HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH
Opening Statement: "OK, I appreciate everybody being here. [Yesterday was a] big win. I am proud of the guys; [the Vikings are a] tough opponent. And, we're on to the next game. We are 4-5 and have an opportunity to get back to .500, but we have to win a game to do it in a tough environment against a tough opponent [in the Cleveland Browns]. We know each other very well. So, what questions do you have?"
We've obviously seen the results over the past four games as far as the defense and how things have turned around there. With defensive coordinator Zach Orr, what have you seen, as far as maybe adjustments of the scheme? What things have you seen as far as what he's done to help improve the defense? (Jamison Hensley) "The biggest thing I've seen probably from [defensive coordinator] Zach [Orr] and all the coaches and the players has been just steadiness. I haven't seen a lot of changes. I've seen steady commitment and consistency of approach [and] hard work. You identify issues and things that need to improve, and you try to work at them and have good drills, good meetings, good teaching sessions and players really ... I think as much as anything, it's just a two-way street; it's a collaboration. It's a partnership in the National Football League. Coaches to coaches, players to players, players to coaches and coaches to players. That team thing is what it really matters, and that's really what guys have been doing; so, the results have been good, but we have a big, big challenge and a bunch of big challenges in front of us."
After reviewing the tape, what did you like from OLB Dre'Mont Jones making his Raven debut? (Luke Jones) "Boy, Dre'Mont [Jones]; he did well. He got all his assignments right, had all the terms right, and he was versatile along the [defensive] line – I think we talked about that possibility during the week – and he was a factor. [He showcased] physicality [and] quickness, he knows how to play the game. He added a good flavor to it."
S Keondre Jackson has had an impact in the five games he's played in. He, obviously, made a big one yesterday. What have you seen from him just along this way that made you guys think, "OK, he's the guy, and we believe in him to have an impact." (Brian Wacker) "You mean leading up to the last few weeks? Well, you watch practice, you're out there every day, and you see how guys perform in practice, and [Keondre Jackson] was bringing it. He was showing us a lot of progress, a lot of development, improvement and all those things. He has some unique skills. He's a big rangy, fast, explosive athlete who is certainly not afraid to throw it in there and mix it up, which he does at a high level. I think he's a football player, and he proves that. [He has an] infectious personality and high energy. To see it show up on the field the way it has is a great thing to see, and he's building a resume, but now the standard keeps going up for him, and he's raising the bar for himself, which is awesome."
We've seen S Malaki Starks now be able to start racking up a couple of these interceptions over the last two weeks. What's changing for him? Is it just a matter of him getting more comfortable now to try to make these plays, or are these ones that were there before? Have you noticed just him looking more comfortable that's leading to these turnovers? (Cordell Woodland) "Yes. Yes, I do. I think he's starting to get a sense back there. Processing the game, inside the game, when you're a player is so much about just feel. You call it feel, [or] you can call it what you want, but all the awareness of being able to calculate all the different crazy things that can happen inside of a play – at the level of the NFL; I think you can only know and understand that if you've played in the NFL – which I haven't – to know how fast it is in the inside of a play in the National Football League. You can see him starting to – it's starting to click for him, and he's reacting just a little bit faster. And he's conscientious, so he always wants to do things right, so it's coming together."
In your experiences at the safety position – you coached the secondary at one point – is there a little more of a learning curve there just because of how much space they have to cover, not just all the processing you mentioned, but it's just a lot of territory? (Brian Wacker) "Yes, just experience as a coach and even experience as a player at a much smaller level, it's tougher to play inside than it is outside from a processing standpoint. When you're outside, whether it's at corner or an outside backer, it's just a little bit, you see the game this way (gestures to a half of the field), and it makes a little more – it's just a little bit of a more simple process when you're [playing] in here [and] you see the game this way (gestures to the entire field), there's more going on that you have to have a sense for."
There was a report that WR Rashod Bateman left in a boot, and do you have an update on him? And as you watched it again, did you think that was a hip-drop tackle on him down in the goal line? (Bo Smolka) "What is a hip-drop tackle? It's an enigma, apparently, that can't be called during the game. It looked like a hip-drop tackle, I think so, yes, based on the definition. Am I going to get in trouble for saying that? I hope not."
Do you have an update on WR Rashod Bateman? (Bo Smolka) "I think [Rashod Bateman] is going to be OK. Yes, he has an ankle sprain. We'll see how serious it is going forward."
So, do you not expect WR Rashod Bateman to miss time, or is that still T.B.D.? (Brian Wacker) "We'll see where we're at. Yes, we will probably know more on Wednesday."
We also saw ILB Jay Higgins IV walk out with a brace. Is that a significant knee injury? (Jeff Zrebiec) "That is not a season-ender, but it's going to be a few weeks for Jay [Higgins IV]."
We've seen the change of pace with RB Keaton Mitchell work really well over the last few weeks. Do you sort of like the level at which you're using that right now, or is that something that we could maybe see even more in certain games or...? (Childs Walker) "Yes, I think more. Yes, more. We should, and we were kind of intentional. We wanted to do more; just for whatever reason we didn't get to it. Definitely, [we] want to see more Keaton [Mitchell], and I think more you can mix it up ... It's hard to take plays off Derrick Henry's plate. That's a challenge. I think anybody can understand that, but mixing it up is also a good thing, too, and I think all the guys understand the value of that, too. So, we are going to try to find that. It's going to be game to game, probably, but we will try to find that world where everybody's most effective."
Was it something that RB Keaton Mitchell did that earned him an increased role, or was it more from the game-planning side? (Giana Han) "Yes, I would say it's a little bit of both, but probably more Keaton [Mitchell], just watching him throughout the course of the season. He's been working hard, but he was coming back – he hadn't played a lot last year, and I think he kind of was getting his 'sea legs' back as a football player, offensively and on special teams both. He made a big impact on special teams yesterday, twice as a gunner. I don't know if you noticed, but he had one play on the left sideline where he got down there right away. Then, he had one where he tackled and backed them up to the inside of the seven-yard line, which was huge for us because it backed them up on that last drive. And then [J.J.] McCarthy got the big scramble, but it only got him out to the 35-yard line because of that. That was a massive play; [it was] kind of a hidden-yardage play by Keaton. But even as a running back, I think he's really starting to – in the last, not just now – but in the last probably four weeks, five weeks, you could really start to see him come alive."
CB Nate Wiggins said after the game that he again went to the coaches and said he'd like to shadow Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson. How much do you appreciate that when a young corner wants that assignment and shows that confidence. How important do you think that level of confidence is when you're a young corner trying to learn how to play one of the toughest positions in the league? (Jeff Zrebiec) "Yes, heck yes. You appreciate it, and it is important. You expect anybody – corner, I mean if you want to be a cover corner you better want to cover them all and believe in yourself. I appreciate that [about Nate Wiggins]. He's not the only corner on the defense that feels that way. They all do. Every one of them feels that way, and they're all talented. We have a bunch of good cover corners. I thought our secondary played great. I thought our defensive line covered really well. They batted a bunch of balls down. That was great to see. We had a bunch of defended passes. I was told it was the fourth most in franchise history of passes broken up in a game. So, everybody played a role in that, but I think all of these guys are covering great. And yet, Nate, since we're talking about Nate, and he's bragging about how he should be covering everybody, Nate knows he could play better, too. I promise you, he knows he could, play after play, he can play even better and more dominant than he is, locking in from one play to the next. All of the guys ... The thing I love about our guys is that's the approach they take – they try to improve and get better all of the time."
You were only 2-for-5 in the red zone yesterday. What has to happen for you guys to be more consistent there? (Cordell Woodland) "That was disappointing. [We had] great field position. I appreciate the two [red zone] touchdowns; we got them kind of late a little later there after the three [in the red zone] we didn't get, but we need to be scoring touchdowns down there. We're good enough to do it. It's a combination, probably, of we have to keep putting our guys in the best position we can with great plays and creative things to do. You have to run the ball in the red zone; that's really important, and then you have to do things right down there and find a way to get open. We executed a really good play to 'Bate' [Rashod Bateman] on the two-pointer. That was a nice little scheme against what they were doing, and it was executed well. It kind of goes to [we have to] come up with the good plays down there, because it's tight quarters, and then executing them really well takes time in practice, to get them oiled up. We can be better down there across the board."
Related to that, you had to play where it looks to be a tush push lineup, but then TE Mark Andrews gets it, and it's a toss to QB Lamar Jackson. Without giving away any state secrets here, how does a play like that come about? (Bo Smolka) "It's a very creative play. I give the coaching staff credit. [Offensive coordinator] Todd [Monken] and the guys just [get] all the credit in the world for that, for coming up with that idea. That was one we've been working on for a while and trying to get that kind of honed up. I don't know that anybody's really done that before, that I'd noticed, and so we had to work through the kinks in practice. Then the other one was the quarterback sweep to the left; [that] was a check-with-me-type play that we had been working on for a few weeks, so that now those have been run, maybe it will show up again in some form or some other thing we have to come up with. Those are the things that win games for you."
Can you speak to QB Lamar Jackson's one-handed grab on the high toss from TE Mark Andrews? It was a high toss. (Cordell Woodland) "I thought it was a great catch. Yes, it was a great catch. I did gulp for one second. I was very thankful that Lamar [Jackson] was the guy catching it. He has great hands, and he didn't even miss a stride. He just pulled it right in like it was nothing."
Obviously, your roster was healthy yesterday going into the game. One thing that stood out was the inactive list. T Carson Vinson was active. I know he has played a little on special teams, but what are you seeing from him in terms of his development? What goes into that decision to have him up and have T Joseph Noteboom inactive? (Luke Jones) "It was just an opportunity. [Carson Vinson] had probably gotten to the point where he was on the same par with Joe [Noteboom] in some ways. They're different, because you have a veteran guy, and then, you have a young guy, so Joe has more understanding. Scheme-wise, you know Joe is going to know what to do, and Joe's a heck of an athlete. Then, you have this young, talented, big, rangy guy that you want to give an opportunity to and see how he can do, but not until he is somewhat ready. You can't put him out there until he is ready, and he really hadn't been ready up until the last week or two, maybe, probably two weeks. We felt like he was in the conversation, and then we just decided to do it, see if he could handle field goal protection, and then he would've had to be the backup [at tackle] if something had happened."
Likewise, with OLB Carl Lawson, yesterday, not getting elevated, was that just a numbers/situational thing more than getting him up to speed on defense? (Brian Wacker) "Yes, it's the first part. What you do is you look at the group, and you say, 'Where are the reps?' We didn't have the reps to have [Carl Lawson] up, and we needed the reps more in the D-line, because that's just the way the numbers worked. I definitely want to get him up, and I kind of talked about that last week. He's ready to roll."
What was the discussion like before that last play on your last offensive drive? Whether to throw it, whether to run it. It was after the two-minute warning on the bootleg. Staying aggressive or trying to run clock, what was that thought? (Jeff Zrebiec) "That was pretty much the discussion. We wanted to get it; that was really the thing. What gives us the best chance to get it? It's a run, [or] it's a movement pass, probably, or you could do a quarterback-driven run if you wanted to. We didn't really want to go there. [With a] bootleg [play], we thought was a good movement for Lamar [Jackson] to get out and make something happen or a drop-back pass, which was inviting a bunch of pressure. I didn't want to be sitting in the pocket with a blitz or [have] some crazy thing happen to us, and we ended up getting a batted ball, but I didn't want a batted ball. I didn't want a sack. I didn't want any risky thing. I wanted to get out there where Lamar could make a decision, and he did make a good decision. That guy wasn't going to intercept that ball there, but daggone [Andrew] Van Ginkel – that guy is something. He made a bunch of plays on the perimeter – with screens and different things – so yes, it didn't work for us. We wanted to keep our offense on the field and keep our defense off the field, and we tried to get the first down."
A big story yesterday was all the false starts that the Vikings committed. It seemed like the Vikings players and coaches seemed to think that you guys were doing things to cause that. (Cordell Woodland) "Oh, really? Did they? Did you read all the quotes? Did you read head coach [Kevin O'Connell's] quote?"
I didn't see the head coach's quote. I saw some quotes from RB Aaron Jones. (Cordell Woodland) "Or all of the other players? One of the players said that, and – I don't know – I think I read that five other players and their head coach said 'No,' but I can tell you it did catch my attention, yes. So, I went back and I watched it, because we didn't have a gameplan for that. If we did, I would've been happy, but we're not going to do anything illegal. If you stem, you make a move call, which is what you do; you're allowed to say, 'Move.' You're not allowed to say 'set,' or 'hut' or anything else. Or a cadence, which we never have done. But then I watched all of them, and [on] none of them did we stem. Not one [time] did we move. Numerous times, we were even going like this when they jumped because of the cadence that they were giving. They were doing a lot of cadences, they were doing a lot of [snaps] on two trying to draw us offsides. And then they were doing some shifts where they could uncover man [or] zone and try to see what we were in, and they jumped a few times when they were doing that to try to get to their alerts and their change of plays. So, like Coach [Kevin] O'Connell said it, it wasn't anything we were doing."
Since you guys got going, you put S Kyle Hamilton a little bit closer to the line of scrimmage and have been moving him around a bit. What makes him so good to create so much havoc and unpredictability when he's so close to that line? (Jamison Hensley) "Good genes, I think; probably good genes. [Kyle Hamilton] is talented. But the other thing is, versatility is not just talent; it's also understanding the game and also studying. He's got to know a lot. There's a lot he has to know, process and understand about the gameplan, and I just think he kind of knows the whole defense. He probably could line up in any position. We'll keep him away from nose guard, how about that? You can play him at all the other ones. But, he's special that way."
There's a lot more football left. But how much of a statement is it that this team has been able to come back, win three in a row and now be in a situation where you're just one game behind the Steelers? (Carita Parks) "Right. I think the statement remains to be stated. That's what it kind of means. We have a long way to go, and that's where our guys are at."
Did you text your brother, Jim, to say thanks for the help in beating the Steelers last night? (Jamison Hensley) "Yes, I did. I sure did." (laughter) "Absolutely. I sent [Jim Harbaugh] numerous [texts], more 'good luck' texts than usual, surprisingly. And I was very pleased with the outcome."
Regarding CB Marlon Humphrey's finger, he said he's never experienced anything like it. Is it something you guys are just going to have to manage, or could he maybe need some time away? (Jeff Zrebiec) "Yes, [Marlon Humphrey] might need to get something done to tighten it up, [in] which [case] he could play right away, or it may take a week to get him back from that if he does decide to do a surgery. But, it would be only a week at the most is what I was told. I don't know. When you say a week, then I'm thinking maybe two, but maybe none. So, if he decides to play with it and keep it wrapped up, then he could play in this game. So, that's where he's at right now."
