The Byrne Identity: Change at Quarterback
by Kevin Byrne
Nov 15, 2007, 4:07PM
Nov 15, 2007, 4:07PM
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CHANGE AT QUARTERBACK
When you stumble in a business that is as public as the NFL, it can be distasteful and a little disturbing as a member of the team. We had high hopes going into last Sunday’s game against the Bengals. After playing just once at M&T Bank Stadium in the previous 6 weeks, we were at home, where we enjoyed the NFL’s longest home winning streak at 8 in a row. Our quarterback, Steve McNair, who helped us to a 13-3 record a year ago, was coming back to the lineup. Steve had been hurt on the 2nd play of the season at Cincinnati and had struggled with health issues since. Todd Heap was back; and our veteran offensive linemen who had been hurt – Jonathan Ogden, Mike Flynn and Adam Terry – were playing a 2nd straight game.
We were hurting on defense in the secondary, but we were excited to play and hopeful of getting to 5-4. But, we turned the ball over 6 times, 3 of those coming from McNair, and stumbled to a 21-7 loss.
In the locker room after the game, about 40 reporters gathered around McNair’s locker, but he wasn’t there. I found him in the training room with ice on his left shoulder and knees. I asked how he was doing and mentioned that a lot of reporters were waiting for him. He said, quietly, “I’m okay. Shoulder hurts a little.” Bill Tessendorf, our head trainer, then told me, “He’s got about 10 more minutes of treatment.”
After getting an update on our injuries from the team doctors, I went back to the locker room and announced to the gang around Steve’s area that he had 8 more minutes of treatment. A prominent national reporter came over to me and said, “I knew he’d make us wait.” I so wanted to say: “You know, it’s so not about you right now. The trainer said he had to get treatment. It’s only 8 more minutes. This is a pretty tough time for him right now.” But, I didn’t. The guy was on a deadline and was probably a little uptight.
The next day, Monday, Coach Billick called for a meeting with Ozzie Newsome, our GM, George Kokinis, our director of pro personnel, Eric DeCosta, our director of college scouting and the assistant coaches. The discussion focused on McNair and Brian’s play calling. In essence, Brian wanted everyone to voice an opinion on where Steve is as a player right now; should Steve stay as the starting quarterback; am I missing something in my play calling; can we do this another way to jump start the offense?
After some discussion on the play calling, everyone focused on McNair. The room was split in terms of which quarterback – McNair or Kyle Boller - should play right now, but that soon didn’t matter. When I retrieved Brian for his Monday 3:30 p.m. press conference, he stopped to see Tessendorf on the way. The head trainer told him that McNair had problems in his left shoulder and would likely have to miss the next 3 games if the MRI showed what “Tess” suspected. The following late afternoon (Tuesday), test results confirmed the diagnosis, and Boller was back as the starter for the foreseeable future.
McNair is one of those players who gives you everything he has. His toughness is legendary. His courage unquestioned. He’s stoic in front of the media, but he wants to play right now to prove that he still can perform at a high level. He wants to show everyone that the last 2 games were not the real him and that some of what happened was just bad luck. Unfortunately, the doctors and trainers aren’t going to let him do that right now.
DEFENSE
Lost in the defeat to Cincinnati was an outstanding performance by the undermanned Ravens defense. The Bengals are very good on offense and might have the best passing game in the league. The one thing you have to have when you play them is good health to your best defensive backs. We did not. Starters Chris McAlister (knee) and Samari Rolle (illness) did not suit up. Our next corner, Corey Ivy, left the game in the 1st quarter with a concussion. Oh boy! That left us with Ed Reed and a lot of young guys covering the likes of Chad Johnson, T.J Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry. Our group did a heck of job, holding that high-powered Cincy offense out of the end zone all game. (Bengals 21 points came off 7 FGs, 4 of which were set up by Baltimore turnovers.)
The defense could not employ its normal aggressive game plan that depends a lot on man-to-man coverage in the secondary. Rex Ryan and his assistants made some wonderful adjustments, including a lot of zone, but still found a way to get it done. The D-line and the linebackers really played a good game, keeping constant pressure on Carson Palmer and stopping the run.
ED REED
One hour and 30 minutes prior to a game, a team has to give the visiting team and the referee a list of the players we are declaring inactive for that day. While each team has an active roster of 53 players, only 45 can play in a game. I get names of the inactives from Coach Billick two hours before kickoff, fill out the forms and make copies. (Because of injuries, that list has contained a lot of our best players this season.) Sunday’s original list included McAlister, Rolle and Ed Reed.
About 5 minutes before I turn in the list, I always check with Brian to make sure there are no last-minute changes. When I got to the head coach’s office last Sunday, the door was closed. I asked an assistant if he knew who was in there. He said, “Dr. (Andy) Tucker and Ed Reed.” I decided I’d better wait. Two minutes before deadline, the trio came out, and Brian said to me: “Ed’s up. Jared Gaither is down.”
Ed Reed didn’t have to play last Sunday. He suffered a neck injury against Pittsburgh in the Monday night game and hadn’t practiced all week. He basically worked around the clock with trainers and doctors trying to get ready. He came into the locker room Sunday afternoon and found Coach Billick and proclaimed: “I want to go. I’m feeling better.” After consultations with the doctors, it was agreed he could play without further damage to his current injury. This was a true team player stepping up for fellow players and coaches in a tough situation. He didn’t have to do this. He had already been told Saturday night that he was going to be inactive. Another example that indicated why Ed is considered one of the best and most reliable players in the NFL.
INJURIES
You won’t find coaches or players use injuries as an excuse for not playing well. As Coach Billick says: “It’s all about the next man up.” But, it’s clear that injuries do play a part. We’d be foolish not to recognize that. We’ve had bad luck this season when it comes to injuries – and they’ve come to our best players: Ogden, Heap, McNair, Flynn, Terry, Trevor Pryce, Rolle, McAlister and B.J. Sams. We’ve played games without our starting Pro Bowl corners, and we started 3 rookie offensive linemen in 2 games.
The Colts have a Hall of Fame quarterback with Peyton Manning, but his team has lost 2 in a row. Indy had 2 receivers and the starting left tackle out in the loss at San Diego last Sunday – and Manning threw 6 interceptions. You can’t ignore injuries and the effect they have on everything you do, including turnovers and penalties, when you are assessing the status of a team.
HOT SEAT
We’re 4-5, same as the Bears, Saints, Chiefs, Broncos, and a couple of others. We’re one game behind 5-4 teams like Cleveland, the Chargers, Seahawks and Tampa Bay. But, all of the sudden Brian Billick is on the hot seat by some media members. As Brian knows, that comes with the territory, and he certainly isn’t whining about it. His comment is always the same: “It is what it is.”
Here’s how these things snowball. A Baltimore columnist, who is paid for writing his opinion, wrote last Monday that Coach Billick should be fired.
We now take you to New York to the studios for HBO as the staff prepares for this week’s “Inside the NFL” edition. Show contributor Peter King, who also covers the NFL for Sports Illustrated and NBC-TV (he’s part of the Sunday night NFL show), is in a pre-show production meeting with the talent (including Dan Marino, Cris Collinsworth, etc.) and the show’s producers. One of the producers throws a copy of the Baltimore “Fire Billick” column on the table and tells Peter that “we need to talk about this on the show.”
Peter is one of the best and a very responsible and respected reporter. He calls me from the studio and said: “Hey, I’ve got to talk about the fire Billick movement. Is there anything to it internally?”
Emphatically, I tell King: “Brian is our head coach. He will be our head coach next year. It’s a partnership here. The owner (Steve Bisciotti) and Ozzie (Newsome) are part of the partnership. There are no scapegoats here. Those guys, and others, are working together to make us better and intelligently assess why we’ve gone from 13-3 to 4-5.”
Peter said thanks and said he had to run to the show’s taping. I watched the show Wednesday night, and Peter told the audience the truth: Brian will be the Ravens’ head coach next season.
STRANGE THING ABOUT QUARTERBACKS
No doubt the hardest position for a team to evaluate is quarterback. That’s why we see so many changes at the position for at least 20 of the teams in the league. If you get the 1st pick in the draft – and that means you succeeded at being the worst team in the NFL the previous season – you might get Peyton Manning or John Elway. But, we all know that 1st pick doesn’t always deliver the QB that gives you a chance to win every time you play. Heck, Tony Romo wasn’t drafted, and Tom Brady and Matt Hasselbeck were taken in the 6th round – Hasselbeck by the Packers, not his current Seahawks team.
The starting quarterback we’re facing this Sunday is Derek Anderson, a player we drafted in the 6th round in 2005. We liked what we saw of Derek that preseason and he made our opening day roster as our 3rd QB. Like many teams, we wanted to have just 2 QBs on the 53-player roster, and a few weeks later, after we suffered some injuries, tried to get Derek to our practice squad. In order to do that, you have to waive the player first, giving all the teams a chance to claim him. Cleveland did claim him.
This is a not a knock on the Browns or the Ravens: We lost Derek to the Browns. They thought so highly of him that they traded number one and two draft choices to Dallas to select Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn. Neither Anderson nor Quinn became the Browns’ starter at the beginning of this season. The guy they believed in at the time – 9 weeks ago - was Charlie Frye, who they have since traded to Seattle. Like I said, quarterbacks are the hardest to evaluate. And, kudos to Derek Anderson for taking advantage of his opportunity in Cleveland. He’s playing at a big-time level.
CHAD JOHNSON
The Bengals’ Pro Bowl receiver lined up near our bench for a play in the 2nd quarter of last Sunday’s game. Across from him was our cornerback Willie Gaston, a rookie playing in his 1st NFL game. Because he was signed to the roster late the day before (from our practice squad), Willie’s name and picture were not in the game program. As he lined up, Johnson looked over to our bench and said: “Who do you have covering me? What’s his name? He’s not even in the program. I checked.” Chad got a chuckle from some of our guys. And Willie did just fine in his 1st game.
ONE MORE THING
I like Jamal Lewis a lot. He’s a good, solid guy. I think he got set up by the government and should not have served time in prison. He’ll return to M&T Bank Stadium this Sunday. He deserves a salute from all of us for what he did for the Ravens in becoming our leading rusher of all time and helping us win a Super Bowl. Without aiding the Browns any, I hope our fans get a chance to thank him in a respectful way.
Talk with you next week,
Kevin
When you stumble in a business that is as public as the NFL, it can be distasteful and a little disturbing as a member of the team. We had high hopes going into last Sunday’s game against the Bengals. After playing just once at M&T Bank Stadium in the previous 6 weeks, we were at home, where we enjoyed the NFL’s longest home winning streak at 8 in a row. Our quarterback, Steve McNair, who helped us to a 13-3 record a year ago, was coming back to the lineup. Steve had been hurt on the 2nd play of the season at Cincinnati and had struggled with health issues since. Todd Heap was back; and our veteran offensive linemen who had been hurt – Jonathan Ogden, Mike Flynn and Adam Terry – were playing a 2nd straight game.
We were hurting on defense in the secondary, but we were excited to play and hopeful of getting to 5-4. But, we turned the ball over 6 times, 3 of those coming from McNair, and stumbled to a 21-7 loss.
In the locker room after the game, about 40 reporters gathered around McNair’s locker, but he wasn’t there. I found him in the training room with ice on his left shoulder and knees. I asked how he was doing and mentioned that a lot of reporters were waiting for him. He said, quietly, “I’m okay. Shoulder hurts a little.” Bill Tessendorf, our head trainer, then told me, “He’s got about 10 more minutes of treatment.”
After getting an update on our injuries from the team doctors, I went back to the locker room and announced to the gang around Steve’s area that he had 8 more minutes of treatment. A prominent national reporter came over to me and said, “I knew he’d make us wait.” I so wanted to say: “You know, it’s so not about you right now. The trainer said he had to get treatment. It’s only 8 more minutes. This is a pretty tough time for him right now.” But, I didn’t. The guy was on a deadline and was probably a little uptight.
The next day, Monday, Coach Billick called for a meeting with Ozzie Newsome, our GM, George Kokinis, our director of pro personnel, Eric DeCosta, our director of college scouting and the assistant coaches. The discussion focused on McNair and Brian’s play calling. In essence, Brian wanted everyone to voice an opinion on where Steve is as a player right now; should Steve stay as the starting quarterback; am I missing something in my play calling; can we do this another way to jump start the offense?
After some discussion on the play calling, everyone focused on McNair. The room was split in terms of which quarterback – McNair or Kyle Boller - should play right now, but that soon didn’t matter. When I retrieved Brian for his Monday 3:30 p.m. press conference, he stopped to see Tessendorf on the way. The head trainer told him that McNair had problems in his left shoulder and would likely have to miss the next 3 games if the MRI showed what “Tess” suspected. The following late afternoon (Tuesday), test results confirmed the diagnosis, and Boller was back as the starter for the foreseeable future.
McNair is one of those players who gives you everything he has. His toughness is legendary. His courage unquestioned. He’s stoic in front of the media, but he wants to play right now to prove that he still can perform at a high level. He wants to show everyone that the last 2 games were not the real him and that some of what happened was just bad luck. Unfortunately, the doctors and trainers aren’t going to let him do that right now.
DEFENSE
Lost in the defeat to Cincinnati was an outstanding performance by the undermanned Ravens defense. The Bengals are very good on offense and might have the best passing game in the league. The one thing you have to have when you play them is good health to your best defensive backs. We did not. Starters Chris McAlister (knee) and Samari Rolle (illness) did not suit up. Our next corner, Corey Ivy, left the game in the 1st quarter with a concussion. Oh boy! That left us with Ed Reed and a lot of young guys covering the likes of Chad Johnson, T.J Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry. Our group did a heck of job, holding that high-powered Cincy offense out of the end zone all game. (Bengals 21 points came off 7 FGs, 4 of which were set up by Baltimore turnovers.)
The defense could not employ its normal aggressive game plan that depends a lot on man-to-man coverage in the secondary. Rex Ryan and his assistants made some wonderful adjustments, including a lot of zone, but still found a way to get it done. The D-line and the linebackers really played a good game, keeping constant pressure on Carson Palmer and stopping the run.
ED REED
One hour and 30 minutes prior to a game, a team has to give the visiting team and the referee a list of the players we are declaring inactive for that day. While each team has an active roster of 53 players, only 45 can play in a game. I get names of the inactives from Coach Billick two hours before kickoff, fill out the forms and make copies. (Because of injuries, that list has contained a lot of our best players this season.) Sunday’s original list included McAlister, Rolle and Ed Reed.
About 5 minutes before I turn in the list, I always check with Brian to make sure there are no last-minute changes. When I got to the head coach’s office last Sunday, the door was closed. I asked an assistant if he knew who was in there. He said, “Dr. (Andy) Tucker and Ed Reed.” I decided I’d better wait. Two minutes before deadline, the trio came out, and Brian said to me: “Ed’s up. Jared Gaither is down.”
Ed Reed didn’t have to play last Sunday. He suffered a neck injury against Pittsburgh in the Monday night game and hadn’t practiced all week. He basically worked around the clock with trainers and doctors trying to get ready. He came into the locker room Sunday afternoon and found Coach Billick and proclaimed: “I want to go. I’m feeling better.” After consultations with the doctors, it was agreed he could play without further damage to his current injury. This was a true team player stepping up for fellow players and coaches in a tough situation. He didn’t have to do this. He had already been told Saturday night that he was going to be inactive. Another example that indicated why Ed is considered one of the best and most reliable players in the NFL.
INJURIES
You won’t find coaches or players use injuries as an excuse for not playing well. As Coach Billick says: “It’s all about the next man up.” But, it’s clear that injuries do play a part. We’d be foolish not to recognize that. We’ve had bad luck this season when it comes to injuries – and they’ve come to our best players: Ogden, Heap, McNair, Flynn, Terry, Trevor Pryce, Rolle, McAlister and B.J. Sams. We’ve played games without our starting Pro Bowl corners, and we started 3 rookie offensive linemen in 2 games.
The Colts have a Hall of Fame quarterback with Peyton Manning, but his team has lost 2 in a row. Indy had 2 receivers and the starting left tackle out in the loss at San Diego last Sunday – and Manning threw 6 interceptions. You can’t ignore injuries and the effect they have on everything you do, including turnovers and penalties, when you are assessing the status of a team.
HOT SEAT
We’re 4-5, same as the Bears, Saints, Chiefs, Broncos, and a couple of others. We’re one game behind 5-4 teams like Cleveland, the Chargers, Seahawks and Tampa Bay. But, all of the sudden Brian Billick is on the hot seat by some media members. As Brian knows, that comes with the territory, and he certainly isn’t whining about it. His comment is always the same: “It is what it is.”
Here’s how these things snowball. A Baltimore columnist, who is paid for writing his opinion, wrote last Monday that Coach Billick should be fired.
We now take you to New York to the studios for HBO as the staff prepares for this week’s “Inside the NFL” edition. Show contributor Peter King, who also covers the NFL for Sports Illustrated and NBC-TV (he’s part of the Sunday night NFL show), is in a pre-show production meeting with the talent (including Dan Marino, Cris Collinsworth, etc.) and the show’s producers. One of the producers throws a copy of the Baltimore “Fire Billick” column on the table and tells Peter that “we need to talk about this on the show.”
Peter is one of the best and a very responsible and respected reporter. He calls me from the studio and said: “Hey, I’ve got to talk about the fire Billick movement. Is there anything to it internally?”
Emphatically, I tell King: “Brian is our head coach. He will be our head coach next year. It’s a partnership here. The owner (Steve Bisciotti) and Ozzie (Newsome) are part of the partnership. There are no scapegoats here. Those guys, and others, are working together to make us better and intelligently assess why we’ve gone from 13-3 to 4-5.”
Peter said thanks and said he had to run to the show’s taping. I watched the show Wednesday night, and Peter told the audience the truth: Brian will be the Ravens’ head coach next season.
STRANGE THING ABOUT QUARTERBACKS
No doubt the hardest position for a team to evaluate is quarterback. That’s why we see so many changes at the position for at least 20 of the teams in the league. If you get the 1st pick in the draft – and that means you succeeded at being the worst team in the NFL the previous season – you might get Peyton Manning or John Elway. But, we all know that 1st pick doesn’t always deliver the QB that gives you a chance to win every time you play. Heck, Tony Romo wasn’t drafted, and Tom Brady and Matt Hasselbeck were taken in the 6th round – Hasselbeck by the Packers, not his current Seahawks team.
The starting quarterback we’re facing this Sunday is Derek Anderson, a player we drafted in the 6th round in 2005. We liked what we saw of Derek that preseason and he made our opening day roster as our 3rd QB. Like many teams, we wanted to have just 2 QBs on the 53-player roster, and a few weeks later, after we suffered some injuries, tried to get Derek to our practice squad. In order to do that, you have to waive the player first, giving all the teams a chance to claim him. Cleveland did claim him.
This is a not a knock on the Browns or the Ravens: We lost Derek to the Browns. They thought so highly of him that they traded number one and two draft choices to Dallas to select Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn. Neither Anderson nor Quinn became the Browns’ starter at the beginning of this season. The guy they believed in at the time – 9 weeks ago - was Charlie Frye, who they have since traded to Seattle. Like I said, quarterbacks are the hardest to evaluate. And, kudos to Derek Anderson for taking advantage of his opportunity in Cleveland. He’s playing at a big-time level.
CHAD JOHNSON
The Bengals’ Pro Bowl receiver lined up near our bench for a play in the 2nd quarter of last Sunday’s game. Across from him was our cornerback Willie Gaston, a rookie playing in his 1st NFL game. Because he was signed to the roster late the day before (from our practice squad), Willie’s name and picture were not in the game program. As he lined up, Johnson looked over to our bench and said: “Who do you have covering me? What’s his name? He’s not even in the program. I checked.” Chad got a chuckle from some of our guys. And Willie did just fine in his 1st game.
ONE MORE THING
I like Jamal Lewis a lot. He’s a good, solid guy. I think he got set up by the government and should not have served time in prison. He’ll return to M&T Bank Stadium this Sunday. He deserves a salute from all of us for what he did for the Ravens in becoming our leading rusher of all time and helping us win a Super Bowl. Without aiding the Browns any, I hope our fans get a chance to thank him in a respectful way.
Talk with you next week,
Kevin
