Season Review With John Harbaugh & Eric DeCosta

season to come. So I just want to welcome everybody here, really appreciate everybody coming out. Eric and I are we're looking forward to doing this and kind of start off the twenty twenty three season in terms of what our

hopes are, our vision, where we're planning on going. And with that, I think every ending is a beginning, and where we leave off from the twenty twenty two season and where we begin in twenty twenty three season is really right now, and we've had an opportunity to talk a little bit, and there's a lot of things going on where things are moving fast, as you all know. But the thing that I feel, I know Eric feels

the same way. I feel great excitement and great hope for what we're what we're heading into, for the challenges in front of us and the opportunities in front of us, because we have a really good football team and we're a kind of on a curve of building this football team right now. We have been on it for about three years, i'd say, and putting this thing together, and

you can see the pieces coming together. You can see it coming together on the field in terms of scheme and process, personnel in coaching, and a lot of hard work has gone into it, and I think it's starting to become apparent where we're going. So I'm really excited about it. Eric's excited about it, and we're excited for

whatever questions you might have. So with that, Eric, yeah, I think it was a you know, certainly a disappointing ending to a season, a long season with a lot of different challenges, But we're also excited by I think the potential of the off season everything that goes along with that, the draft, free agency, it's my favorite time a year. We're excited to start up negotiations again with

Lamar Jackson. We're excited to attack this roster to make it the very best it can be in the hopes that, you know, we'll be a championship team at some point. And I want to thank John and the coaches and the players for all the work they did this offseason. We overcame a lot of different adversities along the way. Very proud of the team. It wasn't the ending that we wanted, but as John alluded to, I think we're

on the right path. You mention, what is your confidence level one getting the chief, Well, it certainly takes two to tango. But I think Lamar and I have a great relationship. I think we communicate quite often. We spent some time together today. As a matter of fact, we've spoken throughout the season multiple times. And you know, these negotiations, Jamison, they all happened differently. You know, Ronnie Stanley's contract about a year and a half. Mark Andrews contract took probably

three or four days. You know, we did Roquin's contract over the span of six days, over the course of one month, basically is what we did. So they happen in different ways. UM, I wouldn't characterize the percentages of getting any deal done or how long it's going to take, except to say that we'll communicate effectively, we'll be as fair as we can be, and we'll try to hammer out a deal and hopefully we can get to that point of this team for years to come. Is that

as much the case today as it was said? One hundred percent? You know, two hundred percent, There's no question about it. Uh, Lamar Lamar Jackson is our quarterback. I mean he's been our quarterback. Everything we've done in terms of building our offense and building our team, how we think in terms of people and put people around them, is based on this incredible young man in his talent,

his ability, and his competitiveness. You know, he and I were talking today too, and the things about Lamar that to me stands out. He's an incredible competitor. I mean, Lamar Jackson, all he wants to do is win at everything he does. You know. Yeah, he's got a lot of talent, he's a very bright guy, he's got a big heart. But he's just a massive competitor. And that's the kind of guys we want to build this team around. Guys that love football and guys that love to compete. So, uh,

that's not hasn't changed, it will never change. You know, we I've loved Lamar, Eric loves Lamar, and it's not going to change in the future. So you know, I don't know anything about the details of the whole thing, but I know one thing. I'm like all the fans out there and everybody else. You know, I'll have my fingers crossed and my toast cross and I'll be saying prayers and I have every faith that's going to get done. And uh, and we've got the best people in the

world doing it. I mean, Eric de Costa is nobody better. And Eric wants him here, I want him here, Steve wants him here, and Lamar wants to be here. So it's gonna work out it exactly. I just can't see that forty five minute Peloton workout not to do an advertisement for Peloton. But it's no joke. Yeah I did, I did already. Yeah, thanks, uh, thanks for pointing that out. You know who else who else but VITTI you know, um, of course, I mean, you know, Greg and I spent hours,

you know, talking about this. You know, in the last couple of days, let alone. You know, every day when you're together for four years. You know, the challenges that Eric's talking about Uh, you become really close you know, as coaches and scouts, and uh, this is something that you know, is something I think is is good. You know, it's an opportunity for him, uh to move in some directions. With the things he accomplished here, we're kind of we're

pretty historical. You know, they're they're a record set here you know in the National Football League. They're gonna stand for a long long time. So uh, you know, we're all really proud of those things. And and Greg's a great coach and he did the best he could every single week, every single day. Great family, Uh, you know, another great competitor. So you know, I I you know, I leave, I leave. We leave that era kind of, you know, we're move into the next era now in

terms of our offense. And uh and I did I did ask Lamar about it, you know, and he will be involved in it, you know. I'll keep him abreast of what's going on, and I'm sure he'll have some input along the way. But I know his focus, like he told me, he's gonna be on getting himself ready and getting his guys ready, you know, for next season.

Concerning the business side of Lamar and all the different tag all those different things that you know, is there some concern as far as attracting an outside person Robin's coordinator knowing that there is uncertainty with his short term at all in terms that you know, I think that's a great question, Luke, and I would say I would say my my answer would be, no way. This is going to be a highly sought after job. This is one of the top football coaching jobs in the world.

Everybody's gonna want this job. So I'm looking forward to getting started, and we're gonna have won't just be me, you know, It'll be other coaches and scouts involved in it. And we're gonna cast a wide net and we're gonna look far and wide and close, you know, and and we'll get the best fit for what we try to accomplish. And it's going to be a highly qualified candidate turned to the wide receiver position. The production wasn't I'm so what you guys wanted to be in even a target

U see the last few all seasons. Do you plan to change your approach in terms of how you go out killing that position? Well, it's certainly something we're gonna look at, you know, obviously, Uh, this season didn't end up the way we wanted it too. We had some injuries obviously with Bait and with Devin. Um. You know, Uh, we traded Hollywood last year, so we definitely took on

some water this year at that position. We'll continue to look at that, you know, via free agency in the draft, and our role is really just to find the best guys that fit our situation. And you know, we hear the fans, We hear you guys with the questions. Um, certainly, our goal is to build the very best team we can build. And you know, last year one of our key i think missions was to build the offensive lineback and we feel excited about that and the way that

we're able to do that in different ways. We think we're very very close to building a championship team and everything that goes with that, and so we'll do that. We'll do that this offseason, um, you know, and that'll be through the draft, through free agency, potential trades and things like that. But we will build the best team we can to compete every single week. I'm talking about talking about the extension. We're talking Mr Jacks on extension possibility.

If it doesn't happen to find the tag that on end you tag them. Are you willing to entertain trade offers about Lamar Jack? You know that's something that we're not going to talk about it at this point. Um. I talked to Lamar to day, as I said, and our focus right now is really to get a long term deal done. That's our singular focus at this point. It's gonna take some time, it's gonna take some effort,

it's gonna take great communication, give and take. But I'm confident that we'll be on the right path to get that done. And five picks up, D is that challenge for You're gonna try and helate more sort of we're going to you know, every draft is different. I mean, ultimately we'd love to have more picks. I think most years we do. UM. Sometimes what we find is if you have too many picks over three or four years span, it's hard for all those guys to make the team

and contribute. And I go back, you know, it was a draft many years ago. I think Ozzie had four picks. One of our best drafts, Um, I think we took uh. It might have been a callister Brandon Stokely Van Mulitalo, and it was one other guy, I think Jamison you might know. It was a hell of a draft. It was a hell of a draft. Every single guy contributed right away. And so my goal, my mentalities, take every one of those picks this year and nail every single

one of those picks a year. Getting hurts your conversation the relationships players point, Yeah, yeah, I think it's It's interesting. Our relationship with Lamar, I think is fantastic. Every single day. Now you can say, well, what's it like negotiating that's a challenge, you know, because that's a business relationship and there's you know, anytime you negotiate with anybody, it's not

always going to be an easy conversation to have. But that doesn't affect our feelings for each other, or John's feelings for Lamar, the organization's feelings for Lamar every single day, how his teammates team We all understand it's a business transaction. That's the challenge really for a player to represent himself, I think, and we have to keep those two personalities separate. The Lamar Jackson the agent versus Lamar Jackson the player.

The player is somebody who I hold in extremely high regard, and you know, he's a fantastic competitor, one of the most infectious personalities you'll ever see, one of the most talented players in the league, a truly wonderful person in the community and everything else that he does. So that hasn't changed. That won't change. We'll get put our heads together,

we'll negotiate a contract. I told Lamar that, hey, this thing has been a burden for both of us, and I said, you know, but when this thing is over, we are going to feel like a million bucks. And that's truly how I feel. There. You go, how much has the more expressed a desire for a fully year indeed contract, and this is the organization willing to put

that on the table for it. So I told you guys last year that, you know, I was willing to talk about the negotiation, but I can't talk about the negotiation, and so that type of question really is not something I would talk about. I'm actually really sort of proud of the fact that for the last year, most details

regarding the negotiation have not come out. There's been little pieces out there that the NFLPA has put out at one point last year, but other than that, you know, I think our conversations in our negotiations have been very very private, and that's a very satisfying thing for Lamar and me as well. And so I'm not going to get into all the specifics of different things and you know, what we're looking to do and what he's looking for in all those types of that would be kind of

productive and that would hurt out a negotiation. It's time for about sure, Pete. Yeah, I mean I can't. I'm not gonna be able to take you through every every step of the way because it's this ongoing process. I mean, we're talking every day throughout the season, you know, and

these conversations are going on consistently and constantly. So I think just after the season Monday, we talked, Tuesday, we talk, Wednesday, we talk, you know, and they're just hours of conversations at Delvin, all kinds of different things, directions, and we're talking families, we're talking our kids, you know, we're talking the team, we're talking the plays in the game. You know,

we're talking about everything. And I think just through all that, you know, really a couple of you know, we're partners, but we're also friends, and um, it just worked its way into that place where you know, I think he felt like that was the best and we felt like that was the best too, and we just understood where

we were at. John a two part question about one we interview internal and external candidates, and the second part is has the philosophy of the offense and in your mind your vision for how do you want this to offense to look? Given Lamar now has several years under his belt, has that changed all that? Will that impact the kind of offensive coordinatory you hire? Yeah, that's a

great question. The first part again was the interview, right, we will, Yes, we'll interview internally and externally in terms of the vision for the offense. The identity of the offense is what is important in that vision. And we've established an identity for our offense. I think everybody knows that it plays against us and watches us play. That's important. That's a good identity. That's an identity that we're going

to carry forward. I think it speaks well the organization in the city, kind of what we're all about within that, the schemes that you run, the formations, the type of players you put out there, that's all kind of methodology and you kind of work through that as you go, so I'll be looking to explore into that some more too. You know, what kind of ideas come up in these interviews,

you know, what kind of ideas do guys have. How can they merge you know, their thoughts and their vision for for this offense with what's been done here in the past too, and how does it all fit together with the players? You know those all the questions you ask. So I think nothing set in stone, nothing ever stays the same, you know, everything changes, everything evolves. You got to keep it moving, you know. So we'll definitely keep it moving in ways that fit the players that we have.

And but it's definitely be within the identity you know that we have for our offense brings anything you know, for you and you know the office guys, it's not there and when he shows up, you know right well, I mean there's no guarantee all go that way, So I think you cross those bridges when you get there, for sure. It's a great question. It's definitely, it's definitely there's a history of that with guys that are given the tag. But Lamar is a unique guy too. You know,

Lamar doesn't always he's not. He's not beating to everybody's drum. You know. He does he does his own thing the way he wants to do it. So those things will all come down the road as they common will. We'll adjust and adapt as we as we face him. Eric, if you do put the franchise tag on Lamar forty five million dollars, how much would the impact with Drey would do free agency wary Well. I mean, any any deal with Lamar is going to affect the salary cap.

Whether we get along term deal done or we do a exclusive franchise or the traditional franchise, it's going to affect the cap. I mean, those are big, big numbers. We're fortunate. I think that we have a better salary cap than most um. You know, we have a lot more room than most teams do, which was by design

three or four years ago. You know. I think one of the things that we saw years ago with with Joe, as when we had to do Joe's deal, we didn't have enough for room to franchise Joe back then, so

we kind of planned accordingly. We have a lot of salary cap room that we can use, so that creates some aspect of flexibility with us contract wise and also franchise wise as well, gives us a different couple different options regardless, it's it's not going to be a situation where the you know, the market's open and we're just going and signing guys left and right. That's not going to happen in any way. There's really no scenario that's probably going to be the case. We'll be selective, we'll

be targeted. We'll find guys like we always do that we think can build this team and help us be the best we can be. Eric Lamar and Roquan situations of different but considerment, and neither of them necessarily have an agent. Do you feel like getting a deal done with Roquon will help you in terms of just your own tactics and your own strategy in terms of getting a deal done tomorrow. You know, everybody has their own style and everybody has their own strategy that they're looking for.

So the only you know, potential advantage maybe that you know we got from getting Roquon's deal, as you guys have all written about, as we have a franchise tag that we can use and we can keep both players if we want to. I mean that's basically how it factors in. But Lamar has his own style of negotiation and what he's looking for in his own personality. Um and Roquan had his own personality and style and what

he was looking for. Totally different animals. Um. I was very happy to get Roquan done, and I'll be even more happy when we get Lamar done. Yeah, John and JK. Dobbins was pretty frustration following the last game. Uh do you hear that? Do you have you spoken with him? And what are your thoughts about him coming as he did? Right? Yeah? No, I we talked Monday morning and uh, he happened to be at breakfast. I happened to walk in and saw him.

So I sat down with him, you know, and we had a good talk and uh, you know, he made it very clear to me, you know, what he meant, you know, in terms of that versus kind of the way it came out and where he's coming from in the heat of battle and all that. So I was real good with that conversation and what he told me. There's another guys usually that potentially are retiring, like a Kalis Campbell, just you have you haven't talked to you

about what shortly wanting to come back? Would you welcome to the Magic So well, I did meet with both guys. I would probably keep those conversations private, you know, out of respect for those guys, um. But you know, actually, for whatever reason, I met with over twenty players this year, so I had a long day. Normally it's usually like five or six m I think John was trying to create some time for himself and he would send some guys over to me. But uh, you know, they were

really really good conversations. I enjoyed my time with the team this week. Um. I did speak with Klis and just in a lot of respect for both those guys the way they played this year and just their whole career, really in the respect that they command in the locker room and on the field. So you know, those are the kind of guys you want to have on your team, those veteran presences who play well and really back it up by how they play, and uh, you know, those

are the kind of guys you want to add. Are you sure what you are with? Marcus Peters is come a previous cornerback. In general, we clearly would feel pretty good about Marland, but after that seems like there's a question. Yeah, well crazy respect from Marcus, one of my favorite guys on the team, you know, tremendous competitor, and at some point Marcus and I'll probably speak, and his agent, Doug Hendrickson's one of the best in the business as well.

Regarding the corner position, you know, we're a team that always feels like you can never have enough good corners, so I would expect that at some point in free agency and or the draft, we'll try to augment that position. I think we've got some good, young, promising players for sure, Jalen Arma Davis. We drafted Pepe this year as well.

Both of those guys we think hep bright futures. Brandon Stevens was playing his best football I think late in the year, and we're excited about his progression and growth as well. And you know, we had some other guys this year that stepped up too as well. Daryl Worley is a guy that played well. He's a free agent. Keevan Seymour, Um, you know, Kyle Fuller, a free agent.

Um played really well Week one before his knee injury. Unfortunately, Um, there's always the potential that some of those guys could return as well. Anticipated Patrick, we'll keeping him the club. Yeah, we were really excited by the way Patrick played this year. Um, we think he made a jump. He showed uh, playmaking ability, leadership, He just really really, over the course of the season,

became the player that we kind of envisioned him being. UM. Specifically speaking to the fifth year option, UM, you know, I'm probably not prepared to make that announcement at this point. Um, does it make it difficult to sign him long term? If he's a great player, We'll find a way to make it work. If he's playing at a high level. We want to keep as many good players as we can, so I would never rule out right now, Uh signing a player two years from now potentially, Um, he's a

good player. I think we've got the best two young inside linebackers, the combo, the tandem. It's exciting in football, and they make our defense a problem for other teams and something that is going to cause a lot of teams problems, you know, moving forward. So you know, I think we're in a great position there. I think our defense is exciting and uh, we can't wait to see him next year. Exclusive, non exclusive. I think it comes to that having been a decision whether you would put

the noon. Have we made a decision? Have I made a decision? I've thought about it every day. Um, but I'll be honest Jamison, you know we don't have to make that decision for whatever it is. Six weeks maybe I don't even maybe two months, six weeks, I guess. And um, you know we're going to be going down to Florida at some point with Steve. Have our conversations like we always do. We talk about a lot of different things that will probably be something. We talk about

the risk reward, the strategies and all that. I'm whole full, you know. I would love to be able to go down and not have to talk about Lamar Jackson because we got a deal done. But no matter what, we will have a planet players like we always do. We've been down this road before in different ways but different players. Hey, we'll do what we think is best for the club. Yeah. Obviously, when you get a new or from quarter, sometimes bring

some long guys or yeah, set up. Has there been any and there don't spend any changes right now that you know on your offensive defensive coaching staff? Yeah, No, this just happened with Greg in the last day. So no, we haven't thought about that too much. But off the top of my head, no, it's not something that we're planning on doing, but guys get opportunities. Things happen. That's never predictable. We'll see where it goes. It was a little challenge at the beginning of the season, but the

way he ends up, he's saying, oh, how confident. Maybe, Well, you know, I Mike McDonald. I've known Mike a long time because he was here for seven years, you know, so pretty much we all had a really good, uh feel for what what Mike was going to do and how he's going to go buy his business. So I thought he's been great since the first day he got here.

And uh, it was very clear in terms of what we were trying to accomplish with our defense, in terms of building a certain visions and a certain scheme set into into our structure and teaching the guys and training the guys how to do it. And you saw it evolved throughout the course of the season, you know, as we were growing as a defense and guys were beginning to understand better and better what we're trying to do

and and we're just beginning with that. I mean, there's a lot of things we can we can still build into the defense that we'll be able to do now we're going into our second year. So uh, Mike did a great job. All the coaches on defense did a great job of growing the defense. And I'm looking forward to what we're going to build into going forward. This is the thing year growing out time for the year that could becoming trading And I guess, how do you

guys go out insulting intuition that? Yeah, I mean that's kind of your your last probably sentences is the point of the whole thing. You do the best you can. But not I'll anticipate just being any kind of a trend. I mean, Lamar, I don't believe as a guy that you know, is going to have those issues going forward. You can't think that. And really it's just football, you know, those are both those plays the last two years are kind of freaky plays that happen. They can happen. So

Lamar is a very he's a very durable player. I know that people might take issue with that, you know, I get it, but I don't believe that there's gonna be a problem going for because I know how hard he's gonna work. You know, Lamar Jackson works hard. I mean he's whether it's in the weight room, on the field, running in the classroom. Lamar is all football. You know, he works really hard at it. And that's really what

you do. You work hard, you get yourself in great shape, you go play the game the way you play it. And that's what he'll do next year. Players can position in the last two or three years. It's Lamar Andrews, how difficult has been to integrate any new players a complex offense and you planned to pass and continutely future, especially when you're looking for the court. Right. That's a

good question. I mean, you're right about that, and that's a challenge and I think I think those challenges came up, you know, during the course of this season. And if you if you look at the tape or you look at the plays themselves, and some of the things that we had a lot of great plays, but we also had some we had mistakes. You know, we had things that weren't executed the way they were drawn up in practice, and that has to do with just what you're talking

about there. So that's real continuity does matter. You know, you're able to work together on things. So the offensive line, as Eric mentioned, is together. That offensive line is going to be wholly intact or almost wholly intact next year coming back. That's big. The tight end room is together. That that tight end room should be wholly intact, completely intact. Back again, the running back room intact. You know, we now we can add a player to any of those spots.

Of course, the one area that needs to be you know, built is is a wide receiver room. So that'll be a new room. Basically, there'll be pieces of but still there you know, you know, the guys, and then we'll be adding a lot of pieces to that room. And it'll be competition too, So that'll be the room that'll start together in this new offense and we'll build with those guys. So I think, you know, you're talking about seventy five of the offense is intact and twenty five

percent and it's all in the same room. We'll be new and that's probably pretty normal. But that's uh, that makes me happy because I feel like we got a lot of guys at No Ball and I've had a lot of experience here and the and that room that you're talking about, the wide receiver croom room can't be built up. And you know that's those are pieces we can give Lamar and give him a chance to really, you know, thrive these conversations. Where does the confidence from

the potentially happen? Just I think you know respect um, you know our feelings about him, that we know him, we know the person, um, a confidence level that he's the right type of guy to'll lead the team. UM. And just optimism. You know, I think that I try to be positive. I mean most if you go into a negotiation with a negative feeling, then your chances of getting that done probably aren't going to happen. So you know,

we've done a lot of a lot of contracts. I think in the league we've second most extensions in the league over the last four years. So we know what can happen. I think we we we we try to be creative and strategic, and I truly believe Lamar wants to finish his career in Baltimore. I just believe that in my conversations with him and just watching him and talking with him and communicating. I think John feels that way too. So all of those things kind of work

together for me. That tell me that we still have a chance, and you know that I should be as optimistic as possible. We know that great Roman is one of the most respective designers run gaming in the world. Do you feel like you'll be able to hold on to some of those concepts that have worked so well even even with a new boarding place? Really really great, you know, perceptive point to make, because yeah, you want to do that. You know, you want to be able

to hold onto those things. And you know, we've got coaches here, players here that have run those schemes, that have a field for those schemes. So yeah, that'll be part of the new process. I mean, I'd like to keep a lot of those schemes around, you know. And and that's passing the schemes too. I mean, Greg's a great you know, the passing game that we put together,

the schemes we have are excellent. So you know that's uh, whatever parts of the offense are able to kind of go forward and we'll see, we'll see how that goes. But I think the answer your questions, yes, I'm sorry, Eric, you mentioned you're disappointed that of the season ended when you're building a football team. Do you think about building for playoffs success and the difference in what playoff playoff team is versus a regular season successful team. Is that

part of your equation moving forward? I think Mark, we try to build a team that you know, first of all, can win the division, that can plays as long as possible, whatever that means, you know. I mean, we look at the talent on the team. We're trying to build strategically, positions that we feel like we have to address. But our goal is always first to play and to win as many games as we can, to win our division, to hopefully get a buy and just play as long as we can, and to get as far as we can.

A lot goes into that, and so you know, some of our some of my disappointment is, you know, things outside our control, injuries and things like that, a play that we almost make that we don't make, things like that. You know, this team was really close in a lot of ways. We could have won a lot more games and probably could have lost some games too, no doubt about that. But when we look at the team, when we look at the roster, we see the talent that

we have. I think John and I are both encouraged that we have the potential to build something that's sustainable over a long period of time. We can win a lot of football games and we've seen it, and we can go very far into playoffs as John as a head coach and with the right players on the field. So Clark to the last year to anticipate we don't have the team. That's dude. You know what, Chuck had a phenomenal season and um, we have many decisions about

any players right now. The season just ended. Again, we'll make those decisions later on. Chuck has proven to be an outstanding safety in this league. He has been probably one of the most consistent guys we've had. He's probably started as many games as anybody over the last what three four years. John, He's been a great teams player in the past. He's an excellent safety, He's tough, he's a competitor, he's a leader, and he's a player that we're very proud of about. Lamar and you were still

playing with give it a possibility to come back? Yeah, he would have. He would have you know the details of all that. It's kind of hard to say, and you know, I have I have some thoughts in that probably that I'm allowed to say, but I can tell you Lamar wanted to be back. Lamar planned on being back. He was close, you know, you can you'd ask him that, but he can speak for himself on that. But he was working so hard to get back and very determined

to get back. And and uh, you know, kind of go back to Mark's point if if I can't, because it kind of goes with your question as well. Eric said, whin the division, win the playoffs. You know that that is exactly what we try to do. You know, goes deep as we can in the playoffs, try to win the super Bowl. We want to be at our best, you know, to win the division. And you gotta put yourself in position to win the division, right That's why you have to win games early. But our be our

best at the end. Uh. In December and January, we talked about that a lot, and I really believe that we were. You know, we had the injury to Lamar. That was the biggest challenge that we had faced and getting Lamar back was the biggest uh not you know, it was a it was a priority, but it's the biggest thing we had to overcome, you know, Lamar comes back, which I believe he would if you know, because he's

working so hard. And we had rolled and we played well in that game, and we played a really good game. The game plan was working exceptionally well, and we were in position to win the game and a play went the other way. So that's what happened. You know, if if they're butts, but if we were playing this week, you know, I'd feel real good about our chances to win this week too. So I feel like we're playing our best football down the stretch, and especially we would

have right there and we were in that game. We want to said, having a hired player coaches in your career, is there a key in the energy process that gives you an insight to whether that coach will fix it in this organization? Since was a little late dating, everybody's going to show you the best. You probably did a lot more dating than I did, Jerry, You know, I don't know that's really important. I mean the type of person you know that that Steve Bischotti would be looking for.

I think that's what Eric and I try to look for. I mean, Steve's got an incredible understanding of you know, people and that's that's his business. That's what he did so well with. So he's taught us a lot along those lines. And we're gonna want to want somebody that fits in well, he belongs, and then you know, with that can stand out, and then after that can go far.

And that's what we'll be looking for. Eric. You hear a lot of people outside the organizations they said because mor Taxans didn't have a guarantee long term deal, that played more early not playing. Do you feel wrest absence throughout the six games where what was that contract relays? I mean Lamar could speak to that, but my feeling is no. I think Lamar was hurt. We we seem

every single day Jamison Um he's hurt. And his unique style as a player, Um as a quarterback, but as a mobile quarterback, as really a freaky type of athlete out there on the field. Having a knee injury, a serious knee injury, UM, you know makes it difficult. And so UM's just unfortunate. You know that he got hurt. The timing of it, I know he was trying to

come back. We'd see him daily. I spent a lot of time, well I've spent a lot of time over the last two years down the training room, and you know, Lamar along with a lot of other guys, we're trying to get back and play, and it's just bad timing and I think bad luck for us and bad luck for Lamar. The injuries a year ago, you guys made some significant changes to your training programs and staff. A year later, again, injuries, some of whom free you can

just football by nature. Are you satisfied with where you stand in terms of preventing those? Yeah, I'll take that mark. You know, it's really we did really well this year with injuries. I mean, Lamar had his injury, but if you look at the numbers soft tissue injuries and other injuries, this has been our best year in quite a long time. So you know, the changes that Eric made, the changes that we made, the protocols we put in were incredibly successful.

A lot of the early season injuries that we had were guys coming off the injuries from the previous year. Right had Ronnie coming off the previous year, Tis coming off the previous year, Marcus coming off the ACL, both running backs coming off the injuries from the previous year. Those were the early season issues that we had as those guys got back out there, we didn't add a lot of injuries towards the end of the year. As a matter of fact, we were the healthiest we were

all year at the end of the season. So I thought we did a great job through training camp, did a great job through the season with injury prevention, maintenance. We did some things that we're even a little uh, a little different than some of the normal protocols that were testing tried and true that our people Sam rosen Garden and and our trainer Adrian Dixon and Steve Saunders and Sarah Snyder all put in place that we're just

concredibly effective. So we're definitely on the right track with that, and we had a good year in that sense in terms of improving from the previous two years. Oh kind of just kind of things in the level. What do we have to have anything art I actually think there's only this is crazy, but we only have one player right now that's going to have an offseason surgery, which is a record for us. I can't talk who the

player is, but that's unusual to say the least. I mean, if Annie knows, like you know, with his experiences at the end of the year, you always have a bunch of guys that are having surgeries and clean ups and various things. We only have one guy, so that's you know, if you're going to look for a real positive this year moving forward to the offseason program, that's a huge positive. Yeah, I mean, we are extremely excited about Dave came off

the Achilles. Obviously, he worked very very hard to come back. You know, probably could have played a little bit earlier, but quite honestly, we stayed very healthy at that position. We loved our depth at the outside linebacker position. We didn't want to rush him in there. And uh but he's a long, tall guy, explosive, great attitude, tremendous, tremendous potential, and we just can't wait to see what he's gonna

do this year. I mean, I think having a great offseason for him, you know, considering what he went through last year, is really critical. His attitude is awesome, He's got an infectious personality and a lot of ability to play. Was that kind of a myerstanding and Eric had probably winning this too, that the screws can come out if it's the best thing for me to come out, and I think they will come out, but they don't have to come out right. I'm not exactly sure how that works.

But the point about Batman is is he's almost He's gonna be ready real soon to run full speed. So to Eric's point, he's gonna have a great offseason. You know, he's gonna be up and running, just like Marlon was in the office today talking about his offseason plans. All these guys are healthy going into the offseason, which gives him a chance to train, you know, from now until then to get ready to go. And that helps your injury outlook going forward to because it's gonna do with

some of your injuries on the offense. Obviously, we just talked to the offense and wanting to building this year and Bateman, as you mentioned earlier, identity Other's offense. With all those guys healthy and staying healthy, what do you hope at the offens full play? Well, I mean, first of all, you want to be a winning offense, Okay, I mean that's where it starts, and what entails are

winning offense. You've got to be able to do everything well and so situational football, you've got to be balanced, you've got to be you gotta be able to run the ball. We're gonna always believe in running the ball, and you know we've done that really well over the last number of years. With that, you've got to have a complimentary passing game. You've got to have a standalone passing game with a drop back passing, situational passing game

third down, especially long and in the red zone. And then you've got to have a play action passing game that goes with whatever runs you run, whether it's quarterback driven runs or power runs or whatever. And they've got to fit your run game. So those are the things that kind of play off of each other. It's just a well rounded, balanced offense. And to do that, you need you need a strong offensive line. Eric did an amazing job of building this offensive lineup last year. You

need tight ends that can block the edge. You also need tight ends that can block the edgen can be factor in the passing game. Running backs that can run, pass protect and catch passes. You know, we were unique. We have a quarterback that can do everything that's that's pretty unusual. And we have to get that wide receiver room,

that room where we want it. You know, that'll be the last part of the personnel party, we be able to gey, we be able to afford, receive you know, rookie, you know, just normal Yeah, yeah, I mean I think you know, I know what the fans would like, Um, manybody as we look at it. Honestly, you know, when you have a big ticket item at quarterback, UM, it makes it more challenging and not impossible. We'll have to

get creative and there's things we can do. There's a lot of different ways to go about constructing the team and finding players and affording players and various things like that. But we've got to be really creative. We'll have to make some tough calls on players, um that we have on the team, of course. Uh, and we'll consider everything. There's different ways to do it. But um, you know, what we don't want, I think, is to mortgage two years from now, three years from now by paying a

a bunch of guys this year. Our goal, I think is to be a really competitive, strong team every single year. You know. And John's jokes with me all the time he didn't really have any interest at this stage of his coaching career being in a total rebuild, you know, and what that entails. And I really don't either. Our goal is to always have that window open when we can compete to win the whole thing. So, you know, I think we've made a lot of good decisions with

the cap over the last four years. I'm excited to see where we are this year. But it goes without saying you can't pay everyone. You can't have you know, eight or nine players at the top all make an X amount, because what happens is you have nothing below, and we've seen teams like that this year. We've seen

teams like that. Depth is a critical thing in this sport because players get hurt, and I believe personally that depth is probably one of the most important things we're building a roster across the board, because guys do every single week. You know, whether it's a Friday and a guy gets hurt, Okay, this guy's gonna play. Guys out for eight weeks. This guy's gonna play and that's you know,

we saw it during COVID. Depth really does matter. It's great to have all those star players, but you got to have some young, ascending players beneath them who can pick up when those guys you know aren't aren't there. And it's hard when you just you have all these enormous salaries at the top of your ledger. What were your impressions of this year's rookie class Hunton til about in the class. Yeah, I think they did well, Ryan, I mean, we're excited about you know, what these guys

are gonna do. It was a huge draft for us last year. We had a lot of picks. We spent a lot of energy on that draft. You know, there was a lot of anxiety, I know for me, you know, just looking at players. There were so many players last year. I think those guys did well across the board, but we think they have a lot more to give to I mean, these guys are young players, and so what we see oftentimes is guys get a lot better. They

come in here their second year. There in the offseason program, they learn, they understand what it means to be a pro, and they play a lot better. And that's what we expect and that's what we demanded. So the fact that some of these guys played as well as they did this year, that that is a good indication that their futures are very bright. And I think a lot of

these guys have a chance to be good players. When we look at the eighteen draft, I think eight or nine of those guys that starters now in the league and looking at this draft, I'm not going to say that, but when we look at it, we think a lot of these guys have a lot of potential to play and be significant players for us at some point. Talking about the offensive line keeping out of strength and powers is also said to be a free stars disdeal at

this point. Yeah, Ben's a player that as we look at it, I would say this and Coach would probably say it too. And Ben is probably improved and as much as anybody on our team. He had a phenomenal season this year. Started every game. I don't even know if he missed a snap, and UM, you know, Ben's a guy that we'd love to keep. UM My feeling is Ben's probably going to be sought after in free

agency based on the way he played this year. UM, we would never close the door and a player like Ben, Um, we would always want to keep as many good players as we can. We'll have discussions at some point with Ben. Um. I'm just I'm just really happy and proud of Ben for the way that he played and the way that he's really come on. I'm matured over his time with us, and uh, I'm very happy for he and his family.

They put themselves in great position, and uh he's a player that I think is is going to do really well. Eric And in eight months when you start the season of the twenty twenty three season, uh, it was more Jackson. You're starting quarterback. I don't see any reason why I won't be Jamison. Yeah, I know he's outside and we know Marside. Well. Fortunately I'm not on social media, so uh,

well I shouldn't say that. I do have an Instagram so I can track my my daughters and my daughter and my son's really but I'm not on social media, so I kind of hear about things or Chad might share something with me. But quite honestly, you know, we're in this It's almost a cocoon in this building. You know, we are the team. That's what it is. It's a team, and we try to drown all that stuff out. We focus on the day to day, coming in, getting our

worke done, competing as a team. I'm out at practice every day. I love being out of practice with John. I love the energy and the enthusiasm and all that I love this building. When I'm in this building, I'm at peace, and so I don't pay too much attention to all that stuff. Um, is it a distraction? Not for me. It might be for my kids, might be for my family and for all of you, but it's

really not a distraction for me. I can't speak to John, but I know I come in here and just try to build the best team and we can build and win as many games as we can win. Hang out. John and I hang out together every day. We laugh and talk about stuff when neighbors. To me, that's what this thing's all about. So good to hear from head coach John Harball and Eric Tacassa and the season review press conference. Obviously, Lamar Jackson a huge talking point in

this one. What's his contract going to be? The Ravens made it very clear that their intention is still to sign Lamar to a long term contract extension. Whether that happens or what happens from there, we don't know the franchise tag. Eric Tacassa said he's thought about that every single day of what the tag would be, but he hopes that he's not even having that conversation because he's locked Lamar Jackson up to a long term deal to

stay in Baltimore for many years to come. Obviously, the Ravens made a big change and offensive coordinator Greg Ruman left to pursue other opportunities and the search begins for the Ravens new offensive coordinator. John harb All made it clear that the passing game needs improvement and the wide receiver room is also going to get to upgrade this offseason. That will be a major area of focus. So those

are the things from the season review press conference. I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for our next press conference in Ravens Press Pass, which will likely be the introduction of the Ravens next offensive coordinator. Thanks so much,