Welcome to the Raves Press Past podcast. It is Wednesday, September eighteenth, the Raves prepairing for Sunday's game against Dallas Cowboys. After practice today, we had a chance to hear from head coach John Hardy.
Okay, appreciate everybody being here. A good practice today, Appreciate the guys' effort. What questions you have John addressing.
The team, especially after Wilson?
What was kind of your message?
Should I met every week?
Can get out that long?
Yeah?
Well we met yesterday, I met again today. We're focusing on the task at hand. You know, there's long term understanding what we need to accomplish, and there's a short term focus, which is right now. You know this week that is always the focus. It needs to be the focus.
This league.
It's a one week league, and we've got you whever we can to play our best football that we're capable of. Right now, Coach, this sort of third weekend earrow, you're kind of against the receiver, can top off the defenses?
What a kind of challenge of City Lamb post for you guys?
Kind adjustment you got to make? Yeah, I mean, you know, he's one of the very best in the National Football League. I think he's obviously well respected. He's a threat. They move him around, they motioned him, they shift him, they put him inside, put him outside, run him on pretty much every different route they have. I think he's the
first in the progression most of the time. So we're gonna have to make sure we take care of him and try to reroute them when we get a chance, try to try to move the coverage to him or away from him when we get a chance, based on what the scheme is, and and try to do the best we can to keep him under control.
What are your thoughts on the first time domination of Marshall Leanda and Trell Suggs Hall of Famer.
Marshall Yanda and Terrell Suggs is Hall of Fame nominees. It's the first I've heard of it. That's the first I heard of it. That's that's awesome. I think that's amazing. I mean, I'm really happy to hear it. This is their year, and I would say that My thoughts are both of those guys should be should be first ballot Hall of Famers. There's no question in my mind that they both deserve that honor and I'll be rooting for him.
John on the offense, you know, you talk to out the other day trying to be you know, disguise thinks your opponents you can rank and so forth. Is there any concern or anything in terms of Puffens's identity.
I know that's achechual hard thing.
To quantify, but I think it's a very good question because when you touch on all those questions, kind of point the fact out that all those things are important, you know, and you try to chase all those different things. I mean, I think in terms of an identity, it's a great question, a great point. You need to establish an identity, you know, for for for each phase and for your football team, and that's established over the course
of a given season. You know, maybe you have established an identity as a as over time, you know, as a type of football you like to play, your organization, what you believe in in your program. That's that's one identity. But other identities are the ones that are are are made with the new team that you're with this year, because every team is a new team. So that's something that every team has got to got to fight to do. And I doubt any team would tell you that they've
established their identity yet after two weeks. But that's some thing we need to do. So, Yeah, you want to have an identity. You want to be known for something. What are you good at? What do they need to stop? What are they saying that they have to defend against you? For your offense. The same time, you don't want to line up and know what you're doing every single play. So both of those values are important. I don't think they contradict each other. I think those are things you have to find.
John. Look at the offense and you guys are top ten and yards at least rushing and passing, But when it comes to scoring on the back end, why do you think is the yardage isn't translating to points.
Well, that's something that we've been looking really hard at. I mean, that's the thing we've been talking to our team about, both in team meetings and in the offensive meetings. And we lead the league in yards, but the points have to come with it, and that's what we're going to chase. We were in that situation last year at one point in time too, if you remember early in the season. So that's something that we have got to translate. The yards into points, and to me, it comes back
to consistency. You know you can gain yards, but then you know you don't aren't consistent enough to finish the drive. So finishing drives, finishing plays, finishing series, really both sides of the ball and on special teams is got to be and always is uh an emphasis.
Ronnie come up a little slowly a couple of times in the game, and it wasn't out here today.
It's anything up.
With him where he's more of a rest that.
Yeah, we're working through that with Ronnie. He will be out there Sunday. I can tell you that. I don't mind telling you that right now. But the injury report will be out and just a little bit. And we had different guys not out there today because I know those questions are coming. We had a few guys with personal issues, you know, family issues, babies and surgeries and
stuff like that with their family. A couple of guys with that, a couple of guys that have some things from the game that you know, we didn't want to practice him today with. So that's that's where we're at. And you'll see the injury report. It's not it's not anything major, right.
What do you think is keeping you guys back from having those explosive plays that you were so good at in the past game, especially last year.
Offense, it's gonna come out of the execution. I mean, you've got to execute across the board. You know, you have you may have a guy open and maybe maybe uh maybe the protection doesn't work as well for you as you need to. So uh maybe maybe the protection works great and things don't work out with the routes. That consistency across the board, you know, kind of clicking on all cylinders is something that's really kind of important
on offense. I mean, you can make broken plays for sure, and our guys have done that and you've seen our team do that before, but chasing that that consistent execution is the thing that leads to those big plays.
What the defense is gonna be the secondary?
What you know, we watched the chaps.
Yeah, I mean it's it's we've had. Did you look at the specific plays We've had a couple of times we didn't play the defense right, as you know, we've had two of those. One was a ten yard game and the other one was a touchdown two weeks ago. And the other stuff is you know, finishing plays, being in good position relative to the receiver, getting guys in the ground, things like that. So we'll keep working on that stuff. Those are all correctable things. That's the thing.
We're gonna chase consistency. But you watch the tape, it's all stuff that we can do better. And our guys are determined to do better. And that's why I keep saying in terms of how you think about things, you know, every day is the beginning. No day is the end until in the case of life, God says at the end, in the case of the National Football League, you know,
football says it's the end. You know, And there'll be a day that we'll all come to our end in our career, and there'll be a day that will all come to our end in our life. But until then, you better be growing, you know. And our team has a growth mindset and I appreciate that about our guys. So we'll continue to improve, continue to get better, continue to chase the details. We can become a better football team.
I think we have a really good history of doing that, and so that's what we work for today out here.
Thanks coach, all right.
Thanks.
We also heard from quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Obviously not at a point where you guys wanted to be at this time and season.
And what do you feel is the mindset of.
This man just let's get one and now, you know, starting the season off slow. But I believe guys in the locker room, we know what we wanna do. You know, when we go out there Sunday and we know we been busting our behinds uh each and every game. It's like we we coming up short. But I feel like we at the end of the day, we beat ourselves in some and somewhat, you know, cause it's penalties killing us. Uh, the Emmys we we doing, you know, even me, you know,
making little miss throlls. We just gotta fix those little things and I feel like we gonna win our games that we supposed to.
Or you said Sunday, think you guys have to find his Mojoe. Yeah, And this is hard because you just talking about, you know, trying to find that offensive identity.
How would you kind.
Of describe where you guys are out in terms of.
That right now?
It's I believe we right there, you know, like I said, it's it's like the small things we messing up man, it's just causing us to lose those It's turned into big things because we're losing our games. But I feel like, you know, the we had one of the best days we done had and in practice, you know, been seasoned today. And it starts in practice. You know, I believe we just keep going on the right track. We gonna come out victorious.
Well what was it about with his team?
Uh in the locker on the field that if you've seen it as you ha gives you believe in your ability to to get out of your treating up set.
Oh, we're not moping around like uh, even though we lost, Like I said, we starting the season off slow. Our guys not like like doubting each other. I was like, oh, man, it's just the reason we lose or this and that. He's like, man, we gotta go out there and get it. You know, we gotta make the fan base happy, gotta make ourselves happy. But it starts in practice.
For the first time, to the AD and T Stadium house specialists for you to go back to the place where you got drafted at twenty eighteen.
Oh, it's definitely special man.
Uh.
Of course T would actually uh today like this's the first time planning in Dallas. I'm like, yeah, you know, we got drafted at twenty eighteen and I was just I I believe the stadium was like kind of new when we got drafted.
I believe.
But it's definitely dope to go back and and take this game and be in Dallas.
I guess next stuff is outside linebacker a da fe Away.
You know, being going to right now on the story early in the season.
But because of that start, do you kind of feel as a.
Team that maybe you're you're a laxer against the wall.
Right now kind of? But uh, you know, it's not like you know, it's not how you begin, it's how you end. So I'm trying to take that perspective on it on it and then just continue to do the little things right and then correct the little things that we're not doing. It will be fine.
It's kind of bittersweet to have a good individual performance. I mean, you had two and a half sacks and other pressures, but not getting the team win. I mean, how do you kind of view that when you come out of a game like that.
Yeah, I mean, selfishly, it sucks. You know, I feel like it would have felt a little bit better, but yeah, I feel like at the end of the day, it's about to win and you know what more you could you have done? I feel like there still plays out there that could have been you know, made you know, change the game to you know, Negate some of those big plays. So you know, it feels good to at least, you know, have a good stat line, but you know there's still more, you know left on the table.
I know, your guy that.
Has always had that kind of blinking yourself and have that kind of performance early on in.
The season, what does it do for you confidence wise? And here on alcohol it's it's it's pretty good. You know, it's I said, it does a lot for my confidence and you know moving forward, and then for a team too, they can rely on me too as well. So it definitely feels good. Uh. I know, there's there's still like a bunch of more games to go a different you know challenges as well. How different teams are gonna start playing, you know now that they see you know, some things
with me and stuff. So I'm just you know, ready for the next you know challenge.
What's kind of come together for you? What do you what do you attribute that to?
You know, just continue to s to keep it on, you know, just staying relentless in the rush and the run, not worrying about you know, people saying stuff like that. But just continue to you know, just work hard, uh, you know, just trusting the process. Cause at the end of the day, it's like one little play, one little thing if someone doesn't do, might change you know, the the play being made or not. So you can't change
what you're doing based on, you know, the results. So I thank god that, you know, the the odds are in my favor, you know, especially last game. I'm gonna keep on, you know, doing what I have to do and hopefully it ends with a win. You know, exactly.
Perspective what changed in the fourth quarter on Sunday. You know, when they you know, they start hitting all those passes. You know maybe maybe event sure you got to out of the pocket a little more. I don't know what was happening.
From from your view, I don't know. I just feel like, uh, we just were messing up in terms of like the little things, in terms of running blitz, right, you know, just doing our job, you know, little miscues. You know, a lot of these losses are you know, self inflicted wounds. So I would say little things like that, not nothing too hard for us to fix, but definitely something that we gotta we gotta get right.
Definitely, How would you describe the reality of.
The dude, you know and walk around the field.
Did you guys going into this game?
Definitely? You know, we obviously we got smacked, you know, so we're we're trying to you know, right right our wrongs, get our pride back. We know we have the city of Baltem on our back. So it's kind of tense in terms of, you know, we do not want to go open three. You know, that's not the going That's not what's gonna happen. So everyone's I think it's pretty focused and understands what we have to do, even if it's not you know, outreally spoken.
Yeah, Okay, Over the last two years, you were very hard on yourself in being so close to so many plays but unable to finish them.
Just satisfying or is it?
Is it satisfying or relieving that you know you've.
Been making plays so far this season?
Is that kind of where your emotion.
Is right now?
Well, you know it's cool. Last I'm I'm saying like I said after the game, like I know, I am, you know, it's just it's a blessing that it's it's been actualized now, so I can't say that, you know, I'm not happy, but I know that there's still another level to go to and there's still even more things I wanna do better. So it's kind of it's kind of selfish, but it's like, I no, I I got more to I can do, so I'm not even I'm not even satisfied, you know.
So does it feel right?
You know, like this is it's felt like this is coming for so long.
Does it feel like all right, this is what it's supposed to feel like and be like.
For me to be honest, not really. I got in. I was just like all right, like I was doing this all practice like so it's like I know the plays. It's just like the fact that I did it. It's just like, Okay, I did it. Now now I want to get more. So it's like just keep on getting more hungry of making more plays and start chasing that rush of you know, making those plays. So it's kind of weird how it felt good, But it feels as good as I wanted to. I want it more.
You know, say, are you guys impressed it all with Annoyd playing the way that he did ten years after?
Yeah, No, he's a tough He's a tough guy. I already knew it. Man, if you're that ugly, you gotta been through a few things. You know how to go through adversity. But nah, nah, man, he's he's a dog man. Yeah, he's a dog. He got two secks. I know his face was hurting. He h powered through it and he even kept me into it in terms of you know, just personvering through little things too. So you know, I give him kudos.
You knows no best better player than Justin medaby K, I.
Would say, I mean, I would say, so, I feel like we gotta wait till after the season. Justin has thirteen pro contacting all that stuff. Now, I'm is just you know we got we got ways after the season. I won't say that.
Yeah about faking how good of you felt? You've talked about David Jabo a lot and everything he's been through, but for him to be healthy gets the sack against Kansas City, I mean, what are you see it from him? And just how happy are you for him?
Knowing how you guys are.
Like I said, I feel real good about him. I've always felt good about you know, what he can be and what he's done. His sack in Kansas City was just like a tip on tip on the iceberg. He has so much more moves and like he's just getting more confident within his body and within the flow of the game. And you guys gonna see even crazier, more big plays because he has that like big play trading him so and that's all he wants to make that play, that strip sat you know that that you know, fumble
something like that. So I look forward to see what he can do than appreciate that.
In the locker room today we heard from tight end Mark Andrews.
I think guys were really disciplined today, focused on point. And that's the type of guys. We have a bunch of fighters, a bunch of resilient men that are are willing to fight for for for this team, for each other. And I'm excited to play this next game.
I mean it's only week three.
I mean we've got you know, months months of football left. But what are the stakes this earlier this season when you're in a you know, owing super Bowl.
It's really it's really, you know, our mindset hasn't changed trying to become the best team that we can. And the beauty about you know, having lost two games is we're able to to to really dial that dial in and and figure out, you know, where we're losing at, what do we need to work on and and how to improve and and you know, we've been able to see that we've been harping ourselves, looking ourselves in the mirror,
and I think it's going to show going forward. Mark, every game is different, but the oh and two in those games, what are you seeing as the biggest common nominal maybea of why you feel like you guys aren't playing the way you want to. It's a good question, but I mean there's a lot of different there's a lot of different individual plays, individual mistakes.
You know.
I think I think everybody has a role in it. And I think that that's the beauty of football is that is that we all have a part to take in this. We're all together, and if we just continue to be together, continue to be on the same page, continue to work. We've got the group of men, the players to to turn this oh and two start and making something legendary.
Parks the challenge of of you or two of the offense, and you guys are been using some different personal pack just compared to the after year and so forth. Just percentage rise. Does it feel like you guys that are still trying to find the identity that you ultimately want?
I guess uh, yeah, you know, I've been hearing the you know, finding your identity a lot in the last I guess days or so. But you know, if you really look back to even last year, you know, we didn't start in here as stride until you know, maybe London or after London, and and so that just takes time. I don't think anybody at this stage in the NFL is like, you know, hitting their stride. So for us, it's just getting better.
Uh.
And we are you know, fine tuning, tweaking and getting better within ourselves, within our system. And uh, we will continue to do that and continue to be efficient, continue to be on the same page and you know, be the best football team, but the best offense that we can be, and we will be.
Mark.
You guys have been able to move the ball. You have the yard is going to be to support the points of or is kind of where you guys are struggling at scoring touchdowns. Do you are you seeing things as to why maybe you aren't finishing drives the way you have in the panals.
Football is a game of a bunch of different variables, So I mean, you can look at it, but I just think for us, it's like I said before, it's it's being on the same page, doing the right things, not making mistakes, not hurting ourselves. And you know, I think we're all committed to to help change these facts and score and keep the ball and help the defense out and do everything we can.
So yeah, we also heard from wide receiver Zay Flowers it's like, how would you uh kind of describe the mentality of this team at this point and going into this game.
You know it's only week too, so we're just want to go out and play our game, go try to get the try to get a win.
And the players will talk about how this is a resilient group, resilient locker room. What have you seen from the guys in this locker them and gives you confidence about where the team goes you're game.
I mean, I know these guys in his locker room, most of them was here last year with us, so I know how we play and I know what type of team we got, So I ain't gonna let the first two games determine our oh season.
You know, there's been a lot of made about what's the offensive identity of this team? Does it feel like year two that you guys are still trying to know it's early in the season, still trying to sort of figure things out in terms of those addressments.
There's only week two, so I said, we still getting the rhythms, So I ain't gonna say what type of identity it was like, I feel like we could do both running past. So once we get our connections together, once everything started clicking how we want, then I think we'll be alright.
Say what's Lamar's message the last a couple of days and what describe his leadership the last a couple of days?
Uh, everybody got the same message. Go in, go, g go, get on the same page. Everybody play together and play our football.
Well, why do you feel like say it was the best practice you guys have had all year?
That's what Lamar called it. More communication, more people just being truthful with each other, and we gotta start having mistakes. Yeah, I feel like we not losing the game. I feel like we beating ourselves. So once we start doing that, then we'll be alright.
Why do you think that's got any case?
I don't know, probably turnover flags, you know, stuff like that. That's how you beat yourself.
You're listening to the Ravens Press Pass podcast. Also make sure you head over to the Lounge podcast feed. We sat down with Mark Andrews this week for an interesting conversation about this season and where the Ravens go from here. That episode drops Thursday morning, so make sure you check that out and subscribe to this feed as well as the Lounge Feed. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back with you tomorrow