Opening statement:"First of all, on behalf of the Ravens Family, I want to extend our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to Joe Bauer and his family for what happened at the game Sunday, which is absolutely inexcusable. Here's a man and a family that have been longtime season-ticket holders, that know the people here that work in the building, that love the Ravens and have been to countless numbers of games at M&T Bank Stadium without incident. All of a sudden, there's an incident where a 58-year-old gentleman is assaulted by somebody. That's just not what we're about. We're a family. It's a family atmosphere. We believe in having kids in the stands. That's why our cheerleaders are gymnasts; that's why we have a band. It's all about family environment. That's why we play the music that we play. It's for families. That's what the Baltimore Ravens are about. I'm the coach, but I'm the one doing the press conference, and Kevin [Byrne, senior vice president of public and community relations] asked me to say something. I just want to say, on behalf of the organization – Steve Bisciotti most especially – that's not going to be OK. Whatever security has to be out there – whatever has to be done – will be done, because this is just not what we're about, and we're not going to have it at M&T Bank Stadium. Our prayers are with Joe and his family, and our thoughts are with him, and we'll be pulling for him."
Raiders QB Derek Carr stayed very clean in the pocket yesterday. I don't believe there was a sack or quarterback hit. Were they throwing anything exotic or different as far as blocking schemes at your guys? (Joe Platania) "No. That's what they do. He's been sacked twice all year. He's rarely touched. The ball comes out really quickly, and that's the way they've set their offense up. I give them credit, Bill Musgrave and the coaches there. I feel like they've built an offense that is very quarterback-friendly. They have a big, physical offensive line. They stay in front of you. They grab you. They chip with tight ends, they chip with backs. They do everything they can to keep the quarterback clean. Then Derek gets the ball out fast, and when he doesn't, he moves. That's the way they're built. They did it very well, and we weren't able to counter it as effectively as we'd hoped to."
John, you and QB Joe Flacco and other players talked about putting the pressure on yourselves instead of your opponent. That's a broad concept, but how do you correct that going forward? (Childs Walker)"The first thing is you don't have self-inflicted wounds. That's the No. 1 thing – the penalties. I think we had five holding penalties, two of which I can coach off of, three of which there's really nothing I can say to the guys about. It doesn't matter. They're holding penalties, and you're second-and-20 or whatever. That's where it starts. You cannot … We overcame it once or twice, but you can't overcome it five times. We don't want to overcome it any times. We don't want pre-snap penalties. We don't need holding penalties. The interesting thing was, a number of them were on plays that got out for some yards, too. It's not just 10 yards. It is also the yards you gain that you lose. Those can be drive killers. That's what Joe was talking about, and that's what I was talking about last night with our team. That's what we have to eliminate. We're way better on offense than we've showed, because we're way more capable of playing winning football. We have to do it more often."
**Were there one or two penalties that were beyond befuddling? The OLB Terrell Suggs or DT Brandon Williams offside penalty when they probably knew that was coming, or WR Mike Wallace with the double unsportsmanlike penalty? The unsportsmanlike stuff must really ticks you off. *(Jerry Coleman) *"Just what you said. You answered you question very well, and I agree with you."
*Was there one that stood out? (Jerry Coleman) *"No, you said it. You mentioned them. Those are the ones that stood out. I agree with that."
Was getting RB Terrance West more carries the plan going in, or did that evolve throughout the game?* (Cliff Brown*)"I think that was more of the plan going in because of what we did. We went ahead and brought 'Buck' [Javorius Allen] up, and the thought there was to give 'Buck' a chance. He's been working hard, and he's a talented guy, and [we wanted to] give him a chance to get in there and see what he could do. And [we wanted to] give Terrance more carries and give him a chance to see what he could do. I thought it worked well. He did a good job and ran hard. He's more ticked off at himself about the fumble. Give Jeremy Zuttah tons of credit for the hustle and the effort play to get on that ball. That was a great play by Jeremy, which goes to the next point, I think, which is that we are playing really hard, really physical, fast football. We're capable of being an excellent offense – a really good offense – and we're going to get there. Our guys are capable of doing it. I'm going to keep pushing them and prodding them and encouraging them. We're going to keep working hard to get to the point where we translate plays and yards into points. That's what we need to do, especially early in the game, which we didn't. We did it late, but not early in the game this game."
Was that a discussion at halftime to try to get RB Terrance West the ball more and run a little bit more in the third quarter? (Luke Jones) "No, we're not going to say, 'Hey, we need to get so and so the ball more,' at halftime. We're looking more at scheme stuff. We want to run the ball more and we want to run it effectively. Really, what you talk about is how we're going to do it. It's not so much, 'We have to run the ball more.' It's really more about how are we going to run the ball better? If we didn't run the ball well, what was stopping us? How do we need to formation it or how do we need to block it? Or who is making the plays and how do we counter that? You have about eight minutes in there to make some decisions, and that's really what you get to is how we're going to scheme it up. The same thing goes for the passing game and the protection part of it. That's happening on defense, too, and it's also happening on special teams."
Did RB Terrance West do enough yesterday to be the main guy going forward? (Jamison Hensley) "I'm not going to say that. I'm not going to get into all of that. That's all great to write about, but it's nothing for us to waste any energy on. We're going to put the guys out that are playing well. Our guys know this: If you're playing hard, you're playing smart, and you're playing fundamentally sound, and you're productive, you have a chance of being out there again, because everybody is counting on everybody else to get the job done. If one of those things falls down, then you leave the door open for another guy to get their opportunity."
At the end of the game, was there any consideration to let K Justin Tucker try if from 67 yards for the field goal? (Garrett Downing) "No. No, not really. I felt like we needed to try to get the first down there. I can see your point, but that would have been asking a lot on a grass field that was a little soft."
On the final touchdown by Raiders WR Michael Crabtree, S Lardarius Webb was out and S Kendrick Lewis was in. Did that cause any confusion there with a communication breakdown? (Jerry Coleman) "No. They played the proper coverage. They just didn't play it well – neither one of them."
John, is TE Maxx Williams' knee injury serious or a day-to-day issue? (Luke Jones) "To be determined. It's the same thing he's had. It's a cartilage issue that he has in there. It's not something that can be fixed until it's fixed. It's just something he has to play with and play through. The doctors have to tell us what the best course of action is going forward. He can still play. Is it the best thing for him and all of that? We'll have to figure that out."
What did you see from CB Jerraud Powers in his first game playing, and do you see him and CB Tavon Young continuing to split snaps?* (Ryan Mink)* "They were in different personnel groups that we had. We are trying to play as many defensive players that we can, and you probably have noticed that. We are playing packages, and I don't know what the exact split was with those guys, but like you said, it was fairly balanced. I thought they both played well. Jerraud played solid; he did OK. We will see where it goes."
Going back to pass rush, do you look at what happened yesterday as a one-game aberration, or do you say, "Maybe we need to tinker with some things in the pass rush?" (Ed Lee)"We aren't going to change anything. We have a system, and we have a plan in place. We are not going to panic. We didn't get to the quarterback. There are a few tweaks that we are talking about making that you won't notice, just in terms of how we call things or how we execute things that we will work on. We are capable of having a great pass rush, and we plan on having a great pass rush."
Beyond some of the self-defeating stuff that you alluded to with the offense, QB Joe Flacco did talk about feeling like things aren't quite clicking overall yet. Do you share that feeling? Do you not see the offense that you envisioned going into the season yet? (Childs Walker)"Of course [I share that feeling]. I think everybody sees it. The end result is something that we all can look at – fans and coaches and players and everybody. We know what we want it to feel like and look like from a production standpoint, and we are not there. We have to dive down inside and find a way to get it there. We are capable of doing it. I have my ideas. [Offensive coordinator] Marc [Trestman] has his ideas; all the coaches [have ideas]. We talked to Joe, we talked to different players, but we are not going to … One thing you don't do is you don't overreact. That is the starting point; you don't overreact. That is when things get rough. We have a good plan. We have an idea, but after four weeks, I think you start to get an idea of what you are really good at, especially with our receivers coming to the table late through training camp and all that. I feel like we all can see now what we have and how to utilize these guys. I want to get consistent at what we were doing. I want us to get out there and look certain and understand how we are going to execute things and get good at it."
You had talked about a 50-percent ratio, or close to it, with run-pass. That is what you had yesterday. I believe it was 50 on the button. I think it was 52 passing attempts, 26 runs. (Jerry Coleman)"Is that 50-50?"
Well, I have to work on my math. The essence of my question is, did QB Joe Flacco throw the ball too many times? (Jerry Coleman)"It depends on your perspective, I guess. It depends on your opinion, your math. We are trying to win the game, and two-minute drills … I never know how to answer that question. It is a nice, broad, open-ended, worthless question, which I love you for, actually. You are quite good at it. You are the master at that question."
With RB Kenneth Dixon getting healthier, you possibly have four running backs now. Does RB Justin Forsett have a spot on this roster going forward with the numbers and the young players and him being inactive?* (Jamison Hensley)*"Of course. Justin Forsett is a highly-respected, highly-valued guy in my eyes and the eyes of all of us. It is a competitive world that we are in. It is a competitive league; it is a competitive sport. He knows that as well as anybody. It doesn't diminish him in any way. It just enhances him, in my mind, in terms of how he handles it. We will just have to see. All those personnel things are all to be determined. You can't say anything about where anything is going to go, because you just don't know. None of us have the ability to see in the future, so we will see how it plays out."
Have you made a decision on TE Darren Waller, because he is coming off the suspension. Is he someone you intend to put on the 53-man roster? (Luke Jones)"We will see. We will see how that plays out. You don't have to for a week, I think, is the rule. We will just have to see where we go with that and what we are able to do."
What changed in the fourth quarter to become so much more successful on the ground, as opposed to the first three quarters? (Kyle Barber) "We blocked better, maybe. Things are going to open up a little bit when you are down. They expect you to throw it, [so] you run it a little bit. I think that helped a little bit."
How do you think you match up with the Washington Redskins? (Bill West)"They are really good. I am impressed with them. I think that they … We played them before, and it is pretty clear how they want to play. They want to be physical and tough and play hard. The quarterback has always played well against us before. Well, maybe the one time we played him, he played well. They have a lot of good players, a lot of skill guys – DeSean Jackson and Co., Jordan [Reed]. I love the running back. Some people make fun of me for saying I love a player, but I really have a lot of respect for the young running back [Matt Jones] out of Florida. I personally liked him in the draft a lot. I thought he would be a good player. He is [a good player], for the record, for all the scouts out there. [They have] a good, physical offensive line, and it is an important game for us."
QB Joe Flacco has talked at times about wanting to have more chunk plays and taking shots. When he is getting hit a lot, does that make it more difficult to go with plays like that? Are the two related? (Cliff Brown) "We called a bunch of them. There is no doubt about that. We threw a few of them. Some of them we weren't able to get off, and some of them, we had to checkdown. We have to keep calling them. We have speed out there, and we have to start hitting them – not just the chunk plays, but the seams, the overs, the high-lows. We had a few of them. Obviously, Steve's [Smith Sr.] play was a big play. That goes back to the earlier question that we had earlier, just in terms of being better. We just have to get better, whatever we decide to do. Joe is making a great point; you have to get big plays in this league. That is what we are searching for. We really think we have the players to do it."
**How much do you think the time off helped guys like T Ronnie Stanley and G/T Alex Lewis? *(Ed Lee) *"Ronnie Stanley and Alex Lewis are working really hard to get back. Alex was out there and played on field goal. We had him in a backup role. We just felt like without the practice time, with him coming off a concussion, [not having many] reps – all those kind of things for a rookie – [they make it] a little tough to put him in the starting spot. We just felt like the guys at practice would be a little better in that role. He is back. Ronnie, we just have to keep working on his foot. I know Ronnie says he could have played, and he probably could have. He could probably play this week, so we will just have to see how we decide to do it, along with what the doctors say, and we will figure it out. You want to do what is best for the team short term and long term and what is best for the player short term and long term. Our guys' health is really important to us. We are not throwing guys out there before they are ready. That is not what we do. We want guys to be healthy, because it makes them better players for one thing. Also, it is just the right thing to do."
