Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement:"OK, good seeing everybody. We sure appreciate you being here. I'll tell you, the heat has been right there. We've had it every single day. I think it has gotten hotter again today, but I guess it oiled our guys up, so that's probably a good thing. And we had a good practice. We had a special guest. Ray Lewis was here to give us a little wise word at the end of practice, which he did a great job – as always. I know a lot of our guys who don't know Ray – who have been here starting [since] last year – were really excited. Hey, we're all excited. Ray did a great job. He's a great friend, great Raven and it was an honor to have him here."
It was more than one word [from Ray Lewis], right? (Jamison Hensley) "Wise words. Plural, yes. Of course." (laughter)
Can you share at all what the tenor of the message was or any theme of the message? (Ryan Mink) "You can ask the guys. They'll tell you. It was very profound. It was about 'team.' About what you sacrifice to accomplish things and what happens when you look back at those things and what it means to you. I think [the speech] was built around how [Lewis] felt yesterday [at his statue unveiling]."
**You hear all the time about the speed of the NFL – how there's always an adjustment from OTAs to training camp, to preseason. Any specific message from Game 1 for the rookies who are going to be taking part in their first NFL game? *(Luke Jones) *"The main thing you want to do is not get caught up in that and to take it the other way. Focus on the most simple thing, the basics, the fundamentals. If you're going to be brilliant, if you want to make a play, do it doing the fundamental things really well, and usually, that turns out pretty well. So, if they keep it simple, it'll be fine."
**John, the guys that were injured during the preseason like TE Owen Daniels and CB Lardarius Webb, how valuable was this week to get them some [practice] time? *(Aaron Wilson) *"This week is valuable for all the players. They all have done a great job. And I don't care where you're at as a player, you need to prepare. And those two guys you mentioned prepared like everybody else. Everybody is at their own spot in terms of what they need to do to get ready to play."
