Head Coach John Harbaugh
(opening statement) "Obviously very disappointed in the loss. I think everybody probably felt like we were going to pull that thing out at the end like we have been. Our guys fought to do that, but in the end – we did plenty of good things – but, in the end, we didn't play the kind of football we needed to play to win the game. We kept the pressure on ourselves too much. What we needed to do was put the pressure on our opponents more than ourselves. Those are the things that hurt us. You know what those things are. Those are the things we have to do better and play the kind of football we are capable of playing to win these kinds of games."
(on QB Joe Flacco's performance at this point in the season) "I don't have any overarching assessment or anything like that. We just got done playing a football game."
(on if the pass protection needs to be more consistent) "I always think it does. I think we try to make the pass protection as good as we can. If he's not clean, then we're not happy about it."
(on the large number of penalties) "I think it's the same question. Just look at each penalty. That's what I attribute it to. I don't have, again, an overarching-type of a statement about it; there's just too many of them. They were all different kinds of penalties, so you can't sum it up or put it in one bag, really. It's not possible to do that. That's kind of what I'm talking about. You keep the pressure on yourself when you have that many penalties."
(on the decision to deactivate RB Justin Forsett) "We were looking for a spark, I guess, more than anything. It's nothing against Justin Forsett, for sure. Justin came out this week, and he knew the situation, practiced great, and just did a great job, like he always does. He's a stand-up guy, and that's where we decided to go. Gave 'Buck' [Javorius Allen] a chance, see what he could do and see if we could kick start our running game. That was the idea. I think I need to make clear – that doesn't mean we think Justin Forsett was the problem with the running game, by any chance. But, you've got to try to do something. You try to do all the things, and then sometimes you try to do something else, too. That's what we tried to do this week."
(on what made the running game so much better this week) "We'll have to look at the tape to get into the details of it. We'll see what those things were."
(on the decision to not decline the third-down penalty in the first quarter) "I considered it. [Sebastian Janikowski] has missed those kicks, too. What you try to do, is you try to back them up and make it a tougher kick from an angle perspective. I wanted to keep it as a field goal game. Looking back on it, it wasn't the right decision. I didn't really believe, I didn't really have a sense that that many points were going to be scored down the stretch. It didn't seem like it was going to be played that way. It seemed like it was going to come down to a field goal right there. I wanted to keep it in that range. Looking back on it, I would have done it differently, in hindsight."
(on if there were positives to take away from the defensive performance overall) "I'm sure there are a lot of positives. That's the thing, it's not black and white, it's not do or die. But, it is win or loss. In the end, it's win or loss. But, from an analysis standpoint, when we try to build our football team going into next week, we build on the things that are good, and we try to correct the things that weren't. But, you really transfer to the next game plan, because we aren't going to play the same game next week. It's going to be a different game, different opponent, different set of circumstances. We want to play winning football, and that's what we'll continue to work on."
(on if G/T Alex Lewis did not start because of missing practice this week) "Plus, he's coming off the concussion issue. We just felt like the guys that had practiced all week, that didn't have that particular issue all week, would have a chance to perform and play better."
(on if it is easier to start a veteran who has missed significant practice time than a rookie in the same situation) "There's no question. I think that probably sums it up better than anything. It would have been tough for him to do that without a week of practice."
QB Joe Flacco
(on how everything that went on this week affected the team) "I think we did a really good job. It wasn't like I missed any time, and some of the guys went up for CB's viewing at his funeral, they still, I think practiced, just as they normally would on a normal week. Having said that, it was a little bit different, and you just have to adjust on the fly in the NFL."
(on the frustration of the last drive) "There's no excuse. There's no doubt in my mind we're getting in field goal range there. That's easy. It's tough to get in the end zone. It definitely gets tough to get in the end zone at times. To not get into field goal range right there, with all that time left, it's disappointing."
(on how tough it was with all the pressure Oakland brought) "I thought early on in the game, we were pretty good, and then as the game went on, they started to ramp it up a little bit and get some edges and do some things that were pretty good. I still think we did a good job. We just make it so tough on ourselves. We throw the ball 50 times, and we only have 300 yards. You know, we have to move the ball [down] the field so methodically. I think our run game gave us some chunks. We did have some chunks every now and then. It would just be nice to get a little bit more, and that would help us put the ball in the end zone more, move the drives along a little better. I think we had holding on like 75 percent of our drives. I saw a couple of them on the big [board]. I think [C] Jeremy Zuttah, on one of them, kind of stalled our drive out, and he just pancaked his guy. Stuff like that is disappointing, and it makes it very, very tough to overcome and score points when those kinds of things are happening out there. Obviously, we were able to get the ball in the end zone a little bit down the stretch there, but yeah, not getting the ball in field goal range was big."
(on starting with short passes a lot and if then opening up is part of the offense) "I think that's just who we are right now. We've just got to get jelled up more, so we're getting some more yards after catch and things like that on some of those short passes."
(on if teams are taking away deep stuff or if shorter stuff is in the game plan) "It's a little bit of both. This team, the first couple weeks, they were playing a lot of single-high, and then last week against Tennessee, you saw them kind of switch their philosophy up a little bit. I think they came in here and did a lot of that to us, ran a lot of two-high safeties and things like that. We were hoping we could get by some of those quarter safeties a little bit, get by them deep with [WR] Mike [Wallace], and it just never happened."
(on how he feels one quarter of the way through the season) "I feel good. My injury has nothing to do with anything."
(on how he feels after this game) "I feel good. I don't know what I'll feel like tomorrow, but I'm all good."
(on how well WR Steve Smith Sr. has done coming back) "Yeah, I would mess with him every now and then, look at his calf and say 'Yo, let's go man,' things like that. He's an impressive person; I'm not surprised with anything he does."
(on if the team is still kind of figuring out where they are) "Yeah, we probably are a little bit. I wish we weren't. I wish we were where we need to be and putting up 30 points a game, and if we weren't, being really disappointed in it. But we're just not there. To come out and only put up six points in the first half and get off to that start, dig yourself a hole like that, and then, you know, and then you have to play a perfect game. You know, then you have to go out there, and you have to score, and you have to move the ball, and you have to go, go, go, go, go, and when you do that, you have to convert third downs, and you have to play that perfect game, it just makes it very tough. You know, when they get pressure, and all of a sudden, you know, I get sacked and I fumble, and boom, they're on the board. Everything that we do right now is just probably a little bit tougher than it needs to be. We need to find some ways to get some easy ones. I think our run game got some chunks today for us, I think that got going a little bit, and that helped us out when it did get going. Hopefully, we can find some more of that."
ILB C.J. Mosley
(on what the Raiders did on the last drive that helped them) "They didn't do nothing different that they did the whole game. The plays [we] did give up, it was pretty much on us. We messed up the coverage or didn't drop in the right spot. The touchdown before the last one, I was supposed to drop to the speed side, where [WR Michael] Crabtree caught it. He was wide open. Just little things like that. The last three games, we were pretty consistent in being in the right spot, you know, everybody communicating. You can't be perfect, but that's what we shoot for. That's what we've got to try to correct. We've got to try and eliminate the mental errors."
(on if this was a good performance by the defense) "We felt like we gave the game up especially when the offense scored, and then we got the turnover. You know, we kind of had the momentum going our way but let them drive back down the field. The stats say that we did well, but I know how we play, how we feel about our defense, we don't want to give up those kind of plays."
(on if they were in a prevent or cover-2 in last Oakland drive) "No, we weren't. I think, on one of the passes, they just hit it behind one of our linebackers. We've just got to go back on film and look. For the most part, they didn't really change up their offense at all. [We] was pretty much consistent the whole game until the last two touchdowns they scored. So, we've just got to make sure we try to stay positive and get this loss out of the way, watch the film and, you know, get ready for the Redskins."
RB Terrance West
(on the loss) "It was a tough loss today. I wish we could have gotten the win. It was just a tough loss today. We came up short. I grew up a Ravens fan, and I know how much this means to the city."
(on starting) "It feels good to contribute and put it all on the line, and do what I need to do to help this team win, any way [I can]."
(on the running game's success) "We were consistent running the ball in the second half. I just took advantage of the opportunity."
(on when they told him he was starting) "When we came back on Tuesday or Wednesday, they said they were going to make some changes in the backfield. Yesterday, they told me I was starting."
(on his second-half performance) "I've been that type of back my whole career. I'm not a rotation back. I like to feel a defense out. I get stronger as the game goes on."
(on halftime adjustments) "I think in the first half, I only had five runs. I had a 21-yarder and the rest were no gain, but that's how the game goes. You get two or three yards, and the next thing you know, you bust a big one. I'm just thankful for the opportunity."
(on today's game) "It was a great opportunity, but I wish that I could trade in all the stats for a win. We came up short."
(on getting into a rhythm running the football) "The offensive line did a great job opening up the holes, and I took advantage of it."
G/T Marshal Yanda
(on getting the running game going) "It was nice to get that going, but still, after a game we lose like that, it really doesn't matter what we did. We just didn't do enough to get it done. I go back to that last drive – we're just all sick that we couldn't get 10 more yards for Justin [Tucker]. The kicker that we have, we're hoping to get that last seven yards. It's disappointing that we didn't make enough plays at the end of the game to give him a shot."
(on starting slow) "I don't know. I feel like we talk about it every week. We talk about starting fast, limiting the penalties, and just starting fast. It just seems like we're in a rut with starting fast. We're going to have to fix that, obviously. We've definitely been stressing, every day in the meetings, starting fast. It just hasn't gone our way yet."
(on their pass protection) "Obviously, we want to keep Joe [Flacco] clean. He definitely got hit out there too much today. I haven't seen the tape yet, but obviously, we were seeing him down on the ground. We want to keep him upright as much as we can. That makes him play better, that makes all of us play better, and it eliminates turnovers, too. Obviously, we want to limit that as much as we can."
(on penalties being self-inflicted) "Yes, it is for sure. We had a lot of penalties today. They're tough on our offense to overcome, but we have to overcome them, no matter what. We're going to have penalties in the game, we just have to find a way to overcome them, somehow, some way."
(on offensive line changes) "I feel like James [Hurst] and Ryan [Jensen] have had game experience in this league, so I feel like they were ready to go. I don't know how they did out there, I haven't watched the tape yet. They have good experience, and those guys are fighters, and we knew early that they were going to play. I'm confident with both those guys in there."
(on if getting the running game going is a spark) "Yeah, we got the running game going, but in the end, we lost. You can look at the good things, but obviously, we need to fix the bad things. We have to have more drives that put points on the board and eliminate turnovers."
WR Kamar Aiken
(on the slow start) "It's tough. You definitely want to come out and start with fast pace. We had a lot of penalties at the beginning, and that's on us. Once again, it was nothing they did, it was all about us."
(on the last drive stalling) "There's some plays that probably should have been made. We didn't make them, and that's the type of day it was."
(on losing) "It was more us, to be honest with you. Anything that was negative today, it was all us, that we can control."
(on the last pass of the game) "The hit just jarred it out." Reporter: "Was it a hit to the head?" "To be honest with you, I can't remember."
(on being a bigger part of the offense today) "It was definitely a good point for me. Just being able to get settled in and get some balls my way. We've still got a lot of work to do, figuring out guys' spots, what routes guys like to run, and getting familiarity with Joe [Flacco] on who does what and who does what well."
(on the first-quarter pass interference penalty) "I hit him, but he was grabbing me. They're not giving us those calls – the illegal contact penalties. With my size, I get more DBs trying to grab me. The only way I can stop that is putting my hand up to stop him."
(on his penalty on the punt) "They are going to fine me if I say what I want to say."
DT Timmy Jernigan
(on the fourth quarter) "That's not the way we want to be remembered. We've come too far, and we're too proud to have that be on our record. It's a team game, and we need to get back to what worked for us the first three games. There's a lot of pride in this locker room, and there are good things ahead for this team."
(on correcting the penalties and mistakes) "Yes, we just committed too many penalties today, and we need to correct that, and they are correctable. This was a game that we should have won, and I personally just have a real bad taste in my mouth. We need to wash that away and come back fresh."
(on stopping the Raiders' running game) "I thought we did a pretty good job today, but they have a really good offensive line. They're big all the way across and very athletic. We did some things up front to stop them, and I thought our game plan was pretty good. We just need to finish."
FB Kyle Juszczyk
(on getting the running game going in the second half) "That was huge for us, and you could kind of feel the momentum of the game shift. Terrance [West], I was so proud of him. He ran great, but it really starts up front. I thought the offensive line played well, stayed with their blocks and did a great job against a really aggressive defense."
(on his involvement in the offense) "I feel good about it, but it's always tough to evaluate yourself right after the game, especially a loss. There were so many things I could do better, so many things that we can correct, but I'm happy to get the looks I did. I see myself as a route-runner and was happy to get that chance today."
(on the complexion of the game changing in the fourth quarter) "That's the way it is in the league. There's so much urgency in the fourth quarter that the tempo of the game completely changes. These are two very motivated teams, and the sense of urgency was really high. It seemed like a seesaw, every play had meaning, and that's the way you want it. Tough to lose one like this."
(on the game in general) "This was a game between two very tough teams, very physical teams. Neither team was going to quit. We knew it was going to be tight. It was going to come down to the end. We're used to coming out on top, but they got us today. To travel from the West Coast to the East Coast is tough, and they were able to do it."
WR Steve Smith Sr.
(on the team getting off to slow starts) "Yes, I know personally on the second drive where Kamar [Aiken] got the ball, I ran the wrong route, and that got [Kamar] frustrated because I made Joe [Flacco] mad. He usually doesn't get mad, but he expects a lot from me. That is one of the mistakes. We got ourselves a great play with Terrance West and got a holding penalty… As a team, we can't let each other down. I think we've done that and we've made it very difficult, which puts a ton of pressure on the defense. Offensively, we just have to minimize our mistakes. The defense does a great job, but in the game there are three phases of responsibility – special teams has their responsibility, defense has theirs, and obviously I'm speaking for the offense."
(on his touchdown showing that he still has breakaway speed) "If I do, or if I don't, either way, these guys believe in me. It has been a long rehab, and next week will be 11 months. We have a great training staff here in Baltimore, and I also did in Charlotte. A lot goes into it, and it's not really about if you have speed or not. You just have to make the plays that come to you, and that's what I'm trying to do."
(on how healthy he and Joe Flacco are at this stage in the season) "I think I'm just getting there. I think last game I showed a little burst, so I'm able to go longer. At the beginning of the season, in the first two games, I was on a pitch count. Now I'm able to play and not even think about it. I think we are both there, but the other team has some guys that they got in free agency and they have some guys that can play. Khalil Mack is not a slouch; that guy is coming. They have some guys that are playing fantastic, and we just have to minimize mistakes."
(on what it will take to get the downfield passing game more in sync) "I'm not really sure at this point without really looking at the film. There are things that contribute to that, whether it's them running a zone… the defensive coordinator told me that [my touchdown] was one of the few times they decided to run man coverage. We are not really seeing a lot of man coverage, and it is hard to run deep routes against zone coverage because that plays into their hands."
OLB Elvis Dumervil
(on how he felt about the game) "It was a tough way to come back, but we played our hearts out. We have to give the Raiders the credit; they made one more play than we did."
(on the defense trying to close the game out with the lead) "That is what you want to do as a defense. We want to be in a position to close it out. We didn't."
(on Raiders QB Derek Carr) "He made some plays. You have to generate some pass rush on the edges, and we didn't. We just have to watch the film and see where we can get better. We will fight, and we will get better for next week."
(on how he felt personally in his first game) "I felt rusty, but I'm going to keep working, and we will get it going."
(on how the team walks away from this week) "You have to watch the film. Give them credit, they came out, and they made plays. We were able to make some plays as well, but when it came down to it, we didn't get that last play the way we wanted to."
(on how important it is to bounce back next week) "It is important. We will come out, and we will prepare hard for the Redskins. They are a good throwing team as well, and we have to make sure we generate some pressure."
(on how his foot felt) "For the most part, it felt good. We will see how I feel tomorrow, I just have to keep going and keep chopping."
(on what the team can improve on) "Any team who wins the Super Bowl… you have to generate pass rush. As a pass rusher, you always want to look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'How can I get better?', and that's what I will do this week."
(on what the linebacker corps has to do) "We will have to watch the film. We will see the good things that we've done. There were some good things, and there are some things that we need to get better at. The good thing in the NFL is you have a chance to be 1-0 next week."
(on what it is like playing games like this) "You take good things from it, but there are things that we watch on film that we won't like. Give the Raiders credit. They made more plays than we did, but we fought to the end."
OLB Terrell Suggs
(on the ups and downs of the game) "First of all, you have to give credit to them. They had a game plan, and they came in and executed it until the end. That is what good teams do. You have to commend them, they came in from the West Coast and they got a win. It is very unfortunate for us, because we had the opportunity to go 4-0, and you want to win all your games, but it hurts more to lose a home game. It hurts that we didn't capitalize on the opportunity that we had, but it isn't the end of the world. We aren't going to let this distract us from our path."
(on coach Harbaugh's decision not to decline a penalty in the fourth quarter that would have led to fourth down) "I know what our coach thinks on our ability to block field goals. We have blocked two in three weeks. I like a coach making a decision like that and trying to make it a more difficult field goal. We just have to execute. That is more on us. We just have to have our coach's back when he makes a decision like that. I think we flat-out just got out played offensively, defensively and on special teams. You have to commend the Oakland Raiders for sticking to their game plan and executing. It is just one lost opportunity. After the first quarter of the NFL, we are 3-1. We have another home game next week, and we will just continue chopping away."
(on if he felt like the team hurt themselves with penalties) "Absolutely. I had a penalty, and I know better than that. Like I said, we have to capitalize on our opportunities. It is nothing you guys can say that we don't already know. But like I said, we are a veteran team and we're not going to get down on ourselves. This one sucks, because we fought all the way back and took the lead. Especially this city and this team, we don't like losing games on defense. We are going to get better and continue to work. It is just one missed opportunity."
T Ronnie Stanley
(on if he has to prove his durability in his young career) "They know I'm a tough kid, and I've been playing through this injury, so I don't necessarily need to prove anything to them in that sense."
(on his availability for next week) "We'll see what coach Harbaugh wants me to do. He's the coach and I'm going to do what he tells me."
(on if he feels like he has to practice sometime this week to be ready for next weekend) "We'll see. I'll have that talk with coach Harbaugh, and we're all just playing it by ear."
(on if it was tough to watch the offensive line play today from the sidelines) "Those guys fought out there. It's a battle, they have a good defensive line and I'm proud of the way our guys fought. It's a war out there."
CB Jimmy Smith
(on losing the first game of the season) "Obviously, it hurts. You want to keep the streak alive with being undefeated, but we had a chance to win it. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and just not playing good Raven football."
(on both teams shooting themselves in the foot and it turning into a slugfest at the end) "We absolutely already knew it was going to be like that. It was like that on their home turf [last year] and we just didn't come up with the plays at the end to win the game."
(on being 3-1, and that not being so bad) "Absolutely, 3-1 with an opportunity to win the game at the end, we're not down on ourselves at all. We know we have the potential to be a really, really good team, and once we start realizing that, we're going to take off."
(on the last Raiders' drive and not being able to stop them) "I mean, they just came and made plays. We've got to stay deep on one of the calls – on the touchdown – they're in the right coverage and we've got to stay deep on that. That was on us, the defense."
(on if losing DB Lardarius Webb on that drive impacted what they do) "Next man up. We don't believe in that. He went down and the next guy is just as good and adequate to play that position. He knows it well, so there's no excuse for that."
(on how disappointing it is not being able to win the game as a defense) "We didn't go out and put a bad showing for a defense. We just didn't come up with the plays in that two-minute and they end up scoring, which kind of threw us off. But like I said, we still had an opportunity to win the game, even though it wasn't pretty. That's been us all year. So, we've just got to come back and we've got to make those plays."
DB Lardarius Webb
(on not being able to stop the Raiders' final drive) "We've just got to communicate better and just play as a team in the back end. They kind of sped it up on us a little bit sometimes. We've just got to get on the same page, and that's basically all about communicating."
(on taking the big hit and if his absence affected what they were doing defensively) "It's not going to impact anything. We've got Kendrick Lewis coming in [and] he's not any drop off with he and [Eric] Weddle. I didn't get to see the last play, I just heard about the last play, so I really don't know exactly what happened because I didn't get to see it, but it's no drop off."
(on how the defense will respond to this) "Hey, this is the defense, this is the type of locker room [we have], and we've got to respond. We've got to respond big. We've got to get back in the lab and put the work in next week, and we'll be back."
(on still having a lot of stops today against one of the league's top offenses) "I think we're doing some good things, but we still have a lot of improving to do. But we can be a really good defense; we've just got to put it all together. It starts next week when we go back to practice."
