Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement:"OK, good to see you guys – appreciate you being here. We finished up a good practice, and all eyes are on Sunday."
John, how did DE Brent Urban look in practice? How is he coming along? (Jeff Zrebiec)"Brent [Urban] looked good. He's coming along really well. We actually put the young guys in pads for a couple periods – not a couple periods, but for some reps – after practice, and we took a padded day, even though we didn't put the team in pads, to get him and Carl [Davis] and some of the young linemen some work. And that was really valuable, and he looked good doing it. We just wanted to see him get in there and get some contact the first week back, and he did well." (Reporter: "Do you feel like you have a decision to make tomorrow on him, or is he still a little bit away?")"I probably wouldn't comment on any of that kind of stuff."
Do you feel good about C Jeremy Zuttah getting back on the practice field as you had anticipated earlier this week? (Luke Jones)"Yes. He was out here today for the full practice. I'm going to go back and look at the tape and see how he held up, standing and punching and all that kind of stuff. We'll see how he looks, but there were no setbacks during practice that I'm aware of."
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John, what have you seen from WR Joe Morgan that you hadn't? (Bo Smolka)"Yes, Joe [Morgan] is a good question. Joe has picked it up quickly. I had breakfast with him this morning, as a matter of fact, here in the [cafeteria], and he … We talked a little bit about … He said just the only thing he really still has to learn are some of the splits, some of the nuances with some of the splits, which I'll tell you, the guys who have been here for years are still learning the split nuances. So, that's a good sign. Mentally, he's ready to go, and there's a chance we could see him on Sunday."
What do you guys need from CB Kyle Arrington in the second half? In some games, he has played a decent amount. In other games, he has had different snaps. Is that more of a case of matchups, or is there something he needs to do better to be on the field more? (Jeff Zrebiec)"No, there's nothing about Kyle's play that's lessening any kind of playing time or anything like that. Kyle has done a great job. Kyle has done a great job in the back end, as far as learning our defense and being very versatile. He has played safety, he has played corner, and he has played nickel for us. So, [when] you play all those different positions, that says a lot about who he is as a player. He knows what he's doing out there, and it's like all the rest of our guys back there. We've just got to play better as a group. We need to be in the right spot, our eyes in the right place, playing the coverages correctly and eliminating these big plays. I feel like we've continued to improve over the last four or five weeks steadily. We haven't eliminated the big plays yet, and we want to stop the big plays. We don't need the long passes. If we take those passes out of our opponents' hands, our defense looks a lot different."
Did the wind affect the decision to practice indoors? (Jeff Zrebiec)"Yes, it was the wind. It was 40-mile-an-hour gusts, and [we won't] put anybody up there in those [video] lifts in that kind of wind. Safety first."
