HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH
Opening statement: "[That was a] hard-fought game. Hats off to the Lions. [The Detroit Lions] did the things they needed to do to win the game. Our guys fought, but we didn't do the things we needed to do to win the game. We have some things we need to get better at, things we're going to be disappointed in when we watch that tape. [There are] things we have to get better at. Our focus right now has to be toward Kansas City, and that's what we're going to do. We'll get ready for that game and get ready to go play it. What question do you have?"
I know you will have a much more detailed answer when you watch the film, but just out there watching the run defense, what do you think was the biggest problem? (*Jamison Hensley)* "I'm not going to be able to give you the biggest problem. The biggest problem is we didn't play good run defense; as a defense complete, we didn't do it, and [tonight's effort is] not going to be good enough. There's nobody in that locker room that thinks that's good enough. That's disappointing. That's bad run defense, and that's not who we are. It cannot be who we are. It's just, it's not going to be good enough. It's not going to be acceptable, and it has to be better."
Specifically, how you feel, with the absences of DL Nnamdi Madubuike and OLB Kyle Van Noy... (*Kyle Goon)* "I don't really have those measurements right now. It's hard to measure that at this point, but you play with the guys that are out there, and the guys that are out there are good enough to do it. We, as coaches, have to figure it out, and we have to get it done."
Do you have any update on DL Nnamdi Madubuike's health? (*Kyle Goon)* "I do not."
What do you think they were doing on QB Lamar Jackson? Was it a spy situation that was giving you guys some problems offensively? (*Jeff Zrebiec)* "I don't think you could just put it in one category. We threw the ball pretty well, and Lamar [Jackson] made some extended plays. He made some on time throws, tried to move around in the pocket and make some plays. They got us on some sacks when you're trying to throw the ball like that at the end of the game, too. So, I'm not sure what your question is, really, but they played good defense, and we were competing on offense. We didn't run the ball as well as we wanted to, either. That had a lot to do with it. I think I'd like to see us run the ball better."
Last week you guys were pretty physical. It seemed like this week, the Detroit Lions were pretty physical with both on both lines, defensive and offensive. Did you feel like they were just more physical upfront there? (*Brian Wacker)* "I'm not really putting words and terms on it. I just think we can play better than we did for sure, and we need to play better than we did."
RB Derrick Henry's been able to take care of the ball throughout his career up to this point. This year, fumbling has been an issue. What do you even say to him considering this hasn't been the norm for him? (*Cordell Woodland)* "It hasn't been, and I don't think it'll be going forward, but we have to get it fixed. That was kind of a blind shot there. I thought he had the ball in good position. I thought the defender got a good look at it, though. It was kind of a retrace cutback play. So, [it was] a little bit of the perfect storm, but still, we just want to protect the football; all our guys do, and we have to do it. We have to be good at it."
You didn't sack Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff tonight and only forced nine pressures. The pass rush especially felt in critical third downs, but didn't really seem to alter his pocket. How much did you try to send more pass rush, more blitzes in OLB Kyle Van Noy and DL Nnamdi Madubuike's absence? (*Sam Jane)* "We'll go back and look at the calls. We sent some number five-man rushes. We had a couple six-man rushes. We have to get a better pass rush. There's no doubt about it. To your point, that's not going to be good enough, ever. So, we have to figure it out. We have got to have an answer for that."
When you think back over the years, can there be value in a loss like this that sort of forces you to confront a lot of things about what you're doing? (*Childs Walker)* "That's always life. We've had that conversation here, but right now, I think we just have to go to work on the things we need to get better at and get ready to play Kansas City. We have Kansas City, and then we have a tough team, then we have a tough team. Then we have to a tough team coming up. So, the next tough team is Kansas City. We just played a tough team. That's a good football team we just played. So, we go to work on the next tough team we're going to play and try to find a way to get that win, and that's what we're going to do. We're going to keep it simple, lock in on that and go to work."
How concerned are you with some of the goal-to-go situations? I mean, the third drive in the first half, you guys were at the one-yard line and throw it down. It play calling? What did you think? (*Luke Jones)* "Well, I want to see the tape, and for what it was, I don't know, until I see the tape. [We] tried to put the ball in the end zone, and we're trying to do that for sure. We didn't get it done in that one particular drive. I appreciate the fact that our defense got the stop, got the ball back and scored on the next drive. So that was good. But you want to score when you're at the one-yard line, that's for sure."
When you punted with about four and a half minutes left, was there any consideration for going for it, or was there a yardage threshold? (*Kyle Goon)* "That was fourth-and-what?"
It was fourth-and-9. (*Reporter)* "That's pretty far."
Given how well the Detroit Lions were running the ball on their fourth-and-2 there, do you think they caught you by surprise on that? (*Josh Tolentino)* "I don't think they caught us by surprise, but we can certainly play that. It's a good play call. It's not surprising call at all. We were talking about it in the huddle. I think they executed well on it. We can certainly play it better, and that's kind of what we have to do. We have to learn from those things, get better at them and carry it forward."
Are you concerned with how much pressure they were getting with four [players] at times? (*Jeff Zrebiec)* "I am, but I also understand how we play. I just think Lamar [Jackson] makes so many plays [and] makes so many things happen. So, I like that part of it, too. I don't want to be in desperate situations at the end of the game. That's not what we're trying to do, but when we are in those situations, we can go score – you saw it, we can go score. We can make plays because of our quarterback, and so we're going to do that. But do I want to do everything better? Absolutely. That's one of the things [and] all [of] the things you guys are talking about are all things that we're going to look at, and we have to play better in those areas next week."
TE MARK ANDREWS
On how the team is feeling after the loss: "There is no sense of disbelief in this locker room. It's a whole bunch of incredible players, coaches, and we're looking to get right and improve down the road."
On the emotions of scoring his first touchdown of the season: "It just felt good getting in the end zone, making some plays, getting in a rhythm, and I thought Lamar [Jackson] threw some incredible passes. It just felt really good. I'm always excited to help this team and try to help make plays."
On how big of a momentum swing the fumble was: "It's tough. We know the type of guy that [Derrick Henry] is, and there's no one harder on himself than Derrick is. We'll get right. These are the types of things that we'll be better at, and he's the best of the best, so I have complete trust in him."
On how disappointing it was to not have a big fourth-quarter drive like the team usually does: "There were some stall outs, but I think that for us, it's taking each drive. They did a good job. That was a good team we just played, and they did a good job of holding onto the ball, controlling the game. For us, we have to be efficient. We have to be able to punch back, take our punches [and] roll down the field. It didn't go our way today. I felt like the guys fought hard, and again, you have to give kudos to them. They played a good game."
ILB TEDDYE BUCHANAN
On tonight's outcome: "Definitely not what we were looking for tonight. It starts with us on defense, stopping the run and getting off the field on third down, and that's not something we did tonight."
On being down two defensive starters: "I'm not sure if that was a factor. The guys who were out there, it's all about next man up. We have to do our one of 11, and obviously, we weren't able to do that tonight."
On the Detroit offense: "They have some good players, they have a good team. But really, it starts with us."
On what Detroit was doing to run the ball against the defense: "I have to see the film, but it's really just about stopping the run, and we weren't able to do that."
S KYLE HAMILTON
On the state of the defense following tonight's performance: "It's definitely not where we want it to be. No excuses can be made at this point. If it's not one thing, it's another. We just have to patch everything up right now. [We] can't just take it for granted. Our run defense, it's been pretty good the whole time I've been here, but when a team runs a ball like that, it just demoralizes you more than passing the ball. They're challenging you mentally [and] physically, so it's on us as a defense just to put that fire out ASAP, and we didn't do that."
On if he thought the Lions offense showcased more physicality than the Ravens defense and how the team can address those issues on a short week: "I wouldn't say that. [They] maybe [played with more physicality] on a few plays, here and there. I'm not making excuses. Those few plays win and lose the game. We have to do it 100 percent of the time, but I don't think it's anything that we have to ... We're not trying to reinvent the wheel. We just have to go play football. It's probably not a good answer, but it's running and it's hitting, and we have to run and hit better."
On how difficult it was to play without DL Nnamdi Madubuike and OLB Kyle Van Noy: "I'd have to watch the film, but we're blessed to have guys who can make big plays. [We have] Pro Bowl and All-Pro guys all over the field, and shame on us if we need a Pro Bowl guy to play good defense. I think we have a plethora of guys who have accolades, but there are teams in the league that don't have that and play good defense. Obviously, to your point, it hurts not having [Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy], but we have guys in the room [with] ample amount of talent to make up for that, at all three levels. So, I don't think it's as much of a personnel thing, as it is just a running [and] hitting thing."
On why the Lions offense was able to run up the middle so often: "Again, I don't know. I could have done a lot better on some of the receiver inserts and stuff like that. Those runs hit downhill the fastest. Obviously, you hit running inside, and when you run it outside, we have guys with speed that can run it down. But like I said, we just have to be more physical at the point of the attack, myself included, myself primarily. I think I could have done a lot better [at] doing that. Again, I don't think the sky is falling, but we have a big one next week on a short week, so it's up to us to be professionals [to] go out and get a win."
On how out of character it was for the Ravens defense to struggle with tackling: "Yes, that was really disheartening, because that was one of the things coming into the game [that] we wanted to leave the game feeling good about – tackling – and I can definitely say that we do not. I don't speak for everybody when I say this, but I do not feel like we tackled well, myself included. But like I said, I think the hard part is covered. I think we have the people to do it. It's the 'easy part' of just doing the right things the right way. It's small things, but they become 60-yard runs and then four-minute 30-yard touchdown runs. I don't even think there's much to be said. We just have to do better."
QB LAMAR JACKSON
On being 1-2 going into Week 4 and how much of a hole he thinks they are in: "I feel like the way we performed was a hole; a huge hole, but it's still the beginning of the season. We have a lot of work to do, and we just have to execute."
On being sacked 7 times tonight: "[The Lions] were doing stunts, and they had a spy. Sometimes the spy was grabbing my leg, and that's just what it was. They were dropping into coverage, [and] they had three safeties back there, and I'm just not going to throw a Hail-Mary Ball. I'm going to read the coverage out, and then try to make something happen."
On if the Lions gameplan was different than what he's seen from other teams: "No, they were just executing. That's all it was. They just executed [their gameplan]."
On difficulty converting in the redzone: "I can't tell you what went wrong. We just didn't score, and that rarely happens. I feel like we just have to put points on the board right there in that situation. We were on the one-yard line, [and] we were right there in the end zone. I feel like we have to find a way to punch it in [for a touchdown]."
On if he feels pressure to score in response to the opposing team scoring: "Like you said, every time we're on the field, I feel like we should score, so I feel like that's just pressure, regardless. That's our job, to put points on the board. I'm not looking at the other team. [I will] probably look at the time of possession like, 'OK, we have to put points on the board here.' But no, I don't feel like we should be in panic mode or anything like that. [We just have to] do the same thing. When we get our opportunity, [we need to] drive the ball down [the field] like we always do, [and] put points on the board. But at the same time, we were scoring pretty fast sometimes, and those guys were milking the clock. So, in a way, we had to hurry up."
On RB Derrick Henry's fumble being a key point of the game: "[We have to just] let it go. We had like six and a half minutes left in the game when that situation happened, and our defense did a great job stopping those guys. We just have to find a way to drive the ball down the field [and] score right away. We were still in the game. It wasn't like it was blowout or anything like that."
On if this loss serves as a wakeup call for the team: "I feel like Week 1 was a wakeup call, not just this loss. Week 1 was a wakeup call. Last week was a wakeup call, because we started off slow last week, and we got beat tonight. The Lions had a great game plan. I feel like offense and defense for those guys played great. We just have to find a way to win."
NT JOHN JENKINS
On tonight's outcome: "We are a great team, and we put a lot of hard work into this day in and day out. This is not what we expected, but at the end of the day, we are all professionals. They're professionals. We've just got to get back to work."
On where they fell short tonight: "I really couldn't tell you right now. We just have to go back and look at the film."
On not having two defensive starters tonight: "[Kyle Van Noy and Nnamdi Madubuike] are great players. They are leaders. But this is our job, day in and day out, so no matter who's down, who's up, we've just got to come together and be prepared to play."
OLB TAVIUS ROBINSON
On tonight's outcome: "We just didn't do our job tonight. We didn't do our job overall. That's really what it's all about. It's always about us."
On being down two defensive starters: "At the end of the day, whether we are down guys or not, we have to step up everywhere and do our one of 11."
On what's next: "The only thing we can do. Get back to work and focus on our next opponent."
