DAILY INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Jerry Rosburg
On LB Sergio Kindle's pressure on punt blocks:"He's a pass rusher. So, I think those skills match up well to what we're asking him to do on our punt return team. When we got him out there, we called his number each time to find out if that's something he can do for us. He certainly showed his ability to get off the ball, and his power showed up, because in both of them he was blocked and he powered his way through the block."
On P Sam Koch and his progress during training camp:"Sam [Koch] usually goes through the entire offseason with a plan, and at the end of the year we sit down and we talk. Unfortunately, this year we didn't have the time together, and he didn't have the facilities to work out in. But when he got back out here… Sam is continuing to work on his consistency and his hang time. He's the kind of guy where he could have eight punts – hopefully we don't – but if we had eight punts and he made seven good ones, he wouldn't be happy with his performance. He holds himself to a very high standard. That's really what he's been working on is his consistency and his ball flight."
On whether he feels the Ravens attempted to give Kansas City kickoffs they could return:"We did and we got one. We tried earlier, but unfortunately, or fortunately – however you look at it – we had the wind at our back and we couldn't place the ball. It just carried, and there was nothing we could do about it. But, we made that attempt. It was rather comical at the end when Billy's [Cundiff] last kickoff… We had substituted a bunch and we said, 'Why don't you just go ahead and kick this one out of the end zone,' and they returned that one. So, we coached him right into mediocrity." *(laughter) *
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Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron
On Redskins QB John Beck and the decision to trade him to Washington last year:"One, he was a really good college player, and he got thrown in probably way before anybody anticipated. But, he is one of the harder workers I have been around. I am hearing good things about what he is doing. I think everybody around here has a lot of respect for him, because when he was here, he worked hard. Nothing John [Beck] can do in a positive way would surprise me. That is the kind of person he is and the kind of worker he is. We all wish him well. I think last year's circumstances, with an opportunity to get Marc Bulger and go with two quarterbacks, was a unique opportunity. I think that was the thing that really just factored into that. It was nothing that he didn't do here, I guess, that facilitated that. We had positive feelings about it, and obviously they did as well."
On QB Joe Flacco's biggest challenge being learning the individual strengths of his weapons:"That's always an evolving process of getting familiar with your guys, and then you are always growing as a quarterback to learn NFL defenses. Defenses are evolving. I have already seen some things in preseason tape that are new, that defensive coordinators are coming up with in the offseason. So, you have to continue to grow and evolve. If you don't continue to grow, you are going to struggle. [Flacco needs] to just continue to grow as a quarterback, get used to his guys, and we should get a little bit better every week this season."
On if the battle at right tackle between T Jah Reid and T Mark LeVoir is still wide open:"I don't know that it's narrowed down to any point. We're still evaluating everybody. This is a big game. Ultimately, we will go with our best five. We'll see how that factors in. I wouldn't say it is this guy or that guy at this point. We all know Marshal [Yanda] has played out there. We all know there are other possibilities. What I would say, though, is that I like what I see. The effort… We took a huge step the other night, the young tackles did. Even Ramon Harewood had a nice night. Jah [Reid] did a nice job. He has improved this week. There is competition – there always will be. We just have to let this thing play out for probably at least a couple weeks."
On what he has seen out of LeVoir:"It's two days, but obviously, he asks veteran questions. He knows NFL defenses. He just has to get accustomed to how we go about doing things, and he is a veteran football player. We will find out a lot about him probably tomorrow and Thursday night."
On WR/RS David Reed and if he is behind or ahead of the other receivers:"That was nice wasn't it? That was nice to see David [Reed]. It's a fair question. I would say he is ahead. Last year, we all got excited about him, and then he gets hurt, and this offseason, he has to have it [wrist injury] redone. Now he is back, and hopefully he can stay healthy. There is no question he is ahead of these guys in the sense that he is not hearing most of the stuff for the first time. He knows – he has a good feel for NFL defenses – what the expectation is. He has been nothing but a plus, not only this year so far, because he has come back with the right attitude. But, he has practiced well and he played pretty good the other night."
On if Reed can play himself into being the team's third wide receiver:"Absolutely. This is great competition for those guys. He is an extremely talented young man. He just needs to play. He is an outstanding route-runner. He has great hands. [If] we keep him healthy, this guy can help us win."
On if the running combination of RB Ray Rice and RB Ricky Williams is the type of running game that he envisioned:"Yeah, and then the [third string] came in and Anthony Allen, who we have a lot of confidence in, and Jalen [Parmele]… Those two guys… If you take all four of those backs – I like all four of our backs. I think they are a great fit for what we're doing. But yeah, a little one-two punch with Ray [Rice] and Ricky [Williams]. Ricky just brings you so much experience. He is so consistent and so dependable. He is dependable on all three downs, and basically, when Ray gets tired, he is going to let me know and Ricky is going in. That's just the way we'll do it. We will leave a lot of it up to Ray Rice and we will be smart too because we want Ray full speed at the end of games. So, we'll have to substitute some guys in there, but we'll probably play at least two, maybe three or four backs. I like these guys."
On if T Ramon Harewood has potential:"He has potential, there is no doubt. It is just going to be a matter of… It's probably going to take – just based on his background – some time. I like his approach. He has had a long way to go, but his approach lends itself to getting better and I like that."
On if WR Lee Evans is the weapon that the offense has needed:"I'm just not a big 'weapon' guy, to be honest with you. No disrespect. He is a good football player and he is going to help us win. He has a chance to help us win a championship. He sees the big picture. I asked a question in a meeting today about the quarterback's type of read, and threw it out there. [He answered] like that. He knows how the quarterback is thinking on routes, and that is a veteran. To me, that's exciting. [He is] very unselfish – a guy that is going to help us win. We have a lot of good players, and whether they are weapons or not, I don't know. (laughing) *[Weapons] seems to be kind of the word the last few years. *(Reporter interjects: "I like it.") Believe me, so does everybody else because you hear it 100 times every day about everybody's 'weapon.' Maybe it is the culture we live in, right?" (laughing)
On if the rookies can still learn from Evans, despite him being new to the team:"Absolutely. Absolutely, just because of the way he has come in – his team approach. Like I think I said to [senior vice president of public and community relations] Kevin [Byrne] the other night. I said, 'He has been great since Day One.' And it was nice for all of you guys to get to see that, especially our fans."
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Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano
On how he views the cornerback competition on the team:"Probably the same way you guys see it. We've got great competition going on and we feel like they're all doing what they're supposed to do. We've got guys in position to make some plays out there. We've got some guys making some and we've got some guys not finishing some plays, and they're right there. Jimmy [Smith] was in great position early in that ball game. So, it was good for him to get some live action like that. The speed of the game is one thing that… A guy like that comes from college, and he's not used to that, and all of the sudden the ball is on him where in college they wouldn't dare throw it. That's good to see. And you can see 'Fox' [Domonique Foxworth] is getting his legs back underneath him. We've got to get Chris [Carr] back out there. The good thing is that we have five guys that we trust, and some of the young guys are doing a great job. So, I feel good about it."
On what he wants to see out of the defense during Thursday's game:"Again, just keep improving on the little things. Probably the most disappointing thing about the first half, if there were any, was that two-minute drive. That was one of the things in the offseason that we wanted to address, was finishing games. We made a huge point of emphasis when we met with the guys after the ball game and showed that whole drive and showed exactly what happened there and what we needed to do to finish. We were proud of the young guys for coming out there and finishing that game like they finished it. But, just keep communication going, keep the tackling, [and] keep improving the tackling."
On LB Dannell Ellerbe and his chances of starting:"It's like the corner spot. Whether he's running with the 'ones' or the 'twos,' right now, it really doesn't mean anything to us as coaches. Him and 'Mac' [Jameel McClain] are both starters in my mind. They're pushing each other, and whoever ends up starting opposite of Ray [Lewis] is going to do a great job. Dannell [Ellerbe] is, you know, like some of the other guys; he has really matured. He's just starting to shine. He's confident, he's big, he's physical, he's fast, he can run [and] he can cover. So, he can do a lot of different things."
On Ellerbe's different maturity level:"Just when you sit back… We spend a lot of time in this group putting in the defense and installing and then we break up. And I'll move around when the position coaches have them. He's taking notes, he's in his iPad, he's studying, he's asking the right questions, and it's showing up on the field. And I think he understands that to get to the level that Ray [Lewis] is at – and some of these young guys see – the level that [Terrell] Suggs plays at and Ed [Reed] plays at... I mean, you've got great mentors and great guys here, so if you just say, 'Ok, do what he does. Whatever he's doing, do what he does,' your game is bound to rise so. I'm really proud of him that way."
On S Bernard Pollard starting last week in such a short amount of time:"You know what? They're all… We haven't named anybody [a starter]. It's like the inside linebacker position. Who is going to start next to Ray [Lewis], who's going to start next to Ed [Reed]? I don't know. I think it's all going to shake itself out. He's done a great job. 'Zibby' [Tom Zbikowski] and Haruki [Nakamura] have done a great job. And [with Pollard] coming in and being here the short period of time that he's been here… He's been in here night and day spending time with the coaches, spending time with coach [Teryl] Austin and Roy Anderson. And they've done a good job with him and getting him up to speed. He's made very few mistakes. He's got some special abilities – especially when he's down around the box and blitzing them and bringing them off the edge and things like that. So, he's doing a great job."
On what he considers to be complex if the plays he has been running have been vanilla:"I don't know. I think that's just getting inpatient and saying you know what… They were laughing the other day because we called one that wasn't on the sheet. We've been running it out here. So, it caught them off guard. They must have read the article and thought we were going to be vanilla. I guess that's just letting them play. They've still got to line up and they've still got to block. So, whether they see it now, it doesn't matter. We can show the same thing and not be running it and run something different. So, that's just a matter of cutting these guys loose and wanting to show a little more aggression than we've been."
On whether he is happy with the amount of pressure the defense has provided on QBs:"You know, last week we had five sacks and 9nine [QB] hits, so that's 14 shots at the quarterback. If you look at Kansas City's game plan, they weren't exactly letting us get to the quarterback. It was a lot of three steps, a lot of screens, a lot of quick gains and things like that. So, I think they knew… Well, they didn't know, but they felt like they didn't want to get their guys hit, so they were trying to get the ball out. Really, getting that many shots on them with what they came in with as a game plan is a testament to our defense and the way they played."
