Tua Tagovailoa (Postgame) – September 18, 2022
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Sunday, September 18, 2022
QB Tua Tagovailoa (transcribed by the Baltimore Ravens)
(on the last time he was in a game like this) “I can’t remember. I would say probably college that I can vividly remember. The game against LSU and Alabama, that’s probably the last game.”
(on what it feels like when the offense is doing what it did today) “It feels good. I think you look at the first half; we couldn’t stick to our rhythm. You know, for me, I wanted big plays. And big plays now. And so, really, the second half we came in and played the way we wanted to. That’s what I’d say about that.”
(on what he was thinking in the fourth quarter after throwing touchdown after touchdown) “It felt good. We were executing on all cylinders. And then there were times when we didn’t execute, and no one panicked. Everyone just came back into the huddle, and we regrouped, and we went back out there and tried to execute whatever play we were given.”
(on the protection he received from his offensive line) “I think they did a tremendous job. They did a tremendous job from the first quarter to the end of the game. There were just some miscommunications that we had here and there, but we got that cleaned up. You know, they did a great job, and I think what’s overlooked is the run game. I think we did really good in the run game as well. We wanted to run the ball, we wanted to throw the ball, but you know, we had to make some big plays when we needed it to happen. So, that’s what we did.”
(on what having a game like this does for his confidence) “I would say I’m always confident in what I can do, confident in myself. But I think that just shows the resiliency of our team. It brings all our confidence up, confidence in one another, confidence that if the offense has a turnover that the defense is going to get us the ball back and vice versa.”
(on when he knew that WR Tyreek Hill was going to come back into the game) “I’m going to be honest, I didn’t know that we weren’t going to have Tyreek [Hill], or that we didn’t have Tyreek [Hill] out there for the first couple of snaps. I just found out that he had cramps, but you know, big time players make big time plays in big time games. And that’s what Tyreek [Hill] did when he came in.”
(on the 60-yard touchdown pass to WR Tyreek Hill) “Well, Tyreek [Hill] was first in the progression, but I think that they busted their coverage. They were all up, it looked like it was going to be a zero look, and then they dropped out, and so I think that might have just been an error. We found that and took advantage of it.”
(on how Head Coach Mike McDaniel kept the team where they needed to be through the ups and downs) “Mike told us this in our team meeting, that this is going to be a great opportunity for us. That if we do ever get down against these guys, we know that you’re not looking to put your head down. We’re always going to be in the game and just play one play at a time. And Mike is always going to say this, this is kind of like the mindset for our team, is that adversity is opportunity. And that’s how we played.”
(on what was said when the team was down 35-14) “I mean, we were playing normal football still. We weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary until they did give us opportunities to take shots down the field. Then that’s what we did. But normal play calls.”
(on if he’s had time to process what he did on the field) “Well, yeah, you know, I would say I processed what we did out there. That’s a big win. That’s tough to come into a hostile environment and beat a really good team. We’ll go and enjoy it on the plane, and then when we get back home, back to work.”
(on how big of a game this was for him personally) “I would say for me, every game is a big game. I want to do good every time I go out there. I don’t want to throw interceptions; I want to throw touchdowns. I want to put our team in the best situation that I possibly can, but you know we’ve got to be real. You know those guys on the other side of the ball get paid, too. And they’re really good players. And all I can do is go out there and do what we’ve done throughout practice. Just going to play football and hope we can bring home wins.”
(on if he is aware of what QB Lamar Jackson is doing on the other side of the field) “Oh my gosh, yeah. Oh, my goodness, of course. I mean, how can you not watch someone like that? You know he had a great game as well. But, yeah, I would say the resiliency of our team had shown coming out of halftime, and with that big deficit of a lead that they had.”
Jaylen Waddle (Postgame) – September 18, 2022
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Sunday, September 18, 2022
WR Jaylen Waddle (transcribed by the Baltimore Ravens)
(on scoring the last touchdown) “Yes, it was an exciting time. Tua [Tagovailoa] told us in the huddle, ‘It’s us or them right now,’ so he called a play, we executed, and luckily, we got the win.”
(on being down at halftime, and what head coach Mike McDaniel told the team about overcoming adversity) “He was talking about it the whole week. I think he preached adversity; he said, ‘It was going to come. They have a great team, a great quarterback, a great defense. Adversity was going to hit at some point in the game.’ It hit early, then we came back. We needed halftime to regroup, and [we] came out with a different mindset.”
(on QB Tua Tagovailoa’s clutch performance and what message it sends) “It was, like I said, we expect that from Tua [Tagovailoa]. We’re confident in him, [and] he’s confident in himself. It’s good for you all to see, but we kind of expect it from him.”
(on if QB Tua Tagovailoa telling the team ‘It’s us versus them’ provided extra motivation) “It got me going, because I felt it. It kind of was at that point – a hostile game in their environment. We were down, [and] we battled. So, that’s how it is.”
(on if he was close to catching the ball on the pass breakup by Ravens CB Jalyn Armour-Davis) “It was pretty close. I think the ‘DB’ [defensive back] – I think it was [Jalyn] Armour-Davis – he played it well, making me cut back into the defense and playing me to his help. So, I did great blocking on that, though.”
(on if WR Tyreek Hill has met his expectations and how explosive the offense is with him) “Like I said, it’s always good playing with great players like Tyreek [Hill]. He’s exciting to play [with], exciting to work with. He comes to work every day with a great mindset. You never kind of like envision … Hard work always pays off is kind of where we go, and we work kind of hard. Gamedays are fun to us.”
Mike McDaniel (Postgame) – September 18, 2022
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Sunday, September 18, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel (transcribed by the Baltimore Ravens)
(on facing a 21-point deficit) “We’ve been talking about it. We just had a game where we were able to have the lead the whole game. So, the night before, I told the guys that I was really hoping that we would get some adversity in this game, and I wanted to see how we respond to a deficit. Apparently, they took me way too literal. I called them out, it’s something we all kind of expected. They’re investing more than they ever have. They’re really all in. And it was way disappointing. So, when you’re down, the tendency is to kind of hang your head. I just challenge them to say, ‘Who cares what the score is?’ It’s about how we play football together. This is an opportunity. It’s a tough one, but it doesn’t even matter. Let’s go and get something out of this game to feel good about in the second half, and we will worry about the score sometime in the fourth quarter. Let’s just string some stuff together on both sides of the ball. They had a spirited effort. Talk about what it takes to be able to do something like that. It’s an entire team with the right type of people. Everyone echoing the same type of messages. All the credit goes to Baltimore for putting us in that bind. And then we had a lot of players make a lot of plays to get out of it. So that was very encouraging.”
(on if doubt ever crept in his mind) “I didn’t have time to doubt anything. I was kind of absorbed in what happened in the first half. So, then, I just didn’t care about the outcome of the game. At halftime, it was a huge opportunity for us to show who we are and play good football for each other. The whole process I was worried about us playing good football. Once we got within two scores, I felt pretty solid about it; the way the NFL game is played when you have momentum swings like that. I’ve been on the opposite end of leads given up. So, you feel really confident once you start coming back. A lot of the time that falls short because you don’t have complimentary football. I think the last four offensive drives we had were touchdowns. I think in that span there were three points given up. That’s complimentary football when your team needs to do it the most. A lot of guys, it doesn’t happen without a complete effort by everyone to press forward and guys care about the Dolphin product. So, it was a pretty exciting moment.”
(on what a game like this does for QB Tua Tagovailoa and his teammates confidence) “Now, maybe Tua will listen to me. What I mean by that is, I’ve said it to you guys before. It’s awesome to be critical of yourself. That’s good. He has a high standard for himself. But after the first game, I just wanted to see the guy enjoy playing football and understand that, yes, we want to make the perfect read and the perfect throw every time. But, who cares if you just get better at one thing. You’re going to be pretty good at the end of the season, let’s just press forward. Well, the absolute worst thing could have happened at the beginning of the game for him where he gets a contested ball, that’s not really his fault. I know Tyreek [Hill] will say he should catch that; the first interception. And then he starts pressing and throws it up for a second interception. So, you want to talk about everything we talk about; how coachable the guy is, this is huge, because he stopped worrying about the last play. He went and played and took his responsibilities seriously to his teammates about, ‘Hey, I’m going to lead this team confidently.’ It is what you get into sports for. It is as cool for the coaching staff and him that it was coming to life. I think it was a moment that he will never forget. That hopefully he can use moving forward. We basically had to play perfect complimentary football to come back from a deficit like that, and this is a really good team. So, I couldn’t be happier with him, and his teammates know. His teammates learned a lot about him, and I think he learned something about himself.”
(on if he was surprised about WR Tyreek Hill coming back) “No, I’m never surprised with anything Tyreek. By the way, he came out with a cramp, I think. He was still running fast. Oh, he’s crazy.”
(on QB Lamar Jackson’s performance after last game) “Credit to them. Both sides of the ball knew what happened in the last game. They both knew there would be different preparations. Our defense knew that they couldn’t surprise the guys. To his credit, he took advantage. He definitely rectified and can put to bed these issues he had last year. Everyone gets frustrated when that happens. But we knew as an organization, you don’t get to be where the Baltimore Ravens are as an organization. How well coached they are, and as an organization in general without getting that fix. So, we knew it wasn’t going to be the same formula. Some situations did come up where we audibled to some of the pressures and they took advantage of it. Good for them. That’s to their credit. They did a great job with that, and I was happy that the guys got this learning experience. Fortunately, you can end up winning the game as well. But, I know my guys learned a lot from this game, which we need to move forward.”
(on if he made an effort to use WR Jaylen Waddle early) “It wasn’t early, it was just involved. I didn’t know how Jaylen [Waddle] was going to respond in that first game. I didn’t want to get greedy and overuse him. This game, I was a lot less worried about that. We basically have a lot of good, talented, skilled position players. So, we will always try to utilize all the dudes. It was good to get him going early, because we are pretty different when he’s making plays. I didn’t realize it was 19 targets. Yes, we were trying to utilize him, I guess. Good for him, and good for all the guys.”
Terron Armstead – September 16, 2022
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Friday, September 16, 2022
T Terron Armstead
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said you’ll do everything you can to try to play. And this will be the last thing on this topic – do you go into the weekend hopeful that you’ll be able to be out there Sunday?) – “That’s my goal. Every week for me that’s the goal. I’m trying to play every game, every snap – I love it. I love being out there especially with these guys. So that’s the goal.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that you also dealt with more serious injuries in the past and things like that, so for you who has dealt with injuries, how mentally do you – this is the first game of the season getting injured – how do you mentally deal with that?) – “It can be challenging. It can be challenging if you let it, especially a guy like myself – that’s been my knot. That’s been my Achilles heel. I just mentally stay strong. I prepare to play every week. I do my work to get myself ready to go. And I lean on the guys – my teammates, my coaches – because it can be not just for myself, but throughout the league, injuries can take a toll because it’s taking you away from what you do for a living. Just mentally staying where you need to be – focused on the task at hand. Being down on yourself or being depressed or anything like that doesn’t heal an injury at all. It just makes it worse so just staying up and trying to get ready.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel also said that you guys have a lot of confidence in T Greg Little. What have you seen? I know he came in the game the other day.) – “He’s been impressive. He’s been impressive, all camp, too. All camp. We’ve seen the strides he’s made from OTAs to training camp to now. He’s been impressive. He’s put the work in and will continue to do so. I think he’ll only get better with more reps.”
(How are you feeling? How is the toe feeling right now?) – “Hard to say. Hard to say. I hit it hard today. Everything we can. Just keep working really.”
(On the offensive line where continuity is so important, to have all tackles dealing with injuries, is it sort of easier that it’s at the beginning of the year and you still have options to build that continuity, work things out as opposed to it happening at the end?) – “It’s never an ideal time obviously, for sure, but we’re all locked in for the same goal. So ideally the starting 11 will be out there, but that’s not how the game works and that continuity and that cohesiveness – the goal should be depth, too. We’ve all got to be locked in. Everybody’s got to stay ready. Everybody’s got to come in, do their part to the best of our ability.”
(Lower body injuries, I’ve always thought it might be a little bit easier on an offensive player. On defense, you’re reacting. On offense you can kind of control where you go and how to compensate. Is that true? Am I full of crap?) – “(laughter) No, I think it’s all about being able to – if you can functionally do your job, if your body will allow you to do your job, that’s really what it comes down to. If you can’t perform the task you have to, to do your job at a high level, then that’s when it’s not smart to go out there. But if you’ve got enough function to execute and get the job done – unfortunately I’ve had to become a master compensator and learn ways fortunately and unfortunately, because I’ve added tools to my tool bag that’s helped me succeed in games where I’m not feeling my best or dealing with something. So I agree with what you’re saying – being able to formulate a plan as opposed to just being reactionary.”
Mike McDaniel – September 16, 2022
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Friday, September 16, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Do you expect to see OL Austin Jackson at practice today? And as part of a two-for-one, I was going to ask you about T Greg Little – how you thought he did last Sunday and what you like about his skillset?) – “We’ve decided to put Austin (Jackson) on short-term IR, which it was kind of close. Like I’ve articulated, ankles are kind of finicky, but really what we wanted to avoid after we took all consideration into effect was that we don’t want it to linger for the whole season. We really like the work that he’s gotten done, so we want to protect him from that. And then as a result, I’m glad you asked about Greg Little because I’m very, very confident in him. He did a great job jumping in there and he’s really made the most of all of his reps. I think the guys are confident. As a matter of fact, I know they’re confident in him, as well as the coaching staff is, so it’ll be a great opportunity for him in this game.”
(As far as T Terron Armstead, do you have confidence he’ll be able to go on Sunday?) – “I think I have confidence that he’s limited today and is questionable for the game. (laughter)”
(Do you anticipate that leading all the way up to the game or…?) – “I think it just depends. If he’s worried about it, it’ll go all the way up to the game, because he will do whatever it takes to play. If he’s feeling pretty good about it, it won’t, basically. He’s a guy that has shown time and again in his career, that he’s been able to put together a really good game by piecing together practice. And he’s showed me that firsthand with his vet management stuff that we’ve done with him and then when he does get out there, it’s obvious to me and all of his teammates that he deliberately approaches every rep that we have and gets reps and gets stuff out of things, even when he’s not doing it. So I know if he can, he will.”
(I don’t think any of us are doctors, but I’m curious, just with T Terron Armstead, you’ve got a guy like Justin Houston potentially on other side – how much does his injury in particular affect his mobility and whether that’s a factor or if it’s more pain for him?) – “For him, it would be that it’s – it’s funny. He’s got a high pain tolerance, especially in games. He’s one of those guys that does a great job in practice, but his spirit and energy is different in games because he loves playing games. He’s played games with worse injuries, I think, but what we don’t want to do is set stuff back further along in the season. I don’t think he’ll be in a position to where his mobility would be too constricted. He’s played with injuries before and has all those veteran tricks. If you can’t move as far, how to kind of balance it out. So I know if he’s able to go, it will be full steam ahead with him, just because that’s the way he is.”
(With the injury situation – will that cause you to bring up more offensive linemen or how would you adjust there?) – “No, that will probably happen here in the next 24 hours. We still have an opportunity on the field to iron that out, but I feel very good about the guys that we do have and the different possibilities that we can kind of go with. Another reason that position versatility is outstanding, too, because we have guys that can play all over the place within the line. So as you saw on this past Sunday, we have guys that can come in, that can play very capable without us missing a beat. That’s to the credit of the coaching staff – (Offensive Coordinator) Frank Smith and (Offensive Line Coach) Matt Applebaum and the guys and to the players in general.”
(We saw yesterday DT Christian Wilkins and S Brandon Jones pop up as limited with injuries since Wednesday. I know if you get treatment you have to be put on a list. Are those of any concern with regard to Sunday for those two starters?) – “Well, you seem to be on the injury report. So limited, right? And so questionable. I guess I’d ask, do you find questions concerning? (laughter) No, what you don’t want to do is like, you’re hoping for the best, but you’re of the mindset of preparing for the worst. Both of those guys are very, very dependable, and I can promise you that the only way they wouldn’t play as if they thought they’d let the team down. Now, these at the beginning of the week, these weren’t the deal. You go through practice and a night’s rest and stuff, and some guys come back with stuff. So we were hoping it’s not a big deal and we’re hoping it doesn’t involve Sunday. But that’s why it’s questionable, because you just don’t know. I’m already getting used to this as a head coach. You’ve got to be able to adjust.”
(What did you think of OL Connor Williams’ first NFL regular season game as a center?) – “I thought he did some really cool stuff. I was very, very happy with his play. The biggest thing with him is he knows that he can play the position very well. I can tell internally. So he’s demanding a lot of himself and at the center position, your demands aren’t just physical and so he is very prideful in all the calls that he makes. My biggest thing to him is to make sure that he doesn’t lose sight of the stuff he’s putting on tape. When he’s getting – if you talk to him, he’ll tell you the first three things that went wrong and he should be gaining confidence. It’s his coach’s job and my job to make sure that his confidence is where it should be because it should be pretty high because he’s doing some really good stuff at a high level and it’s amazing that he’s come this far in a short period of time, so I’m fired up for him to continue to get opps.”
(What do you like about RB Chase Edmonds as a receiver?) – “A lot to like. His ball skills for one. So you know, running backs get different matchups than other players as an offensive skill position player, and it can really open up your offense if you can involve your halfback in the passing game. His ball skills are outstanding, so he can locate the ball. He can also understand space. He’s a good route-runner because not only is he quick and he runs out of his breaks, but there’s an element of composure that you have to have, especially when you’re a running back running routes, whether you’re coming from the backfield or on the line of scrimmage. Because whatever route you’re running, there’s a depth to it that’s tied into the quarterback’s timing and when he’s ready to throw, and it’s one thing when you’re getting handoffs all the time or checking protection, but then now you’re running a route and you have to have a composure and timing feel to do it appropriately in the when and the time of the play. So he’s a very cerebral, calculated, player that also happens to be athletic and a matchup issue for opposing defenses, so he had a couple huge, huge – I think he had three third downs this past game that the game is different if he doesn’t make those plays. And that it happened to be third down this past game. On first and second down, it opens up your offensive playbook as well. So it allows you to feature people and also make your offense a little more multiple with your formations and presentations.”
(With QB Tua Tagovailoa, you talked about wanting to see his confidence grow. I’m curious, can you expand on that, what that looks like for you as a coach? How do you gauge when a player’s confidence is up and down?) – “I try to stay – I see the gauging process (as) instrumental in my job. So I’m constantly studying the players, not just their play, but I try to learn a lot about them in a short period of time because I feel like to do my job well, I need to. So with Tua (Tagovailoa) specifically, I can tell now, when there’s a result, and sometimes the result is a completion, but I can tell that he’s not happy with the way that play happened. So what I want to see – if he’s right with his confidence, which I know he’s getting there, then it would be harder for me to tell that he wasn’t happy with the last play because it’s an understanding of ‘Yeah, I didn’t do that as good. Oh well, I’ll do it perfect next time,’ is the way I want him to be because you get to a prerequisite kind of area in your game, where you’re trying to fine-tune stuff and he’s a perfectionist. So I want his confidence to outweigh his perfectionism, or whatever that word would be, so that he can continue along his journey, but also be a little more present in reality. I think he – the reality is he’s doing very good things on the football field, and while he’s trying to get better, I just want to make sure that he doesn’t lose sight of those things which we’ve talked about, and I’m excited about where he’s going with that.”
(Staying on QB Tua Tagovailoa real quick, he had a comment earlier this week about height and vision and how that kind of all pairs together. You’ve obviously worked with tall quarterbacks, shorter quarterbacks, running quarterbacks, pocket quarterbacks, all that stuff. I just wanted to get your perspective on what QB Tua Tagovailoa said and how height and vision affects your field vision?) – “That’s another example of why I really appreciate coaching Tua (Tagovailoa) and think that he has a chance to continue to get better for years and years over the course of his career, because he is – being with all sorts of shapes and sizes of quarterbacks from 6-foot to 6-5 and everything in between, the one thing I do know is that every quarterback struggles to see at some point in time because there’s a lot of things going on. There’s locating layers of defenders that you’re looking at from your vantage point, but you’re having to distinguish, ‘Are they five yards deeper than each other?’ There’s 6-5 dudes that are standing like this in your face (raises his arms above his head), and all quarterbacks struggle to see; most quarterbacks don’t admit it. So that’s a big deal when you when you break that down, because what that means is now we can have a coach-player relationship and have an opportunity to get better. Because when he says, ‘Yeah, I didn’t see something,’ I know he means it. And there’s a lot of times you’ll be coaching a quarterback and you’ll be like, ‘Why didn’t you?’ (And he says,) ‘I don’t know.’ That’s not him, which is why he’s been able to make all the growth and the steps in his game within this offense in one offseason. So that’s something that there’s different tools and tricks that you can learn within the given concepts and stuff that that you’re doing, whether you’re under center, or you’re in shotgun, or you’re in pistol, or whatever, as well as that communication is integral for me to make sure to adapt to, ‘Hey, these plays in these pockets, it’s hard for me to see something.’ It’s very, very normal – just not a lot of people are willing to talk about it. And generally, I believe honesty and being secure in yourself to admit stuff gives you your best chance to maximize whatever you are, whether that’s in business or just in life as a person.”
(I noticed this past game you guys used WR Tyreek Hill quite a bit on motion pre-snap. I think the number was 28 percent, which is like double what he had in Kansas City. Not to go too deep into scheme, but I’m curious beyond just the speed element, what advantage getting him on the move of that snap does to a defense for your offense?) – “Well, just motioning in general, from a starting point, defenses have to defend as a group. We prioritize motioning so that they have to communicate. If you motion one player, it’s a low cost on offense. But it can change – there’s defenses that have double calls, you go slot to pro, and they have to re-close stuff at times. So that’s one of the reasons – it’s not just to do it, but one of the reasons it’s such a big part of our offense is because we believe if we train it, we can stress defenses in that way. With Tyreek (Hill) in particular, that’s something that I think it’s safe to say that if you’ve been coaching in the National Football League in the last 10 years, or even 20 (years), you know that when you play the Patriots that they’re going to do their best to take away who they view as your primary player. When you’re playing teams like that, it only helps – it doesn’t hurt – when in your motion plan, you’re moving him around, because if they’re going to try to double somebody, that occupies two people’s eyes and all that stuff. We motion all the time anyway, but with no games as a group and us not having anything on tape, the one thing we could have taken as an educated guess was that they were going to have some attention on Tyreek. So when we feel that way, we’ll take advantage of it in a multitude of ways and one of them was motion.”
(A housekeeping thing – how do you determine who gets a veteran’s day off and which players have regular veteran’s days off?) – “It’s the classic open-ended, case-by-case, classic third-person Mike McDaniel. You’re weighing a lot of stuff. The ultimate thing is what’s the best thing for the team, which means what’s the best thing for that player? How much work do they need? What are the residual effects of said work? All of these things are – that’s why I’ll never have a blanket statement, or answer, or philosophy, on that because I honestly believe in treating people differently in that degree. That people place themselves in the positions they’re in ultimately, so you adjust off that. If they’re really on their details of their game and they’re a veteran player, it doesn’t make much sense to practice them. It’s more doing so to get the best out of the player. And generally, the guys that get vet days are generally guys that can handle it and perform and don’t need that extra day, which is something that’s not just here. It’s something I’m used to doing with guys that are in their second or third contracts, because they know how to get their job done and what it takes if you miss a Wednesday, or you miss a Friday, or whatever you miss.”
Jerome Baker – September 15, 2022
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Thursday, September 15, 2022
LB Jerome Baker
(On QB Lamar Jackson.) – “A guy like that, you really can’t stop him at all. You really can just contain him and make other guys beat you. That’s really our approach, just to contain him and do our job, run to the ball and play as a defense. We’ve just got to work on Sunday.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa said it will be a good test for you guys. You hit the road and go into a hostile area like Baltimore where their fans are really crazy.) – “I think their record in their last home openers is like 6-0 or something. It’s going to be a good test for us and ultimately we’ve just got to stick together as a team and we’ll be fine. We’ll definitely be fine.”
(Last year with you rotating outside, that was a huge impact to the game. Are you excited to potentially do some of those things?) – “Yeah. I say this every week – my job is pretty fun. Sometimes I’m inside, sometimes I’m outside. Sometimes I’m essentially a safety. That’s the fun thing about playing in this defense. I can play whatever and I can do whatever. I’m really having fun out there and Sunday is definitely going to be a fun one.”
(Is it fun how you guys defensively controlled the Patriots? Was that fun out there like that?) – “I think that was a good game. But ultimately, I think the fun part was that was our first test of playing together, seeing what we can do and going up against a team like the Patriots, that was a great way to prove it. That was a great start to our season. Now we just got to keep it rolling.”
(Coming off of that this week, how has it gone so far? How does it feel in the locker room right now going to Baltimore?) – “Guys are focused and hungry. I think that’s the main thing. Guys are locked in. Even today, we changed a few things in our schedule and guys didn’t blink. We just got our job done and continued about our day. That’s the main approach is we are ready to work, we are ready to perform and we are ready to do something special.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said the other day that this is the defense’s team until proven otherwise. How much pride do you take in that? And how excited are you to see what this team can do when you’re clicking on all cylinders?) – “For me personally, that just means a lot. I’ve been here through a lot of different circumstances, I’ll say that. This defense has always helped this team and we’re going to continue to do that. We have great leaders on defense. But our offense is exciting to watch. It truly is. We’ve got guys that can take it to the house on a simple out route. It’s going to be a fun one. If we just keep playing together, we’ll be just fine.”
(How much does this group embrace the challenge of facing a guy like QB Lamar Jackson?) – “We’re excited. I’ll say that. We’re definitely excited. Any time you go up against a guy that gives you a big challenge on defense – any defensive guy is going to get happy and hungry and ready to prove themselves. That’s the main thing. We’re ready to prove ourselves against essentially a superstar in this league. It’s going to be a fun one Sunday.”
Anthony Campanile – September 15, 2022
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Thursday, September 15, 2022
Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile
(What did you think of your group’s play in Week 1? I know you’re looking at Baltimore, but just looking back real quickly?) – “I thought defensively, overall, everybody played hard. We’re always looking to improve and the beauty of coaching guys who are always kind of looking to get better – coming off the field, I think they were just excited to watch the tape and I think there are some things we wish we did better and some things we’re really fired up about that we did. So like any game, any first game, too. But yeah, obviously I’ve been grinding away on these guys, but I thought overall a solid performance. Definitely room for improvement, just like most of the time.”
(Where are you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer right now in terms of your discussion about a package for LB Channing Tindall? Obviously, you’ve got LB Jerome Baker, LB Elandon Roberts, LB Duke Riley, who all need to play. Is that something you guys have talked about much? Does one exist?) – “Yeah, I think as you’re going through that, always with the roster, each game is different and guys have different roles in different games. So that’s one of the things certainly, in the NFL, it’s a long season. Every game is a little bit different and you’re kind of always talking about that every week, honestly, with all the guys in the room.”
(On the focal point this week) – “I just think, obviously like most games, it’s a do your job – every game to do your job game – but just obviously reading your keys, playing physical, things that we always talk about, because I just think those are the tenets of playing good defense. Running to the football, tackling well, being physical and obviously getting your eyes right, so you can do your job correctly all the time. Those are the things we’re often talking about, we’re always talking about, but certainly in this game as well.”
(Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer mentioned he’s stayed here late a few nights already this week. Is that just the nature of the business when it comes to facing Baltimore?) – “I think facing anybody – I don’t know if I’ve ever been here when it was not late. (laughter) But yeah, I mean football is a job like that. Coaching football, I think if you’re doing it right, you’re putting the hours in and you’re trying to look for every competitive advantage that you can get. So yeah, it’s definitely not much different than many other weeks, but you know, in here late burning the midnight oil, trying to get it right. And if you have the type of guys that we have, like defensively, the guys we get to coach, you want to do a great job for them. You don’t want to let each other down. I think players feel that way about players. Coaches feel that way about coaches. Players feel that way about coaches. And coaches feel that way about players. I think we always try to work towards just having guys that genuinely honestly, like love each other, want to do a great job for each other, never quit on each other. And if that means staying here late or whatever for 20 weeks, however long the season is, 25 weeks; then yeah, absolutely. Because we’re fortunate enough to coach guys that are about that and just good people. So you want to make sure you’re doing a good job for them.”
(What’s the challenge of preparing your guys to face the fastest quarterback in the NFL, just one week after facing possibly the slowest quarterback in the NFL?) – “I think each team presents their own challenges. So the beauty of football is you’re jumping into different schemes and defending different things every week. Camp is no different than that. You jump out of camp into a preseason game getting ready for an opponent or possibly playing with a team for a couple practices there. So you’re jumping in and out of schemes all the time, and hopefully the fundamentals that you’re practicing every day – OTAs, summer camp, in the season – that stuff’s got to show up for you to play well against all these different assortments of offenses and players. So really just – maybe I’m redundant in saying this, but doing your job, getting up, hit the ground running, play like there’s a hot stove on the ground and don’t ever stop running, attack the football and those are the things we talk about every day. And obviously, like I said, I’m going to keep going back to this; but if you care about each other, you care about the guys in the room, you love each other, you’re going to do your job well and you’re going to do your job to the best of your ability.”
(How much you have to drill into your guys – it’s QB Lamar Jackson back there so you’ve got to even more aware of the running threat because this is no ordinary quarterback?) – “I think anybody who knows Lamar Jackson as a player knows he’s an elite-level athlete and a great quarterback. And I think we have respect for every guy that we play that plays that position. It’s obviously a tough position to play in this league. But yeah, he’s an exceptional talent. I got to coach against him a couple of times in college, too. I learned that firsthand as a college coach. So, yeah, just everybody locking in and trying to do their job and I think you could see that on the tape.”
(I don’t think there’s any other team that ran more fullback snaps in the game on Sunday than the Ravens. How does that challenge your position group to have another back in the backfield so often?) – “I think fortunately, we’re just – our team, we played a bunch of that type of look in the offseason and in the summer. So I guess that’s an added benefit of being in our system on offense, but I think like anything else, you’re preparing for different looks every week, so you’ve just got to get your eyes right to play fast and play physical.”
Steve Gregory – September 15, 2022
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Thursday, September 15, 2022
Safeties Coach Steve Gregory
(When you reviewed the film of S Brandon Jones, what did you like most about his performance? Obviously we know he can blitz well, but it seemed like he made some plays in coverage as well?) – “Yeah, it’s great to see him go out there and make some plays in a game. It’s a good start to the season. The thing with Brandon is he’s always going to play 100 miles per hour. With him, when he goes out there and he performs like that, it’s a credit to his play style. The way he was flying around was really good to see.”
(I know S Brandon Jones wants to be known as more than just a blitzer but he’s really good at blitzing. I’m curious what you see in his skill set that allows him to make plays like he did against QB Mac Jones the other day in some of the blitzes you guys ran?) – “Just his explosiveness, his agility, his quickness, his physicality. All of those things that can help you as a blitzer. His timing, his understanding of the scheme and how we’re trying to send him and things like that. With all of our guys that we send, those are key points to being an effective and good blitzer.”
(There was a play where S Jevon Holland ended up hitting QB Mac Jones, where you could see the communication where all of a sudden Jevon tells S Brandon Jones to come down on the line and you guys send a blitz there. How have you seen them maybe work together with their communication on plays like that and overall?) – “It’s been a process that’s started since the beginning of the offseason. We pride ourselves on being guys that are going to talk to each other out there. This is football. You’re teammates. You’ve got to communicate and you’ve got to talk with each other. Everything isn’t going to go perfectly. We don’t know what the offense is going to line up in. We don’t know who is going to move when and where. We just have to have a good understanding of conceptually what we’re trying to do defensively. And then when those guys move and they adjust and they shift, we talk to each other and let each other know what’s going on so we can be in the right situation.”
(What’s the NFL skill that you’ve observed in S Verone McKinley III from watching him for five months?) – “He has really good ball skills. I think his angles to the football and his understanding of the game, his smarts, his wisdom as a football player are a little bit beyond his years. I know he studied the game a lot in college. He had a podcast or whatever where he talked a lot about NFL players and things like that. He’s a very knowledgeable player, which allows him to play a step faster than maybe is perceived on paper, physical attributes. So all of those things help him as a football player.”
(I think it was earlier this week, Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned that S Eric Rowe was very engaged even though he couldn’t play in the game and was kind of chomping to get out there. I was curious what that veteran presence and the way he is engaged, kind of how that impacts the rest of the room and just gets guys more prepared.) – “Yeah, it’s huge. Eric is a professional football player. He’s a true pro at everything he does on a day-to-day basis. His attention to detail, his support for his teammates. Whether he is playing or not playing, he’s a team guy. So when you have a guy that’s professional, that’s experienced, that loves the game and he loves being a part of a team, I think that helps, especially young guys, seeing how he does it and how he approaches everything from a day-to-day basis.”
(The zero blitz last year against Baltimore was so effective. How much do you guys have to be prepared for the certain adjustments that you know they’re going to be making?) – “We’ll just have to see what they do. Every year is different. Every game is different. Their scheme has a couple of different wrinkles than what they showed last year. They’re going to game plan us just like we’re going to game plan them. You go into these games with a certain game plan. You try to go execute it. That’s why we’re on the sideline after series trying to evaluate what they’re doing. They’re trying to evaluate what we’re doing and we’re trying to make in-game adjustments.”
(To follow up on that, QB Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown pass of 20+ yards on Sunday. How do you balance not letting him get loose on the run but also making sure he doesn’t burn you over the head with a deep throw?) – “It’s extremely challenging. The guy is a heck of a football player. He can throw the ball down the field. He has a strong arm. He has a quick release. And then obviously everybody in the world knows what he can do with his feet. He presents challenges all over the field. We just have to go into the game understanding what those challenges are and how we want to execute our game plan to try to limit the explosive plays that he can create.”
(Did you watch the Thursday night game last year or were you busy with your own coaching responsibilities – the Dolphins/Ravens game? I wondered if you watched it live and if you did, what you thought seeing S Jevon Holland and S Brandon Jones blitz constantly and wreak so much havoc.) – “I did not watch it live. But yeah, it was great. That game in particular – not just those two guys but the defense in general was flying around and playing fast. Regardless of what your scheme is or what defense you call or what play is called on either side of the ball, if guys are playing fast and flying around and it’s a physical football game, then you play well. That’s the bottom line.”
(I don’t want to get too far ahead but you do have QB Josh Allen, who has similar skill sets to QB Lamar Jackson in that he can make plays with his feet. Do having games like that, where it’s back-to-back similar quarterbacks, kind of help you stay in that mindset?) – “I don’t think so. I mean we don’t really look past what we have as the task at hand. Right now, we’re focused on Baltimore. We’re not really focused on Josh Allen. I get the comparison but right now we’re focused on what Baltimore does, the challenges they present and whatever our game plan is to go ahead and try to execute to defeat them. We’ll worry about Josh Allen next week.”
