DAILY INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS
Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening Statement:"Good Friday. Everybody worked hard [and we're] in good spirits. Now, it's more mental and more emotional getting ready for Sunday night. We don't play until Sunday night, so there's a little more time involved. We'll try to emotionally be at our best then and not Friday. So, we're kind of working toward that."
TE Dustin Keller is a guy that is, obviously, very talented. But also, the amount that QB Mark Sanchez relies on him makes him tough to defend, I'd imagine?* (Dan Kolko)*"I think he's one of the premier pass-catching tight ends in the National Football League. You know, you're talking about a handful of guys, and he's right there with them. He's only gotten better. He's a threat, especially on the crossing routes and downfield. He does it all, really. So, he's going to be a big factor."
G Ben [Grubbs] worked yesterday a little bit. How did that go, and what about today? (Aaron Wilson)"You know, he didn't do as much today. I think we're more concerned with the toe healing than we are with the reps. It's going to be a game-time decision. We'll put him out there and let him play if he can. It's been three weeks for a toe, so I think he's got a pretty good chance. But, you just can't control that stuff; we'll have to see what happens."
What about WR Lee Evans? [He] didn't do anything all week and had a lot of time to rest this past week. (Aaron Wilson)"Yeah, I don't think we'll see Lee right now. There's just something in there that's hurting him a little bit. So, we'll just go with the young guys."
Are you guys worried that [Evans' injury] might be something that would carry past the bye week and into future weeks?
(Dan Kolko)"Yeah, I'm worried about it now, because it's lasted longer than I thought it would. I haven't heard… There's nothing to tell us that. I'm sure we'll have another MRI and see where it's at, but as a coach, sure you start thinking, 'Well, what's the deal?' But, we'll just have to see where it goes. I'm planning on him being back for the Houston game, but we'll have to see."
Is this one of those games where you really don't have much to say to the team [because] they know what's at stake? They know who they're playing against, and they know that it's going to be emotionally charged because it's a big audience? (Jerry Coleman)"Yeah, sometimes you can say too much and it becomes just superfluous. (laughter) Thank you. (laughter) Drink it in, right?" (laughter)
What are the new rules on the bye week per the CBA, and how much are you going to have them in here? (Joe Platania)"Basically, you have to give them off Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And, you know, we have work to do. It's early in the year still, so we have work to do and we'll take advantage of those days. But, it'll be based on what we need to do coming out of the Jets game; who needs the most work, and what's best for the team as a group and what's best for guys individually. So, we'll just have to cross that bridge on Monday."
Good week for young receivers then? (Jim Forner)"Good week for them, yeah. Obviously, they're getting an opportunity. They had a good week of practice [and] they continue to get better. That's the good thing about young guys; they get better a lot, because they have a ways to go. So, our guys had a good week."
