Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement:"This is really a little different right here! (laughter) But first of all, thanks to all of our staff and everybody that works for the Ravens – we have an amazing organization. For what they did to put this event together was just incredible. Two things: The fans were unbelievable. I think we had close to 30,000 [28,323] fans tonight. They were enthusiastic, gave us good crowd noise and made it as realistic as possible. I told the players, 'You're going to get people from all walks of life here, and it's all going to be about kids. There have been plenty of kids here that have never been anywhere but [Baltimore]. This will be the neatest place they've ever gone, so let's make it really special for them,' and I know our guys did that. And the other thing is when the buses came through, we took the long way home, so to speak. We took the long way through the city, and I don't know why, but we went through a couple neighborhoods and everybody was outside. They were in their row houses, out on the front porches, laughing [and] having a good time. We drove the buses by, and they were going crazy – kids, women, dads. It was just a fun deal, and for our rookies especially, to see how much the people of Baltimore care about and love the Baltimore Ravens. It was just a really neat deal, so thank you to all the people that we drove by tonight."
What about Ray Lewis showing up at practice, John? How was that? (Bill West)"We all commented when he walked in that he looked very dapper. (laughter) We don't remember him looking too dapper out here when he was playing football. But he looked great. I had a chance to talk to him. It was neat, and I think the young guys were pretty thrilled."
Did you have any words for your owner [Steve Bisciotti] about that tackle with the golf cart? (Jamison Hensley)"He tried to tell me that Matt Elam saw him all the way, and I asked him why he almost tipped over his cart. (laughter) Did you see that hard left? He was on two wheels there!" (laughter)
What about Joey Odoms singing the national anthem? (Kristen Berset)"That was really neat. It's funny, because I haven't seen him since Afghanistan, and he told me he was the national anthem singer, and I'm like, 'Really? I mean, really?' You hear a lot of things, and I gave him [Ravens senior vice president of community and public relations] Kevin Byrne's number, and here he is singing the national anthem six months later. The Lord works in mysterious ways."
John, did you sit CB Lardarius Webb another day for him to loosen up? (Aaron Wilson)"We're going to see about Lardarius. He has some back things that we're looking at right now, and backs are a little weird. At first it was no big deal. It's lingering a little bit, so we'll find out what's going on with him."
John, you were addressing the military people before practice and got them all pumped up. I know that's got to feel good to you. (Bill West)"It was great talking to the military, and really the whole crowd. It's not hard to get military folks fired up. They're fired up by nature. This evening is to honor the military – Military Appreciation [Day] – for the sacrifice that men and women make here and all over the world; and the sacrifices that their families make here and all over the world, with their loved ones being away and sometimes worse. It's something that we all better be grateful for and better appreciate, because it's the country's song. But freedom is not free, and there are plenty of people out there that would love to take it from us. The minute we forget that, we're going to be in serious trouble. So, thanks to our military for [their service]."
Coach, can you take anything football-wise from this practice, or is it just a process to get the guys together? (Reporter)"This is another step football-wise. You get them out here in a situation where they have to handle the environment. We had a couple of live drills out here. I don't think you've ever seen us do a live drill out here in this kind of a setting before. We've done more live drills in this camp than any camp we've had so far with our young guys. We have a lot of work to do. It's going to be fun to watch the tape and see how individual players stepped up, and we have to put it together. We have to be precise, we have to be in sync, and we have to be good. We have to be good early. We have plenty of work to do."
John, is DE Chris Canty [missing practice] not serious? Is it a minor thing? (Jeff Zrebiec)"[Chris] Canty has a family issue. Chris had a family issue that he had to attend to."
