Head Coach John Harbaugh

JOHN HARBAUGH: Sorry to make you guys wait there. Appreciate everybody being here. We had some guests, family got Super Bowl tickets. Just been around the organization for a while. And John Jay (College of) Criminal Justice School was here. So, that was pretty cool. Young people are going to make a difference in our world. So, we're glad to have them here. What questions do you have?

Q: We just talked to (running back) Cam Skattebo. What did you see from him this week? And has he done enough in your eyes to earn his way back to a bigger role?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, I mean he was always going to be a big part of our season. And he had a heck of a week of practice, all the backs did. I thought the whole team had a really good week. And just trying to focus on preparing to play our best football if we can in this next game against a very tough opponent in a tough environment. But we're up for it, we're ready for it and Skatt, no less than anybody else, he had a heck of a week of practice.

Q: With all the quarterback news on Wednesday, (running back) Najee Harris slipped through the cracks and we didn't ask you about that, obviously.

JOHN HARBAUGH: Oh, you got mad at yourself about that, huh? (Laughter).

Q: Yes, I did, yeah.

JOHN HARBAUGH: Who was supposed to do that? I always feel like you guys got like a plan. You got like a strategy.

Q: So, I'm taking the hit today. Was that production based? You said you understood and respected his comments afterwards.

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, it was more about just, alright, we're going to set a course. And it's hard to carry four backs. There were some other moves we had to make to get guys on the roster. And I just felt like in this situation, like I told him, nothing against what he did. I thought he ran super hard. I didn't think he had a lot of room, in all fairness, in the plays he happened to have in the last couple of weeks, but it was just the direction we decided to go at this time going forward. So, nothing that he did or didn't do. And I'm just thinking with our guys, those guys will be the guys that we'll give a shot and see where we go.

Q: We heard from (Defensive Coordinator) Dennard (Wilson), his thoughts on the effort on Sunday. What was your take on those plays?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, he's talking about certain plays. There were plays, and we showed them in the team meeting as well, on all three phases. But there were certain plays and I would say most teams probably have those plays. But there were plays that were just not going to be okay and the guys were more accountable than anybody. Our guys have been really accountable, and they really step up and they acknowledge when they need to do better. And I think they were kind of mad at themselves as well. But we say it's nobody's fault, it's only your fault if either you just conscientiously object or you're sabotaging. And otherwise, it's everybody's responsibility. So, it's all our responsibility to make sure we're playing as sound a football as we can and it's hard to be perfect. Look at the whole league. Look at all the craziness that goes on around the league. But we're chasing perfection and we're chasing a certain standard and level for every single play and I think Dennard said to you guys exactly what he told the guys. And the guys respected it and are determined to improve.

Q: How have you seen them respond to that this week?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Really well. I mean, they practiced well again this week. But we practiced really well last week. And we've been practicing well the last few weeks. I think practice has been improving every single week, which is the mark of a team that has got a chance to do something. You've got to keep improving. You've got to keep getting better. So, we are on track to do that. I'm looking forward to it showing up in terms of consistency. If we've been anything, we've been inconsistent. Had a lot of spectacular plays on both sides. Like we said, I think we're at or near the top, we might be leading the league in three-and-outs. That's pretty phenomenal defense. And yet, we have too many explosives, especially scramble plays or some of the runs that are going for too many yards. That's something that we're really determined to try to do better with. And you've got a team that has a quarterback that can run and a quarterback that can make throws scrambling. And a team that's determined to run the ball, even though they haven't had a lot of success yet. They were pretty darn good last week against Jacksonville, which was the number one run defense, I think, in the league going into that game. But that's the way it is every week in the NFL. It's always a huge challenge.

Q: How did your two starting offensive tackles look this week (offensive lineman Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor)? And if they are able to play, how much will that make things easier with this specific pass rush?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, yeah, you're referring to these two guys, number 51 (Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson), number 55 (Houston Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter), two of the best in the league, two of the most high energy. And they're both a little different. Each got their own style, but we played them a lot. We understand what they can do in a game. So, yeah, if those guys are able, and it looks like based on today's practice, that they should have a good chance to be ready to go, that will be really important.

Q: Coach, you talk about sound football, having gap integrity. How do you focus this week about limiting explosive plays?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Right, well, you have to chase it because offenses do a really good job of challenging the gap integrity. So, yeah, we need gap integrity. In other words, we talk about fitting run, fitting schemes. You fit them certain ways. Well, they do a great job of changing the schemes up and then moving people with all the motions and shifts and inserts that they use to create confusion just to make it difficult. And there's a high level of communication, and not even that, just a high level of shared understanding that needs to go into it and guys knowing what each other are going to do in those situations. So, you've got to keep chasing it all the time. And then they give you something new the next week, or they give you something that kind of works off of a pass or something that they did, and that's how they find a way to run the ball. I mean, it'd be hard to run the ball against any defense if they were all in the right place every single time because these guys are really good players. But these coaches do a great job of finding ways to create basically running lanes.

Q: (Running back) Tyrone (Tracy), has he shown you enough in the game this past week and really over the last few weeks to earn more reps and more carries?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yes.

Q: What has he shown you?

JOHN HARBAUGH: He's practicing well. He's been right on with his assignments, and I think it's the physical nature, the way he's been running the ball, acceleration, speed, things like that have been really good.

Q: Sort of a roster building question. You didn't have an emergency quarterback the first week or two, and now you have (quarterback) Jake (Haener). What made the shift there? What goes into that balance?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Probably our circumstances. I mean, we were in a situation where Jake was really the number two quarterback there for quite a while, and now he's still on the roster. So, it gives us an opportunity to do it, and we can afford it right now. If we couldn't afford it, if we didn't think we could afford it, or if we think we wanted to bring in a player where we could maybe need the spot and we felt like we could live without it, we would do that. I don't think the emergency quarterback has played. How many times has he played in the last, ever since they changed the rule?

Q: I don't know if it all.

JOHN HARBAUGH: It would be interesting to look at. So, it's like, well, how important is it? It's really important if it comes up. You really don't want one of your wide receivers playing quarterback if you don't have to. But then again, those roster spots are important if you can add a player that can help you.

Q: You've talked all the time about the 1-0 mentality from behind the scenes, whether it's with the players or not. There always has to be a big picture thing too, right? When you're making decisions based on a given week, does it ever get to the point where you're looking at it and going, do we make this call? Is it too early and you don't want it to be too late for a season? You've talked about the opportunity of where you're at right now. How do you work that balance?

JOHN HARBAUGH: That's a good question. A good question in terms of why every situation is different because you do have to take into account every aspect of it. There's short-term, there's long-term, there's middle-term. There's best interest of the player, best interest of the organization, best interest of whatever. There's just a lot that you try to take into account. There's guys that have to get surgery or something or you have to hold out who want to play and you have to keep them out of the game. That's because sometimes you've got to protect the player from themself. I think it's always a factor. Are you talking about the quarterback situation?

Q: Just anything, yeah. If you make a decision, are we making it too soon? And then if you wait, do you get to a point where, well, we made it too late, we lost the opportunity that we had.

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, probably. I don't know. I think you just got to really look at what gives us the best chance to win this game. I know I keep saying that, but really that is what you look at. If (former NFL quarterback) Tom Brady decided he wanted to come back from retirement and actually could, which I doubt for one second he could, no matter what he thinks (laughter), I don't think he'd be ready the first week. As much as you might want to put him in there, so it wouldn't be in the best interest to play him the first week. There's a lot of things going on.

Q: You guys would love to have depth at every position, but what kind of luxury is having somebody who's played as much ball as (linebacker) Micah McFadden if he's needed to step in this week?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, really good point. I think I said early on we have three starters. So, when and if that happens, Micah is ready. He's a starter, and he'll play really well. He'll be excited for his opportunity.

Q: How's (cornerback) Paulson (Adebo) looked this week? Is he ready to go?

JOHN HARBAUGH: He's looking good. Yeah, he's ready to go.

Q: What can he give you guys?

JOHN HARBAUGH: He's a legit corner. He's a cover corner, he tackles. He's been a high-end corner in this league. I think he's really determined to play that way. I think he's finally probably healthy and ready to go. I can't wait to see it. When and if it happens. Potentially this week. Oh, (Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Secondary) Coach (Donald) D'Alesio already told you he's out there this week, huh? That's what I heard. So, it looks like it's going to be Sunday (laughter).

Running back Cam Skattebo

Q: How have you handled the past six to seven days or whatever it's been like for you?

CAM SKATTEBO: It's been good, you know. I think I got taught a lesson. I don't know if that's from them or from myself, but I kind of had to step back and look at it and figure out why I was doing the things I was doing, what was happening. Came to practice, corrected those things, worked on them. Ready to go back out there and play ball.

Q: Do you get the sense that you did enough to prove to them that you should have a bigger role?

CAM SKATTEBO: I didn't do anything yet. I took care of the ball during practice and whatever my role is on Sunday is going to be my role and I'm going to give it everything I've got.

Q: I saw (Former Texans Defensive End) J.J. Watt talking about how players are now trying to carry the ball with something called a 'wrist lock' where instead of carrying it just with two hands, they put their other arm over it. Have you heard of that?

CAM SKATTEBO: That's actually how I got punched out. I didn't grab the wrist, and I put my arm over the other one. I'm going to go with what coaches are teaching us, what's taught, what's the best way to secure the ball, the best way to hold it. At the end of the day, I've got to take care of the ball. However that has to happen, I've got to do it. I've done it my whole life and it's as simple as that. Take care of the ball, and you'll be just fine.

Q: What did you focus on this week? You said you didn't fumble, but what else? Did you do anything different?

CAM SKATTEBO: Just going back, like I said, taking a step back. Looking at – I've done this my whole career. What's the reason? There's not a reason. There (were) a couple mishaps that happened and I think it was the mental part. You see in that game, I got really excited, really happy. I think I got a little ahead of myself during the end of that game. I lost the main purpose of the game, and it was to take care of the ball at that moment. And I lost it. I think just understanding the situation and the circumstances I'm in, taking care of the ball and I'll be fine.

Q: What has your reaction been to what (Head Coach John) Harbaugh has said a couple of times? 'Somebody go win the job. Nobody's won the job, somebody go win the job. I want somebody to be a workhorse back.' What's your reaction been to that because obviously it was your job for a long time.

CAM SKATTEBO: We have guys that can do it. I don't want to go against that because obviously, as we know, no one has stepped up, if you want to say. But us three in the backfield are working together. We came out to practice this week with the right mindset, ready to go. Whoever is going to carry the ball knows that the other two guys got their back. When that guy comes off the field, the next guy in is going to perform. The vibes have been great. We've been talking. We've been staying on the same page. I think the big thing is when you have different running backs and different running backs hit the hole a different way and the line is blocking in a certain way, sometimes it's hard that way when you have multiple guys. Me, (Running Back Devin Singletary) Motor, and (Running Back Tyrone) Tracy have been doing a good job this week of talking, communicating, seeing how we want to hit the hole, where we want it, and then also talking with the O-line and making sure that they're doing what we want them to do or what they want us to do. It's been great this week.

Q: When you took a step back beyond just ball security, is there anything you saw that you need to do better or differently just to get the run game going?

CAM SKATTEBO: The simple fact of getting on the page with the offensive line, getting on the same page with them, understanding that it's as little as we might think the offensive line has the guy's right shoulder and we want him on the left shoulder. It's those little, tiny things. You can go back and watch a couple of runs. It's one guy's arm or a touchdown. We talked about it. We got back to them. They talked to us. We talked to them. We meet with them every week. This was a good meeting this week. We were on the same page and excited to see what we've got.

Q: What did you guys think when you heard that (Running Back) Najee (Harris) was cut? Did you or the group or the room view that as a message to everyone?

CAM SKATTEBO: I mean yeah, nobody's safe. It's as simple as that. I think when we go on the field and we perform, if we're not performing, we understand there's a possibility of not being here. If I don't perform, I know there's a possibility of me not being here. We came in this week. We continue to work. We know where we're at. We know what we have. If we put that to display, we're going to be just fine.

Q: What's the week been like for you with a different quarterback now with (Quarterback) J.J. (McCarthy) taking over the offense?

CAM SKATTEBO: It's been good. Obviously, whoever is back there in the backfield with us, we've got their back (wholeheartedly). We're going to make sure we take care of them, obviously, in the pass pro and helping them understand what's going on no matter who it is. J.J. has done a good job of taking over and kind of solidifying what he likes and what the coaches like with him. I think it's been a good change for the offense this week. I wouldn't say it's gotten worse or better. It's been good. But he's done a great job back there, and I'm excited to see him play.

Q: What type of impact can he make on the run game?

CAM SKATTEBO: It's hard to defend a running quarterback. When a quarterback can take off for 40 yards and nobody's in the way, those are hard to deal with. When he does that, it's a game changer. Those are game-changing plays that happen, and it sucks to play against. So, whether he does it or whether he does, we'll be excited to see if he can.

Q: What do you guys see from this Texans defense and their pass rush in particular?

CAM SKATTEBO: They're good. They've got the leading sack guy right now, and (Texans Defensive End) Will's (Anderson) a great player. They have (Texans Defensive End Jadeveon) Clowney on the edge. They've got a lot of guys out there that play hard, high motor, and are very good at what they do. The guys in the middle, the linebackers are pretty good, and they're good all around. There's a reason they're a good defense. They started slow, but they're a good football team, so we have to make sure when we go out there, we're handling business and taking care of what we need to do, focus on the details, the little things, and attack it to the best of our ability.