We're going to learn from it and become the kind of team that we are going to be this year, and I'm looking forward to seeing where that takes us.
What explanation did they give you when you guys challenged the last one?
He caught the ball. Which one are you talking about? The one on the field goal deal? He caught the ball and he caught it in bounds. We were challenging whether he caught it and whether it was in bounds and if it was a first down or not. So, they felt it was all three of those things. I didn't see it, so, I don't know, they didn't show it up on the screen.
When it comes down to the end, is it as simple as guys have to make catches or do you think it is more than that?
Is what as simple as that? What I think what is interesting, is the guys made some great catches on that very drive we were talking about. We came up with some catches; we didn't come up with some catches. Those were all tough catches. Protection has to be there, throws have to be there. You know, Cam [Caeron] did a nice job of making calls, as did Greg [Mattison]. You know, that's just all part of it, it all goes together, you can never single out one thing. And I just like the way our guys battled and competed and you know, you look forward to the next time you get in a situation and what this makes of the next situation.
Coach, this is the first time this year that you've had to face a loss, all preseason and now. What is your message, is it the same after a win and loss?
The message is something that we got that is among our team. And I think it is important that we… we are a family and that's between us, our players and it's a good message, I can tell you that. And our guys understand it. So, we move on from here.
What was the reaction, I mean, you never want to see a guy go down, but how tough is it to look over and see a teammate like Jared Gaither go down like that and get carted off the field?
Like emotionally? You just move on. Guys move on and play, Michael Oher goes to left tackle, Marshal Yanda goes to right tackle, and we knew with Jared it wasn't like a serious type of thing, so he'll be fine and how long it takes him to get back in play is a matter of, we'll just have to see, but you move on to play the next play.
How hard is it for a rookie tackle to move from one side to the other, I've heard veterans say how hard it was, but he's played left tackle before?
Didn't seem too hard for Michael. He's doing a good job on playing both sides and he's pretty special, you know. He really is, he's done a lot.
Did you see one of the pivotal plays, in one of the Patriots' scoring drives, was a roughing the passer by Haloti Ngata? Were you able to see the severity or were you surprised by that call? By the roughing…
I mean, I saw it. I'm not allowed to comment on it. And I think you guys saw it too and you make those judgments for yourself.
Were you surprised by the spots, looked like they had a lot of spots go their way?
I'm not surprised by anything, but I saw the spots, you know, and I think everyone saw the spots and I'm not allowed to criticize the officials and that's the way it is in this league. You guys can make those judgments.
You got a 15-yard penalty, so I guess at some point you did criticize the officials…
JH: Well, we can have conversations with them on the field, it's the media situations like this where we aren't allowed to make comments on them. Yes, that was called on me.
Were you pleased with the pass rush? Seemed like one directly led to a touchdown. You had to probably be pleased with the amount of pressure you got on Brady?
Yeah, I thought our guys rushed hard, you know and they picked up pressure, we got some pressures loose. Tom [Brady] did a good job getting the ball out under pressure, our guys covered aggressively, they got open sometimes, sometimes they didn't, one time they got a call and we covered them very well. It was all those kind of situations, that kind of a football game, back and forth. I'm just excited about the opportunity to grow from this game and become the team we're going to be.
What was the difference in the coverage you saw on Derek Mason after the first drive?
I have no comment on that, they covered him, they tried to cover him, sometimes they covered him, sometimes they didn't.
What did you think about turning points in this game? There were a lot of big plays.
We don't do that, we don't go back and look for turning points, comparisons and moments. You can go back after the fact and there are any number of plays that could have turned the game one way or the other, so it's pointless.
What this a test for your guys coming up here, in terms of how you wanted to see where you were?
Well, it was a test for this week. We are 0-1 for the week and we're disappointed in that and we'd planned to come up here and be 1-0 for the week. Now we are looking forward to next week.
4th and 1 in the fourth quarter and you guys decided to go for it. It didn't seem like there was much talking about it, do you think it was a total agreement to go for it on that 4th and 1?
Yes, yeah, no question.
In regards to the Patriots running backs being so good, and how tough it was to decide when to blitz…
No, wasn't tough. You make a decision, try to play aggressive and go after people. If you think the Ravens are going to be tentative about coming after people or tentative about playing aggressive football, allow any team to put them on their heels, you are in the wrong press conference. These guys wouldn't even begin to ask that question. That's how we play, that's how we are always going to play. Next week, we're playing the Bengals and they are going to see the same thing.
On the field goal play, did you sense that you were going to get the ball at the 6 [yard line], is that why you challenged it?
Yes. I would have loved to have the ball on the 6, that was the point.
Joe Flacco, Quarterback
On the tough loss:
"Every loss is pretty tough, but we have all lost before. The most important thing in the NFL is how you respond to a loss, we just have to go look at the film and see what we can learn and look forward to next week."
On fourth quarter comeback on his mind:
"No, We are trying to win the football game, that's the bottom line. I am not thinking about a fourth quarter win."
On the offense:
"We didn't execute when we needed to, we didn't execute the plays that were critical in the game. We just didn't put enough points on the board, but that is the way it goes sometimes."
On the New England defense getting hands on the ball:
"They did a good job, that's part of a tough football game. You are going to have plays like that where they win and where you come back and beat them. They have the markings of a tough team, I think we are that kind of team, we just came up a little short today."
On getting hit a couple of times:
"It's a football game, that's what happens. I had a lot of fun, I wish we went out there and [had] been able to score a little bit more. At the end of the half, it would have been a big score, but it happens and we will learn from it as much as we can and move on to Cincinnati."
On the play at the end of the half:
"It was a bad job by myself, we were looking for Mark (Clayton) and I just choked the ball and I threw it right to the guy. You guys could see it. It wasn't that great of a play. I will go back and look at it and see what I saw, but that was me."
On what roughing the quarterback is:
"I am always surprised when they get called against us, I mean, come on, everybody wants the call for them. They don't want to see any calls against them. I mean, sometimes if I get a call, I am like 'oh man, I can't believe I got that one.' "
On going toe to toe with Tom Brady:
"I am not looking to play on Tom Brady's level. I am looking to play on Joe Flacco's level and the Baltimore Ravens' level. I am not playing against Tom Brady, I am playing against the New England Patriots. We are a good football team and they are a good football team. The bottom line is they won and we didn't come up when we needed to. We will learn from it and I am not comparing myself to anybody. I go out there and play football. We play the way we play in Baltimore."
On the play that led to the injury of LT Jared Gaither:
"I looked like it might have been his shoulder or something, but I don't have any idea what happened to him. I hope he is alright. I hope it's nothing too serious, so we can get him back pretty soon. The guys stepped in and did a great job. Marshal (Yanda) came in and Mike (Oher) moved over to the left side they played great all game. You can't complain about what they did."
