HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH
Opening Statement: "Good to see everyone. I appreciate you being here. We said we are hurdling toward Thursday night at a breakneck pace getting ready to play the game. What questions do you have?"
There's a report that you guys traded for CB Tre'Davious White. Anything you can tell us about it? (Jamison Hensley) "Well [I'm] just [coming] off the practice field. I believe the trading deadline is at 4 p.m. I'll probably just wait and see make sure everything's out and talk to [executive vice president & general manager] Eric [DeCosta] first before I would comment on that, so we'll see."
We did not see QB Lamar Jackson at practice. Anything you can tell us about that? (Jamison Hensley) "Not really. Nothing I really want to talk about and comment on. [Lamar Jackson] will be playing Thursday night. That's probably the main thing, right, that you're asking? Yes, he will be playing Thursday night."
I'm sure it's always unique game-planning for divisional opponents, but when you're doing it on a short week like this, and with this being the second time you're playing the Bengals this year, does it feel any different when you're preparing for this type of game? (Cordell Woodland) "It definitely feels different on a short week for any opponent. I like the fact that you play a team that you have a little more familiarity with, but that's a two-edged sword, too, because they have a lot of familiarity with us. Every game is different. Every game is unique. You just try to take it as it comes; attack the circumstances as they present themselves, and that's what we'll try to do and do our best."
QB Lamar Jackson talked about wanting to score a lot of points – that's the goal, obviously, all the time, and the same can be said for your offense. But when you do face a team like Cincinnati, do you feel offensively for yourself that you need to be more aggressive when you can get into these kind of shootout situations? (Morgan Adsit) "A lot of that has to do with how the game's going. Once we get into the game, we look at it in certain ways going into the game right now. We'll see how the game's going – you never know how it's going to play out. I'm excited for all three phases of our team to play, play their best, play their hardest and just see where it goes as the game goes on."
I know your internal conversations are the most important, but CB Marlon Humphrey was telling us yesterday he feels that defensive coordinator Zach Orr is taking some heat for player mistakes. What does it mean to see a leader on your team talk like that and take some accountability, and do you feel like things are going the right way based on last week to fix this secondary? (Kyle Goon) "Well, I think it's a process through the whole season to get better at everything. It seems to be an expectation that you're going to be perfect at everything – every aspect of your game – from the first game to the last game to the end. That seems to be the requirement. It's just not reality – it's not reality in anything. We have a growth mindset. We don't have a fixed mindset. We understand that we can get better. We work hard to get better every single day at every single thing we do. I know Marlon [Humphrey]'s speaking to that. Our guys are great about that. Coaches are great about that. So you face challenges, [and] you face circumstances, and you meet them as you find them; you meet them where they're at. You meet your circumstances where they're at. That's what I was looking for – meet your circumstances where they're at. That's pretty good. That's what we continue to do, and you continue to try to grow – whether it's football or life or whatever – so that's what we're trying to do as a team, and I'm very confident in our guys doing that."
ILB Roquan Smith is a guy who's probably one of the biggest leaders on the team. As you've talked about him, he's a guy that has not performed at his very high standard – he's the first one to say that. What are the conversations that he's had, that you guys have had throughout the course of the season to try to elevate to that standard? (Brian Wacker) "Well, we've had a lot of conversations; we talk all of the time every day. We talk about plays, specifically – and I'm talking about plays in practice – we talk in the meeting room, we talk about how we're handling a coverage or a rush, or how we're handling a play. Those are all of the little detailed conversations that you have all of the time, because it's a complicated game. A lot of stuff happens all around the league. It's challenging; you're facing great plays and great players, and you're talking about it all the time. You also have some big-picture conversations, too, about how can we get better? What do we need to do? What are we missing? What are we doing well? With your leaders, you have those conversations. You saw me meeting out there with the leaders just now – we were talking about a scheduling thing for the next couple of days. Those are the types of conversations you have."
I'm sure you don't want to have some of the issues that the defense has had to this point in the season, but when you have the turnover, and you go to defensive coordinator Zach Orr, who's in his first year as a play caller, was a learning curve kind of expected to a degree? (Cordell Woodland) "Well, I think we're all expected to have a learning curve, and everybody is where they're at, and what happens in your life, and you try to learn and grow and become the best you can be, and that's what we're doing. We're together as a team. I have a talented team. We have a talented group of people. We have talented coaches who work really hard. We have talented players who work really hard – that's what makes me happy. I'm full of joy every single day walking in this building. Now, [I'm] still determined; [there's] still a little pride always. I say a little pride is a lot of pride in doing things the right way and working hard and trying to do everything you can do to prove who you are, and that's what our guys do."
There's some uncertainty right now over WR Tee Higgins' availability for Cincinnati. I know you respect all of the receivers on that team, but if he is healthy, if he is a full-go, just how much more difficult does he make that passing offense for QB Joe Burrow? (Jonas Shaffer) "I don't know the exact number, but [Tee Higgins being available or not] is definitely a factor. They have some other guys, too; this young number 80 [Andrei Iosivas] is doing a nice job, too. They have [No.] 81 [Jermaine Burton]. He'll be ready; he'll be out there. He's fast, but Tee Higgins is one of the top receivers in football."
You're breaking out the purple helmets. Do you have an initial impression of how they look? (Jamison Hensley) "Yes. I like them. I think they look good."
On former DT Brandon Williams officially retiring as a Raven: "Affectionally known over the years as 'Baby,' Brandon Williams – look how good this guy looks. Look at this guy right here. It's good to see you. Congratulations. I saw him, [he was] a small-school player, [but] a big player at a small school. The things he could do, athletically, when we watched him on tape, and then we watched him in the workouts, and then he got here. He started doing backflips up and down the field as a 300-plus-pound dominating defensive lineman. All the great plays, all the pass rushes, all of the runs, all of the interactions, the locker room leadership, the good-natured fun that you always had every day – that smile right there. But my favorite was ... I was kind of into this movie – a Barnum & Bailey movie, 'The Greatest Showman,' and that song, they start hitting the, 'Boom, boom, boom,' so I said, 'Let's put that a practice.' Some of you guys probably remember that, right? So that song comes on there, [and] he steps right up in front of everybody and starts singing the song word for word; every single word, you knew it. [You were] belting it out perfectly, man. That's your movie. And this might've been the greatest showman that we ever had here in Baltimore. Congratulations on a great career, and even more so on an amazing family that you're raising. You're a great dad."
S KYLE HAMILTON
On how he gets ready to play on a short week: "I think it's a physical thing, obviously, but it's a big mental thing as well – trying to get the gameplan as tight as possible before Thursday. The team [that] brings the most energy usually wins these games."
On what he'll take from the team's first matchup with the Bengals into their second matchup: "Yes, I think for the defense – from a defensive perspective – obviously, we won that game, but I feel like the offense kind of willed us to that win. We're not proud of that game, and it's something that we learned from, and we want to come back and improve on, and we have the opportunity to do that and right our wrong."
On the Ravens debuting their purple helmets: "It'll be cool for like the 10 minutes before we play, and then I probably won't even realize we have purple on. I think it's a good thing for the fans. I think it's the first time we've had a different color helmet in franchise history, so pretty good. Hopefully we can get a win so we can wear them again."
On how the Bengals were able to excel on offense in their first matchup: "I think it was just a lot of space, and it's too easy for them. I think Joe [Burrow] was pretty comfortable, for the most part, the whole game, and he's pretty dangerous when you let him get that comfortable. Communication – all that stuff – we've improved on, [but we] still have a ways to go, but I'm excited to see what we do on Thursday."
On how the Bengals' offense has grown the past five weeks: "Yes, I think they've gelled a lot together. I think [number] 30 [Chase Brown]'s running hard for them. I think [if] they get that part of their game going, the offense becomes pretty lethal. They've committed to the run a little bit, and also Joe [Burrow] has just been clicking with all the receivers. Yes, it's a good team [and] a good division matchup, and I'm excited to play."
On if it's more challenging to prepare for a team that has as many offensive weapons like the Bengals: "Yes. It's a little more challenging. There are more bases you have to cover, but I feel like everybody is prepared to do so, and coaches have prepared us to go out there and play well, and guys have bought into the gameplan. Especially Thursday, it's more about just who wants to go out there and play. We can line up in the same call, [but it's about] who wants to just go out there and hit, tackle, cover and just play."
On if the players talk about the NFL trade deadline: "I wouldn't say so. I think it's kind of church and state – upstairs and downstairs. They're doing their thing, and we play football. [We] let them take care of whatever personnel stuff, and who's here is here, and who's not is not, and we have to worry about that first and foremost rather than who we can trade for or something like that."
