*NAVY-MARINE CORPS MEMORIAL STADIUM: AUG. 5 TRANSCRIPT
Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement:"It was fun. Did everybody enjoy it? What a great night. A great environment – music, a big crowd, a lot of fun. The guys really enjoyed it. One thing to note was Keenan Reynolds. He had a big night. I saw his confidence shift to another gear here, and I can guess I can see why. He's pretty comfortable."
Did you ask WR/RS Keenan Reynolds to speak to the team, and when was that? (Jamison Hensley)"It was this morning. [Special teams coordinator/associate head coach] Jerry Rosburg had the idea, of course. Keenan talked to the team about the tradition here – what all the places were on the stadium, which are all the Naval battles and U.S. history. He talked about how it works at the Naval academy and showed us where the dorms were. It was pretty cool. He did a good job with it."
Does WR Quincy Adeboyejo flash to you as well with those big plays? (Jamison Hensley) "Quincy has had a really good camp. What you saw tonight is what we have seen pretty much every day in training camp. A number of the other young guys are doing similarly well. All directions now kind of point towards Thursday night, and [we will] see what those guys do Thursday night. But to see him come out tonight under the lights with the crowd and play the way he did – not just him, but some other guys, too – it is good to see."
DT Willie Henry seems to be gaining a lot of confidence and had a good day out here. (Ryan Mink)"Willie Henry did. He has been rushing the passer really well. I can't wait to see him in action, as well. I thought all the D-line … We are really deep with our D-line. There's not one guy in that group that is not playing exceptionally well. We have a very good deep group – a young group. I can't wait to see them play."
Is it possible you could get QB Joe Flacco back this week? (Jeff Zrebiec)"I do not really know the time frame on it; we have not talked about that. That is what [offensive coordinator] Marty [Mornhinweg] was talking about when he made the quote. We just do not know the time frame. They have not given us a time frame yet. We know he is getting better every single day. Obviously, we have a plan for him, football-wise, when he gets back, but we haven't been told when yet."
Is CB Jimmy Smith OK? We have not seen him out there. (Luke Jones) "Jimmy just tweaked his … A little tweak in there. I decided to keep him off the turf today, and I actually held him out yesterday, too. He should be back Monday."
With T Austin Howard, how pleased are you that you were able to get a guy with so much experience and talent like that? (Ryan Mink)"I am very excited. He was in, and I had a long talk with him on Saturday. He is excited, he is a competitor, and he is happy to be back. His wife made a lot of friends here when they were here the first time around. She is pregnant, and she likes the hospitals in town. She is looking forward to getting back here for that. He will be out there with us on Monday."
In general, how cool is it to have a guy who is a practice squad member and to see what he has accomplished since then and it come full circle? (Luke Jones)"It is. We were disappointed to lose him; I remember it well when we lost him. We wanted to keep him at the time, too, and that is how it works in this league. He did a great job, but a lot of times guys like to come back to Baltimore. They get out and see that this was a pretty good place. He was excited to get back."
You mentioned WR Quincy Adeboyejo. Does it strike you as a stronger than normal undrafted rookie class, or is it still too early to say? (Bo Smolka)"I don't know. It is probably too early to say. It is a comparison question of course. But, this is a good class. I think it is a strong class. There are going to be some of these guys that are going to make our team. There are going to be other guys who are going to probably make other teams. It is a really good group."
