Head Coach Chuck Pagano
Opening statement:
"Ok really no injuries to talk about, which is a good thing. Great team win, great team win. We overcame a lot of friendly fire to get that job done, but that just speaks to the character and resiliency and grit of this football team. We've got a bunch of great guys in that locker room. Credit Baltimore, their staff, their players; obviously I know them well. Great organization and they've got a great football team. That was one heck of a football game, and we knew it was going to be a donnybrook, if you will, backyard brawl, whatever you want to call it. We found a way to win the game despite, like I said, some friendly fire, so I'm really proud of the guys. We're going to enjoy this for about two minutes. The guys all understand we've got a short week. We've got a division game versus a great team down in Houston so we've got to move on."
What impressed you the most about your defense today?
"They were phenomenal. I mean under 300 yards, I think they were 1-of-11, nine percent on third down. Turnovers, giving our offense the ball in great field position, and then going out and getting the job done when they had to get the job done and finishing that thing. Credit Greg Manusky and that entire staff. Those guys on that side, they played tremendous. On the outside, the corners did a tremendous job. The last play of the game, Vontae (Davis). There were some calls there, that's the National Football League and you're going to get some good ones, you're going to get some, you know, but we just keep fighting, keep plugging and those guys did a tremendous job. Everybody on defense got a game ball."
What did you think about Sergio Brown?
"It's hard, I saw him fly around and make a bunch of plays, make a great third down stop in the first half. It seemed like he was everywhere. I'll wait, I need to look at the tape and I'll be able to give you a fair evaluation but it looked like he did a nice job."
In the previous two weeks, your offense kind of led the way, but this week it was your defense. Do you like to see that as a coach, to be able to win in different fashions?
"Absolutely because there's going to be days where you go up against a defense like the Ravens. They've got great players all over the place and they're ranked where they're ranked for a reason and it's going to be tough sledding. We go in thinking that we want to dominate and win the special teams aspect of the game every single time and then win one of the other phases. Again, we've got to find ways to win football games and today it happened to fall on the shoulders. Mind you our offense got the job done also when they needed to, but it was tough sledding. Credit that defense on the other side and that whole entire team."
First impression, how did Jonotthan Harrison hold up today?
"I thought it wasn't a lot of, again until I look at the tape it's hard for me to, it's like Sergio (Brown), give you a fair evaluation, but I thought the whole offensive line for the most part did a good job against a really good front seven."
What went into the decision to start Jonotthan Harrison at center?
"It's like anything else, every decision we make is based on what's best for the team and gives us the best chance to win."
Is that more of a chess move against a particular matchup?
"Again it's just whatever gives us the best chance to win."
Tight End Dwayne Allen
Tough to win a game turning the ball over four times, but you got it done. Talk about the play of the defense, they seemed to really make it happen today.
"Our hats off to the Ravens defense, but for most to ours. They just didn't bat an eye and went out and got stops whenever we needed the most."
Just talk about your effectiveness with the quarterback.
"Andrew (Luck) just kept telling me to keep working and don't worry about it. I didn't have as many touches or targets going into the game, but that's not for me to worry about. I just want to go out and play to the best of my ability and whenever my number is called, answer."
Why was it so difficult to penetrate their defense for four quarters?
"They have a talented front. Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and the whole gang. Courtney Upshaw is very good. We had a hard time running the ball. I did personally on the edge, but at the end of the day, we were able to find a way to win. We started spreading them out, spreading the ball around and things started to open up for us."
How does 3-2 sound in a short week?
"3-2 sounds great. Our total focus switches to the Texans. We don't really have time to really enjoy this one. It's on to the next."
Safety Sergio Brown
What did LaRon Landry say to you before this game?
"LaRon, we're boys. We've been talking about this moment all of camp really. We knew sometime, somewhere along the line, that I was going to get on the field at some time. He was lobbying for me and it just happened this way. I can't wait until he gets back so we can get some more dogs back there."
I'm sure you've talked about it. How did your game go?
"It's never my game. It's our game and we played wonderful. We played absolutely wonderful. I was happy I was able to contribute with some plays, but we played absolutely wonderful."
Did that big sack early on get you going?
"Yeah, definitely. I didn't need help getting going, I just needed to get into a rhythm and feel relaxed on the field. I feel like the play we made down there on the fourth-and-goal, it was a great one to jump start the rest of the game. It was a great momentum carrier for the rest of the game."
How amped up in your head are you when you see them lining up on fourth-and-one, you know it's an important situation and you know the call?
"In my head, it's either sack, forced fumble or touchdown. If he keeps the ball, it's like I got him. It was wonderful. It was great. I'm at a loss of words for the play and it was just great."
Inside Linebacker Jerrell Freeman
Talk about the play of the defense overall.
"It's just answering the bell, stepping up regardless of where the ball was and the situation. The team was just rattling around all of that energy, feeding off the energy from the dome. It was a great thing out there to see everybody coming together and playing as a team."
How much do you enjoy these red zone stops, especially on fourth down when you're up against the wall?
"I enjoy all of them no matter where it is. Just coming out on the field, just another opportunity today. Just make some plays."
The past few weeks the offense has been the dominant force. Today it was the defense that won this game. Was there anything you guys didn't practice this week to really ensure that you guys were able to make those big stops?
"You sure the defense won the game? I think the offense scored more than the other offense. Offense did pretty good out there. It was just the whole team. It was a whole team win right here, offense, defense and special teams."
How big was this to come back from injury and step up in a big game like this?
"Every game is a big game. I'm happy just to get back on this field. I was humbled just to be off the field for three weeks, trust me. It feels good to get back out there, get the flow of things and just be out there with my brothers."
Center Jonotthan Harrison
What happened when you guys bobbled the ball? Was it him or you or did you talk about it?
"I'm just going to take all of the blame for any of the snap issues. It's something that I'm going to work on during the week and correct it so I can get better for the team."
What was Andrew Luck like as the game went on?
"Andrew was very level headed and very competitive the whole time. He never let any of that get to him. He was like, 'Next play, next play, let's go, let's keep competing and keep working offense.'"
Are you aware of any of the factors that went into the decision to make you the starter this week?
"No idea, I just prepare as if I'm a starter every day just in case my number is called."
What was the pressure like being out there as a rookie today starting?
"There is a certain amount of pressure but I just have to look at it as another day of work, go out there and compete. I've been preparing for a situation like this so it was just time to go."
Quarterback Andrew Luck
The slide looked like it hurt. Did it?
"Yeah, I don't think it was quite a slide, more of a dive I think. Good hit by the guys. Good, legal hit. It's part of football, so just keep on keep playing."
Is that the kind of game you expect going in and playing the Ravens?
"Yeah, I think you know going in playing the Ravens not to try and script everything because you know something, I don't want to say haywire, you expect not to go as expected. What you do expect is tough, gritty, down to the wire. It's a quality team, quality organization. I think we're a quality team, quality organization. As a kid growing up, watching Colts-Ravens was a big deal. We talked earlier, these are one of those AFC mainstays. Good to get this win though."
The offense didn't do everything well today, but how huge is to get this win against Baltimore?
"It's huge to survive our mistakes in a sense. It's the epitome of a team football game, of a defense lifting us up in a sense. We made our plays enough to get a win obviously. Kudos to the defense. What a heck of a job they did against a very good offense."
Did you change anything at all on the second touchdown? It looked like you were looking to run a little bit more.
"No, not consciously. Conscious enough to take care of the football though. Again, stupid, stupid interception down in the red zone. Glad we could survive that." (Case of you trying to do too much on that play?) "Yes."
How'd the offensive line perform today given the changes?
"Very admirably I think. Jonotthan Harrison first start at center, did a heck of a, heck of a job. By no means was everybody perfect on offense everywhere. There's a lot of stuff to clean up and we will. Get back Thursday, but great job against a bunch of good football players up front. Very happy and proud to play behind them."
Did you need to prove you can win these mental, grind it out kind of games?
"Yeah, I think so. I do think it does good things for you as a team, your psyche, when you can pull out the tough, gritty ones. I think I've been fortunate since I've been here to be a part of a lot of those tough, tough, gritty wins. Obviously we made it tougher than it had to be. Mistakes by me, mistakes by the offense as a whole, but again, great, great job by the defense really pulling us along in this one."
What's the hardest part about the short week coming up?
"It's hard to put a finger on the hardest part. I do think your body gets in a rhythm where it gets used to getting beat up in a sense, which is a football game. You get beat up, and then you have a week to sort of get back to that apex. That's not the case. It's equal footing for every team and you just got to do it. I know for us the mentalities, the preparation starts now for this next one. That's physical. That's mental. That's emotional. I think having played two now, you realize once the game starts, it's football. There's no use complaining or whining about anything. It's what you do."
From the standpoint of not finishing drives today, do you think it was just mistakes and penalties?
"I think you have to give credit to Baltimore's defense. It's back to my rookie year playing them. They do such a great job of standing strong in the red zone and not giving up touchdowns. We knew that coming in. We talked about 'Hey, if we're not getting them early, stay with it, don't get frustrated and just keep chipping away, keep chipping away,' which we did. We got a couple of touchdowns. But I don't know if I have the answer to why we weren't getting them early and often."
Talk about the touchdown drive and what that did for you after throwing a couple of interceptions?
"I was just happy to get seven points on the board. We needed a drive to put some points on the board. We needed to give our defense some points to work with. The score was big for the offense. I don't know if it changed my mentality at all, but to get in the end zone is always good." (Was your touchdown run on a pass play?)"Yes, it was a pass play."
Talk about Reggie Wayne and what he means to your offense.
"What's he mean to me? I think to me No. 1, a great teammate, a friend, a mentor and how to be a pro. He's such a great mentor for a young football player, how you approach your job with the pride, honor and respect that it deserves. Then for this team, he's a rock, he's a leader. He just makes plays. I think he's the epitome of what you want a 'Horseshoe' guy to be. My congratulations to all his records and hopefully he keeps climbing up all those charts."
Did the snap come early on the quarterback sneak?
"Yeah, some miscommunication there. It's one of those things again, glad we survived it. If you lose the game, a lot of those plays are a lot more sour, but we survived. Miscommunication on my part. We'll move forward and get better on it."
