On if it is a relief to be at camp after what has gone on the past two weeks: "I wouldn't consider it in those terms. We're excited to be here. We're excited for training camp. We had a nice break. We had a nice five-week break, four-week break, six-week break. A lot of guys have been working with Bill [Tessendorf]. Guys have been working on their own. Everybody that I have talked to is excited to go to training camp. They're excited to go to work. I know the coaches feel that way, and the players feel that way."
On what happened with WR Drew Bennett and where that leaves the Ravens at the wide receiver position: "Well, what happened with Drew was the fact that he went through a real tough workout. Part of the process… I think that's why you put guys through a workout at this stage, is to find out how they recover the next day and what not. His knees just didn't calm down, and he felt like this is going to be a problem now, and forever really, because it's arthritic. And it is time for him to move on. He didn't feel like he could get through a practice, let alone a season at this level."
On if he was shocked to hear about Bennett's sudden retirement: "No, I don't get shocked. You would never characterize it that way. Things happen, and we're getting ready for practice. I'm shocked by the question, actually, that you would even ask that after a year." (laughing)
On whether he anticipates signing another wide receiver:"We'll add another receiver because we need receivers now to fill out training camp. So, we're looking for the best guys out there that we can – young guys, older guys, whoever that may be – to put 10 or 11 receivers into training camp. That's what we've got to do right now, so we've got some irons in the fire."
On whether his phone starts ringing off the hook when a player retires and a roster spot opens up:"My phone doesn't – yeah, my phone was good. (laughter) No, we're always working on that; we're all on top of that as it is. You know, Ozzie's [Newsome] been fielding calls and talking to agents and players, and Vince [Newsome] has been doing the same thing. It's an ongoing process. I mean, everybody wants to talk about one specific position and it goes on with every single position. We're not thinking about one spot. We're thinking about our whole football team, our whole roster and making it as good as we possibly can. So, yeah, you may see a move at receiver, but you may see a move at linebacker or defensive line or somewhere else, too. We're always going to try to make our team as good as it can be."
On the status of rookie T Michael Oher's contract negotiations and if he will be a camp within the next day or two:"Michael Oher, I know he wants to be here. He's said that many times. Ozzie wants him to be here, and his agent wants him to be here. Not too many first-round picks have signed yet, so a lot of that hinges on how that all slots out. I think there's going to be some… The agent wants to make sure he does the right thing by Michael. And we want to make sure that we do the right thing by Michael, too. We want to get the best contract we can for him as soon as we can. It should happen pretty soon."
On if he has to set his tempo at his camp every year or if he'll move to a new level in his program:"That's a really broad question. What we're focused on right now is having a great training camp. We want to have the best training camp in the NFL, and that starts with tomorrow. We want to have the best day we can have tomorrow. That's how it was last year, that's how it's going to be next year, and that's how it is this year. We're excited to get going, and we'll just go about the business of practicing football."
On what went into the release of TE Quinn Sypniewski:"The knee… The surgery didn't work. That's the way you can describe it. So he's got to have some more… He had some more work done on it, and that's healing right now. We're just giving him a chance to heal right now. He can't be on the 80-man roster at this stage. We need to have all our guys at practice right now. We've got a plan for Quinn. He's still very much in our plans down the road, and he'll be working hard to get that knee ready."
On how he handles the distraction of WR Derrick Mason's retirement with the team:"Everything that happens to our football team, every bit of adversity we face, every bit of success we face, is an opportunity to get better. So, I don't care what it is – who's here, who's not here – we don't care about any of it. It's irrelevant except to the extent that we can become a better football team today, and that's what our guys are going to be focused on. We're not talking about any specific players or anything like that. Everybody knows the situation. We've got a job to do today, our guys can't wait to go to work, and that's it. And that's what training camp is about."
On whether he has different feelings about Mason's retirement process:"I haven't spoken with him since [their meeting last week], so I'm sure it's pretty much the same, and we'll be seeing what happens in the next few days."
On whether they have had to put anyone on the Physically Unable to Perform list yet:"Not yet. No, we'll start tomorrow with that and the next couple of days."
On whether he knows who will be placed on PUP:"No."
