Harbaugh Confessional: 'Shocked' Steelers Are Good People
Who knew John Harbaugh had it in him?
Always the consummate professional and ever-mindful of giving opponents bulletin board material, Harbaugh is not known for his trash talk.
But the Pro Bowl is renowned for playful jabs, and as a Pro Bowl coach this year, Harbaugh has to fit in.
"I've been hanging out with the Bengals and Steelers players over here and they seem like good people … I'm shocked."
Zing!
The all-star game is turning Raven against Raven.
It will be Harbaugh, Justin Forsett and C.J. Mosley against Marshal Yanda and Elvis Dumervil.
The purple blood isn't enough to keep things cordial between the groups, not when there's money involved. Yanda will show no mercy, and plans on beating Team Harbaugh.
"Hey, it is what it is," Yanda said with an evil laugh. "We're going to be trying to win, that's for sure. We're getting $25,000 for winning and we're going to win the game."
Exciting about being apart of Team Carter! I believe we had the better draft so I can't wait to go compete. #ProBowl — Justin Forsett (@JForsett) January 22, 2015
Live from #ProBowlDraft with @treydeuce32rtr ! pic.twitter.com/nAjfdvlJqu — NFL Now (@NFLNow) January 22, 2015
MORE STRATEGY!!! #ProBowlDraft #Romo #Harbaugh #Garrett pic.twitter.com/BIhRbux81v — NFL Now (@NFLNow) January 22, 2015
Hensley: Ravens Should Keep Daniels As Insurance Policy
Tight end Dennis Pitta met with a hip specialist last week, but the prognosis hasn't been revealed. His playing career is still cloudy.
"I did get kind of an overview of that report from our trainer that I wouldn't really want to share until Dennis has had a chance to kind of consider all of the ramifications of it," Harbaugh said at Marc Trestman's introduction conference call Wednesday . "But I think we'll have something on that in a couple of weeks, kind of on Dennis' time frame. We'll see where that goes."
The Ravens are "cautiously optimistic" about Pitta returning after his second hip dislocation in as many years, but ESPN's Jamison Hensley believes it's important the Ravens focus their efforts on retaining pending free agent Owen Daniels.
"The Ravens should strongly consider re-signing tight end Owen Daniels," Hensley said. "Daniels had a rough start with the Ravens missing the final three preseason games with a hamstring injury, causing many to wonder whether he would make any kind of an impact on the season. But he stepped up when Pitta went down … and by the time the postseason rolled around, Daniels was one of the most clutch receivers on the Ravens.
"While Justin Forsett and Torrey Smith may draw most of the attention for the Ravens in free agency, Daniels would provide a good insurance policy at tight end in 2015."
Part of the reason Daniels came to the Ravens was because of Gary Kubiak. The two spent eight years together in Texas, and there's always a chance that Kubiak could try to lure Daniels to Denver. Daniels has played his entire career with Kubiak.
In the NFL Network video below, Daniels talks about how happy he is that Kubiak got another chance to be a head coach, but the tight end wasn't asked about how it could impact his decisions when free agency opens up in March.
Forsett Open To Returning To Baltimore Without Kubiak
As for Forsett, he's seems open to returning to Baltimore even without Kubiak.
The former Ravens offensive coordinator had a hand in bringing Forsett to the Ravens in 2014, but the running back was complimentary of new Offensive Coordinator Marc Trestman during an interview from the Pro Bowl Wednesday night.
"It's been a whirlwind. I'm happy for Kube and all the success. He's a head coach in his dream place," Forsett said from the Pro Bowl in the video below. "I'm excited about new opportunities. If I'm back in Baltimore, having a chance to play for Marc Trestman, I'm ready to go. I think I've had a new offensive coordinator every year I've been in the NFL, so it's nothing new to me."
Forsett doesn't have a history with Trestman; they only met once in Seattle years ago.
"I only got to shake his hand and say hello, but I doubt that he would remember that," Forsett said.
You can bet that Trestman remembers the breakout year Forsett had in 2014, and would certainly love to have the veteran in his backfield.
Torrey Smith Takes Nice Fans Laser Tagging
Way to go Torrey Smith.
The Ravens wide receiver is teaching kids that it pays to be nice.
As a reward to his most supportive fans on social media, Smith took about 40 of his followers to a special laser tag session. The little kid in the CSNBaltimore.com video below says he's learned that not being negative and rude pays off.
Canty: Deflating Balls No Different Than PEDs
It doesn't matter whether the Patriots' 11 deflated balls had an impact on the AFC championship game against the Colts. What really matters is the integrity of the game, says defensive lineman Chris Canty.
If the league discovers the team deliberately deflated those footballs, Canty says that is just like a player using steroids or other banned substances.
"The Patriots are habitual line-steppers," Canty said Wednesday on Pro Football Talk. "If the allegations are true, then you are talking about attacking the integrity of our game and I have an issue with that. . . . [W]hat I'm going to say about the deflating of the balls, to me there is no difference than performance-enhancing drugs. You are cheating at that point. You are getting a competitive advantage outside of the rule book and there has to be some sort of consequence* *for that."
While Canty is concerned about the integrity of the game, he did dispute the report that some Ravens believed the kicking balls were underinflated during the divisional-round playoff game in New England. He noted that the kicking balls aren't handled by the home team.
If the Patriots are proven to have deliberately* *underinflated the footballs, what should their punishment be? CSNBaltimore.com's Clifton Brown believes the consequences should be harsh.
"If the Patriots are found guilty of intentionally using under-inflated footballs, and Bill Belichick is found to have known about it, the Patriots coach should be suspended immediately, in addition to whatever other punishments are handed out," Brown wrote.
As a side note, Ravens fans should know that Baltimore isn't the only city that has a healthy dislike for quarterback Tom Brady. Take a listen to Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman talk about Brady, saying he isn't the clean-cut hero he's made out to be.
Quick Hits
- Ticket prices won’t increase for the Baltimore Ravens in 2015, making it the second consecutive year of no increase. [The Baltimore Business Journal]
- @jforsett: Really love the way this shoot came out! So honored that@EspnMag chose me & @Lecrae to be apart of this Music Issue. Please go check it out! #116 #Ravens [Instagram]
- Worried that Trestman could be one-and-done in Baltimore like the two previous offensive coordinators? You never know what will happen, but Trestman isn't thinking that far ahead. "I've never approached any job other than to show up each day and work as hard as I can," he said. "I'm not even going to think aboutanything other than trying to get better every day, and helping the team get better." [CSNBaltimore.com]
Proud to announce the birth of Flacco #5, Francis Michael! — Joe Flacco (@TeamFlacco) January 21, 2015
RT @proctorpac @TorreySmithWR @EKD92 @ElamVsElo pic.twitter.com/ekf5AW1JOA Keep the good fight.. God bless — Elvis Dumervil (@EKD92) January 22, 2015
Adam Gase has a new home (via @RapSheet): http://t.co/NXSmycAOMx pic.twitter.com/nEc2gDRJsA — NFL (@nfl) January 22, 2015
