Head Coach John Harbaugh
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Opening statement:"Good to see everybody. Welcome, and thanks for coming. [It is] a big day for the Ravens. [We] really have two announcements to make: The first one, you may or may not be aware of, because I didn't know it until just 30 seconds ago when [senior vice president of public and community relations] Kevin [Byrne] told me that we have a deal with Morgan Cox. So, we have a five- [year deal]. Did you already know that?" *(Reporters: "Yes.") *"You guys already knew that? What have I been doing?" *(laughter) (Defensive coordinator Dean Pees: "You're just the head coach.") (Byrne: "You left your office for just a half hour.") *"Yes, I was out of my office for a half hour. So we got Morgan done, and that's obviously very, very – just a very important signing, because it all starts with the snapper when you're talking about the kicker and the holder and the punter. Morgan has been one of the best, if not the best, in the business for a few years now. We're proud to have Morgan, a great family man, a great worker, great person, and it's a big plus for us. Along the same lines, I could say the exact same things about Shareece Wright, and just having the opportunity now to solidify our relationship with Shareece is so exciting. This is a player who I feel like – both Dean and I would say – he came in here and stepped in here and became a Raven almost immediately. What he stands for, not just as an athlete – but as an athlete, because he's a very talented athlete – but also just as a person, as a man … He's a family man. He's what we're all about. Nobody works harder. Nobody is more dedicated to his craft. Nobody spends more time watching tape. Nobody cares more about doing things the right way, in terms of how hard he plays. He's willing to be a tackler. Obviously, he's a corner; that's big, but paying attention to detail and technique, he does that as well as any corner I've been around in all these years in the National Football League. He's just the kind of guy that we want to continue to build our defense with, and as you all know, as we went forth in the [2015] season, he got acclimated and accustomed to the way we play; he made our defense better. I'm excited that we can build on that going forward. Dean has some positive things to say and some things he wants to talk about, as to the way Shareece fits into our defense. I'm going to turn it over to Dean."
Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees
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Opening statement:"What I'd like to add to what John [Harbaugh] said is Shareece [Wright] came in here in a tough situation. We threw him in the heat of the battle, I believe against the 49ers, right after [he joined the Ravens]. And he had been here for about three or four days. Now, there are an awful lot of guys that would have complained or could have complained that, all of the sudden, 'I'm not ready. You give me three days to get ready for a team that I just left, and you're throwing me into the heat of the battle.' And as you guys know, we're not the most simple defense in the world. We do a lot of stuff, and we didn't cut it back. For that guy to come in here and never say a word and just step in and do it speaks volumes for him as a person. But even more than that, about two or three weeks after that, Shareece got up in front of the team – if you remember right, coach [Harbaugh] – and stood up in front of the team and said that he felt like he had let some guys down at that point in time, and that he guaranteed that he would never let anybody down the rest of the year. I was just reading the press release from Kevin [Byrne] and didn't quite realized – I knew we had improved in the second half of the season – I didn't know we gave up the fewest passing yards in the second half of the season, [which is a credit] to that guy right there. He's probably the most consistent, or one of the most consistent, players that we had on defense, especially the second half of the year after he got here. So, like when John talks about the attention to detail that he has, the work that he does, he never says, 'Boo.' [He] just comes to work, does what he's supposed to do. What else can you ask in a football player than that? I am so excited to have him back. It just helps us on our defensive scheme tremendously to have him back, along with some of the other corners and guys that we've had. So hopefully, we can start next year the way we ended this last year on defense. That is what we're looking for. I can't say enough good things about him. [I am] really, really glad he's a Raven, glad to see it was a three-year deal, too. I'll turn it over to Shareece."
CB Shareece Wright
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Opening statement:"Thank you, guys. First off, I just want to just thank the Man up above. Without Him, this wouldn't be possible. I want to thank everybody from the top, to [owner Steve] Bisciotti, all the way down in this organization – coach Dean Pees and coach Harbaugh and [general manager and executive vice president] Ozzie Newsome. We all had kind of been working to get this done, and I'm just happy to be here. I'm thankful that we were able to get this done. It's just a place that I wanted to be. I also want to thank my family, thank my mom. She's one of the main reasons – another one of the reasons – why I'm here; she gave birth to me, and she kept me out of trouble my whole life to help me make it to this point. And my fiancée, the mother of my son, I thank her, too, for supporting me and just having my back."
On his desire to be a long-term player for the Ravens and the gratification of signing a three-year contract with the team:"I couldn't ask for anything else. It's just something, like I said, that helped me make my decision. When I asked to be released from San Francisco, I took a chance of not knowing what was going to happen next, and when they granted me my release, I was excited. And then, to have 11 teams call after being released and trying to figure out what team to go to, and obviously, Ozzie was one of those guys we talked to; and we were trying to get a trade in. He has been trying to get me here even after me leaving San Diego, before I signed with San Francisco. I guess I was at the Super Bowl [XLVII] party [with best friend Jimmy Smith] the last time this team was at the Super Bowl, and I was there partying with them, not even being on the team. I was with another team, but I was able to feel that excitement and that enjoyment with these guys and this organization. It was like, if I had an opportunity to come here and play, and not only be with my best friend for 14 years and play corner – something we talked about – it was no doubt that this is a place I should be."
On how difficult it was to rebound from his tough Ravens debut in Week 6 against San Francisco:"I had to save my career, in a sense. It could have went either way, and it helped me to stay focused, and like they [John Harbaugh and Dean Pees] talked about, just staying true to myself and staying true to who I am. When I was going through that in San Francisco, I had guys like Vernon Davis seeing me continue to work hard, continue to see me put in that extra work after practice, although I wasn't he playing. He told me: 'It's going to pay off. Just keep doing what you're doing. Just keep working hard, like you've been doing since you got here, and it's going to pay off.' I'm just remembering things like that, and staying true to myself and not giving up on myself was key. That's what I was able to do."
On why it was important for him to address the team and ensure that he would not let him teammate down:"Just because it's important to me. It's important to me for these guys to know who I am. It was a rough situation, and I've been through a lot of adversity – from braking my neck in college and having to rebound from that, and to coming in and getting released from a team and not playing, then coming in and playing against that team and giving up two touchdowns and having a short week. It was tough. I didn't complain, and I stood up. But that game wasn't who I was, and I just wanted to let my team know who I am and what I stand for as a football player. [I am] not saying that they were doubting me or anything after that. I just wanted to make it clear to them of who I am as a football player and what I stand for and how seriously I take this job. It was key for them to get to know me a little bit."
On the team's reaction to his address:"It was good. I felt like a lot of guys were surprised. I talked to 'Webby' [Lardarius Webb] this offseason, and he was like, he talked to me [and] said, 'Shareece, when you stood up and talked to the team, I was a little bit worried for you. I felt like it was a little too soon.' He was like, 'But you did a good job, and right when you started talking, I was paying attention to you; and I heard everything you said.' He let me know how he felt about it, and that kind of confirmed that. He was like, 'Man, you were brave to do something like that. You weren't even here that long, and you stood up and talked in front of the team.' He let me know how he felt, and it kind of helped me just to know that it was something that God placed on my heart to want to do. And coach Harbaugh was open to it, and he allowed me to do it."
On if he was spoken with teammate and best friend CB Jimmy Smith since signing the contract:"Yes, I actually sent a group chat out to all the guys on the team, and Jimmy [Smith] wasn't part of that group chat for some random reason. *(laughter) *I don't know why he wasn't. So, he called me like, 'What are you doing today?' I'm like, 'I'm flying out to Baltimore.' He's like, 'What? For what? You [weren't] going to tell me?' I'm like, 'I thought you were in the group chat.' *(laughter) *So, he was a little butt hurt because he wasn't the first person to know."
On remaining teammates with CB Jimmy Smith, with whom he played in high school:"It means a lot. I feel like it's something that you can't really [buy]; you can't really buy that. You can't really make that happen too often. So, 14 years of playing since we were in ninth grade, high school, playing football together and both playing corner, and to get us together now, is something that you can't really buy. You can't really get that too many places, and it's that chemistry, being able to play and understand each other and being able to watch film together and just understand what it is we're trying to get accomplished."
On why he was not enticed by free agency and the importance of reaching a contract agreement with the Ravens:"I just knew. I just put my faith in God. I was going to get what I deserve and what I've earned, and of course, you always want more. I had to call my agent and tell him, 'Look, this is something that we knew, if we can get this much, we'll come back here, because it's more than the money.' We can go to a lot of teams. You see a lot of players leave teams that they were with to chase the money, and their careers don't really go the direction that they thought it would. [It doesn't] really happen too often. I knew to come back here with a team that knows me – and I got to get to know them – I knew it was important. I knew this is just the start for my career in the sense of contract. I want more, but I have to earn that. I have to go out there and make more plays and get more turnovers and things like that and just solidify myself more as that player. That's just the challenge that I want. I told my agent, 'Let's go earn more.' We've got to earn it, though. We've don't want [anybody] to give us anything that don't deserve or we don't earn; we want to earn it. So, that was key."
On how good the Ravens' secondary can be next season:"We can be the best in the league, if that's what we want. It's all up to us, and me and Jimmy [Smith] have been talking about it and just wanting to be that best corner tandem in the league. We've got great defensive coaches, and they put us in good position to make plays, but we've got to make those plays. We've got to catch the ball when it's thrown to us, things like that, and make those turnovers and not be afraid to take chances. I was telling Jimmy, it's like one of those things where it's not ... When you're in my situation that I was in, it's kind of hard to really take chances, because you don't want to get beat. You want to worry about doing everything right. Now, it's like I can kind of relax and just play football. If I know something is coming, take that chance and go make the play. Some of the greatest players who make interceptions, they get beat, but half the time, you're going to make those plays. You're going to be right more than you're going to be wrong if you just study and just know what's coming."
On secondary coach Leslie Frazier taking over a veteran unit:"We're excited. We're excited. He was a head coach in Minnesota when I was coming out [of college], and I had a chance to wrap it up with him. He's excited about having this secondary back and being able to work with us and get going. It's definitely exciting to have a veteran group of guys that's willing to push each other and just continue to get better."
