensively tight game, we got to make those plays to sway the game and give our offense some momentum and give them a short field. You look at some positives but we still gave them 24 points and that's not going to win the game.
Ravens Wide Receiver Chris Moore
Q: How difficult was the match up on the outside and dealing with Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes?
A: They are both great at coverage and we did the best we could. It was a good matchup and I would love to go against them again in the future.
Q: How tough was it on third downs and knowing that you have to pick up the slack?
A: It was tough and we knew that a big play needs to happen. We tried our best and it wasn't enough to pull the win in the end.
Q: With Wallace out what was going on through your mind?
A: I was shocked but I was feeling ready and confident. I thought about it like a test. I had to step up and bring my A game. It was hard because we only had three receivers out there today. But we came out and played the best we could. Overall the coaches did a good job and so did everyone else, but in the end, it wasn't enough to pull a victory.
