Offensive lineman John Urschel was relieved he could smile in the post-game locker room after the win over the Chargers. * *
Urschel felt like his teammates bailed him out of some trouble. He took over at center in the second half when starter Jeremy Zuttah went down with a shoulder injury, and the second-year replacement had difficulty delivering the shotgun snaps to quarterback Joe Flacco.
The veteran quarterback kept the misfired snaps from causing a major problem, and the Ravens ultimately ended up with a 29-26 last-second victory over the San Diego Chargers.
"He took care of me," Urschel said of Flacco. "I'm very thankful for that, and I'm glad we got the win. I have great teammates that calmed me down all the way through."
Flacco tried to keep Urschel settled when he entered the game and the Ravens had to go with the shotgun formation. He said he kept telling Urschel, "the snaps are great, the snaps are great."
"You're not used to taking a ton of snaps with him. I would be lying if I didn't tell you I was a little nervous about being under center and being in the gun," Flacco said. "I know, at least in the gun, I have time to react and make a catch and stuff like that. I'd be lying if I wasn't a little bit nervous. As far as it goes with him, everything's perfect. He's doing a great job."
The most notable snapping issue came on Baltimore's final drive when Flacco bobbled a high snap and jumped on the ball for a 9-yard loss. The Ravens shook off that miscue when wide receiver Kamar Aiken drew a pass interference penalty two plays later to set up the game-winning field goal.
"It's always nice to get the win, and be able to smile," Urschel said. "I'm very grateful to my teammates that they got me through that."
Urschel was in a somewhat unfamiliar spot when he stepped in at center. Zuttah hasn't missed a game the last two seasons, and Urschel's opportunities to get game action have come at right guard and left guard.
Urschel backs up all three interior line spots, so he splits his practice reps between them.
"That's just the deal as a backup offensive lineman," he said. "I work all three different positions, both guards and center throughout the week. I work through situations depending on who's healthy and who's not. How I work varies week-to-week."
Urschel was also primarily a right guard during his college career at Penn State, so he doesn't have lengthy college experience snapping out of the shotgun. The Ravens have also been primarily a team that puts the quarterback under center the last two seasons, but they needed to use the shotgun late in Sunday's game.
The severity Zuttah's injury is up in the air, and Urschel knows he'll have to spend the next couple weeks cleaning up the snapping issues.
"Shotgun snaps are something I have to work on," Urschel said. "My snaps weren't very good. Any more than that, I'll have to look at the film and really break that down."
