Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement:"Did everybody have fun? Did you enjoy that? That was some good football out here."* (Reporter asks Harbaugh if he had fun.) *"I love football. How about you? That is why you are here, right? That was great; it was fun, great crowd. The military was amazing. It is funny, you get to know some of the same faces and the families every year, and you see them out here. The kids start growing up on you a little bit. It is pretty amazing. I can't wait for Saturday night to get back out here. As far as the field, the field held up really well. It looked good. It's exciting."
Did you like the physicality and the spirit of tonight? (Brent Harris)"I did. This is what it is all about. This is football, and we have to build a football team, and we have a bunch of young guys that like to play and want to get after it and have a lot of pride. It is a tough game. I did like the spirit and physicality."
What is the message when you talk to OLB Za'Darius Smith and G/C Ryan Jensen? Is it about what line you don't want to cross?* (Pete Gilbert?)*"I appreciate you using the term 'talk.' *(laughter) *Thanks. There were words. They were spirited words. That is what it is. The ability to be a tough physical football player and a smart football player go hand-in-hand. You have to know where to draw the line. It is between the lines. It is between the whistles and between your ears. That's where the game is played. You understand, that is where the physicality happens – between the whistles. You have to know when to walk away, and you have to be smart. You cannot give up a personal foul penalty down in here [opposing territory] that keeps a drive alive. You can't do it. Teams have done that before. That is how you lose football games. Our intention is to play winning football, and that is not winning football."
Were you surprised when guys like QB Joe Flacco and TE Dennis Pitta get involved in the extracurricular activities? (Jeff Zrebiec)"I'm not surprised by anything. Those guys are competitive guys, too. They have to be smart, too. Pitta sprains his finger in some kind of little scuffle, and I will say 'little scuffle' with an exclamation point. He will laugh about that tomorrow when he reads this. I do like the competitiveness. I like the fact that Pitta is out here making plays, and he's blocking people, and he's getting after it. But tempers are going to flare, and we understand that. I want to impress upon – especially in a move-the-ball-type of drill, which is like a game-like situation – how to play smart as well."
So that is why he wasn't playing, because of a sprained finger? (Jamison Hensley)"Yes, he was in the training room with a sprained finger. That is the word I'm using: 'sprained.' It is going to be a little while for him."
QB Joe Flacco, we haven't seen … It was a third down, and he ran for the first down. What did you think of that? (Jamison Hensley)"That is the first time I've really seen it, too – to see him get out and run like that, the first time in training camp. As you know, you've been there every day. To see him get out and go was good to see."
Does Terrance West look like he is playing a little more with urgency? He looks like he is in better shape. (Don Markus)"I just think he looks good as a football player. Whatever word … I think urgency is a good word from a physical perspective. He's running; he's urgent. He's making cuts. He's making really good reads. He's quick into the hole; there is no hesitation. In the pass protection, he is stepping up in there and popping people in pass protection. He is doing really well. As you said, [he] had a really good night tonight."
LB Kamalei Correa, does he seem like a guy who is around the ball a lot? (Clifton Brown)"Well, he has had two interceptions already in what, four days or whatever? He stays around the ball, and he is in the middle of things. That is what we drafted. We drafted a high-energy guy. The No. 1 thing for our defense this year … The No. 1 thing for any defense is getting to the football; it is pursuit. Everything else comes after that. I want 11 guys running to the ball like their hair is on fire, every single play. That is going to be the criteria. If they aren't running to the ball, what are you doing out there? Your job is to get to the football, so guys like him and all the rest of the guys, that is a huge emphasis."
Is there a different urgency – playing with chip on your shoulder coming off a 5-11 season – than coming off an 11-5 season? (Don Markus)"Is that a comparison? I believe so. That would be an insult to coming off the 11-5 season. I just hate that kind of question. I think it basically says you aren't urgent all the time in your life. The philosophical questions, the judging questions, the boney finger of blame questions that say, 'Hey, you weren't into it last year; you didn't try hard last year,' I've never swallowed that stuff. I just don't buy in to it. That is OK to write it, and believe it, and there might be a kernel of truth to it in real life; I get it. But I'm not going there."
