Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement:"I appreciate you guys all being here. Is there something going on in town right now? (laughter) Rumor has it that the O's are up 2-0, huh? [They're] taking the Tigers' starters to school." (Reporter: "Ingrid is not happy.") "I saw the game last night – thank you for bringing that up. My wife has had a rough 24 hours. (laughter) It's been tough at the house right now. She's going to get through it, but we're happy. (laughter) The Orioles, man, they are just so tough, and they go right at it. [Ravens senior vice president of public and community relations] Kevin [Byrne] was just telling me – it's true, man – they don't take any pitches. They're going to try and get to that bullpen. They're just swinging away, man. I love it. I love the way they play, and the way they built the roster is just incredible. They've done a great job, [and Orioles manager] Buck [Showalter] has done a great job. It's fun to watch them."
Coach, with four of the next five games being on the road, do you guys almost look at that as a blessing in disguise in a sense that you're getting a little bit of a rhythm with your practice schedule and how you go about each game? (Matt Pierson) "There is a rhythm to the schedule going forward. We're going to play pretty much all of [our games] at 1 o'clock, and all on Sunday. We'll have a nice routine here, which we like in football. We like to get on that routine and stay with our schedule and our preparation rhythm. It's a good thing."
John, can you talk about Colts WR T.Y. Hilton and the unique speed he has? In terms of receivers, is that as big a deep threat as there is in this league? (Aaron Wilson) "T.Y. Hilton is a great deep threat. There are so many deep threats in this league, and even the guys that aren't considered 'deep threats' are deep threats. They get behind you and make plays. You're playing in the back end in this league, or any league, really – I don't care [if it's] Pop Warner, whatever – you better keep the receivers in front of you. If you don't do that, you're going to be in for a long afternoon or night."
John, not health-wise, but how has RB Bernard Pierce handled the past couple of weeks just making sure he's ready to play if he's called? (Jeff Zrebiec) "You mean as far as his work ethic and everything? Bernard has done a really good job. He's worked hard. He's been in every rehab session and more. He's practiced well this week. I expect him to be fully ready to go, and even more so than last week. He should be ready to roll."
In recent weeks, we've seen guys like DE Chris Canty and OLB Terrell Suggs play without practicing that much. Is that kind of a bygone philosophy where you don't practice, you don't play? (Joe Platania) "[It] depends on who the player is, as far as that goes. The more experience a guy has, the less he needs to practice. A younger player needs to practice. That's probably how it works. In the NFL, you have guys who've played for six, eight, 10, 12 years, and in those guys' case, about 10 years. They know how to play."
John, have you changed at all how you go about traveling? Anything major with getting to places? I know you review everything. Have you made any significant changes in that? (Jeff Zrebiec) "How we travel? No, nothing major. [It's] pretty much the same routine – nothing to speak of that would be different."
