GREEN BAY PACKERS vs. BALTIMORE RAVENS POST GAME QUOTES
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER TERRELL SUGGS:
(on having three shutouts in 10 games) "It doesn't mean [expletive] if we don't make the playoffs. It's good, but if we don't get in, y'all aren't even going to remember them. Y'all won't remember them. It's a good thing to build on, but we've got to keep going. We've got to keep getting these wins. If we win six out of these next seven, we have a good chance of getting in. I don't care if we give up 19 points, 35 points; as long as we are winning games, we will take that. We've had shutouts and then we've come back after games and not played so well. We have to build on that. I said it before, 'the worst thing in the world is mediocrity.' We don't want to be mediocre. We want to take the next step. We want to get above .500. We want to enjoy this plane ride home, but we're going to be on to Houston really fast."
(on the shutout today) "When you've got one going, it's like a no-hitter. When you've got one going, you want to keep it. You want to play dominant defense. This is the Ravens. This is a team that's built upon defense. So, it's good to have shutouts, but like I said, we've got to compile the wins. As long as we are winning, we can enjoy these. We can't have a shutout one week and then come back and drop one and still try to hope to get in."
(on the enjoyment of playing today) "Have I ever given you any inclination that I didn't enjoy being on this defense? From the moment I played my first snap in the NFL, I've only been one type of player, one brand of player. I cherish and relish every game. I love being a Raven and it's who I am. It's in my DNA. Like I said before, I only know one way to play. And that's the Raven way."
(on the Packers offense) "It was a few things. They had a couple of guys down. And that was us earlier. We had guys out. Key guys out. Now we're getting back healthy and coming down to the tail end of the season, a lot of teams are losing [players] to injuries. They lost some players they could've used today. But the show must go on. They are professionals and we are professionals and that's pretty much it."
QUARTERBACK JOE FLACCO
(on what the team is doing right) "It was good to get ahead of these guys today and obviously, that first drive was big for our defense, getting the turnover there in the end zone and working it from there. We had good field position a lot of the day, obviously because of the turnovers and some of the position we were able to get on some of the punts. And then coming out in the beginning of the second half and being able to put points on the board right away was key."
(on scoring on the first drive of the second half) "It was definitely a big point in the game because even though we kind of outplayed them in the first half and had some decent drives that got stalled and had a lot of turnovers by our defense, we were still only up six-nothing and the game could change at any point. The fact that we were able to get the ball first there and come out and score a touchdown was definitely a big turning point."
(on head coach John Harbaugh reaching 100 wins) "You can appreciate a lot of things and for him, it's 100 wins. I wish I was quite there, but I missed a couple of games. But just coming into Lambeau. When you think back on it, yeah, it got us to 5-5, but at the end of the day, when you think about football things, it's cool to come in here, (since) we only play here once every eight years, and win a football game at Lambeau Field. This is a historic place. You grow up watching games played here and there's just so much history involved with this place. It's just a cool area. It's like you're driving to your high school football game and all of a sudden, there's an NFL stadium there. And you can feel that. You can feel the atmosphere. It's really cool. So, it's definitely awesome to come in here and get a win and be able to say, 'we won at Lambeau Field.'"
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH:
(on the game as a whole) "Obviously a great victory. To come here and to play pretty much spotless football, the kind of game we needed to play to win the game. We had the one turnover going in and that's really the only thing we didn't do toward the victory. I feel like the rest of the plays, the 160-some plays, were all played in terms of winning football. And that's what we needed to do. A lot of different things happened, obviously our offensive line was in big time flux when Ronnie [Stanley] couldn't go. It created a major problem against this team because their defensive line is one of the best in the league. I think their tackles are, arguably, two of the best in the league. It was just unfortunate to see what happened, in terms of the injury out there, but the offensive line hung in there. They kept fighting. Run yards are hard to come by, pass protection was hard to come by, but I think those guys kept fighting until the end and they found some ways to get some first downs and get some field goals to kind of separate us. But Joe [Flacco] deserves a lot of credit. He was playing a game where he didn't have a lot of time and things were coming open and some of them he saw and he hit and some he didn't have time to see and hit. He protected the football under those circumstances. And that's what we really needed to do. I just thought he played a really good game. It's not going to show up in the stats, but it should show up in your eye when you watch the game. Defense, obviously, was off the charts. That's about as good as you can play on defense. And that's a really good offense over there. And I think their quarterback is really good and he made a lot of plays with his feet and he was running around. But when he did get out, our guys chased him down and our coverage maintained contact throughout the duration of the play for almost all of the plays. And that's really hard to do because they make a lot of plays on the line, on scrambling. Not just Aaron Rodgers, but Hundley does too. But to come up with the sacks and the turnovers, obviously and the shutout, it's pretty historic."
(on if the team is improving) "I think they are getting better. Our defense is improving. Our offense is improving. It's going to be tougher on offense right now. But getting the guys back, having Danny [Woodhead] back and having two receivers back, I think if we can create the time to get the ball into the secondary, they're going to make a lot of plays for us. And that's what we've got to build towards next week. And we will cross our fingers to get Ronnie [Stanley] back. If we don't, for some reason, it's a concussion, then we will go with the guys we have and those guys will continue to improve. That's what I like about our guys. I told them in the locker room. It's a pretty rare team in the way that they brush off adversity. They don't get distracted. Everything is straight ahead, eyes down field. And they just try to improve. They just look at the next opponent. In a game like this, they will be excited about, but it will be on to Houston. And after disappointing losses, they have been the same way. Nobody's pointing a finger. Nobody's wallowing in self-pity. We had a great two weeks of practice. The positive energy was really just amazing. I'm looking for the right word, I can't think of it right now, but I just love this team."
(on the defensive play) "I feel like we covered them really well. We mixed up our coverages. Dean [Pees] called a great game. We probably didn't blitz as much as we usually do. We usually are close to 50 percent. But he mixed his coverages, I don't think Brett [Hundley] could ever exactly know what we we're going to do. Our guys were playing so fast and covering so well. It just made it tough on him."
WIDE RECEIVER MIKE WALLACE:
(on his touchdown catch) "It was a great read by Joe (Flacco). It was a battle all the way down the field because the cornerback was kind of outside of me on an outside route so I had to just fight the whole way. I saw the ball the whole way. I was just locked in on the ball and made the catch. It was a great throw."
(on having Danny Woodhead back in the lineup) "He got a few big first downs for us so that was enough. Once he gets his feet under him and gets the movement back he will get more comfortable. He made some big plays for us. You can just tell by having him back on the field and the energy that he brings that he is just a veteran leader."
SAFETY ERIC WEDDLE:
(on Brett Hundley) "It was a tough day for him. He is put in a position that is hard to succeed. You have a good team so you just try to rally the troops. I feel for him. Hopefully he can bounce back, but with some of the things we saw on film we knew we were going to get opportunities. We made the plays that we needed to make on the ball and we got pressure on him all day long. I feel for him because we have all been in those positions. I know how he feels, but he just needs to keep his head up and get back to work."
(on his first quarter interception) "When the ball is in the air, we feel like it is ours. Watching the film, we know he likes to hold onto the ball and extend plays so we knew when the ball was in the air that we would have the chance to makes plays. The play that I got, he got outside the pocket and it was open initially, but I was able to run it down and go make the play. The picks were huge, the fourth down stops were huge. It was a complete defensive domination."
(on the shutout) "Anthony Levine, our special teams ace, said to everyone today, 'Let's be legendary in a legendary stadium. We are in a seven game stretch were we can't just be good; we have to be the best in the league for us to get where we want to get.' Shoot, a shutout in Lambeau."
CORNERBACK JIMMY SMITH:
(on the defense) "Just a great day for the defense. I am very proud of us. We had to go get a win, and we got it in a very tough environment facing a very good team."
(on his first quarter interception) "I think they had a pick route on and I just ended up falling into it underneath the pass and they threw it right to me."
(on the win) "It is difficult to get a win and to get one on the road is even harder, no matter who you are facing. So just to get one on the road here is a great feeling. This keeps us in the thick of things at 5-5, so we still have everything in front of us with an opportunity to still get into the dance."