BALTIMORE RAVENS
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH
(On the injuries)
"We're thankful for Dawan [Landry's] situation, and he looks good. Injury wise, I think we came out of it besides that okay. We'll see about Samari [Rolle's] shoulder, but I think we came out of it in pretty good shape. Willis had the eye issue, which he was dealing with. It looked a little bit like Joe Frasier."
(Opening statement)
"A couple of things about the game, we didn't make a couple of plays early on. We wanted to start hot and we didn't start hot. We gave them a chance to get on top. But what was impressive was the way our guys fought back out of that hole. We didn't get the lead, we wanted to get the lead, they got the lead, we fought our way out of the hole in the second half and pretty much dominated the game, got some stats in the fourth quarter. We controlled the ball for thirteen minutes in the fourth quarter. And it wasn't just the offense, but it was primarily the offense. The defense got the turnover the first play back and put the offense back on the field. That was impressive. We had the two turnovers, but they got zero points, great job by our defense in sudden change. Five sacks and the defensive line forcing three interceptions. Just a tremendous effort by the defense. Rex Ryan put together a great game plan, and Chuck Pagano did a really nice job of wiring the passing attack. He had our guys really prepared to understand the routes they run in different situations and they stayed pretty true. Offensively, I thought our offensive line came off the ball, projected Joe [Flacco] for the most part, and did a nice job. Joe was poised, he played under control, played winning football. I thought our running backs ran north and south."
(On the performance in the third quarter)
"It's never a half time speech. It was a bunch of guys that decided to go out there and dominate. I think the words that Bart Scott used at half time were 'focus and dominate.'"
(On Ed Reed's interception)
"It was huge. Whether it was the biggest play or not, I don't know. We usually say there are four to seven plays in a game that change the game, and they made a couple but we made more. And Ed's play was huge."
(On the team's confidence at 2-0)
"They're confident anyway. That's a confident bunch of guys. And I think they expected to be 2-0. I think those players are exactly where they expected to be at this point."
(On the impact of Ray Lewis)
"Ray obviously is a force in the middle of the field. And Rex [Ryan] has got a couple of defensive set ups where he lets Ray pretty much control the middle of the field based on what he sees out there. And he had one huge hit, I'm not sure who it was on, and that was really a game changer. It was an impressive shot."
(On containing Joshua Cribbs and the return game)
"I neglected to give Jerry Rosburg and the special teams credit, they did a heck of a job. I thought Sam Koch did a nice job of punting and putting the ball on the sideline. The one out of bounds was a critical punt. And [Matt] Stover did a nice job of moving Cribbs around. They had the one ball and they tried to stretch it back out to the field and they got some yards, but they had to hold to get it through there. I thought our guys did a really nice job of playing off the wedge, playing off blocks, and smoking down the field pretty good. Maybe the most important one was when they got backed up in penalty and Stover squibbed the one down there and made it tough to handle. Both our kicker and punter did a nice job today, and both coverage teams."
(On Flacco overcoming mistakes)
"You shouldn't have to play perfect to win. And if you're a good enough football team, you overcome mistakes. We chase perfection, but it's hard to be perfect. And Joe, he made the bad throw, and I'm going over to console Joe, and Joe's consoling me, 'I'll be fine, I got it.' That's the kind of guy Joe is."
(On Ed Reed's performance)
"That's the thing about Ed. Rex [Ryan] said it early on. Rex was very confident that Ed would be out there when the bell rang. It's not that the injury's not there right now, it's still bothering him. He gets sore pretty much after each practice, but he's fighting through it and playing so well. He's a very courageous guy. That's obvious."
(On Jim Leonhard's performance)
"It's amazing on this team, and Ozzie [Newsome] has done a great job. But we've got a lot of guys who could return, kick returns and punt returns. Mark Clayton wanted to do it, [Derrick] Mason wanted to do it, Ed [Reed] wanted to do it, [Tom] Zbikowski wanted to do it, all those guys wanted to do it. But we just had to give it to Jimmy, and Jimmy did a real nice job."
(On the secondary and shutting down Braylon Edwards)
"I thought our secondary did a nice job, especially the corners. Our corners did a real good job on their wide receivers."
(On using play action today)
"Play action is a max protection type of situation. It gives us a great chance to protect, gives us a chance to tuck the linebackers and try to throw behind them. I thought the Browns actually did a nice job of stepping up and defending the run and getting their linebackers back deep again. It forced us to check it down a couple of times. Yeah, that's what happened on the interception. I thought that their defense did a pretty good job with some of the play action stuff, but some of the stuff came open, and that's a credit to Cam [Cameron] and the offensive coaches setting up a nice game plan."
QB JOE FLACCO
(On getting more and more comfortable)
"It felt good today. You want to take away the two picks, but I felt pretty good out there. I felt pretty sharp hitting my guys. Anytime you have a defense like ours, it keeps you in the game, and you saw what happened out there today."
(On a strong running game)
"We got some pretty good field position at times and we capitalized on it in the second half. It's always good to go down there and have that running game to punch it in the end zone. It was great to have Willis [McGahee] back, and he did a great job today."
(On connecting many times with WR Derrick Mason in third down situations)
"Derrick won for me today. He did a good job in the one-on-one situations, and anytime you get third down and you need somebody to look to, Derrick is a good guy to look to. You can't go wrong there."
(On misdirection plays)
"It's good. I think we've shown that we're going to run those plays, and we've been pretty successful running them. We're going to be ready to dial those up every week, and we'll see how it works."
FB Le'RON McCLAIN – AT PODIUM
(On playing at tailback)
"It's great man. Coach has put his confidence in me, you know, to run the ball. I'm just continuing to get better at practice every week and go into the game and do what I can do."
(On his injury early in the game)
"First run I got, crazy man, both my ankles got twisted up under the pile. I thought it was a big injury to me, but the pain wore off and the trainers did a great job on the sideline to get me back in there. I just had to man up and get back in there, do anything to help the team and finish the game."
(On his multiple touchdown game)
"It was great, it was great. The offensive line did a great job. On the goal line, we said, 'We have to convert when it's inside the 5 [yard-line], we've got to get touchdowns, no field goals.' They did a great job. Coach called the play, I got the ball and just went forward."
(On if he is surprised that he's being used this much as an offensive weapon)
"When I talked to Coach Cameron, when I got hired and was back at home, he was telling me, 'Don't put yourself in that box of being a fullback, you're a great back. Always think fullback first, tailback second.' That's my motto to the game – fullback, fullback, fullback. When I get a chance to tote the rock, just go into that mindset of towing the rock. With a great blocker like Lorenzo Neal in front of me and that offensive line, it makes it easy."
(On the offense's possession in the fourth quarter)
"It was great when we can do that, keep the defense off the field and finish the game. We're just sending shout-outs to the league that we have a strong team and we're going to finish. That's the main thing that Coach Harbaugh has been telling us, and Coach Cam, just to finish the game, and that's what we've been doing."
(On the "three-headed monster" of him, RB Ray Rice and RB Willis McGahee)
"It's great. It's good to have Willis back, he got nicked up a little bit, and me and Ray have to step up for him. It's great getting him back. And Ray is just growing up, just becoming a good back like he is, from watching him in college, he's just doing great things. And then, me toting the ball. It's a great feeling. The offensive line, once again, is just doing an awesome job."
(On the defense setting the offense up with a short field)
"It was great. I know Coach Harbaugh said about 10 times this week, 'When the defense gets turnovers we have to punch it in. We don't want field goals, we want touchdowns.' We've been setting our goals, and I think we reached our goals today of scoring touchdowns after turnovers."
RB Le'RON McCLAIN (Locker Room)
(On being the Ravens 4th Quarterback)
"It's great man. I have a great offensive line in front of me. Those guys are doing a heck of a job. It's great having Lorenzo Neal in front of me. It's a great feeling to get the ball and gain some positive yards."
(On wearing defenses down)
"I just told them I was going to keep coming no matter how hard you hit me. I just kept saying that it's my motivation. I love being that train and moving forward."
(On scoring his first NFL TD)
"It feels good. It feels great getting in twice. Down there on the goal line inside the five we said we have to score touchdowns. We told the coaches to run the ball. We have that great offensive line and Lo [Lorenzo] Neal in front of me scoring touchdowns motivates me to keep going and keep going strong."
(On why the Ravens had two long 4th quarter scoring drives)
"It's about finishing. All that hard work that we put in during training camp is paying off. We moaned and groaned about it but it's paying off now. [Coach] Harbaugh is doing a great job with us and everybody is coming together and buying into his philosophy of team. He told us in the locker room to go out and finish in the second half. Go out there and dominate and that's what we did."
RG MARSHAL YANDA
(On recovering the fumble at the 2-yard line to keep the TD drive alive)
"I just saw the ball on the ground, and I just jumped for it and tried to cover it up so we could put that thing in down there because that's tough. You don't want to be fumbling on the 2-yard line. It's a good thing we got the ball back. Me and Joe were both on it, so it's good that we could both secure it."
T JARED GAITHER
(On controlling the goal line running situations)
"That's just who we are. We work really hard during the week. The defense prepares us and the coaches gave us a great game plan to execute. We just go out there and execute. It's all on us. Coach Cam [Cameron] calls the right plays, and we go out there and get it done."
(On successfully running misdirection plays)
"However Cam draws it up, we have to go out there and execute. Those plays are great. You never know what you're going to get."
(On the running back tandem behind him)
"It's great. McClain is a great running back. He's a great fullback. He's a great back, an all-around back. All of our backs are great. If Willis [McGahee] is out there, he does a great job. When Ray Rice is out there, he's doing a good job. Our backs are very versatile. They all get the job done."
CB CHRIS McALISTER
(On the biggest play of the game on defense)
"There's too many. I can't even name one."
(On being challenged as a defense)
"We take every challenge. We don't take any challenge lightly. Week after week we try and go out and play like we did in the second half today. We figure they'll break if we keep breaking them."
(On the offense taking the air out of the clock)
"I'll tell you what, we sit that long and nobody has a chance."
(On his interception)
"All you have to do is be close to the ball. If you just happen to be close you have to make a play."
S ED REED
(On the interception return)
"Actually, you know, coach told us just to be patient, let the game come to us, figure out what they're doing and then strike. If you go back, they did the play like two plays before that. They came back, they switched the personnel. They switched the alignment of the two guys that they were running the same route with it. I just felt it; I knew that was it so when they threw it, I was just like, catch it."
(On preparing to make that play)
"It's definitely film study, but I mean it's everything. It's everything. It's communication with Chris [McAlister]. Like I said, they ran that play, me and Chris talked about it. I told him if they do the same thing, I'm going to go, and you go high, so it was real easy at that point once we know [what] we were getting. And with our coaching staff, they do an incredible job of getting us prepared during the week, making sure we know what we need to know."
(On playing the game and getting help from Rex Ryan)
"But we're competitors. We know what this job consists of. We know how to help each other, and Rex knows how to help us. We know Father Time doesn't stop and we know at some time, at some point, we're not going to be able to play this game. So right now we just enjoy it."
(On pain from his injury)
"It's pretty much off and on. I'm sure after this game I will, you know, during the week I have pain, a little soreness here and there. But it's something to deal with. To be out there, to help my teammates in any kind of way I can, that's what it's about."
(On how the offense's improvement helps the defense)
"It makes our job easier. I know that's one thing we've been talking about for years around here. To have an offense that moves the ball consistently and focusing on not turning the ball over, it's a team effort, That's been one thing that coach talked about from when he first made phone calls to us. It's about a team. It's not about one individual. It's not about one side of the ball or special teams. It's a team effort, so with that being said, we knew our offense was going to move the ball. We knew we were going to have success. We want to move the ball, and we want to stop them from moving the ball, so like I said, it's a team effort on all three phases."
(On how's he been playing with his injury)
"Yeah, it has me a little timid at times, but like Coach [Mark] Carrier told me, just be patient, you know, let the game come to you. At some point, it kind of has me timid a little bit, like in the first half, but it's part of it. You've got to be smart. I haven't been playing seven years for this long to not understand the game and how I can affect. It's just a matter of waiting to make that play and going back to your techniques."
(On the feelings when Landry was down)
"It's a moment when nothing else matters but making sure that he's healthy. This is just a game to be played, like Ray [Lewis] said, this is a game that we play that we love to play but we know at any point you can have a situation like that. For Dawan to have to go through that, our prayers were going out to him right then and there. The game was forgotten about. At that moment [we just want] to make sure his health is fine."
DT TREVOR PRYCE
(On pressuring Browns QB Derek Anderson)
"We were fighting through double teams. When you have a quarterback like that, a guy who is 6'6" and has an arm like that, you can't blitz him too much. That was one thing we didn't want to do, so we had to get pressure with 3 and 4, and in the second half we figured it out and kind of got hot going a little bit."
(On the secondary neutralizing the passing game)
"You have no idea. The thing is that he is not going to take many sacks. He took some today, but he was just throwing the ball up or throwing it out of bounds or throwing it in the dirt. He didn't want to take sacks, and when you don't want to take sacks, you throw interceptions. That's what he did today."
S JIM LEONHARD
(On the kick returns)
"I was a little bit nervous. I haven't been out there returning kicks and punts that much since I've been in the NFL. There were some holes, so those guys did a great job up front and things opened up, and I just tried to run as fast as I could."
(On getting the chance to do it)
"We've got a lot of talented guys that can do it. They went with me this morning, and I've got to take the load for all those guys because they all want to be out there."
(On if there's a difference for him this year)
"I think I just went back to try and enjoy playing every day and that makes such a big difference…and enjoying yourself, which all these guys do. I think that's probably the biggest difference. But coming in here, I thought I had an opportunity to help this team. I think I still have a lot to do."
OLB TERRELL SUGGS
(On the change in momentum caused by the defense)
"I think it all started with us losing [Dawan] Landry. We lost one of our soldiers because we weren't really playing Ravens defense up front. They were able to do whatever they want, and that's not how we play football, and we end up losing a guy. We all knew it. It kind of hit the rest of the 10 guys that were out there. So we got in there, got in the locker room, Rex [Ryan] cussed us out the way he usually does, and we came out, we were fired up and it started with a big hit from Ray [Lewis]. After that it just snowballed, we just kept going."
(On how the defense kept composure after the Browns went up [asked by teammate, S Ed Reed])
"It isn't like we've never played from behind before. We were just like, 'Don't let it quicksand you, don't panic, let's just play football and get over it.' Thanks Ed."
(On what he calls the dance he did after sacking Browns QB Derek Anderson)
"I don't know yet. I saw my little daughter doing it. It's her birthday, by the way – happy birthday to [my daughter]. She just started walking, and she's dancing too. I saw her doing it, and I was like, 'I love that. I think I'm going to do that if I get one today."
(On the impact ILB Ray Lewis has on defense)
"I don't think there's a more vocal leader, and just a leader period in the NFL better than Ray Lewis. It was just like we knew what we had to do, and he knew that we had the tendency of getting down on ourselves. He just knew he had to make a play and that's what leaders do. I mean, were y'all shocked? I knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when. First, 52 did it and then 20 did it. So once them boys get in their zone, it's just kind of contagious and then it starts snowballing and everybody starts having a lot of fun."
(On the Ravens being 2-0, and dropping the Browns to 0-3)
"We just want to play with some consistency. We knew they were going to come in here desperate, trying to get a win that explains the start they got off to. And we just wanted to play with some consistency. We knew we needed to defend our home turf. And this is M&T, and we let them come in here and steal a win from us last year, so that was definitely in the back of our minds, we knew we had to play. It wasn't about them, this game, it was definitely more about us."
(On what this win means after what happened last year)
"All wins feel good, especially inside the division. You want to send a message within your division, especially when you're playing at home. Now we get another chance to go do it against Pittsburgh on Monday night."
(On the motivation to play after witnessing S Dawan Landry's injury)
"It was like, right after he left, I kind of locked eyes with this dude [S Ed Reed] and said, 'Come on, come on.' We knew it, we knew it. It was like the 10 of us, we all looked at Dawan laying there, and we were all worried. And the front seven knew, it was like he shouldn't have even got up there. We definitely weren't playing our most physical football at that moment and he got hurt. And that's why always, every time,
you've got to line up, and you've got to be a Raven. You have the Ravens' decal on your helmet, you have to play like a Raven every play, so, you know, stuff like that doesn't happen."
CLEVELAND BROWNS
HEAD COACH ROMEO CRENNEL
(Opening statement)
"We came down hoping for a lot better than we showed. I think in the first half we played decent football and the score was indicative of that. We were up by three. Then in the second half we played poor football in the second half. We got penalties, we lost field position, we gave them scores with turnovers. We couldn't get any turnovers ourselves in the second half, and they just beat us. And the second half is the story of the game. Why it turned out the way it did, I'm trying to figure that out myself. We're going to work on it, take a look at it and see if we can come up with some answers. But, it's not close to being good enough, and we have to make better decisions on the football field and try not to do the same things that hurt us because right now from the result of the second half, we're not a very good football team. I don't know whether we're trying to live on the success we had last year, but it's not working. So we're going to have to do a lot better or this thing is really going to get away from us."
(On if he thought about throwing Brady Quinn in the game)
"No, because the game was still within reach. If we could have scored we could have made it a ten point game. Derek [Anderson] had had most of the work during the course of the week and we still had a chance."
(On faulting Derek Anderson's game)
"No, not that I can think of. Sometimes players try and make plays and in trying to make plays you giving up a play. And I think probably on that Ed Reed interception, that might have been the case. He was trying to make a play and Ed intercepted it and ran it back for a touchdown."
(On players' effort)
"I think the players are trying. They are trying and they work hard. But we're not making the best decisions on the football field and things like that will put you in tough situations against a good football team, particularly when you're on the road and there are a lot of things that you have to deal with and we didn't handle it very good."
(On who can catch the ball)
"Well, I told the guys that we're going to look at everybody in every position and then we're going to try to do what we think is the best and try to improve this team."
(On how the Ravens took [Kellen] Winslow out of the game)
"Well, they were doubling him a little bit. They were walking the linebacker out on top of him and having a corner over the top, and it's tough to get the ball to him when that occurs."
(On getting veterans help at the receiver position)
"I like to get guys that can help me play and win."
(On after the pick six/sloppy series)
"Well we can say that a lot of the second half, I mean not all of the second half was like that, but we didn't start off the second half very good. So, the second half wasn't the best half of football for us."
(On what you tell the team, being 0-3)
"I tell them we're not a very good football team and we're going to have to work really hard if we're going to have a chance to do anything."
(On if Derek Anderson's position is one being looked at)
"I said all positions."
(On RB [Jerome] Harrison's performance after his early touchdown)
"I'm not sure exactly how many reps he had in between those times, but that was a good call on the screen because they had the blitz going and Derek [Anderson] did a nice job of throwing up the field and delivering the ball, and he was able to run it in for the score. I know that he was in there some other times during the game, but the ball didn't go to him."
(On how surprised you are at being 0-3)
"I thought that we would be a better football team than we are. You never know how the games are going to turn out and what the win-loss is going to be, but I thought that we'd be able to play more consistent football, and we're not very consistent and not very good right now."
QB DEREK ANDERSON
(On the offense)
"We lost. We didn't execute. We pretty gave them 14 points off turnovers. The way they ran the ball inside the 20 yard line twice, it guaranteed touchdowns."
(On the difference between the 1st half and 2nd half)
"Turnovers, and that's 14 points right there. We gave them walk-in touchdowns on those two. It was 14-10 with 10 minutes to go, and we didn't execute. We made poor decisions."
(On the interception by Ed Reed)
"He's playing that half right there. It's obviously going to be a tight window. Ed [Reed] stepped in front of Step [Syndric Steptoe], and it hit him in the chest."
(On his emotions)
"Just frustrated. I expect more out of myself, I expect more out of everybody else on this team. It all starts with me. If I start playing better, and if we start offensively making plays, everything is going to start rolling a little bit more."
(On being 0-3)
"I don't think that's ever happened. As a starter, I don't think I've ever started a season 0-3. I've been 0-2 before and come back and finish the season strong. It sounds like I'm beating a dead horse, but there's a lot of games left, and we have a lot of guys on this team that I don't think are ever going to quit regardless of the situation. That's all we have to do."
(On trying to go deep)
"They played it pretty smart. They rolled guys to Braylon [Edwards], and they beat Kellen [Winslow] pretty good, getting their hands on him. There was one time I know, he kind of got pulled going for a ball across the middle. He was going to get a catch out of it, I felt like. But they had a good game plan."
(On the start of the season)
"I don't think it's a surprise. It's more frustration. I just have to calm down so I don't lose it."
RB JAMAL LEWIS
(On how much the loss hurts)
"This hurts big time. In the first half, we felt like we had the momentum and we felt we were the better football team. But the second half was totally different. We gave them all the momentum and with our turnovers and penalties. We won the battle of turnovers in the first half but they won the turnovers in the second half. They converted our turnovers into touchdowns and we got behind."
(On facing the Ravens defense)
"Having played with them and against them, I know how they play on defense. When they start forcing turnovers and getting all the momentum, it's over. Once they get the momentum, they start coming with their exotic blitzes and creating more pressure. That's how they win. That's why you can't let things go their way."
(On the Browns' offensive struggles)
"There are two dimensions to our offense. We have to run the ball and throw it downfield. Baltimore has a great defense and they are very hard to run against. But I thought our offensive line played well in the first half and they created some running room. But everything changes in the second half. I guess it comes down to this – they finished the game and we didn't."
(On starting the season with an 0-3 record)
"It's pathetic. I don't know what else to say. So far, we've played three good teams but we're a good team. But, we didn't match our opponents' performances in the first three games. They finished games and we didn't."
OL HANK FRALEY
(On the loss to the Ravens)
"We felt confident and comfortable coming into the game. But, we had too many penalties and too many mistakes. We didn't do a good job protecting the quarterback and that resulted in some turnovers. It's tough enough to win in this league. It's impossible to win when you're playing like this"
(On the 0-3 start)
"We are really digging a deep hole for ourselves. We're 0-3 overall, 0-2 in our division. We have to start rolling. Next week, we play Cincinnati, and have to win that one. We have to learn from our mistakes and we have to learn fast."
(On injuries hurting the Browns)
"We can't use injuries as an excuse. We have no excuses. We just keep stubbing our toe a lot. It's very hard when you start drives with 1st-and-15. Penalties and turnovers are just killing us, and we need to get better."
WR BRAYLON EDWARDS
(On the game)
"We didn't come out and play well and they came out and took the momentum and ran with it."
(On if he is surprised about 0-3 start)
"We are 0-3 and we can't make excuses. At the end of the day to the media and fans it wouldn't matter. We have 13 games left and all we can do is work as hard as we can to get to where we're supposed to be at."
LB ANDRA DAVIS
(On the loss)
"We get paid good money to go out there and stop them. We didn't and we have to find away to do it."
(On the 1st half play)
"We definitely played hard in the first half. We gave up a touchdown we shouldn't have, but they [Ravens] are a good team too. They found a way to get it done today."
(On the game getting out of hand)
"I don't think it ever got out of hand. Most of the game was 10-7, then they come back and get the ball on the 10-yard line…they run the ball a couple of times, now they are up. Before you know it, its 21-10."
LB ALEX HALL
(On being 0-3)
"It's going to be real hard. We have to work real hard and just come back. We just have to play hard."
(On QB Joe Flacco)
"Because he's a rookie, he showed a lot of poise and he pulled with the win. We tried to get him, just like every other quarterback. We tried to put pressure on him, but he just pulled out the victory."
(On the difference between the 1st half and 2nd half)
"The game, it seemed, just like the tide, turned. We just needed to stand there and play hard. But just couldn't come through with the win."
LB D'QWELL JACKSON
(On his interception)
"We've been stressing all week the play action. It's important that the inside 'backers get out of the no cover zone, so I was just basically doing my job. I got caught up in the play action and just sprinting out and getting into my drop, and I was just in the right place at the right time. Just in sitting in coverage and reading his eyes."
(On getting to Flacco)
"They were doing things a little bit different. They were throwing a lot of quick steps, quick throws to slow up our pressure. We had 2 turnovers before the half. We weren't getting the pressure that we wanted. But we got the turnovers, and that's the important part. But the game kind of changed. They had good field position at times, and it's offense in the NFL, and that's tough. We lasted down there as long as we could, and they were able to capitalize on the good field position."
(On coming back from the Ravens 2 quick touchdowns)
"You have to focus on each play at the time. One when it's first down, one when it's second down. You just have to think of the play at hand. At times, we got three and outs. But obviously they made more plays than we did."
