John Harbaugh: ‘All Our Focus Is on the Steelers’ | Baltimore Ravens

John Harbaugh: ‘All Our Focus Is on the Steelers’ | Baltimore Ravens

you guys being here. Uh we’re uh coming off our last game. We’ve had a few days obviously and done quite a bit of work. The players have been have been away. We worked on Friday, had a full day on Friday with the players and then throughout the weekend, different things that we’re working on as coaches. But, uh all focused now on the Steelers coming up. Uh and uh I think we step back and look at it. Uh after the first third of the season, our goal was to fight our way play our way back into contention and position to compete for the AFC North Championship and uh we’ve done that. So, here we are in the in the in the in the last third of the season with that objective and that challenge in front of us to go win the AFC North, which starts on Sunday. So, that’s where we’re at and that’s what our focus will be. What questions you have? Uh, John, uh, as far as Nate Wiggins, have you heard anything as far as, you know, the severity of it and is it I mean, could it be a week toe thing or is it could it be a possible IR situation? Nate. Yeah, Nate’s dayto day right now. So, we’ll see where he’s at on Wednesday and uh we’ll see where he’s at going forward from there. John, you’ve uh got Emory Jones a little look. What was your impression of him in his first outing? Thought he played hard and uh and showed some athleticism, you know, and some some fight and some gusto. Uh uh played like a rookie in a lot of ways. You know, there’s a lot of things to clean up for sure. I think he’ll be the first to tell you that. But, uh, you know, you can’t really start making those improvements until you play. You have to play in games to start growing in that direction. Uh, and he, uh, he got a chance to do that, which was really positive, and we’ll just have to see going forward how much we want to continue that as we go. It’s not possible that he could play in the other guard spot as well. It’s uh, it’s possible, but it’s hard to do. You know, it’s uh, it’s and we’ve had that conversation. I mean, it’s a good question. It’s the same question that that that I asked and that we asked. How viable is that? But you take you take a a rookie and put him on both sides, you kind of you compound the the curve quite a bit. John, on the other side of that, how did you see boards respond to being in a rotation and just what would you like to see from him to, you know, continue playing or to solidify that job a little bit more from his perspective? Well, yeah. I mean, you know, you take there’s a there’s it’s there’s a step between being a starter and being an established starter kind of in the league, you know, kind of what you’re talking about. And when you’re a younger player like Andrew or a lot of guys, you know, you you want to you want to establish yourself as a as a uh as a starter, you know, and and uh I I think he’s in the process of doing that. You know, he’s he played good ball. He graded out highly, you know, he his his numbers were good. Um Daniel graded out highly, too. There, you know, there’s plays that both of them want back. There’s plays that their line wants back, too. I promise you. You know, it’s tough to play O line in this league, but um consistency really is the bottom line. You know, just to be as consistent as you can possibly be and uh have as many really upside plays as you can, but most of all as much as possible. And it’s the interior offensive line is probably the toughest place to do it is to minimize the negative plays as much as you can, you know, and uh that’s what we strive for. I think we’ve done a really good job of that over the years with our offensive line and you keep trying to always build in that direction. John, I know major weakness in that Cincinnati defense has been the pass defense and it looked like you guys were trying to exploit that on Thursday night, but when you see Henry not get the ball in the second quarter. Are you happy with that? I know you want to exploit something, but also just trying to keep him engaged in the game, was it did you like the balance in that? Oh, yeah. No, no doubt. No, of course not. I mean, that’s not the numbers that we want at all, you know, and uh and uh we we want we want to run the ball. We’re a running team, you know. I mean, that’s the fact. And we we’re a throwing team, too. We got Lamar Jackson, we got receivers, we got tight ends, we got all that, but but we want to always be a team that runs the ball and stops the run. That’s been since 2008, you know, it’s not going to really probably ever change. And that’s really what football is. So, for sure. And when you look at the game, I mean, you went we went seven plays down the field and um scored. Then we went three and out, three and out, then we were in two minutes. So that explains the lack of carries in in the second quarter. We didn’t have any plays in the second quarter to have a chance to even run the ball. So uh then the other part of that is just the number of two-minute plays in in the game was staggering. I mean, we had 21 two-minute plays. That’s that’s way too high. And when you have that many two, you know, I like I don’t mind two-minute plays at the end of the half. I’m not real fired up about two-minute plays at the end of the game. That means you’re trying to, you know, come back. And uh uh so we had uh seven or eight two-minute plays at the end of the half and we had I don’t know 15 or so at the end of the game because we started two minute at the 938 mark of the fourth quarter. And that explains the the play distribution as much as anything, explains the carries as much as anything. So, the circumstance of the game took us in that direction. John, when we talked to Lamar after the game, um, he seemed a little bit of a loss to explain why his accuracy wasn’t there at the level he expects it to be. I mean, he said, you know, in practice it’s been there. Um, from your standpoint, what can you guys do to help him get back to where he expects to be? Well, I mean, that’s just kind of what what sports is, you I mean, I do think you’re going to have, you know, an off day sometimes and and that’s not something that that you take lightly for sure. I know, listen, Lamar doesn’t take it lightly more than anybody and no player on this team takes it lightly. I we have conscientious guys. So, uh that’s what you do. You go back to work. You go back to work and you get you get in there and you practice and you study it and you and you and you work together to be as precise as you can. It was not a precise offensive performance in any way. You know, there was nothing precise about it. It was imprecise in every way. And and we all know that. We’re all, you know, we’re all we’re all not happy with it. You know, we’re very disappointed by it. But you can’t live in it. You got to move on. And uh and and come out swinging the next time and and uh I think if you watch the league, you’ll see that that’s very possible. John, to that point, and I know it’s never one thing, but but is is it um is it attention to detail, little things with specifically to to Lamar that you’d like to see, you know, kind of improvement? It’s all it’s all those things. John, are you happy with the way you guys It’s It feels like you’re not ending up in the right play a lot, I guess, offensively. I guess going back to years past, especially the last two years, it seemed like you guys had the an answer for everything the defense was throwing and Todd Mun always talked about the pre- snap adjustments that are made and Lamar has the ability to change plays. Do you feel like you guys are still getting into those right plays based on the looks at the line? Some I think we do at times and times we don’t. You know, it’s it’s part of the whole thing. I mean, it’s all it’s all it’s all part of it. There’s uh if it was any one thing, then it would, you know, it’ be one thing, but it’s never any one thing. It’s always a moving target. That’s why it’s so tough and so competitive. That’s why you don’t see you see things change every week, you know. It’s it’s it’s it’s sports, you know, and it’s not you try to chase what we want to do is chase uh uh being on the same page, being together, being connected. We want to chase that in everything we do communication wise, uh, you know, efficiency. And then the defense throws a lot of stuff at you, you know. So, you’ve got to adjust to movement. You’ve got to adjust to your disguises. You’ve got to adjust to to guys showing up. We don’t expect him to show up sometime and have plans for all that. You know, even even a player, you know, just in his in his world has to has to adapt to so many moving parts. And that’s what makes the game so crazy and chaotic. And we didn’t do a good job of that Thursday night. So, no, I’m not happy about it. You know, we none of us are happy about it. We want to be we’re happy about it when we really execute well and we put it together and we have the answers like you’re saying. uh you know and uh and it shows up in the execution really at the end of the day it shows up in the execution so that’s what we chasing. John there’s been fumbling issues from different players throughout the season and early was obviously Derek Henry you know four fumbles this last game I know they’re all kind of unique each in their own way but is there anything teamwide to take out of what’s been happening fumbling? Well, we had five turnovers in the game, you know. It’s just shocking, you know, and uh and they’re all fumbles. Four of them are fumbles. So, that’s that’s that’s probably the common denominator. They’re all fumbles, but there’s really not any one thing that you can say about any one of them because all four of them are different. Uh but it comes back down to the common denominator is ball security and the importance of executing ball security. So, yeah, it’s got to be done. It’s got to be intentional. It’s got to be intentional in everything you do from day one. It’s got to be practice. It’s got to be it’s got to be on your mind at the forefront of your mind at all times when you’re a ball handler. And that’s something that uh we we emphasize, you know, we give high regard to and we talk about and push demand every single day, but the players demanded of themselves every single day. And to see it not executed, yeah, it’s tough, man. It’s it’s a it’s a it’s a disappointing thing. And that’s why we lost at the end of the day. And that’s the bottom line. That’s the main thing. So, we all know it. We all we all have to do better with it. John, how do you coach players at the goal line? I mean, likely he knows what he did there, but you know, short of like fourth and goal where you know, you know, you need to score, turn the ball over or end of the half, something like that. How, generally speaking, how do you want players to approach it when they’re at the goal line? I want the ball secured in in ball security position, you know, uh, high and tight, period. Um, extending the ball in the goal line has its place when you’ve got two strong hands in the ball and you’re and you have space and there’s no traffic. I can see that. I can live with that. And I can I can only live when it turns out good because even if you do that and you don’t execute it, then it was too much, you know. But you do have to make a little bit of an allowance, I think, for pro football players who are very talented. You see some great plays made. You know, we’re not going to coach our guys out of that. when you take it to the to the next level of doing something that’s not sound, you know, that’s not good, you know, and uh that’s that’s not what that’s not that’s not winning football. So, all of it, you know, all that kind of thing. The most important thing is to protect the football when you have the football in your hands. Is there a chance that you get Robinson and Washington back to practice this week or is it still too early to know? Uh, is a chance we get those guys back in practice this week? Yeah, we’ll see Wednesday. There’s a good chance actually. John, when you had the chance to go back and look, what did you see on the pass interference call by Z Flowers? Uh I saw a call that uh sometimes gets made and sometimes doesn’t basically. So um I think you know Zay would tell you that you know he didn’t need to do it. You know he was probably overdid it a little bit so it got called. you uh you explained the run sequence situation I thought pretty clearly, but is it kind of a surprise when you go back and you pick up the final stat sheet and you look at Derek only had 10 carries, Pete Mitchell had two carries and and you wonder how it it got to that point. Uh well, yeah. I mean, that’s not what we want, but I I kind of had a pretty good idea after the game was over because I knew how the game went. It wasn’t too hard to figure out. Uh but then uh when you look at the actually you go back and you look at the numbers uh play for play which I did after the game after I saw that and I looked at the numbers and I was like okay then how did this exactly happen then it’s it’s it’s okay that’s what happened you know it’s there just weren’t enough opportunities you know so it wasn’t like we were every time we were in first and second down we were going to run the ball 100% of the time you know we’d have had to do we’d have had to do that to get to get to 18 to 20 carries runs we’d had run it every time on first and second down just about and uh you know you want to you want to you have play actions you know you want to do some screens and things like that too to keep people off balance and try to be balanced so you just want more of those plays I mean that’s the bottom line we just needed more of those plays how do you think how do you think Ali handled looked like he basically stepped in the Justice Hills role pass protection third down things like that how do you think he handled that and do you see that role for him moving forward at least while justice is Right. Yeah. I’d say yes. Yes. Handle it well. And yes. Um he uh you know, he played really well. I mean, so the the the plays that he was in, he did, he got the job done. He passed well. He did he ran his routes well. He chipped well. Uh he had one run where I thought he was tentative on, you know, could hit it up in there in the A gap on a a third and medium, I think it was. So, uh he played well. Uh, John, John, it looked like you guys were trying to be aggressive and getting after Burrow, sending some blisters, but it seemed like they picked him up. Why do you feel like I guess your pressures weren’t getting home as much? Well, they were in max max protection. I mean, they were in sevenman protection. So, uh, even some of those got home, but he got his way out of it. You know, the biggest thing I think the biggest thing in those, you know, you look at the second half on the third downs. I mean, the story of the game on defense was basically five turnovers they had to go back on the field for and then uh third down conversions that the Bengals had, especially in the second half, and that put us on the field a lot. I thought our guys still handled it well, but uh uh you know, we you’re bringing pressure and a couple times we checked out of pressure, a couple times we bluffed and there at max protection, you kind of get what you want there. You run a blitz into seven blockers, you know, he’s probably going to have a chance to get the ball out, but there’s only three receivers out, so that’s okay. So then when he starts to move, you got to get him down. And I just, if I was disappointed in anything, I was disappointed in the fact that he was able to get out and extend plays a little more than we were hoping for, you know. So, and even with that, you know, I got to give him credit, too, because new probably four of those maybe five of those conversions were really great throws and catches. I mean, diving catches, tightly contested throws and catches that they made. So, they deserve credit for that, too. Mark’s been dealing with obviously a swarm of injuries. How much do you think this kind of mini buy by by playing on Thursday, how much do you think that will help him? And do you think going forward? It seems like there’s been a pattern of, you know, no Wednesday practice, is that something that could continue? I really don’t know. We’ll have to see how it shakes. I think he’ll be fine, you know, and he’s going to practice. I I tell you all that stuff. He’s going to practice like as much as he can, you know. Lamar will practice as much as he can and prepare as well as he can and uh you know that’s that’s what he’s going to do and he always has. John, you open talking about this AFC North race. You’ve got the Steelers, then you got the Bengals. Do you do you stress that backtoback stakes to the team? Is it simply this is Pittsburgh, we got to worry about Pittsburgh this week? It’s simply Pittsburgh. We’re just focused on Pittsburgh this week. What’s your impression of them so far? I know you and Tom can go back forever, but what’s your impression of this either team? My impression is that that’s the team we got to beat this week. And uh whatever they are, as we’re studying them and how we need to attack them, we’re going to put the best plan together we can and play the best football we can on Sunday. That’s that’s my impression. That’s how I think about it. John, obviously not a great environment on Thursday to talk about team milestones, but Mark became the all-time leader in receptions. um on Thursday. I mean, given where he was in the off season and and uh you know, the note he ended on in Buffalo, what do you think of his season so far, leading your team in touchdowns, passing some milestones, and really kind of reestablishing himself as a go-to guy? Yeah, absolutely. I’m I’m a big fan of Mark, you know, always have been a big fan of all of our guys, but you know, Mark’s been here a long time, you know, and we’ve been through a lot together, all of us, and and so I’m proud of him. You know, I did I’m not surprised at all expecting him to have the type of season he’s having. So, yeah, that’s really cool for him to get that milestone as you said and and that that goes down in history, you know, it goes down in history. I mean, and you see players do that like dehop, you know, Dehop got his thousandth catch and uh got it here as a Raven. That’s that’s pretty awesome, too. So, those things you uh are things that you do you do you do know and you’re you know, you’re going to look back someday, you’re going to say, “Wow, that’s really really neat to be a part of that.” Uh and yet that’s all it’s all turned into the basically the process of trying to find a way to win the next game and and and accomplish the things that we can accomplish in a real tough tough league, you know. So, uh, it’s there’s a lot that goes on with this whole this whole deal, which is probably why we all love it so much. Joe, we um, so Chandler Martin, is is that a you said it was a serious injury. Do you know more about that? And I guess a followup on Justice Hill. Does he have a shot of returning this year or is that a is that a season ending thing? Right. Uh, Chandler is a season ending thing. He has an ACL. He’s going to get an ACL repair here in the in the next couple days. So, he’ll be out until training camp next year. Uh kudos to him. He played three really well two games really good games for us and it was the first play it happened unfortunately for him. But uh he started to establish himself. That was that was neat to see as a young player. Justice does have a chance to come back. It’s going to be a three to four week type of deal as as we see it right now. So uh that’s what we’re looking for right there with Justice. Okay. All right. Thanks. Thank you.

Head Coach John Harbaugh on injuries to cornerback Nate Wiggins, running back Justice Hill, and others, offensive lineman Emery Jones Jr.’s debut against the Bengals and more.

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