JOHN HARBAUGH OPENING CAMP PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
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Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement:"We're excited to start the Ravens' 2008 training camp. I've had a chance to see a lot of players come in, the guys who are going to be practicing the first couple days. They've got a bounce in their step and a smile on their face. They're enthusiastic and ready to go. We'll see if that carries over a week from now after we've been through two-a-days and hitting and doing all that stuff, but we've got guys who like football and are excited to be here. The same can be said for the coaches. [We] just had a staff meeting to get organized for the next couple days. Our coaches couldn't be more fired up to get to work, and that's what we're ready to do here."
On rookie QB Joe Flacco signing before camp starts:"It means that he likes football. He wants to be out there, and he wants to compete. I think we knew that about him going in, and that's a big reason why we moved up to draft him in the first round."
On whether he will have an overriding theme or slogan:"No, there are no slogans. I think it's just, "Let's get as good as we can get. Let's be as good a football team as we can be." Training camp is where you build your football team."
On having all the rookies signed:"Again, it says a lot. Joe's probably the tip of the spear on that, the point, and got it going. All the other guys wanted to be here, too. We're proud of the fact that we were able to draft a bunch of guys who like football and want to be here."
On transitioning from being an assistant to a head coach:"We've had that conversation with a couple people. I'm sure some things will come up – and probably most of them will be with you guys – that will be different than being an assistant coach in this league. But I feel the same way that I've felt, personally, as an assistant coach for the last 10 years in the NFL. You can't wait to get back and go to work and do your job. The job's a little different than what it's been in past years, but the feeling is exactly the same."
On the biggest challenge the team faces:"The biggest single challenge? I tell you what, if we could put a finger on that, it'd be easy. That's the thing about football. There are a thousand little things we have to take care of. I think probably the biggest single challenge is taking it one day at a time, one moment at a time, and winning the moment."
On who would take the first snap at quarterback in team drills: "It's a good thing you're coming to practice. You'll see it."
On whether he has a timetable for deciding the starting quarterback:"We're going to have to decide before we play the Bengals [in the season opener on Sept. 7]. That's the timetable that's thrust upon us. Really and truly, we've said this from Day One, and maybe it's hard to believe, but our plan is to put the best quarterback on the field at that time, whoever that guy is. Our goal is for those guys to make that decision based on the way they play."
On how camps will change from previous years:"I've got a lot of respect for coach [Brian] Billick, and I know everyone wants to make comparisons about one camp to the next camp. I wasn't here and didn't see how camp was run, per se, but I know that they practiced the way you're supposed to practice here in Baltimore. You can see that by watching this team practice. Again, it's a lot of guys who like football and know how to practice. That's something we want to build on as we go forward here. We want to build on what's been accomplished in the past. Training camp is tough. Training camp is hard. It's different than the old days. I've heard the term 'old-school training camp.' I don't know if that's real accurate because back in the old days you had 120 players in training camp, and you ran those 3 ½-hour practices. That's not what we're talking about here. We're going to run an intelligent camp. I think guys are going to work hard. They're going to get tired. Their legs are going to get weary because that's how you get good. But the goal is to become a good football team. The goal is not to be a fresh football team coming out of training camp because that's impossible. The goal is to be a strong football team coming out of training camp, and that's what we're going to try to build."
On whether any players will be unable to practice due to injuries:"We'll know more when we have the physicals coming in here. That's going to tell a lot. Bill [Tessendorf] has been doing this for a long time. He's got a pulse on these different guys, and there are going to be some guys that aren't going to be able to practice early on because they just aren't ready. We don't want to make the mistake of pushing a guy through the first week of training camp and not having him for the first week of games. We'll know a lot more after Wednesday's physicals."
On whether anyone is being designated on PUP:"I don't want to comment on that just today."
On going through camp not knowing who the quarterback will be:"I think in some ways, it'll probably be the last time we're ever in this situation here, I would hope, for a long time to come. It's a very unique situation. It's a fun situation to be in because it's competition in its truest form. I think we're going to take it for what it is. It's an opportunity to roll the balls out there and let guys compete for a job. It's no different than any other job. The best guy should play."
On whether having to decide on a quarterback takes away from other things he could do in practice:"No, that's the great thing about video tape. You can go back and watch the video tape and see all the reps."
On the focus on Flacco's signing headed into camp:"Maybe in some ways it'll be good because he'll take some of the heat. We'll just all run for cover under Flacco and let him answer all the tough questions *(laughing). *Building a football team is a complex thing, and there are going to be a lot of storylines in this camp. I'm sure you guys will be on top of them. You guys will be talking about the quarterback controversy, and we'll be building a football team."
On whether he expects OLB Terrell Suggs to report this week:"I don't know yet. We're going to find out. His situation is a little bit unique, and he has to decide what's best for him going forward right now."
On the offensive tackles:"I think the offensive tackle situation and the offensive line situation is one that we're excited about. You have an opportunity with a young group of guys that have worked as hard as they've worked, and with a coach like John Matsko, to build something special here that can last a long time. If we can put together an offensive line that's going to be a little better than what most people think it's going to be and build on that for the next 10 or 12 years, that's an opportunity."
On the experience of the assistant coaches:"It's huge. We had a staff meeting now, and seven or eight guys had comments and observations and suggestions. We've got an unbelievable amount of experience on this staff. Guys like Wilbert Montgomery who have been coaching in this league for a long time and have won Super Bowl rings and Clarence Brooks. You can go up and down the staff without naming all 19 guys. We've got 19 tremendous football coaches here. It's definitely going to be a group effort, and I think we're going to have a chance to have a really effective training camp because we've got a great group of coaches."
On juggling assistant coaches' input versus his head coach's final decision:"I think it's easy because I have a vision for where I want this thing to go, and I'm setting the tempo for the type of team we're going to build. They understand what the vision is, and they're contributing to it. When a guy has a good idea that's better than what we were thinking about doing, we do it – just take the best idea and go."
On what kind of advice he has received from his mentors:"I don't know if there's any piece of advice about running training camp that we had. The best piece of advice I got from all of those guys – Andy Reid, my dad, Dick Vermeil, different coaches – was just to be yourself and do what you think is right and what you believe in and that'll be good enough."
On the past few weeks:"You've got to enjoy those days off when they come. Those last three or four days, all the coaches joke about it, but your wife starts seeing a different look in your eye. The foot starts tapping a little bit more and you start getting a little bit antsy. You're not thinking about cutting the lawn. You're thinking about going back to work."
On whether he has identified the leaders on the team:"I think every guy on this football team is a leader in one way or the other. What the public or what the media perceive to be leadership and who the guys are who played for the longest period of time, those guys are going to be great leaders, but we need to find all those other guys. We need to find their leadership ability. One way or another, they need to express that. We need everybody on this football team to be a leader one way or another."
On whether he would have reservations about starting Flacco as a rookie:"I think that's factored into the equation, the fact that he's a rookie and he hasn't played an NFL game before and his long-term development. We have to factor that into the equation. That probably weighs against him. But if, all those things being considered, if he's the best guy and gives us the best chance to win, he'll be the guy."
On whether he cuts his own lawn:"I have. I will admit that my wife made me give the lawnmower away when we came down to Baltimore. So, no. Here's what happened. You want to know the real story? I have always cut my own lawn because I thought a guy should cut own grass, right? That's how it should be in life. It always happens when you come to training camp, my wife had to find someone to cut the grass during training camp and through September. This year, basically, when we moved, she gave the lawnmower away to one of our neighbors. Sorry, honey."
