Head Coach John Harbaugh
JOHN HARBAUGH: Okay, I appreciate everybody being here. Good game, good win, good to see the guys win. Good to see them finish. Good to see them keep playing right on through to the end, extending the lead in the second half just as a team. That's what you want to do. I thought there's a lot of really good individual performances, a lot of guys that have an opportunity to make the team played really well, did a nice job, and made a case for themselves. So, with that, that'll kind of conclude – will conclude – the training camp/preseason aspect of what we're doing, and all eyes will go to the season opener. And then that'll be our beginning going forward from here on out. So, what questions do you have?
Q: You talked earlier in the week about the balancing act, how you want to play this game, and you decided, obviously, to sit a lot – (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) and a lot of guys. What was the deciding factor?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, it was really just, to your point, what you had said, was not being worth the risk of – but I think there is a concern, and the concern is – and Jordan (Raanan) pointed it out – the concern is that they won't have played in a game for a long time. So, will there be a rust factor, those kinds of things. We're just going to have to make sure we do everything we can in practice to make sure our guys are sharp and ready to go. But we just decided to go that route and probably take the more conservative route. That's what we chose.
Q: How do you make sure that they're ready, like if they're not playing from a – especially a young quarterback who hasn't played a lot in the league?
JOHN HARBAUGH: No, it's exactly right. I mean, that's the consideration, that's the concern, that's why you'd want to put him in there. We just decided not to take the chance. We'll just have to do it in practice. We have to make sure the practices are the kind of practices that put pressure on him as much as possible. So, as game-like as we possibly can make them, so he's ready to go.
Q: Does part of that also have to do with what you believe in Jaxson and how he attacks things in games?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, that may be part of it. He's practiced really well, I'd say. We've been impressed with that part of it, so I like what I've seen so far. But at the end of the day, it's a consideration – if Jaxson plays, a lot of other guys are going to play too, and then is it worth the risk? We got out of the game with no serious injuries, so that's good, and it probably would have gone that way too, and we'd be happy and they would have gotten some reps. But we chose not to go that way, so I understand. Any criticism of it, I do understand.
Q: John, what did you see from (wide receiver) Odell (Beckham Jr.) tonight?
JOHN HARBAUGH: I thought he played well. I thought he played well. Got open. Just a fingernail away from that completion and maybe a step away from a touchdown, so he looked good out there.
Q: John, how many steps off the field did it take for you to start thinking about Dallas?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Oh, I'd have to count (laughs). You know, really, honestly, I guess the greatest way I could answer that is that we've been thinking about Dallas. I mean, it's not like it doesn't all of a sudden start now. We've been game planning for Dallas and the Rams and the Titans and the Cardinals. Those first four games you kind of look at in terms of your preparation, even during training camp.
Q: (Running back) Najee (Harris) hasn't played in a while. He got a lot of work today, what did you think of him?
JOHN HARBAUGH: It was good. It was good. You know, he hadn't played for his whole season, so – almost the whole season, 13, 14 games, so to see him out there, I thought he looked good, and that was what we wanted to do. We wanted to get him a lot of reps. We wanted Ty Tracy (running back Tyrone Tracy Jr.) to get a lot of reps, too, and he did. He had a stinger, so he should be okay going forward, but it was good to get those guys those reps.
Q: John, why did (Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach) Brian Callahan call plays tonight?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Just an opportunity to change it up a little bit, and I guess we could say you never know. You never know if something happens. If Nags (Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy) can't make it to the game, gets caught in North Jersey traffic or something like that, we might need Cally (Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Brian Callahan) to do it. But that was just something different. Last week we had (Defensive Pass Coordinator/Secondary Coach) Donald D'Alesio call the defenses a little bit, so I think it's a pretty standard thing to do in preseason.
Q: John, you talked about this kicking battle with (kicker Dominic) Zvada, and you guys gave him more chances today. Just what did you feel about what he did today?
JOHN HARBAUGH: I thought he did great. I thought he did great. He'll win the job. He'll be the kicker. That was kind of the last step to give him a chance to prove he could do a whole game. And (kicker) Ben (Sauls), I would say Ben also won a job. He should be kicking in the National Football League based on the fact that if we didn't have Dominic, then Ben would have been the guy. So, I thought he had a great camp as well.
Q: You said no serious injuries. (Cornerback) Art Green, what happened to him?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, he just had a minor injury. Nothing that's going to keep him out for any length of time.
Q: And then I wanted to follow up on (wide receiver Malik) Nabers the other day. It was kind of confusing, whatever happened with him at the end of practice.
JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, I don't even know. It wasn't even an issue. It was nothing. Nothing to worry about.
Q: He's fine physically?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Yes, he's fine physically, yes. That's the question. Yeah, it wasn't about an injury or anything.
Q: Has Odell done enough in your mind to warrant making the roster? Because you laid out to him, originally, he has to earn his spot on this roster.
JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, I mean, I don't want to like say exactly who's making it right now and not, what the considerations are. And things can happen. But I think I would answer the question yes. I mean, I think he has done enough to make an NFL roster for sure. He's played well, and he's gotten better as his camp's gone along. He deserves credit for that. He's done a really good job with it.
