FRIDAY MEDIA AVAILABILITY: TITANS – WEEK 10
Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement: "OK, good to see everybody – appreciate you guys being here. We had a good practice, and it's toward the end of a good week of practice, and we're getting ready for a very important game. We're excited, and we're ready to go."
John with CB Jimmy Smith, when they did the surgery and the swelling went down, did they find a Lisfranc [fracture]? (Aaron Wilson) "It hasn't been described to me like … Listen, I'm not a doctor. I go by what they tell me. A Lisfranc is a tear, I guess, in the ligament. There's not a tear. There's a stretch, and when the swelling went down, they did a weight bearing exam. There's more of a spread between the bones than they wanted, so more of a stretch than what they were hoping for. And when [Dr. Robert Anderson] put [Jimmy Smith] under anesthesia and took a look at it, Dr. Anderson decided to go ahead and do the surgery."
**Looking at five to six months? *(Aaron Wilson) *"I don't know. I don't know the number on that. You can do some research on that. Probably whatever that is."
John, when you got the news, were you surprised that it was to that extent though? (Jamison Hensley) "I don't know if I was surprised. I'm surprised in the big picture of things. Once [Jimmy Smith] was going down to do the exam, Mark [Smith, Ravens head certified athletic trainer] had told me that he was a little worried about it. I got the word really at practice on Thursday, toward the end of practice. That was a little bit disappointing, but we're moving on. We didn't have Jimmy, wouldn't have had him for the next few weeks anyway, and he'll recover. I feel bad for Jimmy. We'll be fine as a team. We'll recover. We have good players at every position, and we'll pick up the slack as a group and as a unit. We always do. That's what you do. It's happens all around the league. It's just the way it is. It's football. But I feel bad for Jimmy. He's having a great, great year. But he'll bounce back, and he'll be even better next year."
John, did you say Dr. Anderson in Charlotte? (Jeff Zrebiec) "Yes, I believe that's where he's at."
**Feel good about the work CB Danny Gorrer put in all week just to get up to speed? I mean, he had that familiarity. *(Luke Jones) *"Yes, I do feel good about it. [Danny Gorrer] did a good job. He had familiarity. He understands the defense. He seems like he has been here all along as far as the mental part of it. He looks good physically, so he has done well."
Is there a thing where you may fill a roster spot next week when you have a chance during the bye to find some guys? (Jeff Zrebiec) "I don't know. We'll look at that. We'll see the timing of it. We'll try to do the best thing for our roster as soon as we can, and as soon as we get the right guy."
As far as now because of CB Jimmy Smith, people talk about cornerback position. CB Asa Jackson – he's on the short-term IR – do you still for see him coming back at some point this year? (Jamison Hensley) "I do. I don't see surprises on that one. I'm not anticipating any. Every now and then Mark [Smith, Ravens head certified athletic trainer] will come up to me, and all of a sudden I fear when he comes walking around the corner: 'What do you want now? Stay away from me!' (laughter) But Asa [Jackson] is progressing really well from what I've been told."
**DB Tramain Jacobs, obviously, is a guy you guys liked from the beginning. Can you talk about the progress he has made and how you think he'll deal with getting the opportunity? *(Clifton Brown) *"I think [Tramain Jacobs] will do really well with getting the opportunity. He has come up the hard way. He has had to overcome a lot to be where he's at, and he has practiced really hard and really well. And even in the different role that he was in this week, he really looked good doing that. I expect him to play really well."
John, the role TE Owen Daniels has played in the offense, Gary Kubiak said that TE Crockett Gillmore is lucky to have him just as a mentor, and a lot of the guys have talked about him in that role. What has he added to the team? (Jon Meoli) "[Owen Daniels] has been a mentor to Crockett [Gillmore], as you said. He has had a lot of catches, a lot of first downs, a lot of good blocks. In other words, what I'm saying is he has played really well, and that's the thing you hope for. He has been around. He had the broken leg [in 2013], and maybe people were counting him out a little bit around the league, but that was a mistake. He has proven a lot of people wrong. Owen has a lot of football left in him. I'm sure glad he's on our team."
With the Browns' win last night, the division just gets tighter and tighter. [Is it] exciting now because everybody is right there? (Jim Forner) "I really think it's a great division – a lot of good teams, a lot of physical football. You better be ready to play every single week, especially when you play someone in the division. I'm not surprised. We played Cleveland … I mean I hate to say it, but I stood up here and told [the media] how good a football team they were, and you all – not you all, some of you – rolled your eyes. (laughter) I'm looking for the article … When do you guys ever write the, 'I was wrong,' article? I'm looking for that one. (laughter) They've proven what kind of football team they are, and it's going to be a tight division. We just need to do our part. Really, that's all we need to do. We need to do our part, and we need to be as good as we can be this week. We've had a really good week of practice. Our guys are very focused, and we need to go play that way. We need to take that to Sunday and play really well. That's what we need to do."
Ozzie Newsome, Dick Cass back in the building today – are you following the [Ray Rice] appeal? Are you following the process closely? (Mary McKenzie) "No, I'm not. I know what I read. I talked to Ozzie [Newsome] briefly. I haven't talked to Dick [Cass] yet about it – kind of [asked], 'How'd it go?' – that kind of thing. But I didn't really get into details or anything like that about it." Are you expecting [Dick Cass and Ozzie Newsome] to go back up [to New York]? (Mary McKenzie) "I have no idea. No, I haven't been told about … I'm not too involved in that right now. Dick [Cass] and Ozzie [Newsome] might be the people to ask about that."
