Coordinators: Ravens Practice 9/7 Press Conferences

Welcome into the Ravens Press Pass Podcast is Thursday, September seventh, and the Ravens are getting ready for the season opener coming up against the Houston Texans. Today, we had a chance to hear from new Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Unkin as well as DC Mike McDonald and special teams coordinator Chris Horton. Let's kick things off the special teams coordinator Chris Horton.

Good to see everyone, Hope everyone's doing well. Just you know, as we get for looking forward to this week. You know, our guys have done a great job the last two days getting ourselves ready to play. We're looking forward to the challenge with Houston.

They're a good.

Football team, special team. So for us, man, let's just go out there and do our jobs and let's go have fun. Questions.

Let's give me a lot of attention on how kickoffs are hands America.

And all that.

Did you get any sense from how teams were going about in pre season that it could happen? And in terms of how you handle what do you expected to be kind of.

A week to week you know, uh, for the first part, a kind of a sense of it from throughout the preseason. I think every coach is gonna do, you know, what they feel is best for their team. Uh. For us, I think it'll be it'll be a week to week basis. I feel like we feel like we do a pretty good job returning the ball. So uh, and we got we got Devin Duvernet back there. We're gonna allow him to return to football.

Uh.

But again that'll be that'll be a week to week basis, depending on what we see from the opponent as well. So now that we have that option, I do think it'll be it could be something that could be utilized.

Tyler.

Tyler Rott talked about kind of being a part of this new kicking unit with Jordan Stout and Justin Tucker, kind of being able to slide.

Right into places where any more left off.

What are you looking forward to seeing from.

Them week one and how they press throughout this training camp.

With the chemistry that they built.

You know, I think that the three guys when they came in, when Tyler came in, you know, he he fit right in there. He a pro, he's a veteran guy. He's not you know, It's not like we had to go out and get a rookie, a first year guy that that's never done in this league. He's a veteran guy. He understands the job that needs to be done in order to have success. So when he came in, uh and we we paired him with Jordan, and we paired him with Tuck. Then he just then he just learned, okay,

For us running down the fields with the coverage team.

What are you looking for?

But as you're doing that, you know.

Honestly, I'm just having a little fun.

I think.

I think when you're out there with the players, man, those those guys like when you just bring a different type of energy to it. Hey, I could still do it. So I want to go out there. I want to run around have fun with them. But I'm trying to stay out of their way. I'm trying not to get run over, right, making sure. I go home to my wife and she's like, Chris, why are you Olympic?

You know, I don't.

I don't want to be doing that. So my jobs to just stay out of their way. Let those guys work. But I love just getting out there. Might challenge him a little bit. See if I beat you for ten yards, Hey, what's wrong with that?

You know? So just little it was a little fun. Chris.

You talked to Jordan not too long ago, and you said he struggling with the battle with a confidence issues a couple of times last year. What have you seen from him leading up to this point to show that he is more of a more confident player.

You know, Jordan's just maturing right as a as a first year player. I think it's like any first year guy, You're gonna have those ups and downs, and then there's gonna be times in situations where you're pretty down on yourself, right, And I think it's our job best coaches to kind of riel him back in and just help him understand, like, hey, man, it's.

Okay, right, you're a first year player.

There's gonna be those things, but let's find some consistency. And I think now that he's found that consistency and he's continuing to find it, his confidence is just continued to rise and it's going to continue to rise throughout the year.

That was Special teams coordinator Chris Horton. We also had a chance to talk with Mike McDonald, who's entering his second season as the Ravens defensive coordinator. He talked about where the defense is at this point going into the twenty twenty three season.

How's it going? Good to see everybuddy excited to get going. Man, it's about time. So it's been a long time as.

We've played for real, So excited to see the guys go out there and play. So what do you got?

So you have to kind of go back to your roots and watch a lot of Ohio State film with c J. Spalt this weekend.

No, I mean obviously just watching their preseason stuff and going back to San Francisco and a couple of other guys on staff have been some other spots that we've checked out. But yeah, just you know, it's gonna be a great challenge. It's a tough first game of the year. There's not as much information that you used to acting on, and you're trying to blend last year's stuff to this year's stuff and try to a pat you know how

To make him react to how we play. So that's that's the mentality corners.

There's just you have new guys, guys coming off injury.

No more than that's for a week one. That's a tough start.

Yeah, I feel great. I feel great. We've got a lot of confidence in those guys.

We've had a great, great couple of days of practice, and uh, you know, we'll see who's out there at certain times. I don't want to give that away quite yet, but you know, whoever will be out there. We got a lot of confidence in them, and then I think they're ready to go.

Do you think there might be a situation where you might rotate some guys early on to kind of get a feel for things.

I think you might see a little bit of a rotation. I wouldn't.

I wouldn't say for the reason of getting a feel for it. But you know we have for reasons, you know, for who's in there and win and all that. So you know, we'll see who see who's end up in the snap counts. You know, I probably couldn't tell you right now. You know, I'm not keeping that from you. I just don't know that yet.

Like specifically, what have you seen from Ronald Darby since he arrived and what makes him a good fit for what you want to do defensively? Just in a big pictures.

Oh, he's a quick study, and he's really quick footed, has a great feel for what we're trying to do. He's just he's played a lot of a lot of good football and understands the game route concepts and splits and distributions and things like that.

So he's just been a great guy to have around.

I mean, it just it seemed like he picked it up seamlessly just for the first day he got here.

So we're excited to see what he can.

Do, like major changes in Stroud just the last couple of years since he had scouting him.

In his college.

Honest, it's it's it's been a lot of football between the last time he was on the opposing sideline. But you know, he looks impressed at me, like you know, he doesn't. It doesn't look like a rookie on preseason tape, and he's he's seems to poilsed back there and comfortable and he's always been a really accurate pastor that definitely hasn't changed. So I think that the scheme and him fit well. And uh, you know, obviously he's a really

So we're ready to go, though.

I don't know if he had a defensive players for nice this job that he was this preseason and stuff. How much have you talked to him, I know you have a special relationship with him. How much have you talked to him heading into this game and made sure he's not you know, fixating on any of the stuff and the questions and all that.

Yeah, David's isn't a great spot.

I mean, we we've had a conver We've had conversations, not just about the preseason, but just you know, because well I'm one of his coaches, you know, as with a lot of other guys in the roster. But the message to him is say get lined up, unlet's roll thirty fastball. You know, sometimes you're gonna get blocked, and like just like every other NFL player to ever step out there, but we want you to go play the way you know how to how to play and and just go go go go make him go, make him

So I'm looking to see what how he plays on Sunday.

Jo.

I'm curious in your skinning and planning against the rookie is a different I you you know how much you think against tendencies that studying the pass and safes using him hasn't looked, you know, has seen it takes it that make sense.

Yeah, a lot of times you're facing a quarterback that has a longer track record there you have just a bigger database of stats of how well he's played and reacted to certain things that you can present him with, and you just don't have that with a rookie.

So that's okay.

You know, it's definitely a little bit more, uh, you know, leaning towards the scheme and the and the things that they present historically, you know, in that family of offense that you're thinking about defending in addition to the quarterback, rather than starting with a quarterback and then going to the scheme, if that makes sense. So at the end of the day, we got to we got to go play our style ball and and uh, you know, make them try to move the ball and what we're gonna give them.

I know, this year's team is not last year's team, But did the struggles, especially in the secondary from early in the season inform how you went about preparing for the season anyway?

You know, No, I just we had a fresh perspective coming in here with the guys that we had, and then the focus is really from day one of who we had, what we can do well with a with a with an idea of the vision that we're trying to build over time, and see how close we can get to that. With the movement a little bit in the secondary, I think that might have changed some of the things we were trying to do and ultimately we'll ultimately be able to.

Get to that point.

But you know, I'm just very confident where we're at right now, and the guys have a ton of an amazing job. I mean, we're really communicating well right now.

We're sharp. Got a lot of confidence in those guys back. There are there a lot.

Of insights that you maybe pick up in the off season self study that you wouldn't get from being the kind of you know, OCD a guy that you are, and ever I appreciate.

That, thank you, could you I don't I don't understand the question all here was I mos CD.

Is there a lot to learn about you know, how you play, how your defense plays as you pick up over the off season when you have that amount of time that you're going to be didn't.

During the week to be grinds with.

Yeah, I think you know, we're a defense built on concepts, so you can't just throw out the final you know entree week one to the guys in training camp, let alone OTAs and expect it to work. It's a building process and you have to build a foundation and start to layer things over time. So just a process that takes longer than you want, but you have so you

Other than the obvious production, what's specifically standard in the years and trying to stop.

Him with Damian Pierce, man, he's a he's a great player. Just we say he runs angry, you know, well, first guys is gonna have our time bringing him down. So it's gonna take a group efforts. That's definitely a point of epsis this week. But uh, you know, we want to. It's it's we haven't tackled in a real game yet, especially with our ones. So that's been a message throughout

You get feeling from when you see like you know, Patrick and broken and some of these practices that they're itching.

I get that feeling from the whole team.

That was Mike McDonald and last but not least, we also talked with offensive coordinator Todd Munkin. The status of the offense going into this game is one of the big mysteries and areas of intrigue for the Ravens offense. There's lots of curiosity about the changes that Monkin has brought to this team since his arrival this offseason. How much are the Ravens going to pass? What's this offense going to look like? How will he utilize all the new weapons that the Ravens have added to the mix.

Going into a season where you don't have the starters playing, you know, at all in the preseason, for you, is there uncertainty of when you actually get everybody on the field, how a role kind of mets especially early.

On, Well, I mean, you're taking I don't want to say this, yere, You're going to take what you've seen, which is in practices and then the closest thing we've had has been, you know, with the commanders. So that's what you go by, and you go by. It would be a little bit different if say Lamar was a first year player, but he's not, or JK. Dobbins or we have a lot of experience our guys that have played, maybe not so much in what our terminology is now,

A lot of fans, all of us probably are just curious, that's intrigue about what this offense will look like this year at you know, I guess where do you feel like the offense is as you're either building it and you know what what shows I mean.

I think I think we're in a good spot.

I think that's been really overplayed in a lot of ways, what this offense will look like, or what we've done in the past, or what I think I get it. There's excitement. I mean, I'm excited to get started.

I mean, I am.

I mean, it's it's but it still comes down to execution and it trumps everything. It doesn't matter what we're running, is playing at a high level. Are guys excited to play and being able to stack plays? But again, what it'll look like, I'm excited to see it. I'm excited to see where we're at in a lot of ways, and I've seen it in practice and now I'm excited to see it in the games.

If you have a guess, a preference long term or whether you want this offense to be multiple in the sense that you can run whatever kind of personnel grouping, or if you want.

To major and be like a couple certain sets, I guess I really don't care who's on the field. To be honest, if you stay within the framework of really what wins, which is don't turn it over or being successful on offense, be explosive, eliminate loss yardage plays, score touchdowns in the red zone, and be lead on third downs.

If you stay within that framework. The personnel.

Really it's putting the best players on the field that give you a chance to be successful. The more talent that you have, the more exciting it is. You can be more versatile. If you have multiple backs, you can play some of you're twenty one personnel. If you have multiple tight ends you like to get on the field, that gives you opportunities to put personnel in the field. I think we're we're in a good place in terms of the personnel that we have that allows you to

You know, maybe easy to.

Defend because you have things you do specifically in certain packages. But I'm excited about our guys the versatility I think we'll have.

It's been a lot made about the quarterback having more control in this offense. Has that usually been the case with you and your other stops giving quarterbacks that type of control? And why is that important?

Well, it's been asked a lot, and I don't It doesn't seem universal to me. It seems pretty normal that the guy in charge has a big say in what you do and how we do it, his careers on the line, how we have successes on the line. Now, with that being said, I think the more you empower people it's not just a quarterback. The more you empower people, your coaches, your staff, people that work for you, all, the more you empower them. To me, you're going to

It just works that way. Now you've got to earn that.

You know, you don't just allow anybody to have control of an offense or changing things or in any business. You don't allow just anybody to be empowered without earning that that comes with that. But I think it's the only way to be elite. I learned that from people empowering me. That's not something I developed. This isn't a Todd Munkin thing that is a life that is a

Tom when you see him from a healthy Rashad Bateman in these last couple of weeks, and what do you like about him that's unique that he can bring to this offense.

Well, first of all, it's since I've been here over the last two or three weeks plus, it's been great to see Bait with a smile on his face. I think, like any any human being, when they're not in a good place, that's just isn't football what he does for a living, Being hurt, being frustrated with rehabbing it coming back. Like I said, we're always better when we're in a good place, and I think he's in a really good place terms of where he is and what we do

We're about to talk about how we fullback will fit in or could fit in your offense and how.

You utilize the will the back.

How do you view Patrick orcard overall as fitting into what you want to.

Do offensively well.

I think he's an invaluable piece. It's it's trying to figure out where and when, what spots of the field, what situations, what package is what set of plays best utilizing his skill set that fits into what we want to accomplish, you know, throughout the course of a game, which is a lot of coach speak, I guess, but

How do we.

Utilize him in more aspects. He is certainly going to be value in four minute goal line, coming out short yardage when you want to run the football. A certain physicality that the Raven's helmet stands for. You have to have that on your team. But now, how do you add packages to that. That's to be determined basically week to week. We've thought so much about the versatility of your skilled players, and you can light you do different things.

Yes, athleticism on the old line.

Linderbaum and Stanley particular how much does that allow you to be creative.

Because of the things they can do that maybe some almal center attack we can't. It's a great question.

I mean, when you when you have an athletic center, you're not as nervous in certain fronts when you have to pull a center instead of a guard. Obviously some of your toss crack schemes and your screens come into play when those guys can get on the perimeter. And then in terms of movement, you see so much upfront movement, twists and stunts. Their ability to recover I think is critically important. So you know, it's just it's it's it's not a luxury, it's just what you're looking for in

I guess. But we're lucky to have those guys.

As you get ready for week one with JK.

Dobbins getting a late start for training camp, do you feel like he's at the point you want them at now as you go into the regular system.

I really like where he's at you know, all along he's had again. I think he's been ready to go from the start again. I don't get into someone's business, but I thought he did a great job of being in the playbook, asking questions. Thought he was in great spirits. It's fun having him out there. He loves playing football, and guys like that. You can feel in the practice field you really root for those guys because they love

Okay, yeah, I'm not.

Sure that the days drought on the other side. Everybody's different, obviously, but curious in your experience, that's what's the hardest thing with looking quarterback time coming ways, making the first start.

Oh, I don't I don't know. It's hard to speak for him. I just think that I think it's really I think it's hard in any profession when you start a new job. I think it's hard.

I just do.

I just think you learn as you go and you improve. I don't care how talented a writer you are or how talented a journalist, you've all gotten better from the first time you wrote and whenever you spoke. Same with me, right, So I think it's hard to come right out of the block and be where you're going to be. At least I hope that's the freaking case. Let's at least put it that way, right that hopefully it takes him, you know, at least another four days. Okay, let's talk

This is terrible. I mean, there's nowhere to go about the play caller. It's like you're that guy. So I do think it's hard whenever you start.

And I think that's just the beginning of it, as you you know, like any Like I said, any profress, he just happens to be at this point in his career, and I think he's gonna have a heck of a career.

I just hope, like I said, I hope it doesn't start in four days.

That was offensive coordinator Tom Monkey. You also heard from Mike McDonald and Chris Horton. As you get ready for that game on Sunday, check out the Lounge podcast Ryan Make and Eye break Down. But we expect to happen in that game and what the keys are for the Ravens to come out with a victory. You can check that out here. Wherever you find your podcast, just search the Lounge podcast. Also, if you want to be there in the building on Sunday for this opener, we have