Welcome into Ravens Press Pass. Today you'll hear from head coach John Harball following the Ravens twenty four to sixteen win over the Tennessee Titans in London. Here's Coach Harball.
Okay, good to see everybody here. Appreciate that. I not some journalists aren't here. They're probably traveling back from London. So we appreciate those that were there and appreciate you guys back here for being here. First of all, just congrats to our players and our coaches for a great win. It's a tough win over there against a very good football team, but our guys got the job done. I'm
proud of them for that. To the fans that were there, there was a lot of great fans in London, Ravens fans from really all over the world, and a lot from Baltimore too. I can't tell you how many fans after the game we saw and they're like from Baltimore, coaching from Baltimore, you know, and they were excited so and also fans from different places. It's really cool to see how many Ravens fans are all over the world.
It was exciting. And then a salute to our staff, Simon Keith, people that you don't even know that just did such a great job, Joan Megan, all the different people that did such an amazing job to make the trip out there as best as it could be for the players and the coaches to focus on football and
getting ready to play the game. So I'm just really happy about that, and for Steve Bashatti Steven Renee both for what they do for us in terms of doing everything first class so we can do things in a way that just gives us the best chance to be as good as we can possibly be. So it really shows up on a trip like that with that, what questions you have.
John, You just acknowledged all the work that goes into that trip, and there's so much discussion about going earlier, going later in the week.
But the other side of that, you know, for the most.
Part, over the years, teams have generally had their buy with some exceptions including you six years ago. What do you do different only this week, if anything, to try to get guys reactivated to be back in the Eastern time.
Well, you know, that's a great question. I don't really know that we have any definitive like science on that, but we're going to just get back to business as usual. We're going to try to get back on our schedule. I think coming this way is kind of a good thing. You're used to getting up, you know, because you're ahead of time there. So we'll be back at it tomorrow afternoon with our guys doing what we do. They're going to get a chance to sleep all day to day.
If they want, they'll go to good Night's Rest tonight. They don't have to come until till twelve fifteen on Tuesday, and then we'll be pointed towards the Lions.
There's been a lot of interest among your fans about the adjection call on Kyle, you know, kind of wondering what the standard is. I guess is that something that you've given more thought to, or is this something you canna lost the league about? Kind of where are you going to?
Well, yeah, I mean she certainly will ask the league about it, because you just want to understand what the parameters are I think really based you generally, it was definitely a flaggable penalty, no doubt about that. It was helmet the helmet. The one thing I do know is that Kyle certainly didn't intend to do that. He was coming over trying to play the ball and their helmets hit, you know, so and it was forcible, so it should
have been flagged. Beyond that, it's really a judgment call, whether the officials on the field make it or whether it goes back to New York, which is my understanding it did in that particular case. It's a judgment call on their part and they make it and you just you just live with it. That's what it is. So they'll explain it to us, I'm sure, and they had their reasons for doing it, and that's the way it went, and we accept that.
I don't think to go back to December of twenty twenty, you guys fast.
Basically cut too snow and now it's become a huge part of this defense.
How has he changed from that player to this point.
Well, it was kind of a numbers game at the time. We still liked him at the time, and then we brought him back right away, you know, and he came available again. So I don't think it was ever a thing that we didn't like Gino. But he's definitely a developed into a heck of a player. You know, he's grown so much bo since those days and he was he was a good player then, but man, he's just
getting his opportunity. I think it's a good example of someone that you know, takes care of the details on a day to day basis, comes to work every day, does his best, you know, doesn't doesn't complain, doesn't get all caught up in things. Why is this not happening
for me? Or that's not happening for me. Then when his opportunity comes, he's prepared and he make the most of it, you know, And that's something that you just it's just great to see and it's a good lesson I think for young people, you know, if they're going to watch it. I want to be great at something. I want to be a pro football player. Watch Geno Stone and what he's been doing with Gino.
Is it just about him having a patient and patients and now his opportunity as them or does he does something differently recently that's who you not step into the role.
But it's a great question more than just patience. Patience, Yeah, sure, it's part of it because understanding that you don't determine when the opportunity comes, but the fact that you do determine what you do to be prepared for the opportunity when it comes. And what he's done every single day, which is work as hard as he can, be coachable and be his best one day at a time. Then when the chance came, he was ready for it.
Have you got to send?
So Marcus Williams with a hamstring, if it's gonna be something that's gonna keep him out a little while. And and I guess just for him, I'm disappointing, you know, because he's already deal with the peg to work his way back to.
That and dealing with this. Yeah, it's for Marcus, you know, it's challenging. It's kind of like it's how it goes sometimes. And it was he was trying to block on the return the Gino's interception return and got kind of hit sort of from behind it on the side, and that's kind of made the hamstring string not a long term hamstring, But hamstrings are finicky. So it's not gonna be a couple of days. It might be. It's gonna be week
to week probably. I think he's gonna be real iffy for this week and then after that we'll see where it goes.
Regarding not of you talked about getting back to business usual. What went into that decision originally to do not have the byway after this.
Intercon Yeah, well it's not our choice. I legal. The way it works is they'll call every team and say, hey, these are the options that you guys might be looking at. You know, what would you prefer? Not we can't get guarantee anything, but what would you kind of rather prefer? Would you want in this case early buy or late by? And so it's not really decision that we make so much. It's like, would you rather I'm not we didn't really want to have a buye too early, but they gave
us the late bye. It was in an early game in London, So it's just the way work. We liked the later by the early game in London is what it is. We're playing the lines. It just turns out, you know, arguably the best team in the NFC right now playing great football, and so that's where we're at.
You talked yesterday about how to be more efficient in the red zone. Probably the quickest path to that is to be more efficient in the running game.
Especially on the power runs.
When you looked at the tip of the game, did you see a pattern to why I think it didn't work as well in the situations or I don't know, Yeah, I.
Mean, I don't know if there's any one theme. It's always little things here and there. But you know, we were running into some big fronts there, you know what I mean, We try to spread them out. They didn't cooperate quite as much in terms of spreading out, and then we didn't. You know, they did a good job. They're a very good front. I mean, they've got some very physical players. The whole game was like that. They are a physical, tough run defense. We're going to see
as or more this week against Alliance. So we're gonna have to do a great job of game planning all across the field, red zone, outside the red zone, run pass, run, pass options, play action, all that stuff is gonna have to be really well organized, and we're gonna have to be prepared because we're going against just as good a defense,
are better, So it's part of that. We've got to do a great job of game planning down there and setting up the plays in a way that we can try to find some advantage just for ourselves.
John the as much has been really consistent really all here's one I think you seek too. Why you think that is as an hand spot of fact, they got to getting it from a lot of different people.
Yeah, probably, Cliff, It is probably because it's a lot of different people. You know, we are we're getting a pass rush production from everybody. It was a lot of times it was it was pressures early, which I think you'd mentioned a couple of times. Now it's pressures and sacks. We're starting. The sacks are starting to fall in place, and I think we've spent spoken about that in terms of they come in bunches sometimes, so we want to keep the sacks coming. They did a great job yesterday
morning in terms of finishing off those sacks. You know, getting the quarterback on the ground is kind of the last straw. And even when the quarterback broke out a couple times, whichever quarterback it was, Tannehill or Willis, our guys were able to chase him down. So that's what you want.
Have you been able to get any other updates on that, any of the guys if you left the game, like.
Urban or Samoa, Yeah, Urban is uh had some stinger issues, so they'll be looking at those today. Who else Seymour and her like Seymour don't know too much more about. Uh, it's not gonna be overly serious. I don't think Harrison Malik concussion protocol. He's clearing very quickly on.
That related to the age rushings and if you rest over when to apologize.
But is there an update on Tyer Kaser?
Is his availability in or away?
Always looking close a job will give you, gave you some information, so I feel more free to kind of comment on that. But he's decided on that he's going to get himself back from the high ankle sprain and he had like a sprain knee, I would say, so he's he's going to be in the neighborhood here in the next few weeks, Uh, Tias. I'm gonna let Tias
comment on that, you know. So that's that's gotten a little more complicated over the last couple of weeks and really not really liberty to talk about it right now. But at some point in time, I'm sure we'll have an announcement on that one way or another. He's got to make some choices and decisions.
Let's you talk a lot about guys, would maybe the most of the opportunities.
Lately, just In that day one of those guys, Well, what do you see from him that it has allowed to live now?
Kind of like Gino, you know, I just think Justin is just very determined guy. And all he does is come to work every day and work as hard as he possibly can go along with this amazing amount of talent that he has. His motor runs runs hot all the time. He just plays so hard, he's so physical and uh, you know, then all of a sudden boom, a few plays happened. You start to notice some more. But he's been playing like that all season. Is there anything about the US he missed.
During your week?
You, Jerry, I missed you? Where were you? You weren't there? The King was asking about you. The food The food was good, I tell you. Sarah Snyder and our people did a great job with their people and they were they were It was great.
Challenge you like, I know, Keith Mitchell played special teams, which what does it work him into the rotation with Gus and Justice Hill over.
The next couple of weeks. Understandings and Muni still yeah, absolutely absolutely, and he's he's going to be active now. Possibly he's got to earn it every week, sure, but he played well on special teams and he's done a good job in practice on offense the last two weeks. So uh, I'm sure that Todd will be looking for opportunities to get him involved.
Don't even been able to watch over the last all your travels, but did you see anything particular in the red zone situations that maybe the Titans did to uh there?
Uh, yeah, watched it all obviously, some of it last night on the plane we had a long flight, and then and then some of it this morning. There are no they didn't do anything different, if that's what you're asking. They ran their defense and uh, and it's a good it's a good red zone defense. Uh. We just didn't get it done, you know. And I would I say, coaches and players together. Uh, we've got to do a better job of game planning, a better job of executing,
you know, and we can do it. I mean we've you know, we've had great success in the red zone and then we have had now we've kind of had a drought here. So it's a long season. We're capable of being great in the red zone, and I'm sure we're gonna have a lot of success going forward, but we've got to find it, we've got to make it happen.
Now you're done in the whole experience, do you feel like get paid off to take a completely different approach to going to London?
The semi did produce the.
Result that you want to produce.
Yeah, Yeah, wisdom is in the results, right, I mean, that's part of it. But I also feel like, to really answer your question is yeah, I think it helped us. I think it helped to be out there, to get acclimated, to get the bodies right. I mean, he's I think people go to the Olympics, right, and the Olympics are somewhere on the other side of the world. They don't go out there two days before the game. So I think, just looking back on it hindsight, it was the right
thing to do. The next time we go, I think we'll probably do the same thing.
John, you haven't played at home game, I mean in four weeks, and I mean it doesn't that longs to be longer, and how much you're looking forward to not getting on a plane.
For a game of the year. You know, it doesn't really feel anything as far as like it's a great question because you just you just kind of take it as it comes there. I know our guys are gonna be excited to be at home, that's for sure. Our fans, uh will be excited. I think for us to be at home, they'll be in the stadium going crazy. I
know the Lions have been traveling really well. I think they've been filling up stadiums, so hopefully they don't fill up our stadium, you know, but it really doesn't matter. I mean, our our our fans are going to be loud, and they're gonna be into it. They're gonna be enthusiastic, and uh, our guys are gonna be excited to play in front of our fans. I can tell you that you want to do a lot.
Of teams that Walsh second teams in due to last Mini cakes missing.
How great is he to have.
A Justin Tucker to full back on?
Well, there's nothing better in the kicking world than having Justin Tucker as your kicker in American football. I can tell you that it's the best thing. And he's the best kicker, so yeah, we uh we do take him for granted sometimes, uh, and he's not. You know, he'll be the first to tell you he's not perfect, but he's close to it. So he had he had a great game.
At the end of the half, you're up it against the long field goal, and then of course they fall hold in delhis com But what are the decisions to say, We're not.
Going to talk around that one. Well, as far as the field goal, part of it was that it was kind of a three prong decision. The field goal part of it was it was too far. It was just too the turf wasn't that it was a little bit looser turf footing. Chances of making that were really really nil, I mean honestly. So the next thought would have been run the clock down to a certain number, which is where about where it was, and go for it on
fourth down. The idea being we can complete a pass, but we gotta we got to get you know, we got to get out of bounds, get the time. I don't think we do. We have a timeout, I can't remember. I don't think we did. So you're basically going for like a free play. You get a pass interference, you catch the ball and run out of bounds.
Uh.
We talked about that. That would have been the aggressive play. I decided against that just because I felt like, okay, but if it doesn't work and you don't convert, now they have the same opportunity going the other way. They get a pass, you get a pass in afferance, or they complete went out of bounds, and now they kicked the field goal. And I just wasn't willing to risk that, you know the fact that as well as we'd played, we hadn't put as many points up as we were
capable of putting up. And I didn't want to give them a free opportunity at three points. So I made a conservative decision to do it. And then it worked out, you know, agressively for us, because our punt team did such a great job. I mean great punt, a great punt, and a great coverage and then del Sean getting his first ever Fumbel recovery. It's set up three points.
John talked a lot about this week two week league. Here he saw that this specifically undefeated forty nine ers lose to the rounds the back of the quarterback and see the Eagles lose him against a quote unquote inferior pumpy. Can you just talk about how hard it is to win in this league and how on you have to be as a staff and as players.
Well, you just said it. I mean, I think what you said is exactly right, because the margin is not as great as it appears, or as great as it kind of the media naturally, we all portray it because of outcomes. The margin is very thin in this league. It's razor thin. Everybody is right around five hundred or just above five hundred, just below five hundred in terms of talent ability and coaching and all that other kinds
of stuff. So the difference is week to week. It's your ability to you know, persist overcome, come up with a good game plan, execute the game plan, and then really make plays, make plays that win games and critical situations. And that's who ends up ends up winning the game. So you know, great players make great plays. So you see quarterbacks and things like that, Guys like Lamar and Holmes and those guys can make the difference in games. But you know, I to look at Houston. We talked
about them. I think everybody's saying, well, they didn't think Houston was a great team after we beat them in the opener, and I think I said, wats They're gonna win a bunch of games this year. Right because you watched them and you knew they were going to be a good team. So that's the greatness of the NFL, I think.
Thank you for listening. Make sure you're subscribed, leave a rating and review. Go check out the Lounge podcast where Me, Ryan and Garrett Downing give our instant reaction to the Ravens big win abroad. Thanks for listening and we'll be back with you on Wednesday.