BALTIMORE RAVENS
Head Coach John Harbaugh
(opening statement) "OK, I appreciate you guys coming. Congratulations to the Bengals. They came into a division game on the road and played great, and [they] won and beat us. We were beaten soundly, and that's what happened. So, what questions do you have?"
(on how concerned he is with getting the running game going) "It's important to get a lot going with the running game. It's a big part of what we do, and we need to do that more consistently."
(on how shutting down the passing game varies from one game to another) "Hey, like I've said many times, and I know you guys listen, but that's how the National Football League works. It's always week to week; it's always game to game. There never is any running narrative, it just doesn't exist. You have to come out and play your best every week, and we did not play our best – far from it, really, in any phase, and that's on us. That's it. That's what happened."
(on what his message to the team was) "My message to the team is my message to the team. We'll keep it internal. What we talk about will be very honest and very real in terms of all the details and the things that we need to get better at. It won't be as simple as that; it can't be. It will be what we need to do to get better to become a more consistent team."
(on how much the Bengals pass rush impacted what they wanted to do offensively) "Well, a good pass rush always impacts what you're trying to do offensively."
(on if he had an update on OL Patrick Mekari's injury) "No."
(on the Ravens' plan to contain Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase and how easy he's made his transition to the NFL look) "We wanted to do better against him. Obviously, our plans did not work, and he made it look easy today as well."
WR Marquise Brown
(on what the team can take away from this loss) "Just like any other loss, we look back and reflect on what we didn't do right, and we improve upon it, we build upon it and try not to let it happen again."
(on if the Bengals played them any differently than other teams this year, in terms of coverages) "No, not really."
(on what the Bengals did well to slow down the Ravens' offense) "We were getting off the field on third down. You've got to win on third down, and they did a good job of getting us off the field."
(on how this game impacts his thoughts on how the season has gone as the team heads into the Bye Week at 5-2) "Definitely. We're going to reflect and build, but we're right where we want to be going forward in the season. So, we're excited. We'll get some time to ourselves and get back, get ready to work."
(on his excitement level for first-round pick Rashod Bateman's success) "Very excited. He does everything called upon him to do, so I'm just happy to see him make some plays."
(on what was going through his mind on his TD reception) "Just try to get in bounds. I knew I was close to the back-end line, so I was just trying to stay in bounds."
CB Marlon Humphrey
(on how concerned he is about the Ravens' pass defense) "I wouldn't … I think … We do have to play better in the secondary, for sure. Going into this week, the biggest assignment was on me to kind of stop their top guy, and I lost that matchup. So, a lot of it, kind of, is on me. I've just got to play better, especially when the gameplan is for me to have a big day. The coaches put the trust in me to kind of lead the defense, lead the gameplan, [and] I've just got to execute better."
(on what makes WR Ja'Marr Chase so difficult to cover) "I guess I'll look at the film and kind of figure it out. I think things just didn't go our way early. So, as "Wink" [defensive coordinator Don Martindale] says, it's not as bad as it seems; but right now, it seems pretty bad. So, I'll look at the film and kind of figure it out."
(on the team's tackling issues) "That's another thing I'll probably say I've got to look at the film [for]. Things are going fast, but I know that's been a big thing for us. We've just got to do better [with] the basic fundamentals. And I think [there were] really three plays that [affected] the outcome of this game: The one play with the screen down in the red zone; the play with [Ja'Marr] Chase where we missed a tackle; and then the tight end – busted coverage on my part. We had a missed tackle in there. It's fundamentals. That's the good thing about the Bye [Week]; you've got time to kind of study those fundamentals [and] figure out what you're doing bad, what you're doing wrong. But there are a couple things we're doing bad that we all know [of], so it will be a group effort to get it fixed."
(on what has to be the message as the team continues to improve) "The thing about this league is [there are] a lot of good teams. And for us, you can't really treat a bad loss any different than a win – you go 24 hours. This bye week helps us, because we can kind of study into it a little bit more than usual. But you look at it, you fix your problems. You'll probably take this one [for] two or three days, and then you kind of flush it, and you move on."
DE Calais Campbell
(on how difficult it was to give up the two rushing TDs that put the game away for the Bengals) "It hurts. This one is going to burn a little bit, as it should. We care about each other, and we didn't get it done today. You have to tip your hat off to Cincinnati. They played a great game today. They were prepared. They were ready. They executed, and they made plays they needed to win the game. For us, we just have to watch the tape, learn from it and let it burn. Hopefully, it can mature us and help us grow to where we want to go."
(on if the Bengals had more cutback runs than the defense anticipated) "Well, we have to watch the tape to see what it really was. From my recollection, it was a lot of what we saw on [their previous] tape. It wasn't any different. They didn't do anything that we weren't prepared for. I think, late in the game, we started trying to press a little bit, and they made a play. It's as simple as that. We know … It's stuff that's very fixable. It's nothing that we can't fix. We know exactly what we need to do. We'll watch the tape, [and] we'll fix it. We'll fix it. We can't let this beat us twice. It's one game. It hurts. It's going to burn. [It was a] division game at home, but at the end of the day, [we have] a whole lot of football left to play. It's as simple as that."
(on if QB Joe Burrow handled the pressure from the Ravens defense well) "Yes, he played a great game today. This might have been his best game as a pro. When … We made it hard on him early, and he made some adjustments and did what he had to do. You have to tip your hat off to him. His playmakers made plays for him, too. That team is talented. They have a whole lot of talented players all over the place, and today was their day. They played a good game of football. Obviously, we feel like we're a pretty good team, too. Today just wasn't our day. We didn't play to the level we are capable of playing. We have to be more consistent – that's the name of the game. We're getting to the point in the season where every game is crucial, but at the same time, it's one loss. They made good plays today."
(on if it's easy or difficult to move on from a loss like this) "It's going to be the same for me. Whether you lose a game by four, five, or six scores, or you lose it by one point, it's one game. It's the NFL. It's not like college football or anything like where you have to get style points. It's just one 'L.' It's just one digit in the 'L' column. For us, I just … [We're] 5-2 going into the bye [week]. Would we have loved to have been 6-1? Yes. We would've loved to been 7-0, but at the end of the day, [we're] 5-2 going into the bye [week]. We'll get our bodies as healthy as we can get, and we'll make our run. We'll go make a run for it."
(on how the defense has played through the season) "Up and down. Hot and cold. We're not very consistent yet. We're trying to find ourselves still. We have flashes. We had flashes of it today, and then we had moments where we didn't play so [well]. One thing for sure is that I believe in everybody we have in the room. I believe in my guys. The mistakes we made I know we're going to fix, and we're going to go out there and play some good football. In the second half of the season, we're going to be a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure."
QB Lamar Jackson
(on how he moves on from a loss like this) "We just move on. They played a great game. I feel like our guys played a great game as well, a little bit, here and there. But they got the 'W.' We're going to go into next week, [and] we're going to work, see where we messed up at when we watched film and [just] move on."
(on how tough it is to sit out the final seven minutes of the game, having to watch it end) "Coach [John Harbaugh] had to make a decision. I was cool with it, for sure. He was trying to protect us, stuff like that. So, I was cool with it. It's definitely tough. We hate losing. We don't want to see the score tilted like that."
(on if the Bengals did anything different schematically that he hadn't seen yet) "For certain plays, they just played great defense. But we left some points out there on the field, for sure. They did a great job today."
(on the difficulties dealing with the Bengals' pass rush) "They got a few sacks on us. We won one back. I feel like sometimes, I think that our pocket saved us from a sack or two. But like I said, they just played a good game today."
(on how he's feeling physically after taking a few hits in the game) "Yes, I'm good."
(on calling a timeout on fourth down to avoid a delay of game) "I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have done that. Yes, that was me. I should have just got the play delay, so we could have more room [to] punt inside the five[-yard line]. That was just me. That was bad. Bad mistake by me."
(on if he was told to just take the penalty instead of using a timeout) "That was my fault."
(on what's not working with the running game) "I don't want to say anything is not working; we were just passing the ball a little bit more today. They stopped us sometimes when we ran the ball, but they weren't just dynamic, just stopping us like that. We could have done better things out there on the field today. They did a great job, like I said, on defense – Cincinnati."
(on what he'll do during the Bye Week) "I haven't made my mind up yet. I'm still mad about the loss."
(on if this loss hurts more because the Bengals are a divisional opponent) "No, it hurts – period – because I lost. We lost – not just myself – and I hate losing, like you said. It doesn't really matter when it comes; I just hate it – period."
OLB Tyus Bowser
(on the defense today) "Obviously, they made some big plays. We would have been OK if we would have just tackled, but they got the best end of it, and that's what kind of hurt us the most. And really just the communication; being on one accord. I'd probably say it was those two points – just communication and tackling."
(on the defense not giving up) "It's just all part of having pride. In these situations, especially when you're down, it's all about pride and just 'man'-ing up. We're not going to just let them score. We have to have pride in ourselves and our defense. Honestly, man, we've just got to understand that in situations like this, when we're feeling down, we can't give up. Don't quit. Have pride in yourself and your teammates, and go out there and make sure we stop them."
(on where the defensive unit is heading into the Bye Week) "We've just really got to look at ourselves; communication, locking in to every play, our assignment. It's really just executing at the end of the day. Once we do that, I feel that we'll be OK. We've got some great football players here, and if we focus on communicating and going out and executing, we'll play football like we know we can."
TE Mark Andrews
(on the team's offensive effort today) "We just need to make more plays and be more efficient. Give credit to the Bengals – they played a great game. We've just got to be better as a team."
(on the identity of the offense heading into the Bye Week) "We've done a lot of great things. You look at the games we've had, where we've been successful, and you try to build upon that. We have a lot of great players, great schemes – all that good stuff. So, for us, just keep plugging away. This is the NFL; we weren't good enough today, but we'll look at what we need to correct, do that, and like I said, this is a dangerous offense."
(on still having a lot of their divisional schedule ahead of them) "The season is far from done."
WR Rashod Bateman
(on his comfort level in the offense in his second NFL game) "I am getting more comfortable week by week and day by day as I go to work with my teammates. But today, I did feel more comfortable. I'm psyched to get out there, but we have to bounce back now."
(on what makes him optimistic about where this team can go) "Because I know where we are. I mean, we put it on tape. The world has seen it. We just have to continue to do it consistently. So, I just know we need to do that moving forward."
(on if there's solace in knowing there's still a lot of season left) "Yes, we have a long season ahead. It's still pretty early on to tell what's going to happen. We just have to keep putting our heads down and go to work every day."
