HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH
Opening Statement: "OK, [I] appreciate everybody being here. [We are back] to work on the next game coming up – the [Houston] Texans game on Sunday. [We will] be at home, and we're going to look at all the things we need to do to be the best we can be in that game. There's a lot of factors, a lot of things we're dealing with, for sure, like a lot of teams are, I'm sure. But that'll be our opportunity to get going and get our momentum going a little bit. That's a really good team. I've just been watching them on tape. The Texans' defense is playing at a high, high level; [they are] very aggressive, very fast, very well coached. [They have] a lot of good players, a lot of good pass rushers [and] good coverage guys [who are] playing good football. Then offensively, obviously, young quarterback working to find their way in a little bit, running the ball. [They have] good backs. [They are] trying to play complementary football with their defense. So, that's what we're looking at right now. What questions do you have?"
Specifically with QB Lamar Jackson's injury, do you have any update with that, and do you expect him to practice on Wednesday? Do you expect him to play on Sunday? (*Jamison Hensley)* "Yes, we have a pretty good feel on all the injuries with the different guys right now [and] where we're at. I am really not commenting on those things today. We'll comment on them later in the week a little bit more. I can give you information on Broderick [Washington Jr.] and Nnamdi [Madubuike]. Nnamdi is going to be out for the year. That's going to be a yearlong IR. 'Broddy' [Broderick Washington Jr.] will not [be a yearlong IR]; it'll be the four-week IR [period]."
Obviously, with DL Nnamdi Madubuike, it's a neck injury, and there's a lot of concern about that. What's his long-term prognosis? Are you guys confident he will be able to return next year? Is his career in jeopardy? What can you share? (*Luke Jones)* "That's a good question. I'm trying to explain it in the best way I can in terms of what I'm allowed to tell you. A lot of that is something that he needs to address with you guys on his time, so I really can't speak for him – I wouldn't want to. Those are questions that would be best answered by him going forward, and he may be still getting some information on that as well, but I will leave that for him to answer."
Obviously, you have so many injuries, I'm sure it's hard to directly evaluate, especially your defense where you've lost three or four starters yesterday in the course of the game. That being said, this is the second year where that side of the ball started out pretty slow. Obviously, there's your competition and with the injuries, how much confidence do you have in defensive coordinator Zach Orr to be the one to turn the defense around? (*Kyle Goon)* "I have confidence in all of our guys, including Zach [Orr], our players, our coaches, and I watch our guys every day. I watch how they work. I watch how well they coach. I'm in meetings, I watch the meetings, I know the schemes that we're running. I know the soundness of what we're doing. I understand what we're up against from week-to-week and play-to-play even in this game. This is a challenging game against a good offense. [The Kansas City Chiefs] were healthy, [and] they got their guys back. Complementary football-wise, the defense was put in some tough spots field position wise for sure, and I think that had something to do with it. We got some stops early in the red zone with some short fields, and then we didn't play as well in the red zone. They made a couple plays in there that they ended up getting touchdowns on. That's what you do. You believe in your people, and we have really good people and good players. I thought a lot of the young guys stepped up. They got their opportunities, [and these are players] who had never played before and went out there in that environment and played well. You look at the individual performances; there's a lot of really good things there, and the things that, when I watched the tape – I felt better watching the tape. I can tell you that [I felt] a lot better watching the tape than I did standing on the sideline watching the game. I felt like there was a lot of really good play going on, and I think the things that were issues were very definable and also sometimes a result of some really tight plays being made by them in some situations. So, those are plays that we just have to start making, get some turnovers, knock some balls loose, get some TFLs [and] create some things. We were a step [away] from getting a couple sacks at times. I thought 'Pat' [Patrick Mahomes] did a good job of getting the ball out a few times [with] things like that. So, we're not too far away on defense. I really feel confident that we're going to play really good defense this year. I really am. I know the fans hear that, and I hope they have a little bit of confidence in us that we've been down this road before a little bit. We do need to get healthy, for sure. That's an important part of it, as well, but also play with the guys that we've got. Let's go play some good defense."
With QB Lamar Jackson, there was speculation yesterday, because you had talked about maybe he might go back into the game if it were closer. There was no way he was going to go back into the game. Was that the case, or if the game was closer, would he have gone back? (*Jerry Coleman)* "No, that was the case. There was no way [Lamar Jackson] was going to go back into the game. The injury precluded it. During the game, [you are] playing the next series as a coach, but there was no way he could go back in the game. I know Lamar. I know Lamar, if he could have gone in the game, he would've been in the game. That's how he is, but I can assure you that he would not have been able to go back in the game under any circumstance."
What happened on the situation when you ended up getting two delay of game penalties in a span of three plays? What broke down there? (Bo Smolka) "We were trying to check [out of] plays. One time, [it was] a run play to another run play, and the next time [we were] trying to get a signal to get a pass route changed. We just didn't handle the clock management well. We usually do a really good job of that. That's something – I've had so many of those times over the years, especially, really, [over] the last seven years where I'm watching the play clock, watching the play clock, and you get nervous about it, but we've gotten the play off numerous times. Even in that game we did [get the play off], where it runs down close. We always have a pretty good handle on that, but those two times, we didn't. Those were aberrations for us. I thought we would get them off, in both of those occasions, with the communication we had, and we just didn't get [the plays] off. That was a really tough series for us. The fact that we got knocked back on both of those two plays, that really hurt us."
It seems like your style of play hasn't been up to your usual standard, to this point. Do you feel like your team has matched the physicality that you like to play with, and do you feel like they're being "out-physicaled," especially in some of these losses to start the season? (Cordell Woodland) "I'm not really too much into the generalities, just general terms like that. I think there is a lot more to it than that. Our guys are playing hard. We're playing fast, [and] we're playing with physicality, we're not executing particularly well, in [certain] circumstances. You can just go back and break the game down. Offensively, in the first half, the second, third and fourth series were the series that kind of dictated the game for us. It put our defense in a couple of tough spots, and those are situations where, if we operate better, we score points, and it's a completely different game. What happened with the interception; I thought the linebacker [Leo Chenal] made a nice play, but it wasn't a good play for us. It wasn't a good play call. It wasn't a play where we put our guys in the right position in that situation. I'm not happy with it at all. None of us are. They ran a double-backer kind of blitz inside where they were right in Lamar [Jackson]'s face and we had downfield routes with no check downs. We were chipping our way out trying to take care of the edges, and they ran an inside blitz, and it's not picked up, it's not going to be picked up. [And then], Lamar throws it and it's a tough throw and the guy makes a nice play. The guy made a great play. I give him credit, Leo [Chenal] made a nice play. But that kills your drive when you're moving the ball right down the field. So no, I don't like that play call at all or the result of that. And then we have the series where we have the two delay of games. That's what knocked us back. And then you're back there, really, [at] second-and-10, and you make another type of a situation where you invite a blitz, and now you get the penalty and Lamar backing up. That was a bad series for us. We just have to look at it, honestly, as a coaching staff, and just say that was not good, and we put ourselves in that situation. Then the next one, that was a tipped ball; a screen they defended [and] then a tip ball, next thing you know, you're third-and-10, and you're off the field there. That was a more normal one. But those three series, I think, dictated the course of the game, really, against a good offense, because we were going to play aggressively, and we were going to go for it. And then later, you're going to be aggressive, you're going to go for it. You go for it, and you don't have a good plan. You just don't. You don't have a good plan. We didn't do a good job at all. We all know it. We all agree with it. We came up short. We didn't put our players in the position we needed to put them in to execute and convert on third-and-short and fourth-and-short in first half and throughout the course of the game. Those are just like turnovers. It's no different than turnovers, because you put your defense on a short field. So, we just have to own all that and understand it. That was bad ball, and it can be fixed, and we have to fix it going forward. That's how I see it from a football standpoint."
You just answered a lot of this, but when you look back at your work against the Chiefs blitzes in general, you knew that was coming from them. Did you feel it was a matter of the preparation was off? Did you feel it was a matter of the adjustments were off as it was happening? (Childs Walker) "I don't think our approach was good. I think we didn't stick to the plan that we had. We had an idea of how we wanted to approach their defense, and we didn't stick to it. I'm not happy about it, and neither is anybody, none of our coaches are happy about it, especially – I'm talking about the coaches right now. That was us. So, it was not a good job."
You mentioned short-yardage plays where it didn't work. How much are you missing FB Patrick Ricard in these situations? (Bo Smolka) "I haven't thought about that. I can't measure that. I think Zaire [Mitchell-Paden] did a good job, though. I can answer that question for you. I watched him ... He blocked well on those plays. He did a solid, good job – I'd say a really good job. He was only in there for 9 plays, but I thought he blocked well. So, I don't think that's really the issue of it. It's much deeper than that. If you're saying that we didn't run the ball because we didn't have Pat Ricard, the answer is, that's not why. Yes, we should have been running the ball on a number of those or have some more creative passes up than just drop-back passes in those situations."
Just going back on the blitz, when you said you guys had a plan and didn't stick to it, was that something the Chiefs had done to you that caused you not to stick to it? Or was it a combination of things? (Brian Wacker) "No, I'd put it on us. It's on us. We have to learn from it. We have to learn from it. We have to be better."
Back to DL Nnamdi Madubuike for a second, losing a player of that magnitude – obviously, you elevated DL Brent Urban and brought in DL Josh Tupou last week – but is this a case where you guys have to look and talk with executive vice president and general manager Eric DeCosta about other personnel solutions or other options that might address that void? (Kyle Goon) "Yes, it's always something that would be on the table, for sure."
The other day we had asked about the pre-snap adjustments. How has that been? Do you feel like that has taken a step back, in terms of the adjustments at the line offensively? I know it was a topic of discussion last week, with T Roger Rosengarten saying something along those lines. It seems like there's a disconnect in terms of what you guys are seeing pre-snap with the pressure coming and not getting in the right place. Do you feel like the pre-snap adjustments have been where you'd like them to be? (Cordell Woodland) "I don't think any of us [would say it's] where we'd like it to be. We don't have a rhythm on offense right now. Going forward, the challenge is to get a feel for what we want to do and how we want to do it. We have to regain a rhythm, and yes, it's execution at times. It's choosing what we're going to do in certain situations. I don't know if it's so much about pre-snap adjustments, so to speak. That's kind of a broad way to state it, but there are going to be times you want to be at the line scrimmage, and you want to be able to get into the right kind of play, for sure. That's part of an offense, and everybody does it. We do it well. We had some really good plays doing that during the course of the game and the course of the last few weeks, so that's going to be part of our plan, for sure. That's important to be able to do that."
With RB Derrick Henry only having four carries in the first half – I think he had eight for the game – you talked about this last night, just some of that is dictated with two-minute situations, et cetera. Is that an area that you guys need to have more of an emphasis on and execution on? (Brian Wacker) "Yes, we need more plays on offense. We've been in the 50-play range, so that's the biggest thing, and you need more plays. You need more consistency, and definitely, running the ball is a big part of our plan in that game, and we didn't do it. We just didn't do it, so part of it is [with] the two or three series, we got in some drop-back [situations] there and got knocked off the field. We had the two [delay of game] penalties, and the next thing you know ... Then we throw a couple of screens – we hit some screens – but we didn't execute on those screens, and next thing you know, there's a three-and-out – a more of a legitimate three-and-out – and then you don't have an opportunity to run the ball like you want to. But yes, running the ball with Derrick [Henry] ... Running the ball with Justice [Hill], that was good, too, and [we were] breaking some tendencies there with that. We liked that, too, so those are all things that have to come together in a way that just is cohesive, and you start building a little rhythm on offense. We've scored some points, but this game exposed us, in terms of not doing a good job with some of those things."
You just mentioned the tendencies with RB Justice Hill coming on the field. We know what he does with blitz pick up, protection and all of that, and we know what RB Derrick Henry does as a rusher. Has that been a concern when you're kind of looking at just four games in to not be too predictable or to just not necessarily be in a place where you're putting enough stress on the defense? (Luke Jones) "Well, we do that. That's something that we take into account, because you're going to do what players do well – that's important – but you're also going to change it up, so it's not just predictable. Derrick [Henry] was in there for numerous passes, and he had two screens thrown to him. Then, Justice [Hill] was in there for the one big run, and I like him with the ball in his hands [and] running the ball. You never want to be a hundred percent. On defense, we kind of consider 80 percent to be a true tendency on something. If it gets under that too much, then you really can't count on it, because it can be something different more often. We want to make sure that we keep people guessing and keep it moving on people, so that's one of the things that we do take into account."
When you take RB Derrick Henry off the field, does that telegraph that you're not going to be running the football? (Jerry Coleman) "That's what I'm saying; no, it shouldn't. You're going to run the ball with Derrick off the field, too, and you have to run some of the same runs that you would run with Derrick. You run some of the power runs, run the wide zone play we ran – that was the [Justice Hill] touchdown run. You don't want to telegraph that. Yes, and it's also situationally, because a lot of times, it's third down; it's passing downs. Those are situations where people know Justice comes in there, so you're already passing the ball, so that mitigates the tendency just a little bit. Then, he runs screens, and he runs draws and things like that, too. Some of it's down and distance."
It was a tough spot yesterday for QB Cooper Rush to get thrown in when he did. But what did you like about him yesterday, and if he is forced to play this week, what was it that you liked about him that had you bring him in this year? (Bo Smolka) "Yes, with Cooper [Rush], you've seen him play, so everybody kind of knows what his game is, and he can play that game, and that game is part of what we do. So, if he's out there, it'll be geared toward him and the guys around him. We've got a good group around him. We've got a lot of playmakers around him if he's playing. And the same thing [goes] for Tyler Huntley, if he's playing. We've got guys around him, too, and you go as a team, and you go compete and battle and get after it and find ways to win games. We can win [games]. We have a really good team, and we can win games with our guys. The guys that we have [that have had] to step up. Everybody gets injuries [over] the course of the season, and it's [about] who deals with them the best. So, [if] any of our players are [out], the next guy steps up, and we plan to go win the football game. That's it. I wouldn't have to tell the guys that. It's not something I've got to talk to them about. That's what we do, and guys relish their opportunity when that time comes, just like the guys did in this last game, and they build off of that. And it's our job to put them in the best position to be successful as coaches – that's our job. That's what we're supposed to do, and that's what we're required to do, and that's what we owe to the team and to the fans and everybody to do."
When you have a pile up of some soft tissue injuries, is there a look at the strength and conditioning side of things that may have helped prevent that? (Kyle Goon) "Yes, there is. We do look at it, and those are kind of ongoing right now. I know that with our guys' injuries just happened – these particular ones – we haven't had many soft tissue injuries, so it's a little surprising. So, they'll look at that, and they'll see what they can come up with along those lines. It happens around the league a lot. It's a violent fast game out there, and Roquan [Smith] was accelerating the go cover the pass to [Travis] Kelce, and what a throw and catch [it was], and he got him down, and that's when it happened. And he was at 95% of his full speed when it happened, and I'm sure he extended to make the tackle; I assume that's when it happened. So, that's part of it, too. It's just the violent nature of the game and the exertion that these guys put in from play-to-play over the course of a game is pretty incredible."
Did QB Lamar Jackson get hurt on the last play that he was in the game? (*Jamison Hensley)* "I don't know. I do know, kind of, but I don't know for sure because you can't know for sure. It's probably a little more added up a little bit in there is what I was told, but I can't say. I don't know enough to be able to say in any kind of accurate way."
You've dealt with every aspect of what you're going through right now before in some form, whether it's a disappointing start or a decisive loss or a raft of injuries. Do you feel a need to deliver any kind of overall message to the team this week, like "the sky isn't falling" message? (Childs Walker) "Yes, we have been down these roads, and we understand [it]. You guys have been down these roads, too. You guys have covered us, so a lot of these times we've been through a lot of this, sort of, together. The fans have been down these roads, too, so [with] everybody kind of in their role, you come to understand that this is how it works in professional sports, especially in football. It's a tough league, and there's going to be these challenges, and that's why it's so meaningful when you can overcome them and come through the other side and have success or take it all the way to the end and go deep in the Playoffs or win the Super Bowl. That's why it's just such an amazing thing, and I think [that's] why it's such a compelling environment to be a part of. So, you're in the thick of it right now. There'll be messages, I'll be talking to the guys, the guys will be talking, and there'll be things that we've got to kind of share an understanding about, and it's going to be pretty straightforward, and [we'll say,] 'Let's go win the football game. Let's do what we've got to do to win a football game,' and within that, what is it going to take? That's what the message will be surrounded [by]. It'll be a very practical type of message."
