QB Marc Bulger
On what a fresh start can do for him: "[I'm] just more interested in football again. I'm interested just to put the fun back into it. The last three years have been pretty difficult out here [in St. Louis]. The building just… You went to work for the team like a job because you only win five games in three years and the building's just down. It goes on the players, the equipment guys, the trainers, just the whole building. You get a new atmosphere where you're talking about trying to win a Super Bowl."
On what the Ravens have told him about his role, and his thoughts on being a backup QB after being a starter for so long:"Yeah, I mean starting for seven-plus years or whatever, it should be a different role, but it was clear to me up-front when I first started speaking with Baltimore that that would be my role there. And throughout this whole process talking to teams there were chances to be a starter at places, and a chance to compete, and then obviously [to also] be a backup. And I understand that I'm coming in and whatever capacity I can help Joe [Flacco], I'll do it. It's just about helping us win football games."
On whether the timing of his release hindered him from finding another job around the league:"Yeah, it's obvious that the longer [St. Louis] held me, the more opportunities were getting taken by other players. At the same time, I would meet with [Rams head coach] coach [Spagnuolo] on a frequent basis, and we were both candid with each other. And he had a responsibility, as well as Billy Devaney the [general manager], they had a responsibility to the Rams first. We had a great relationship, and I understood that. No hard feelings from it. It definitely took a couple opportunities away, but this opportunity here would never have been there, and I think it's the best situation for me."
On whether he thinks playing in a backup role can help him get his bearings with everything he's gone through in the past:"We'll see, maybe. Just the competitor in me wants to be a starter always, but I think every quarterback in this league wants to be a starter. I know in a better situation I would have won more games, but that's neither here nor there. If we were winning games and I'm sitting on the sidelines for 16 or 17 weeks and we're heading to the playoffs, I'll be just as happy as if I was the starter, because going through the last three years is something I've never experienced in the professional level, or college or even high school. I've never lost that many games and I'm just upset that I was a part of it. And when you're a quarterback you're a big part of it. I just want to win games again and I know we're going to win a bunch in Baltimore, and that's the most exciting thing about it."
On what he can bring to the offense as a fill-in guy: "Hopefully that doesn't have to happen, but I think that I've been in this offense and I just got the playbook, actually, a couple days ago. So, I'm going through it and there's a lot for me to learn from the differences in Coach Martz's offense to this one, but it's similar. What I think – just experience – I've been in a lot of situations, played a lot of football in the NFL and I think that if I would happen to get in the guys wouldn't miss a beat there. You know, [they'd] have a guy in there that's confident, wouldn't be a nervous young guy coming off the bench that's never played before. I think I could bring that and just keep the team rolling, and we wouldn't have to miss a beat, which, let's hope that doesn't have to happen."
On if there is a certain pride factor in that he'll be considered one of the top backups in the NFL: "You never know. There are a lot of good guys that don't get an opportunity that are backups. I'd like to think that I'd be one of the top guys, but backups, the guy's not on the field. So, the guys on the field are the only thing that matter. If I happen to get in, I wouldn't be a backup anymore. I'd be the starter."
On how much he can help QB Joe Flacco: "I don't know. I don't know Joe…We're going to get to spend a lot of time at training camp together, but I've seen him play a little bit. Just being in the AFC, I haven't seen him as much as I'd like to because I've been in the NFC. He's proven himself already in his short career. He's gone to the playoffs. I don't want to be the guy that comes in here and thinks I know it all and put too much on him. I'm going to let Joe let me know how much input he wants me to give. He's going to have plenty of help from Coach [Jim] Zorn and Coach [Cam] Cameron. I just don't want to be the know-it-all backup. It's real easy to stand in the background, and stand on the sideline, and tell the guy who's actually doing it how easy it is, because I've been in that situation before. I had a great mentor in Kurt Warner who helped me when he was on the sideline, in the back helping me out. He just kind of let me guide him just to how much information he wanted. So, long answer short, I'll leave it up to Joe how much help he wants, but I'll be there for anything he needs."
On growing up in Pittsburgh and playing for a rival of the Steelers:"(Laughter) I'm well aware that growing up in Pittsburgh would be…I kind of got born into being a Steelers fan. But, once I went away to college, and then especially once I wasn't drafted there and I got to play against them, my loyalty to the Steelers was gone out the window a long time ago. So, I'm a Raven here, and I'm going to get a lot of grief in my head rolling to Pittsburgh here and there – and I already have started to get that – but I'm a big boy. It doesn't bother me anymore."
On being the only West Virginia Mountaineer in the locker room:"I'm trying to think. Yeah, I guess so. We're not too far from West Virginia, so that'd be pretty neat, too. Maybe I can… They'll be in a local area where I can catch them on TV. We had a lot of Big 12 football here. I didn't get a lot of Big East so we'll see."
On passing his physical and whether he had any health concerns: "I was healthy. I had heard reports about all these different things I had, and I really just had the cracked bone in my leg. So, that was pretty much a non-issue right after the season. I got back on the treadmill and played in early February still. I've broken some bones throughout my career, but I've really had no surgeries, and I was pretty confident going into it. You never… You're always a little nervous for whatever reason, but I was pretty confident that I would be back."
