POST-GAME TRANSCRIPT
Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening Statement: "Obviously, this is a win that we're really, really pleased with and proud of. It was a prolific passing game coming in here. Their defense had done a good job against some good offenses, and we found a way, play after play after play to execute, move the ball and score points. The thing I'm disappointed with, to be honest with you, is finishing at times – finishing at the half, finishing at the end of the game. We're staying on the field [on defense]. We're getting off the field [on offense]. [An example is] the first drive where we didn't knock it in. Those are the areas that we can get better at. Let's talk about within each play, as well as we played in so many ways – outside of that – we have to find a way to keep getting better at those areas, and that's what I'm excited about our team. Now that's something we can do that's a clear-cut area where we can get better. But the running game was on. I don't know how many yards we rushed for – maybe over 200, I guess. It was a tremendous job of running the ball north and south. I thought we did a nice job of making catches outside against single-high coverage. We covered them really well. We really did. Take that last [drive] out – those two plays down the sideline. We got some good pressure on Kyle Orton, which was really important. All in all, it was a heck of a win. It was an important win for us to get where we're going as a football team. This is a game we really had to win at home against an AFC team, and now we have an opportunity next week to go up to New England and play the team we're playing – a team we're going to have to deal with throughout the course of the season. It's an opportunity to do some good things up there."
(on Ray Rice running the ball) "He did grind out yards. I think that's a good description. It was one of those kinds of games for Ray. Ray has proven he can run between the tackles. He does some flashy things when he gets in space, but he ran the ball between the tackles, and we were grinding out yards, really in the third quarter."
(on bouncing back from the first-drive turnover on downs) "Well, that was big. I think offensively, I would've liked for it to have been 21 [points] at that point in time. But for us to [move the ball well the first drive] and then to do it again and do it again, I think it establishes [momentum]… That's what I'm saying, play after play, we were executing. We were blocking people, we were completing passes, we were protecting. That's a sign of a good football team, and I think that's a good place to start."
(on if the plan was to rotate CBs Josh Wilson and Lardarius Webb) "It was predetermined. We want to play those guys. If you're looking at a team that's going to throw the ball a lot, a team that has some guys that are going to make plays, you're going to put a lot of corners on the field. We were in a lot of different packages, and we were just trying to get guys reps. I bet, when it's all said and done, it was a pretty even mix. I'm not sure who might have had more reps, but we tried to spread the reps out a little bit for those guys."
(on the secondary and CB Fabian Washington) "There was one drive where we didn't get much pressure, on the two-minute drive at the end of the half, and we gave up the points, but the pressure was there pretty much all day, especially at the end. I think we had them on the run a little bit. I'm just disappointed in the two plays down the right sideline that got them out of the whole and got them the points at the end and got them all those yards. But I thought Fabian was all over the field. He covered really well. It's one of the better games he probably ever played here. He was singled up a lot of the time out there, and he played really well."
(on how good this team really is) "Well, we'll find out, won't we? That's why we play the game. I think we have an opportunity to be a really good team. That kind of a football team is in us, and that's what we talked to our guys about. We want to take steps today toward finding that. We wanted to play that way today, play like the team we can be. I think in many ways, we did, but in some other key ways, we didn't. Maybe that's how it usually works, but that's what we need to find out as we go."
(on improving on the takeaway-giveaway ratio) "Obviously, the special teams play was huge. I thought Jason Phillips was unbelievable, and it's as good a job as you're ever going to see covering a kick. That was a huge hit on [Demaryius Thomas]. Their guy was smoking it up in there pretty good like he does. He's a big man. And then [Ken] Hamlin getting on top of the ball, that was good for us."
(on the scare of DT Haloti Ngata being slow to get up in the first half) "It was. It was a double whammy there. We didn't get it in, and then we've got Haloti with a potential injury, so that was. You take a chance sometimes when you put those guys out there, but then again, you want to put guys in situations to help you make plays. To me, that's what football players do. People can say, 'Why is he out there on offense?' or, 'Why is he out there playing on special teams?' Because you're trying to win those plays. You try to put your guys in position, within reason, to do that. Fortunately, he was OK."
(on the status of CB Josh Wilson) "It's a little bit of a hamstring. We'll have to see. Other than that, I don't know how serious it is."
(on the speed of CB Fabian Washington's recovery) "Now, what they're doing with ACLs is pretty amazing. He worked hard every single day. Lardarius [Webb] is in the same category. These guys were training every day to rehab that thing. But, he's very determined. Fabian – I guess I'd put Lardarius in the same category – Fabian is very determined to be an elite corner in this league. That's his goal. He's got the speed to do it; he's got the athleticism to do it. I think he's become a very good technical player in the last two years, better than he ever was before. That's a credit to Chuck Pagano, what he's done with our secondary. I just like the way Fabian works."
(on why the Ravens match up so well with the Broncos) "The biggest thing is the last two years, we've played them here. I think that's a big edge. Home-field advantage in this league is a big deal. You go out there and play Denver in Denver, and that's a big challenge, too. That's the only thing I can think of for the last two games. And then we've played well. Our defense has done a nice job against them."
(on establishing the running game) "It's important. We need to be able to run the ball. It's nice to know we can run the ball. That's a defense that's pretty much set up to stop the run in a lot of ways, and we did a good job of running on them anyway. We've got to be able to do that. And that's not to say we're going to be able to run for that kind of yards every week, but hopefully we're becoming the type of offense that can do both really well."
(on K Billy Cundiff's four touchbacks) "Thanks for brining that up. I don't know how often that happens, that you're not talking about Denver, really. He's been as good as any kicker in the league as far as kicking off. He's making field goals. It takes a lot of pressure off your kickoff team."
(on the Ravens establishing a physical presence) "I think you have to be. That's the type of team we want to be. That's the type that I think the Ravens have always wanted to be, and we want to be that in all three phases. We want to be a rough, tough, physical football team. We also want to be smart. We want to be a disciplined football team. We want to play hard every snap. We want to make good decisions. I wasn't real happy with some of the penalties today. I thought the holding penalty was a bad penalty at the end. It shouldn't have happened, and it gave them a chance to get the ball back. That's just one example. There was one on the kickoff return that shouldn't have happened, and it backed us up to the 10-yard line. We still managed to move it out, but you don't finish games by committing those kinds of penalties, and we've got to be better than that."
(on if the Ravens are getting better each week) "Absolutely, I think we are. Our goal is to be better this Sunday than we were last Sunday as a football team. We'll look at the tape, we'll determine that. It's always an area here and an area there – you get good in some areas, and some other things pop up. But, overall, generally, we want to push everything up as much as we can every single week."
(on if S Ed Reed will be ready to go when he's eligible to play) "I think he'll be ready to go. Obviously, you never know until the guy gets out there and starts practicing the football stuff. But based on the way he's moving around now, I don't see any way he won't be ready to go."
(on not having a let down after a big win the previous week) "Our guys talked all week about following up the big win with a win. That's really important. If you don't follow it up with a win, then you kind of negate the big win, because you just count for one apiece. So, this was a big game for that reason. And it gets you to 4-1, gives us an opportunity to go into New England to be 1-0 this week. It's really an important game."
QB Joe Flacco
(on if it's tough to keep it together on the goal line) "No, not really. It's disappointing, but it's not tough to keep it together. You know you're going to get the ball back, and there's 50 minutes left in the ballgame. So, you have to keep it together and go down there. I think we did a great job. We had two pretty good drives after that, and the defense got a turnover. We would've liked to keep it rolling there with another touchdown, but they did a good job bringing a little bit of pressure there and forcing us to throw the ball away. I think it was a great job by us, just getting off to a quick start. Even though we didn't score on the first drive, I think we had a lot of confidence going into the next couple of drives, just knowing that we did a good job of moving the ball."
(on if Ray Rice is talkative on the field) "I don't know. I don't know if any of us talk too much. We're a pretty quiet group. Every now and then, you see Ray or somebody on the offense getting into it with somebody else over there. You just try to calm them down a little bit, but you don't really hear too much talking out there as the quarterback."
(on if he talks to Rice as much as he talks to the receivers) "No. The receivers have something to say every play. I usually just don't go over by them because I know they have something to say. T.J. [Houshmandzadeh], man, he's going to tell me he's open every time. I was surprised one time he came to me today and said, 'I think I might have been covered. I just wanted to let you know, good job in whatever you did.' I was like, 'Really?' I thought he was trying to tell me he was wide open, and I was about to say, 'look, I had to do this.' But Ray – the biggest thing with that is just communicating on where he's going with his route, what he's feeling out there. Like, 'Hey, I'm really beating this guy.' If I go with the option and beat him across the face, I'm going to be able to do it, and those little things, they happen very quickly, and it's not a lot."
(on his rush for the first down) "We had called that play earlier or a play similar to that – the same route-combination. We hit Derrick [Mason], and he was wide open and ran up the field for 15 or 20 yards. We went back to it a couple of times. We went back to it there, but Derrick was covered. The guy with the ball was covered. I put my eyes to our sideline, and there was a little bit of pressure at that time, because we were so far into the play. I couldn't really see anything to my left. I just came out of there, and my thought was just to get the first down from there."
(On if this team has the potential to be something special) "Definitely. I think we definitely feel that way. I think we felt that way the last two years to tell you the truth. We feel like we've got a pretty special team here, and we just got to continue to work hard to get better each week. We can't stay the team we are. We've got to continue to progress and do some better things out there week-to-week, and I think that's what we're really showing right now. We're showing a lot of promise and getting better week-to-week. And that's the mark of a championship team. We've just got to keep it up."
(On if being a physical team helps to get the ball in the end zone) "That's the way we look at it. Yeah. Our guys did a great job today. We didn't succeed on the one, but every time after that we did a great job of getting it in there and that's what it comes down to a lot of the time. They know we're going to run the ball in there, we know we're running it straight at them. And it's just a matter of putting your head down and getting the job accomplished."
(On if someone new is stepping up each week) "Yeah. It was a great job. I think everybody did a great job of getting us started today. And, like I said, they started doing some things to combat what we were doing. Our offensive line did a great job leading Ray up there. Ray was just finding the little holes. There were a handful of times where – even on a three or four yard carry – when Ray was coming back, I said, 'Nice run, Ray.' He just found the little hole just to get that little extra yardage, get the first down, keep the chains moving and put us in good third-down situations. Even all those little things, he did a great job with that. And our offensive line played physical all game up front and really wore them out I think."
(On how long he worked on the play where he threw to TE Ed Dickson) "Ed's a good athlete. I don't know. I'm sure we haven't worked on it much. We run the play in practice, and I think one time Todd [Heap] ran it this week, and then the next, we ran it again on Friday and Ed was the guy. It worked perfect. It didn't work like that, but it worked perfect. Ed's a good athlete – he can run, he can come back and stop-and-go up for the ball. He was one-on-one with [Brian] Dawkins. Dawkins is a great player, but he's not used to being in one-on-one coverage and covering a pretty good athlete. So, you give Ed a shot. He did a great job."
(On if Dickson was his primary receiver on that play) "Yeah. He really is. I got a chance to throw to Derrick [Mason] on the front side. And I kind of did wait for Derrick a little bit there and then came back to him. He's kind of a primary, but I came to him second."
(On if the play on fourth-and-one was designed to go to Haloti Ngata) "Haloti or Le'Ron [McClain]. Yeah. We're not afraid to throw Haloti the ball. Hopefully, one of these days he'll get one. We ran a play with him in there a couple years ago in Cincinnati, and he didn't get the ball. We ran it this way today, and he didn't get the ball. Maybe I should've taken a shot and just tried to fire it in at him and see if it would've stuck to him. He has great hands though, so I don't have to be afraid of throwing him the ball."
RB Ray Rice
(opening statement) "Good afternoon. Great afternoon."
(on team identity talk being overrated) "I like to call it a well-balance attack. When you define identity… Last year, we were a physical running team. The thing about this season so far is that when we needed to pass the ball, we passed it. Today, when we needed to run the ball, we ran it. There was no second-guessing what we were going to do. Obviously, we've faced some tough fronts the past few weeks running the ball. There's no excuse for not getting the job done, today was one of those days where everything felt good, especially in the run game. Our offensive line… There wasn't any doubt, and it was a challenge because of the front that we were facing. They had 270 and above throughout their whole front, and our offensive line took it and ran with it. A lot of the stuff you saw from me was stuff that we worked on all through camp and practice. It was a total group effort. As far as our identity, I just think we're a well-balanced offense right now."
(on whether he had any apprehensions that the Ravens might get away from the running game) "No. I thought my job would be easier. Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh… They're going to take that extra safety out of the box because then we have the play-action pass and stuff like that. My overall goal this year… Obviously, if I had all the stats and we didn't win a game, it wouldn't mean anything to me. I definitely took pride in that. Whether it's last week blocking, getting a guy open so Joe [Flacco] has time, whether it's picking up a blitz, and I take pride in that because that's the stuff, when we watch the tape, the guys appreciate it. Stats don't mean everything – obviously, fantasy football *[laughter] *- but our overall goal is to win. I'm just happy to be part of a team that is all about one thing, one play leads to the next, and we all need each other. If I have to take less stats and we're winning, so be it."
(on how important an early lead was to avoiding a letdown) "We're at home. The one thing that we want to do is get the crowd into the game. Obviously, the first drive, we get all the way down to the one [yard line], and we don't get in. It was poise getting back out there, knowing that we got all the way down there and did not come up with a point. Sometimes that will get frustrating, but with this team, it's different. You get back on the field, you're poised. You get back out there, and then you score. One thing about our offense, when we get out there, we want to do a great job controlling the game. There was a time and point in the game where their defense was playing harder than we were playing on offense. We came out at halftime, made the adjustments, and now we're moving the ball again. One thing our defense appreciates is that when we run that clock down and they get back on the field, they're fresh. Our defense plays phenomenal. We all need each other in this. It definitely felt good – we had that long drive that ran out the third quarter, and then our defense came in comfortable. They had to get in the two-minute offense, and we did a great job finishing the game."
(on the offensive line) "I've never seen a group work harder. Stats haven't shown the last few weeks, but today… If I was to give a game ball, I'd have to give it to them. Even last week, they got the team game ball because the stuff Pittsburgh threw at them. Those guys work hard, they work very hard. They do more walk-throughs than I've ever seen. People know how hard those guys are working. Those guys take a lot of heat. I always have faith in them and the running game. I've been running with those guys for three years. We made a few changes in there, got Matt Birk anchoring them. They know where I want to run the ball, they get to the spots, and all I do is tell them to give me a crack. I don't need much space, I'm a little guy. They've got to find me as it is."
(on how he was able to run against a Broncos defense that shut down Titans RB Chris Johnson last week) "That was all offensive line. They got me to the safety. I'm not sure what Tennessee tried to do against them last week, but we wanted to attack that front. We wanted to get them moving. The littlest guy they have in their front seven is D.J. Williams, who is a great player. The rest of them were 270 [pounds], 280, anchoring the front, 300 and above. I know our defense, when they have to play long drives, they get tired. So I can imagine when you've got an 11-play drive… And then Cam [Cameron], when he sees a weakness in the defense, we're going to attack it. That's just tempo. Obviously, when you're at home, you don't have to worry about crowd noise, you don't have to worry about all the X-factors. We just line up, call it and run it. That was what we saw on film. Otherwise, they were a great defense. They're stout up front… [Brian] Dawkins, [Champ] Bailey leading the back. They're physical. I'm sure I'll be pretty sore after this game, but I know that I'll be ready to go next week."
(on scoring his first two TDs of the year) "It's hard to get in the end zone in the NFL. It just proves on that first drive… The one-yard line… You're like, 'Why didn't we get in?' It's hard to score touchdowns in the NFL, especially running the ball. That goal line is physical. Those touchdown balls, I love to collect them. If I could share them with my offensive line, I'd try to get them a ball as well. Getting started… It's a long season, and it was a great day to get the running game going, especially at home against Denver, and now we've just got to carry it through the rest of the season."
(on whether the Ravens are an elite team) "I think we're a balanced team. With the players and the experience we have… We had a big win last week. One thing that was great about this win is the way we came off last week. When you have to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers, our ultimate rival, and have to bounce back and play, there's a fear of a letdown. We're growing with experiences that we're facing right now, and it's going to carry us through the rest of the season. We don't want to have a letdown. We want to anchor each other down whether we've got to win the game in the first quarter or win the game in the fourth quarter. I like to say we're a team that's growing. With the veteran experience that we have, and younger guys like me, Joe [Flacco], being on this team for three years… Knowing what Coach Harbaugh preaches about this team, I'd like to say we're a team that's destined, and we're going to control our own destiny."
(on whether he wants to receive more goal-line carries) "That's trust. You trust that coordinator, whoever is calling the plays, is going to do what's best for the team. I don't consider them bad calls down there. It's about execution. One thing I learned about the NFL is that the coordinator can call a play, and if it is run correctly, whether it's a three-yard gain or a one-yard gain, that's not necessarily a bad call. We've just got to line up and run it again. Coordinators take a lot of heat, but Cam is a great coordinator. Not only does he feel the game out, he's going to do what's best for the team. We didn't get down after the first drive. He's ice cold, felt it out, and that's how we make plays. Cam's just calling the plays. The players, we've got to execute them."
(on how nice it was to have the game put on his back) "That's trust. That's trust. I couldn't say that he would do that my rookie year. I couldn't say the same, but he trusts that when he puts the ball in my hand, that not only am I going to gain yards, but I'm going to carry the team. That football isn't just a football to us. With that football, we're carrying the whole organization with us. By putting the ball in my hands that many times and trusting that I'm going to make something happen, that makes the coordinator's job easier. When he calls a play and knows that I'm just going to do what I have to do. A lot of the runs, you see me just squirting out. Those are the same runs I ran last year. I just feel good to know that the coaches trust me enough, even on the goal line, even on short-yardage situations, that I can get the job done. It feels good to know that I can carry my team and not have to do anything special. I never once today tried to break a run on my own. I followed my blocks and just tried to go forward. That's what's great about this team. We trust each other. Like I said, when I'm carrying the ball, I'm carrying the whole organization."
(on whether he felt like he was about to break a long run) "I felt it. I felt it. My running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery, he played the game. The last drive he said, 'Ray, you've got to break one.' I got the play. My eyes light up big when I run the ball. I don't know if you all can tell, but my eyes light up big. When I see a hole, I'm going from zero to 60 in a matter of time. Like I said, the offensive line… That 133 [yards] could have been 200 if I would have gotten out. But like I said, we've got a long year. That's a good sign to know that I didn't have to do anything special. The line got on their guys, and they got me to the second level. They got on the linebackers, I'm trying to split two guys, that's what I've got to do. That's my job. Obviously, I want an 80-yard run, but I'll take nine yards any day. For a running back, that's greatness. That's like a 20-yard run for a running back in this league."
(on whether he has himself in fantasy football) "No. I don't have myself. It's funny – people take the fantasy football stuff serious. I try not to let anybody down. At the same time, I've faced some tough fronts this year. So today, fantasy owners that drafted me, I got you some points, now give me some slack." (laughter)
G Ben Grubbs
(on the success of the running game today) "We really put an emphasis on our running game. It's something we've done well in prior years, so we definitely wanted to continue that. I think it really starts with a mindset and then solid preparation and execution."
(on the evaluation of the offensive line's performance today) "Hey, we got a win. So that's the No. 1 goal no matter how we play up front. As long as you come out with the win, then you can always take something from this game. We'll watch the film tomorrow, make corrections where needed and move on to New England."
(on how important today's win was) "Our goal is to win every game. And our job is to prepare well and go out on Sundays and execute that preparation. Our coaches did a great job of putting a game plan together, so all we have to do as players is implement it."
(on whether the offense is getting more comfortable as a unit each week) "This year for some reason it just took a little bit of time. Every Monday when we go in and watch film, it seemed like it's one or two things that we've had to get corrected. And I don't know what happened today – we'll have to go watch the film – but apparently we were doing some things pretty well. We just need to keep it up."
LB Ray Lewis
(on where the team is at this point after a 4-1 start) "I think it's a great opportunity for us. I think once again, coming out of that tough road stretch that we had, and now we're closing things out at home, and just playing overall complete team football right now. It's a real good feeling."
(on whether it was nice to see RB Ray Rice have a solid game today) "Yeah, anytime that our run game gets going… You see what kind of happens when the running game gets going, the passing game opens up. But it's only a matter of time before Ray [Rice] gets cranked up, and for him to just bounce back the way he did today was great."
(on making Denver a one-dimensional team today) "You know what, bottom line is we gave up a couple of touchdowns late, here-and-there, but I just think overall we came out and really got after [Kyle Orton]. We really frustrated him, gave him a lot of different looks and things like that. And our secondary and linebackers played some great coverage underneath and really jammed up on the line. So, I think it was a great overall performance."
(on whether he feels good about the way the pass defense went up against the No. 1 passing offense in the league) "You know what, we knew coming into the game, if you let him sit back there all day, he was going to do that against you. I just think that overall, we really did a great job in disguising and giving him a lot of different looks. And the plays that they did make; this is the National Football League, you're going to make a play. But I'm just saying, overall, I think we did a great job of really containing him."
(on the Ravens not seeming to overlook any opponent) "I don't know why [people think] we are the team to overlook anybody. We didn't win the Super Bowl or anything like that. We're grinding like everybody else is grinding, you know, one week at a time for us. And me being a leader, that's the way I try to keep my team focused; 60 minutes, bottom line, no matter who you're playing. Take care of this 60 minutes, and then we'll move on to the next. And now we're 4-1, so now we can move on to New England."
(on getting pressure on Orton and making him get out of the pocket frequently today) "I think coach [Greg] Mattison had a great game plan against them, and overall defensively, we came out and did a heck of a job just really getting after him. Like I said again, disguise really gave him some great looks, and he read a lot of things wrong in the first half, and I just think we capitalized on that."
(on whether this defense will get even better when S Ed Reed returns from PUP) "I mean, do you replace an Ed Reed? No. But do you replace the No. 1 defense in football? No. In past seasons, no, you don't. When Ed comes back, it just adds more depth to us, and the bottom line is, whether Ed catches [interceptions] or whoever else, bottom line, we just need to catch the ball. We had too many dropped interceptions today. And people are making this big emphasis about turnovers; turnovers are just about catching the football. You're going to have your opportunities, and we had many opportunities today."
(on how today was a complete team win, with success in all three phases of the game) "Yeah, I just think overall, you come out in the first half and you see exactly how we jumped on them. You know, defense goes out and goes three-and-out real quick. [Then] the offense comes out and puts seven, 14 [points on the board]. Then special teams, makes a big play and takes three [points]. You know, anytime you win three phases of a ball game, you're going to be a hard team to beat. And overall, I just think, as a team, we came out and did a great job today."
FB Le'Ron McClain
(on talking about his participation today)* *"Getting out there and playing, my enthusiasm is there in the game running the ball and catching passes to keep the drive alive."
(on if he had any concern on the first drive not being able to punch it in) "Yes, I'm still kind of ticked off about that. Even though we won big, in a situation like that, we need to be able to punch it in. I feel like it was my back and everyone else's back, and I took it hard. That was the one that shouldn't have been stopped. We just have to get better at it, work on it this week, and go to New England."
(on talking about the ground game in general, about 200 yards) "That's our goal every week. We set a high standard level. We want 250 a week. We take pride in that. We got Ray going today. I feel like I had a great day today."
RB Willis McGahee
(on talking about the three-headed monster being back) "Yeah, it's back. We've been away from it for awhile, but we did a great job today. Ray [Rice] did a great job of running the ball. Le'Ron did a great job on the number of carries that he got. I was just trying to make something happen."
(on the 30-yard touchdown run) "That was a great block by Le'Ron. He kicked him out. It was my job to get to the hole clean of the offensive line, and I basically ran through untouched and got to the end zone."
(on how far he thinks this team can go) "I think we can go all the way as long as we don't hurt ourselves. That goes for everybody. The sky's the limit for us."
WR Derrick Mason
(on talking about the distribution of the passes today) "He just used everybody. He dropped back and found the open guy. Everybody got an opportunity to catch the ball today. I think the good thing is that everyone contributed in a positive way. You can walk away from the game saying we did a lot of good things in the passing game today, including getting pass inference calls. And then they started to defend the pass, so we started to run very effectively. That's what you want out of your offense.
(on how far he thinks this team can go) "As long as we stay healthy, we have as good a shot as anybody. If we can stay healthy, we'll see where that takes us. We have a very good team. We have a disciplined team, a team that regardless of the situation, it's going to fight. I think when you have a team that's going to fight, it bodes well for you in the end."
(on keeping all the receivers happy) "Yes, we should be because we're winning. I know some guys just want to go out there and contribute, and I think that there's a misconception out there that T.J. and I just want the ball for ourselves. We just want to affect the game in a positive way. That's all we want to do. Two or three catches, but you want those two or three catches to be meaningful. I just realize and I think everybody else does that week to week, it's going to be different. One week I might have a good week, T.J. might have a good week, 'Q' [Anquan Boldin] might have a good week. That's just the way it's going to be."
S Dawan Landry
(on the defense) "We came out and executed. We gave up a couple of good plays, one right before the half, and one right at the end of the game. Overall, we played pretty well and got the victory. We've got some things to work on to get better. We've got to keep striving forward and look towards New England next week."
(on containing the Broncos' offense) "It was a total effort. The line got pressure. The linebackers played downhill, and it was just a matter of guys doing their job and being accountable for one another."
(on the DBs dropping interceptions) "As a secondary, we are still looking for an interception. Ray Lewis already has one. We were clowning around about that. Ray may lead the team in interceptions. There are still some interceptions out there we want to get."
(on Ed Reed being a coach on the sideline) "He's a full-time coach. He's non-stop as soon as you come off the field. He's in your ear telling you things. Even when we're on the field, we can hear him talking."
OLB Terrell Suggs
(on today's win) "For us as a defense, it's bittersweet. I'm glad we got the win. We were stout against the run, but we definitely could've made some more plays against the pass. [Kyle Orton] weaseled away from us a couple of times. As the year goes on, it's just something that has to become a point of emphasis. We're 4-1, we're happy, we got the win, but we have to be better at closing teams out."
(on the offense scoring 31 points) "We know this is the NFL, and we know that we have a great group of guys on that side of the ball. When they're rolling, we're rolling. We're going to enjoy this win tonight and get ready for the Pats."
(on the defensive effort) "We did a good job but we want to get better. We have to do a better job at getting after them, and we have to do a better job at closing teams out."
(on being 4-1) "We expected to be right here. It always feels good to have more wins than losses. The NFL season is not a sprint, it's a marathon. The key is to keep going and keep progressing. We definitely have one of the biggest games on our schedule next Sunday. We're looking forward to the challenge, but you better believe that we're going to prepare our a__ off."
CB Fabian Washington
(on Denver's passing game) "They're not afraid to throw it 50-plus times, and that's what they do, so we knew we had to practice, I would say, just that much harder because they're going to throw the ball so much you don't want to ever get tired out there. I think we stepped it up…we had the passing game down pretty much."
(on his game, often being in single coverage) "Brandon Lloyd is a tough receiver to guard, and I studied him a lot this week, and I think I knew what type of routes he was going to run, so I was playing for those routes."
(on what it says about the Ravens' secondary) "We're not as bad as what people thought. That's pretty much what it is. It was an opportunity to go out and show the world that, hey, everybody's saying we played against just, pretty much, running teams, that's why we had success. I think we had a lot of success today versus a predominantly passing team. They had some success late when they went to their no-huddle offense, but it is what it is. We'll look at what we messed up on, and we'll get better."
(on preparing for Denver because they pass so much) "During practice, I definitely tried to run a little bit more because it's going to be a track meet, and you don't want to run out of gas. So that was one thing I did extra, and I tried to just study all their concepts that they came in with. We knew Orton wasn't going to have a lot of time to throw the ball. Our front seven is amazing. We knew that, and I just played to our front seven's strength."
FS Tom Zbikowski
(on the team's overall effort) "It's still early, but I think just, in general, that Week 1 win was big. Last week was big, too. They really are all team wins, but I think we're starting to show that we can really be a [dominant] team."
(on preparing for Denver knowing how it likes to pass) "You know you want to stuff them early on the run to really make them one-dimensional and make sure they have no thought of even trying to run the ball. So once we did that, we really held them, other than those two plays, we held them in check all day. I think we'll get those fixed and we'll be all right."
(on how the Pittsburgh win may have carried over to this week) "I think just each week, you know, I think we had confidence enough. But I think each week, putting it together, winning, your confidence grows each week."
