RAVENS TRAINING CAMP
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Jerry Rosburg
On RB Jalen Parmele and CB Prince Miller in the return game: "Jalen had the first kickoff return, and although the return didn't go very far, he ran it just like we wanted to. He ran it like Jalen does. He's a strong runner, and he pounded it up in there. Right now he's the lead dog in that particular phase, and he'll get the first rep again this week. And Prince Miller… His punt return stands out because he had an excellent punt return. [He] broke a lot of tackles, made some guys miss, and really was an electric play. I think he showed that he's got the ability in punt return to make a difference, and he did certainly in that game. While the play was blocked pretty well, it wasn't blocked as well as it was run by him."
On Miller's running being better than the blocking on that punt return: "Yeah, evidenced by the fact that he broke that many tackles, and made that many guys miss. He did a really good job on that play. When he got in on kickoff return, he kind of ran that one like a punt return, which we're going to try to change that behavior before next week."
On how much confidence he has in LS Morgan Cox: "Well, we have not just that one preseason game, but we have a body of work since he's been here, all the way through mini-camps and OTAs and training camps. We did want to get him game experience in the NFL, and that was very positive experience. He had one errant snap on punt, but his field goal snaps were all right on target. He's shown us in practice that he can not only snap, but he can also protect, and his field goal accuracy snaps have been very good. He's got a long way to go, but he's the right kind of player, he's the right kind of young man, and we have a lot of confidence in him going forward."
Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron
On what QBs coach Jim Zorn is feeling before facing his former team:"Well, we haven't talked about it. You'd have to ask him. But, if you're in this league long enough, you're going to [face a former team]. Players play against teams they've played on, coaches coach against teams, and your emotions… You're trying to win every game. So, you'd have to ask him."
On if he had anything to say to Zorn:"No. Sometimes it's more important to everybody else – for you – than it is for you."
On if the team notices: "Absolutely, because everybody in this league has kind of been on the other side of that, so they figure that you want a little more, so they douse you with Gatorade and all that stuff. So, everybody, I'm sure, is a little bit different."
On if there is a QB with more former head coaches around him than QB Joe Flacco:"I don't know. But I know this: Really, it's our entire offense. Having the coaching staff that we have, and there's some guys on the radar on this staff, too – Wilbert Montgomery and John Matsko, Jim Hostler… Jim Hostler's been a coordinator. Jim is a great coach, and John [Harbaugh] has done a tremendous job putting together a great staff. And, I think the thing for me is I really enjoy the fact that we all work together well. Everybody checks their ego at the door. They know I'm an open-minded guy – I'm for the best idea, not my idea. But, when you get veteran guys like we have, they don't suggest things that really aren't proven. I like to do things differently as long as they're better than what we're doing. I don't want to do things just to be different. So, they bring a lot of variety. Veteran coaches know how to coach over the long haul. They don't get ground down in training camp or the length of the season. It's really great to have all these veteran coaches on our staff, but I think it's more about the offense than it is one guy."
On if he knows anything about G/C David Hale's injury:"I wasn't over there to that drill. I know he's had a… He's been banged up a little bit – some back spasms and stuff. But, I was not over to that drill. But actually, as soon as… I'm going to walk right over there and try to find out."
On his comfort level with the O-line without T Jared Gaither:"You have to be [comfortable]. I don't think you're ever comfortable. You really aren't, because you know you're one or two players away from really having to rebuild something, and I think I mentioned that at the start of training camp. We reinvent ourselves every year, we're reinventing this offensive line right now, today. We had Michael Oher at left tackle, you had [Ben] Grubbs at left guard, you had [Chris] Chester at center, you've got [Marshal] Yanda, Yanda's going to go from right guard to right tackle – that's probably not going to happen – so you've got [Oniel] Cousins at right tackle. So, we're kind of redoing this thing every year. We'll get Matt Birk back in there, and we'll see how the [Jared] Gaither thing plays out. But he wasn't there in the offseason, and we've kind of prepared for this because he wasn't there in the offseason, so when he comes back, we'll look at that as a plus."
On why G/T Marshal Yanda wouldn't be good at RT:"Because [Chris] Chester is the center. Under the scenario that we practiced today, and that we use quite a bit, it seems like it really is hard to do that when Chester's playing center, and that's why it's great to have Chris. Chris gives us a ton of flexibility – he can play center, he can play guard, he can play tight end, he can play fullback. We try to teach guys multiple positions so that you're semi-comfortable when you have to make a change, because as you guys know, you only have seven linemen active. Right now, I feel confident by the time the season starts, our top seven will be a very good group."
On how WR Demetrius Williams has played during camp:"Very good. Solid camp. He made a couple plays this morning; he's just got to continue to be consistent. He's always been a guy who flashes, and now he's flashing pretty consistently."
On how he would grade RB Jalen Parmele's performance against the Panthers:"Second half, you can't… I flunked the second half, so everybody's off the hook in the second half of that game. Give Cam Cameron an 'F' in the second half, and give anybody that played in the second half a passing grade. We'll do a pass/fail in the second half. We're going to improve in the second half in these preseason games. One way… We're going to find a way to improve our production in the second half with all these young players, because we… I failed miserably giving those guys a chance the other night."
On why he failed:"Well, I just didn't do a very good job. You've got to give your guys a chance. We don't just call the same plays with one group that you call in another group and expect them to work. You've got to really… You've got a lot of young guys on the offensive line, and you've got to work that a little bit."
On if Parmele is still in the mix:"Absolutely. He's a good football player. I wouldn't judge anything with Jalen Parmele on the second half of the other night, nothing even close."
On if he was pleased with the performance in the first half:"No. There were some positives, there's no doubt. There's a lot of areas we can improve. We made some mental mistakes in that first drive and still were able to get points. It's nice when you're able to get points while you're making mistakes – I think that's a positive. I think the first unit took care of the ball pretty good."
On how TE Todd Heap has looked during training camp: "Very good. He's picked up right where he left off in the offseason. He had his best offseason with us in the last three years."
On if there is any noticeable change with Heap: "Healthy, he's been healthy. He's only been banged up a little bit this training camp. This is the healthiest he's been since we've been here."
On if T Oniel Cousins will start if T Jared Gaither remains injured: "That would be the logical choice because that's the way we did it last year. That'd be the logical choice, but there's still… Ramon Harewood has really done some good things. Joe Reitz has done some good things. There's other guys… Tony Moll has done some good things when he's been healthy. We want competition all the way up until the final cut, and then it'll be pretty obvious which direction we go. But, that'd be the logical direction."
On if he would consider moving G Marshal Yanda to tackle: "Absolutely. Absolutely, but you can't move guys around too much. I think Marshal Yanda can be as good a right guard as there is in the league. I believe that, and to keep bouncing him around guard to tackle, guard to tackle, really doesn't help that."
On if he thinks Cousins has progressed: "Absolutely. Absolutely, and he's back on track. Again, he missed a significant amount of time, which was unfortunate, but that's kind of in the past at this point. But he's back on track, and I think he's working through… He's not 100 percent yet, but his effort is 100 percent. One thing I like about 'Cuz' [is] you know exactly what you're getting. He's not one guy one day and another guy the next day. He shows up, he's there every day, he's where he's supposed to be, [and] he gives you his best effort. Sometimes he doesn't execute the play like he would like, or we would like, but his effort is consistent. And, pretty much a play-caller can deal with a guy like that. To me, he's easy to call plays when he's in there because I know I'm going to get a great effort."
Defensive Coordinator Greg Mattison
On LB Antwan Barnes and his performance during training camp:"Antwan has had a very, very good camp. What Antwan's M.O. has been in the past, is he's shown great talent and it just wasn't very consistent. And ever since OTAs – it carried right on to camp – he has stacked up practice after practice. And he's gone every time, and that's really good because he has such great talent and great get-off, and he's really going to help us."
On how LB Tavares Gooden is doing and why he is wearing a red jersey:"Tavares had a little bit of a bad back a couple days ago. He rested it yesterday, and today we wanted to get him back in there. Tavares has had a very good camp, also. He's been really, really important in our sub package, being the dime linebacker. [He's got] the ability to cover people, be able to run, and he's also done a good job as a backup inside linebacker in 'Raven' [coverage]."
On if Gooden was hurt during last week's game against Carolina: "He got hurt, but I don't know the difference between hurt and sore. He came out of the game. He got hit from the side, and he twisted his neck, which carried on down into his back."
On S Ken Hamlin picking things up and fitting in: "Definitely, Ken has given us a real boost in there with how short we are at some positions in the secondary. He's a veteran. He's a pro. The biggest thing that Ken has had to do is pick up our terminology and feel comfortable, because that safety is so important in communicating. When he communicates, it gets everybody else lined up like we have to. He's really stepped up on that part of his game."
On the benefit the Ravens' receivers have on the secondary: "No question. What happens is, when you're playing against the best every day, it speeds up practice for you. Then, when you get into the games it isn't that, 'Oh boy, this is a little faster than practice.' Our receivers have done a tremendous job in camp, and if you slip up just one time on them, if you don't play perfect technique against them, they're going to beat you. The thing our receivers, that I've noticed, have done a great job of is they're catching everything. There are balls sometimes that aren't perfectly thrown, but they have strong hands, and that's [been] noticed since OTAs. We're really excited about our receiving corps as a defensive coach."
On if he is concerned about the run defense following last week's game: "Well, anytime somebody runs the ball at all on your defense… I don't know if the word is concerned, but it makes you pay attention to it, and we've addressed it. It wasn't so much that guys weren't going hard and guys weren't being physical. It's just that we weren't in the right run fits, and guys got out of their gaps a little bit, and we didn't fit correctly. We've addressed that, and we'll get challenged on that again this game. That's what preseason is for, to be able to show you what you need to make sure you emphasize. So, we have had more emphasis on the run defense since then."
On what he has to work with in his defense: "I see a very talented, very veteran, very Raven-type group that has to just keep getting better every day. If we sit back right now and say, 'Boy, we look good on paper,' or 'We have this and that,' then that won't be good. But, I think our guys know that. They know that every day they're measured. That's why our practices are so tough, and they're tough from the coaches' standpoint in that there's nothing that's going to be unaddressed. So, if a guy goes out there and has not a Raven-type practice, it's going to be addressed, and the next day he's got to know he's got to step up to that. That's just the way we do things here, so we just have to keep improving. There's no question about it."
On S Dawan Landry: "Dawan Landry has had a very, very solid camp. Dawan Landry, you don't hear all kinds of flashy things about him, but I know one thing: It's great when you look out there and Dawan Landry's there because you know he's going to always do the right things. He's going to hit you, and he's great at communicating. He gets us all lined up out there. I think he's had a good camp."
On if rookie CB Prince Miller plays taller than 5-8: "I don't know if anybody's measured him. All I know is when he was running that ball back on that punt, he looked like he was 6-1. Again, he's getting challenged by such great receivers every day in practice, so now you're going to be able to find out, 'Can he play?' We're closer to that now. We can see that every practice."
On if DE Trevor Pryce amazes him as an older player: "He's a Raven. He's a Raven. It doesn't matter what his age is. He knows what's expected of him once he's in there. Whether he's 35 or he's 25, it doesn't really have any age part of it. It has to do with what's expected once you go in there."
On what it means to be a "Raven": "You go as hard as you can go, with great technique, and play as tough as you can be. That's what a Raven does."
