Welcome into Ravens Press Pass. Today we'll hear from offensive coordinator Todd Munkin, defensive coordinator Mike McDonald, and special teams coordinator Chris Horton.
Let's start with Monk.
Going against the Cleveland defense.
Obviously, you see the numbers are all up there, But what stands out to you when you're looking out there? I guess kind of what the challenge is?
Acre.
No, First of all, it is a great challenge playing there. That's number one. They do a great job of challenging you schematically in all areas as you get ready in terms of your game plan, they challenge you, and they do it with tremendous players. But it's one thing to have tremendous players and the way they play, I mean they play hardy. So it's gonna be a great challenge for us and we're excited to go.
How what does it mean you to go back to Cleveland giving your history there?
Oh, I don't no, you know, that was four years ago. Basically in some ways I wish I would have done it better. You know, there's there's some of that that. The hasms were great, j W. Paul front office was great. We just didn't do it well enough. I didn't do it well enough, so that part of it. But I'm excited to go back. I'm a raven and that was four years ago.
Is there any It's kind of dumb way to put it, but put extra motivation in that regard because you know it didn't really go when you wanted to vote.
No, there's no motivation is to play better on offense and to execute at a higher level and stack plays. You know you can't go score fumble and then you go four straight possessions putting the ball in the ground. I mean, that's that's what motivates me. It's not you know,
it's not going back to Cleveland. It's the product we put on the field consistently, starting with me how I do it, and then our players taking the plan to the practice and then to the field because we've seen what it looks like, so now we've just got to continue to improve that. That's the motivation.
Lamar is fumbled ball four times three, I mean, hasn't lost everything.
One of the ways fumble four times? Is that a concern? Is that something you have to address with them?
Sure, it's always it doesn't matter whether it's Lamar or any quarterback in terms of their ball security in the pocket, outside the pocket, and you know it's coming. The more it ends up on the ground, I mean, it's there's no question there's showing that to their defensive players. So it's a point of emphasisis week of all of our players. We can't can't turn the ball over, can't put it on the ground. It puts us puts us all at risk.
He didn't end up throwing down field very much against the ball over What happened to sort of makes that the case.
Some of it was, you know, early in the game we did the first two drives, we hit you know, seam throws or a pocket throw to get it, and we had another opportunity late late in the game. But some of it we were trying to get the ball out.
There was a situational part. There was others we did have opportunities or we were trying to get it down the field and we just didn't end up getting to it either by protection route, and some of it was by design that we were trying to stay a little bit ahead of the head of the chains.
Did they do something different to take away than the run and over time Lamar and.
Money said.
Some of it. They did. They got some bigger people out there that that made it a little more difficult. Got to do a better job of scheming it and calling it, that's for sure at the end. But no, we certainly and there's part of it that we didn't execute well enough. So it's all the above, but it starts with me and how we do it and having a much better plan and giving us a chance to execute at a much higher level.
What is the message to the offense this week?
You know some of the three is.
A new offensive system. After a game like that, do you kind of say, all right, you know we're still we're still in the early stages of growing, or how do you kind of talk to.
Them about that?
All the above. You don't want to overreact, but you don't want to just scrub it under the rug because it was just a week ago. We went to the Bengals and played really, really well and function at a really high level on the road. So we have it in us, So how do we carry that week to week? How do we install it, game plan it the right way so our guys understand what to expect and when we get there, or we get those opportunities, we have a chance to execute a high level. That's really what
it is. At times, we have too much drag. Too much starts with me. I mean, I'm in charge of it. We have too much drag, you know. And there's a lot of reasons why that is that it really doesn't make it. You got to clean it up and get better at it and take it to the field. Because, like I said, we've two weeks in a row. We've taken the opening drive and gone down and scored, and then it carried over the Bengals and then you know, it didn't you know, we had certainly an opportunity on
that second drive, and then we just sputtered. Then we just never got that mojo back. And got to find a way to get that. Got to call it better, got to execute better. That's that's the way it works.
What are some of the.
Rod strokes ways of contending with the Browns defense. I know that they're aggressive, They've talked about how they really want to make Jackson uncomfortable. What are some strokes ways of you know, going against that defense.
Maybe, well, first off, it.
Their goal.
They're trying to make every quarterback uncomfortable. Like every defense is. I mean that the idea is if you make the quarterback uncomfortable, then it's difficult for them to operate. So I understand that part of it. Our job is to try and make it where he's not uncomfortable. It's really actually pretty simple in football. They're trying to make your quarterback uncomfortable. We're trying to make him really comfortable, and then we'll see, you know, that's really that's really the
the chess match. They're really you know what I'm saying, And we got really good players, and they got really good players, so let's go to just play hard. You know. I just I just think they uh, you know, I think they've done a nice job of their acquisitions in the offseason, bolstering their defense, obviously bringing in you know, Jim,
and they're bringing the new defensive scheme. It's got a new excitement and new enthusiasm, and then when it gets backed up in games, it even just raises another levels. That makes sense, Like you know, all of a sudden, that confidence level just continues to raise as there's a belief system, then it gets you know, translated onto the field, so then it just raises like Okay, this is what
it looks like. So that's our job to uh, to do everything in our power to not to not to not have that happen come a Sunday.
How much part is it to put the focus that you want to on Lucky Garrett and you know they have Zivarius on the.
Other on sure, well they've got they've got good players. So it's and it's not even just him. I mean they're very active at blindbacker. I mean they like to bring delp it, you know, they they bring multiple players, they get edgy, they make you defend you know, a number of players, number of coverages, schemes. Uh, just in terms of just making sure your sound And to me, the biggest thing is how do you stay out of those long, long yarded situations? How do you stay out
of the chains? And when you get opportunities to be able to make plays down the field? That's that But that's not just them, that's everybody. How do you stay out of chains? And yet how can you still be explosive to give yourself a chance? And that that's the challenge playing a good defense.
I know it's probably different for every receiver.
Vote what do you want them?
I guess how do you want them to improve im more? They can Tellibless coming and you know Oamar might not be able to get to the end of his drop before he's got to kind of.
Get rid of that.
Sure, we did an outstanding job at Cincinnati in terms of when they did come, you know, in terms of our recognition, and some of it was still good on Sunday. Uh, we just weren't as clean. We weren't as clean in some of the protections something to do with them. We weren't as clean in terms of our routes. We weren't clean in a lot of areas in terms of the calls. I mean, it's it's all all of us. I mean,
at the end of the day, you own it. We got offensively okay, we got to coach better, we got to attack the week better, and we got to execute better. It's really that simple.
You know, how difficult is it to keep with a game play, especially passing what you want to do when you might be without two of your top receivers.
Well, I mean, first off, that's why Nelson Aguilar is here. You know as a player, Devin Duvernet has made plenty of player in the past, and and Zay is a fantastic rookie, you know, only going to get better. So Mark Andrews, I think for the first time and three or four weeks is feeling you know better. I mean, I think he's moving better. I mean really, this is the first week I've seen, you know, in probably four or five that I feel like he's at full speed,
you know, So that that's a positive. That's a plus going in this week and every week that we're together. I really believe we're going to continue to do it better. And what we'll.
See next up defensive coordinat Mike McDonald after us, you see them changing a lot from a run scheme standpoint without him or or he's just kind of plug and play.
Probably more of the latter, just you know, small sample size with the one game, but yeah, sticking to the sticking to their normal plan. Very potent run game, you know, best some of the best in the league. So we expect the same. Like we obviously saw a vision.
I say, how would you use this past week if you fabled is his versatility and other keep spreads and stuff.
It's good how he fagel with him and where he plays and you need all that, uh, Yeah, Yeah, I'd say that's that's a fair assessment. Again, we talked to his versatility for forever now it seems like but definitely allows you to have that flexibility on a week to
week basis on how much. I don't think the plan was to put him there the whole time, you know, just and you see how games go so and then where we're at personnel wise as well, you know that will be driving those decisions from from a week to week and then throughout a game.
Basis like a seamless or as compress that you mean by their Orley's translation from cornerback to safety and be able to basically get every down defender for you guys on Sunday.
Yeah, that's a great point. Really, Seamless, I guess is a great way to explain it. You know, throughout the spring and the off season, it felt like a season vet back there and understanding kind of the eye progression and they overlap and the things are trying to create in the secondary. Just had a great feel for it from the get go. So seamless is a good way to describe it.
When you have a guy like him at or moon play that many steps in the game how do you approach.
This week just in terms of workload or making sure they don't get.
Tired of it.
Yeah, you know you don't want anybody playing one hundred snaps, but obviously the game unfolded a certain way, and you know you gotta do what you got to do to try to win the game. But you know it's a tough league going back and seven days later and sometimes you know, three or four days later having to play a game. So these guys are rows. Harves is a great job setting the schedule up, and we have a bunch of recovery things that guys are taking advantage of.
Everyone has their own, uh individual kind of plan on a week to week basis. But those guys who are talking in their little sore but they'll they said, they'll be ready to go.
You're blitzeeing at a higher percentage than you were last year. Is that is that driven by the fact that you're missing a lot of guys on the edge? Is it more about sort of the matchups your face so far and what's what's pushing that right now?
Well, it's something that we want the ability to do at any given point. So you're you're to have the threat of of blitz on either side or up the mill or double edge or whatever. You're always want that threat to an offense. So, uh, that's just part of
our identity. I think you might not have seen it last year for several reasons, you know, probably what we felt like our team strengths were and how how good we were it the different you know, you know, kind of pressure packages that they were able to get to. So I think it's more probably it's probably a it's still a game plan idea, but it's something that you know we're definitely gonna carry and have the ability to get to at any point in time.
Like watching the Browns, did you see a clear difference with Watson and so comfortably he was in his play last week than you have thrown them when you're watching in the first two games.
It's tough to tough to gauge is comfort level? Uh, definitely the effectiveness and the efficiency see of the offense. You know, you can obviously go by the stats and the score and things like that, but I feel like they're finding their stride and I don't know who they want to be. You can definitely have definitely for sure, like.
What impressed to you about how they use samar Cooper kind of hunting your match up. Just his ability to the line up anywhere and be successful.
Yeah, they do a great job. It's u you don't see that a lot of receivers playing all those different types of positions and they find different ways on a week to week basis to scheme them open to your point, and uh, you know it's it's it's credit to him, you know, it's probably not It's not easy to be a receiver and learn all three spots, sometimes four spots
and learn the whole route treet from there. So definitely a dynamic player that we're have to account for and understand where he's at at all times.
Intangibles that some of these guys bring in Patrick Queen and we saw him, you know, take responsibility for loss or say after this game, what if you or after this last game, what have you seen from him in that aspect of personality? Why is getting more comfortable to being a leader.
Come out just with p Q. It's it's the p Q that that that we know and love. I mean, it's nothing different that we expected. It's nothing out of the ordinary from him. It's to me, it's uh, the guy that that we know, you know, on a day to day basis, and i'd speak to the whole defense and team rather, you know, the the mentality and the things and the discussions that we had after the game. Not that you're proud to hear it, but it's it's uh, it's it's reflective of the character of of the guys
we have on the team. Everyone's looking inwardly. We're humble and hungry enough to look for things that we can do differently on individual basis and eventually make our team better, you know, to take the next step and become the team you want to be over the course of the year. You know, it's or three games in going into a fourth game. We got hopefully a bunch more after this, and uh, really, I think that attitude is reflective. You know, throughout the locker room.
Their their defense has obviously been tremendous so far. Is that something that you pay attention to it all? Or does it still at any competitive aspect in your players you think? Or is it you don't play.
Them, So it's not really on the rate, you know, our focus is really just how good can we how good can we be as our as our defense and what we can do to win the game. Obviously, they got great stats right now, so I got to give credit where credits due, but we got we have enough to worry on our side of the ball.
As far as what do you want to kind of improve upon. I know the Colts did run thirty sometimes that can get those yards.
But as far as the.
Defense, what do you want to see improvement in that aspect?
Well, to your point, there was definitely a standard here in the run defense. And you know you can't give up four explosive runs. I mean, that's just the fact of the matter. Different there's really a couple of them. We lost the edge on on two on two runs on the twenty four yards and then we can play the interior runs better. On the stretch cutback and the split flow play, we just need to play that play better. And we missed a tackle on that one as well.
So we've talked about those plays. Uh, the guys, it's very clear on what happened those plays and who's responsible for it. We'll leave that in house and we just keep attacking it, you know. And uh, this is definitely a challenging run game that you know that brings to the table. So it's all hands on deck this week, as you know, as with every week.
About calling him, what's up the progress and especially at.
The crack right.
Well, he had a he had a he had a great game and was able to get the ball off the quarterback the one time that you know, probably could have changed the game there at the end of the half. Uh. But it's it's uh, I'm not surprised. It's what we expect from Kyle. You know, he's a guy that we're gonna move around and we expect, you know, to influence the game from multiple positions, and the expectations is to do it on a weekly basis. I mean, he's that type.
He's that type of player. So moving forward, just keeping him you know, don't don't reach for plays. Let the plays come to you. But you know, play with the effort that he playing with, just like the rest of the defense, and keep attacking the ball so we can we can take it away and give it back to our offense.
You need to see and what you convince you that hips.
That day you're ready to play, well, well, I can tell you this, he's an impressive guy. I mean from the day that we came into to visit and just getting to know him and talk to him about ball, and he's already got third down thoughts and stuff like that. Uh, but it seems like he's been in this defense for you know, however long. But it's a he's impressive, similar like when Rocon showed up, You're just like, okay's this dude. He knows his stuff. So he's an impressive guy away around.
Obviously a great football player from what we've seen already on the practice field, and you know, it's got a great track record, so you know, we'll see how it shakes out over the course of the rest of the week. But I feel really great about him.
And lastly, special teams coordinator Chris Horton.
Good to see everyone.
Hope everyone's doing well for us. You know, I'm just having an opperture unity to really just kind of analyze the the last three weeks of UH of our games. It's about the little things. It's about it's about the little details, and that's really what we're chasing.
UH.
We got a division game this week. We're looking forward to just really going on and trying to play our best football game. We still haven't put that together, but we're doing some good things and uh, and those things are showing up on the tape, but we got to really find some consistency. And that's all a part of what we're doing. Questions up and down, great punts, Uh, the.
Strategic that it was supposed to be high, and.
You know, overall, you know, I thought, I'm you know, we think he's he's done a good job. He's done a good job so far of really just kind of doing what we've asked him to do. And uh, and then there's some some things that we could always work on. Right, it goes back to that consistency thing that I'm talking about. It's just it's it's everywhere. It's across the board. It's not it's not just Jordan and punting. It's it's us
covering the punt. You know, it's just just knowing just doing our jobs and understanding how to get those things done. But that punt at the end of the game, obviously, that's an opportunity for us to flip the field. Uh, the drop was a little bit the drop was a little bit high, and it didn't it didn't go where it should where it should have went. So again we're just trying to chase those little details. I think overall, after three weeks, Jordan has done a pretty good job.
Chris, what are what are specifically some of those little things beyond obviously consistency.
Trying to lay up data that will will then.
Example to a these little things, you know, some of the little things. Just making sure everyone's everyone's doing their job, you know, being where we're supposed to be, uh in coverage. You know, we do all we have responsibilities, and we haven't really truly uh fanned the.
Field like we need to.
So we spend a little bit more time just making sure that we all understand that.
You know.
It's it's easy to kind of sit in the media room and coach it and do all those things, but it's another thing to go out into a game and actually get those things done. We've been pretty good at it, you know, So we just got to keep we just got to keep chasing those little details, and we got the guys in the room to uh to get it done.
Are you allowed to essentially on side kick a free kick? Because I know you had your hands.
Team on there with Devin on the on near the.
Side of the line of scrimmage on.
The free kicks, right, Yeah, I mean they can they can pretty much hit any ball that they want in that situation, right, and that with that time. Uh, that's kind of what that's kind of what we were thinking. You know, we thought we were under the two men and Warner and you know, we kind of did what we did with the instructions of ZA and we're just putting the right guys out there. They hit the ball, the ball, you know, pop a ball up. We want guys out there that can fill that balls.
The situation that you had to practice a lot of slings a very unique kind of instance, the timing everything ball.
Oh, I think that you know we've practiced, we've practiced that situation.
Uh.
Just but it you know, when you get in those situations gets real, real chaotic. You're trying to get the right guys out there, right because normally you'd put your kickoff return team out there, right, and then so that team's different than what your hands team is. So y, you know, you gotta run around, you gotta grab all the guys and kind of and kind of do that, and you know, and so it's just one.
Of those things.
Man, we we missed that opportunity but uh, again, that's it's one thing we're definitely working on.
How much of the injuries really kind of impacted your unit?
Now Thailand and lands On IR you know, the special teams to play.
It's it's huge. It's it's across the board, right, It's just it's just not my unit. Uh, you know, it's just a it's across the team and we kind of we kind of just we kind of just roll with it, right. Uh, Like I said last week, if you're on this team, you belong on this team. When you get your opportunity, you just go out and you just try to play your best football. And if if we do that, it it has affected us a little bit because the guys that normally do play for us, they're playing a lot
more offense, they're playing a lot more defense. But we don't we don't kind of use that as an excuse. If you're here and you're on this team and we put you out there, we're expecting you to go play.
Well.
There's what happened on the the thirty two yard punk return the big Guy against your Ays. It looked like Jordan Bisley executed the kick that he wanted. The time you have guys in the area that was it's one person in a position.
Or what happened to Oh you know, I thought the punt. The punt was great. The punt, it was a great location. It was good on the punt, and we just we just again, we just had guys not going to that ball, right. I think when you look at that play and we sit back and we watch those plays, Uh, Isaac's there to go make the play, right, but he's really the only guy on the left side. Uh, so we were missing two players that should have been over there on
the left side. We just gotta guys got to continue to just do their job when they're out there and get to the football and we'll and we'll be fine.
Chris, it looks like Jalen armor Davis when he kind of is able to separate the supplies downfield. I mean it made really pops, what are you kinda see from him?
And that the reason, you know, it's it's one of the things with Jalen, right, he is he is a fast guy, and uh, when you put him out there, you want to you want to put him in position where he could he could utilize his skill set and speed is one of them, So when he is out out there as a gunner, you know, we want to make him plays. If he's in a single, we're not allowing to get down there and make plays. You know,
we're playing them on We're playing them on kickoff. We got him playing all over the place as a gunner on our own part.
Return.
He can do a lot for us. He hasn't played a lot of football, right, so he's still considered a young guy that we're trying to get to play up to the standard, and he has done a good job so far.
Next, let's go into the Ravens locker room.
How much have you talked about maybe having out so you already gotten one dawn that you guys really jump get these wins.
I mean, obviously it's big, you know our division. You know, you look at last year and everybody you know finishing the tie. So just be able to get those wins early and especially going the road, it's a key to to to what we want to do in our future. So you know, we got to take one game at a time and one day at a time, and that's what we're doing.
Or have you been what have you thought about the way the team has responded to last week and got to turn the fogus to this match against us.
You know, we looked at the film. You know, obviously we wasn't pleased with a lot of things that went on, and a lot of it was self afflicting wounds, and those are things that you can correct, right so, you know, going back to the drawing board this week and just making sure the communication and everything that we got going on, you installs and stuff like that, that we're doing the best job that we can to get those things done. And just go out there and every day I practice the next level.
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