Head Coach John Harbaugh
Q: After looking back at everything after each of the interceptions, you guys ran the ball and went three and out. Looking back at that, do you wish, or could you have done something to be maybe more aggressive there on offense?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Sure. Yeah, we could have. We could have thrown the ball.
Q: Obviously you could have. Is it that a sense where, you know, you're in the headset, they're calling running plays that more of the initiative to maybe "we need to win the game here on offense." I mean, the defense gave you the ball twice. And so, you know, you can trust them, but was that frustrating that you couldn't get the yards needed to close out the game there?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Sure. We had thought we had good runs. We thought we could get it with the runs. Also keep the clock running and make them burn the timeouts. We thought we could do both. But looking back on it, I think a good pass there might've been good too. I think if you throw the ball and you throw three incompletions or whatever, the question is flipped, you know, "why didn't you run the ball, make them burn the timeouts?" Being successful really is the bottom line. It's not like we're trying to play it safe or anything like that. We're not afraid to throw the ball there. The run that we had, the last run that got the two-yard loss, I mean, that's got a chance to crack them. It's a quarterback driven run with an extra blocker. They had everybody up on the line. Honestly, on that one play, we can block that play better. And so that's the way the game went in that situation.
Q: So none of that has anything to do with (quarterback) J.J. (McCarthy)? Still being a new quarterback for you sort of? You know, not wanting to put the ball in his hands.
JOHN HARBAUGH: No, no, no. It's a very fair question. I think he's proven that he's capable of winning games and making the plays and I probably feel more strongly about that now than ever. It was his third game, I think maybe now starting. So we're definitely in the process of growing that confidence for sure. I mean, I understand what you're saying, for sure. But he's earned that right. I'm excited about where he's going, going forward and our chance to close out some games. We had a chance to close the game out on offense twice. As you said, we didn't do it. That's probably the thing that disappoints us the most, at least me. I want to win it on either side of the ball, but we had a chance to win it there and we didn't, we've got to find a way to do that in the future.
Q: I wanted to ask you about (kicker) Dominic Zvada. It seems like, if my memory's correct, all of his misses this season have come from the right hash. I'm just wondering, is there a common thing that's going on that his kicks are kind of veering to the left? Cause I noticed even sometimes some of his kicks from the left hash have that little curvature, but more so from the right hash. So is there something that you're seeing that is recurring?
JOHN HARBAUGH: There's a technique issue there with his plant foot that we're kind of looking at. And he needs to clean that up from a consistency standpoint. He knows that. Popped up again in that one kick there. I had a chance to watch it this morning. There is an issue on the right hash, no question.
Q: What happened on that play on the, I guess the Tush push, the sneak where (running back) Cam Skattebo was delayed. Was that on purpose?
JOHN HARBAUGH: That wasn't a Tush push. That was a different kind of a play. It was a normal quarterback sneak and a certain check involved in it that is part of the play, but it wasn't a Tush push. So he wasn't supposed to be up there pushing.
Q: Andrew Thomas put a lot on the offensive line for the four-minute offense not being able run out the clock. What are you seeing from your offensive line these last couple of games in terms of running the ball? Especially I'm curious, we make so much about (inside linebacker) Arvell (Reese) as a rookie having a great year. What are you seeing from (offensive tackle) Sisi (Francis Mauigoa) maybe going through it a little bit?
JOHN HARBAUGH: I thought the offensive line played a real good game this last game, much better game probably than the week before. We didn't play as well against the Eagles. I thought they were better against Houston. I think probably chasing consistency right now is the biggest thing. I appreciate (offensive tackle) AT (Andrew Thomas) saying that. Definitely the offensive line feels good about running the ball in that situation. They want to run the ball and close the game out. They want the game on their shoulders, for sure. You want to be able to do that and appreciate him saying that. I also felt like overall they played a good game. We ran the ball well in this game, I felt like. Much better than the Eagles game. So that was good to see. And that was a big point of emphasis going into this game. Probably just need to keep building and really honestly become more consistent with what we're doing.
Q: Anything regarding Sisi, what you're seeing from him?
JOHN HARBAUGH: I thought he played a good game this game. Probably one of his best games, this past game. He wasn't real happy with his week before. He played a much better game this last game.
Q: When you watch the tape, did you, I don't know, everything's in hindsight, right? But like, did you wish you had gone for any of those fourth downs? It felt like the whole game, you had fourth down just on the edge of field goal territory. Were there any, like the one early in the fourth quarter, I think maybe like the 41 or 46, or are there any that you thought you should have gone for in hindsight?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Let's just go back and look at the distances on them. When we were talking it about during the game, we just felt like they were out of our range to go for. A lot of it was the analytics too, but even just the feeling comfortable about doing it because we have a chance to pin them back in there, which we did all but the last one, which is disappointing. It's a tough get when you're going longer yardage. I mean, it's a little bit more of a crapshoot. Yes, you can do it. We may go for it in the future. We may be more aggressive in the future than we were. I thought you're going to ask me about the fourth and one, the quarterback sneak on, what was it, the minus 18 or whatever. You didn't ask me about that one. We could have gone for that one. And that would have been gutsy. Ballsy.
Q: That's the who let the dogs out one, right?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Exactly. Right, right. We could have gone for that one. And you know, I'm kind of kicking myself. Maybe we should have just gone for that one too. So you can kind of get as aggressive as you want to get and we're not afraid. We've done that before. History would tell you that. We want to be aggressive. We want to be smart. So I'd probably second guess all those, but they also were longer distances as I recall too.
Q: Did Zvada's struggles play into any of those fourth down decisions to punt? Did that play into it at all?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, let's look at the distances. Why don't you go back and give me the distances. I don't have it in front of me. What were those field goals have been? They were like high 50s, weren't they? 55 plus. It's kind of a risk reward. I'm not saying that he can't make those kicks, but it's a windy night and it's a field position game in some ways. It's a big risk there too. Sometimes it's better to play a field position game. So those were toss up kind of calls probably at least, probably leaning toward punting, but I'm not saying we shouldn't have gone for them or couldn't have kicked them either way. The one question is, "should you have gone for it?" The next question is, "should you have kicked the field goals?" That's the follow-up question. I don't know. The other question could have been if we'd have missed the field goal, maybe you should have punted it down in there and played the field position game. So they're all kind of coin flip type of decisions.
Q: The only other question I had for you is in regards to (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers), and we just talked to Malik a little while ago. There was a lot of speculation about the last play, and I think you might've been asked about it last night. When you looked back at that play, did you think he had an opportunity maybe not to catch the ball, but to at least knock it down and keep it away from the defensive back?
JOHN HARBAUGH: I don't know. It's easy to judge when you're not in the situation, but he's running down the field, trying to make a play. I don't know that he's got his feet positioned where he can actually jump back into the ball. You would love probably for him to be able to do that, but I think he's trying to track the ball probably. I know I've seen him do it before, so I know he would try to bat the ball down if he could. I don't think there's anything willful about not doing it, that's for sure.
Q: Why was it important to you that Malik talked to us today?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Uh, was it important to me?
Q: You don't make that decision?
JOHN HARBAUGH: No, I don't make those decisions. I think isn't Malik required and for all the players to talk to the media at some point in time after the game, and he wasn't able to be in there after the locker room. Right. He came in today and said, "Hey, I'll talk to the media today." Pat and Dion told me that they were going to do it. I'm like, "oh, okay, good."
Q: Cam Skattebo said he thought maybe at the end of the game that his mistake the last time you guys played Washington might've factored into a lack of trust on your end in his ability.
JOHN HARBAUGH: Is that really what he said?
Q: He said he wouldn't blame you if you did.
JOHN HARBAUGH: Give me the quote because I don't have that quote in front of me. Words are important here.
Q: He said he wouldn't blame you if it did. Here, I got it. So we appreciated his honesty as well. And yours. He said "It sucks, and I think part of it is I put myself in a situation last time we played these guys that kind of killed the trust in coach maybe a little bit, me giving up the ball last time. And maybe he didn't want to give me the ball again. I don't know. I'm not going to say that was something he was thinking, but I would think that as well."
JOHN HARBAUGH: So what's the question again?
Q: Did you not give him the ball in certain situations in this game because of that game?
JOHN HARBAUGH: No.
Q: I know you said yesterday, you were asked about those two throws down the field against zero coverage at the end. Why do you think that the offense as a whole did not manage that situation more appropriately to play for at least a field goal there?
JOHN HARBAUGH: I don't think there was a mismanagement. There were different levels of routes. I mean, you've watched those plays since, right? Since you're asking the question. There were short routes and deep routes in both of those. There are zero blitzes. The ball's got to come out fast. You don't have everybody blocked. We've had plays where we've hit guys deep, the last Washington game as an example, and short. I can think of last week with (tight end) Isaiah (Likley). So the ball comes out where it comes out. The quarterback has to make a split-second decision and those are the places he threw it. I think he had Malik down the right seam coming open in this last game and like three or four weeks ago, maybe it was a New Orleans game, where he didn't see him going deep and went to the short route. Malik was coming through, there were two safeties there and he decided to put the deep ball up. So decisions the quarterback makes, that's the one they make in a split second. Those aren't really high percentage throws necessarily, but they can be back breakers. That's just the way it went.
Q: The result last night puts you in a position where you might have to beat one or two of the heavyweights left on your schedule, just given the way J.J. is playing, what's your confidence level that you can get that done?
JOHN HARBAUGH: High. I don't have a ranking for it, but it's high. I've said it from the beginning, we're going to expect to win every single game. We're planning on winning. Every game that we go into play, we're taking the field planning to win. We'll be preparing that way and that's what we'll be doing. We're going to win as many of them as we can. If we win them all, we win them all, but we'll win as many as we can.
Q: If you had won last night, the emphasis on having to beat a Jacksonville, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit would not have been as urgent as it is now. I guess that's the point I'm making. You realize the difference in being 6-2-1 and facing those teams as opposed to 5-3-1.
JOHN HARBAUGH: We don't live in that scared world. I said it was an important game before the game for that very reason. But now you don't sit back and go, oh no, we've got to beat a heavyweight or whatever you want to call it. It's the National Football League. We're planning on going out there and playing and win the game. So we don't look at it from that perspective. It's okay if you're not part of the team or you're covering the team or you're a fan, you look at that and say, well, which games can we win in these and what chances are we going to have to win? But these guys are going to go play the game. They're not going to go into the game saying, "Oh man, this is going to be a tough one for us to win." They're all tough to win. Every single one of these games is going to be a big challenge. Every single one of these games is going to be really hard to win. It's hard winning. It's tough to win football games in this league. I think we all understand that, don't we? So we're going to be fighting in every single one of those games to win every single one of those games when they come up, starting with the Jacksonville game. That will be our focus. We're going to expect to win the game.
Q: On that note, with the resilience you guys have shown in these close games to add to your confidence. Do you think that that kind of gives you a sense of, "Hey, this team knows how to fight in these games." And that helps you understand that this team is ready for what lies ahead with these next eight?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Sure. You've watched us play. People have watched us play. You know where we are. We're going to do everything we can do to try to win the game. Our guys are going to fight like crazy. They're going to compete and we're capable of making plays. It's pretty obvious that we can make plays on both sides of the ball. We're chasing consistency, just like every single team in this league is chasing consistency. The so-called heavyweights, I've seen them play bad games too. I've seen them have plenty of bad plays. There's no perfect team in this league. Is that pretty obvious to everybody? This is a tough league. It's pretty even. We're in it just like everybody else. We'll be fighting in there just like everybody else. And I know our guys, nobody's going to out fight us. That's for sure. Nobody is going to out compete us without question.
Q: You said you're more confident in J.J. than ever, right? Especially late in games there to where you can put the ball in his hands? Where do you see the biggest growth? Obviously, aside from learning the offense and becoming comfortable with everything. Where do you see the biggest growth in him so far? The reason that you have so much confidence in him?
JOHN HARBAUGH: We've had him for (six) weeks. (Five) games. I really haven't had a chance to see much growth. I think he's grown a lot in terms of knowing the offense. He's gained an understanding of the guys he's playing with, for sure. That's still a work in progress. Just time on task, even time pregame, getting the guys together and throwing routes and timing things up, timing routes up, getting on the same page with routes. Those are things that aren't really that easily attained. So sometimes maybe it doesn't look perfect in situations and things like that. But I don't think it looks perfect even when players have been playing together for years all the time, necessarily. So I think he's done a great job. They all have of getting up to speed quickly enough to compete and give us a chance to win football games. That's pretty impressive. So that's what gives me optimism that we can continue on that track.
Q: You talked about Skattebo and how that wasn't a tush push. Why not? How do you differentiate when and when not to use it? Because you guys have been very successful with that play.
JOHN HARBAUGH: We have four or five of those different types of calls and motions and pushes, not pushes, check with me plays. There's different things that we have. One of those ones was called. We have different calls that go with quarterback sneaks, so we didn't call the same one that we've been calling. That's really the only answer I have for you. We didn't call the same exact play. I don't know. What else can I say? He wasn't supposed to be up there pushing.
Q: After two games in five days, you've got 10 days. Is this a time for tweaks, evaluation, rest, motivation? And how important is it just to have this little bit of a break here in that regard?
JOHN HARBAUGH: It's pretty helpful. We measure how fast we're playing and all these different kinds of things. And we measure that stuff, our performance people do. And we played that game really fast. We had a lot of energy. We played with a high, high level of effort. Guys were flying around. They were playing fast. That was really good to see on a short week. That's kind of the goal. So that part of it I was really happy with. Couple extra days, it'll be good for the guys to recover. We came out of it healthy. That's very positive. Didn't have anything that's going to be lingering going forward. So that's a big deal. Maybe the first time all year we've kind of been in that situation. We should get (outside linebacker) Malik Harrison back next week, that will help. So I feel really good about that too. We'll be back at it on Tuesday. The tough thing is we didn't have the win. So it's a heck of a great weekend when you win on Thursday night. It's not so great when you don't win because you have to live with it through the weekend. But we had a good meeting today. You mentioned motivation. We had a good meeting trying to put it in perspective a little bit. I feel like our guys have a good perspective on where we're at. We've got a lot of games left and we've got a lot of work to do and we're looking forward to it.
Q: We mentioned earlier about the who let the dogs out cadence. What were your thoughts on that? Does it border on sort of missing the integrity of trying to draw them offsides there?
JOHN HARBAUGH: I don't know. I get it, but no, it doesn't because it's not about what you say exactly, that you say hut, hut or whatever. If you go back and you look at the other cadence, it's kind of a drawn out different kind of a cadence. So even when we snap the ball, if you go back and you listen to what (quarterback) Jameis (Winston) has said throughout the course of the season, you'll hear those cadences. So it sounds a little bit like that. And that who let the dogs out thing, while it was probably fun on his part, so to speak, the way the cadence sounds, t was an attempt to still draw them offsides, that they would hear something different. And they're going to jump based on the fact that they're too antsy. And as soon as they hear the word or they anticipate to snap, they're going to jump because they want to get the thing stopped. They're not trying to define the word that is said, it doesn't matter if you say hut or what you say, it's a reaction. So does it bother me? No. I heard him do it in practice. I didn't think it was going to not get them to jump or get them to jump. It's kind of a little bit of a long shot that they'll jump in that situation anyway. It was a little bit of a risk. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't do it just because I don't want to back the punt team up, but (punter Jordan) Stout did a great job of punting the ball. And our guys did a great job of covering the punt. So it didn't end up hurting us in the end from a field position standpoint. But even the fact that we did it, if I had to do it again, I wouldn't even try tondo it because they're not probably going to jump there. And I think this is a team that has jumped offsides a bunch in those situations and they probably have been emphasizing it to a high degree. And you know, they weren't budging. So it's either that, or as I said before, you go for it right there. So if you think they're sitting back and they're not going to jump, maybe you try to say who let the dogs out and then you snap the ball. Maybe that would have been a better strategy. So I don't think it's so much about that as just the fact that whether you even try it there and the fact that they were disciplined enough not to jump offsides is a credit to them.
Wide Receiver Malik Nabers
Q: Why did you decide last night to leave without speaking to us after that difficult loss?
MALIK NABERS: I had a family emergency back home, and when I came back, everybody was gone. I had an emergency back home.
Q: Everything okay?
MALIK NABERS: It's straight.
Q: Good to hear. In that game, you lose a fumble for the first time in your career. What was it like to handle that setback in a game where you're trying to make plays for the team and it doesn't happen in that time?
MALIK NABERS: Yeah, I mean, you're thinking about plays that could have been a difference in the game, and that could have been one of those. We were in the red zone, could have got a field goal or a touchdown, and sadly went away just off a mistake that I made. But I mean, just try to do better, try to be better, and I'll be better on just protecting the football, having awareness of where I am, and just like I said, protecting the football to give the offense opportunity to score points on that drive.
Q: Malik, you and (Washington Commanders quarterback) Jayden (Daniels) are great friends, obviously, and you have a friendly rivalry. How much is it bugging you now, though, that you haven't beaten him yet, head-to-head?
MALIK NABERS: Yeah, it's pretty bad. It's bugging me pretty bad, and he calls me all the time. He's probably trying to call me right now, but I can't answer that phone call.
Q: Can you talk us through the last play there, the jump ball with (Washington Commanders cornerback) Rasul (Douglas) that ends up as an interception? How did you track that ball? Is that a play you think you should catch or at least knock down?
MALIK NABERS: I mean, talk about the play. I mean, seeing the ball go up at the time, didn't really see him or where he was, so I'm not really aware of that. My head is looking up at the ball, even though he was driving on the ball. So, just seeing how high the ball was and just waiting for it to come down and made a jump to catch the ball and then got hit and then he made a play.
Q: What do you think there of taking shots? I think the play before that was a shot to (wide receiver Darnell) Mooney. What do you think of that versus trying to line up, trying to get in position for the field goal with two timeouts? What do you see there as the risk reward of going deep and maybe going for the win?
MALIK NABERS: I think as far as that play and in the ending of the game, I'd say we will be better on just finding a better situation on not trying to score points as quickly as we were, but just make smart decisions on what we want to get to after seeing the cover zero that it was giving us at the moment. So, trying to just get the ball out fast instead of trying to create a home run ball. So, you just got to be better in the situation, and that's really all.
Q: I know Harbs (Head Coach John Harbaugh) always talked to us about how these two games this week were very important for the season. Now that you guys have split those games and it's going to get tougher afterwards, how do you guys now try to approach what these next few games are going to mean for you guys if you want to keep this playoff push that you guys are obviously going for?
MALIK NABERS: I mean, I think every game is important. I mean, the games in the division are way more important than any other ones, but we take every game serious and we're going to take this game that's coming up just as serious as any other game. We're going to continue to try to win as many games as possible, and that's really all I got to say about that.
Q: Do you guys feel like this one stings a little bit more because you guys had it so close until that final minute?
MALIK NABERS: Every loss stings. Every loss I think we go through, it stings and it hurts, but you got to have your own flush mindset. It's just, we lost, okay, let's focus on how to win the next one. Let's focus on doing the things better that we made mistakes on and we bummed out about the loss, but we continue to try to put it behind us and keep going forward and try to get a win next week.
Q: So, Malik, you have said time and time again that you are a competitor, that you seek the very best out of yourself. When you have a game like you had yesterday, how do you kind of balance taking the lessons from that to be better the following week and continue to grow versus not pressing and getting outside of the box, so to speak?
MALIK NABERS: I had a talk with (Quarterbacks) Coach (Brian) Callahan, and we had a good talk and he said some things in our conversation. He was just like, 'Just play the one play that we call, don't try to do too much.' Don't try to do a lot on the play, we just need you to be you. So just be you at the end of the day. And like I said, just not pressing. I'm getting a lot of different coverages on my side. I'm getting a lot of cloud, getting a lot of double teams. So, every opportunity I have to get the football I think I'm just trying to do too much with the football instead of just let the game come to me and just play the game. So, I think just like Coach Calli said, just playing that one play, just locking on that one play and then focus on the next play when it comes.
Q: Did you feel like you were pressing a little as the game kind of got knotted up there towards the end?
MALIK NABERS: No, I wasn't pressing. I was just waiting for the opportunity for the football.
Q: What did they do specifically to try to limit you in that game?
MALIK NABERS: Watching Washington, they do a lot of double-double with me and Zay (tight end Isaiah Likely), they did it in the first game that we played. I saw a lot more of it this game. I would probably say, I mean, they blitzed us a lot also. The first game, I think we had 16 blitzes, a couple of zeros. So, I think this time they did about eight. So, they got out of it sometimes, but more so just receiving cloud coverage if I was outside or just receiving double if I was in the slot, depending on who was on me. So, I think just seeing a lot of different coverages and just knowing the double team is coming or the cloud coverage is coming. So, I mean, my job is to run the route and if I can get any of my guys open on the route, then I'm going to do that. Having seen so much stuff on me, I can't do (anything) about the defense trying to do their coverage on me or on Zay. So, I mean, that's not our job. So, our job is to run our route and try to get other people open and that's what I'm going to continue to do.
Q: And then you talked to Calli about he said, don't try and do too much. How much do you feel you were trying to do too much? And if so, in what ways were you trying to do too much?
MALIK NABERS: He wasn't talking specifically about this game. We weren't talking specifically about this game. We were just talking about overall on the sideline and just, they asked me what I see, asked me what calls and some of the calls would be just opportunities for us to get a unique play, whether it be me getting open or anybody else being open. So, just like I said, just letting the game come to us. At the end of the day, I'm not making the calls. I'm not making the plays on what calls to run. So, like I said, just play each play and just do whatever I can to help the team win.
Q: You mentioned sort of flushing a loss like that. How do you go about doing that? How do you sort of flush it and sort of look ahead after a stinging loss like that?
MALIK NABERS: I'm still trying to find ways, like I said, I take losses more painful than I say a lot of people just because overall I want to win so bad. So, when I when I receive a loss, I just, I don't know, it hurts just off of certain things that you have to do to win the game. But it's the NFL, 16 teams a week are going to lose the game. So, you just got to come to the realization that it's going to happen. You just got to be able to flush it and just move on and just fight back and try to go get a win, try to do everything that you can the next week to try to get a win. So, it's hard for sure but I don't know how to handle that. I'm still going through that. I'm still learning, try to find my way on flushing losses like this or just flushing a loss in general. So, I don't I don't know how to answer that question because I'm still learning from it, still learning how to do that.
Q: Malik, connected to that, you hate to lose, which is a great quality, obviously, and you're an extremely talented player. Do you ever feel like when the games aren't going well? Do you get in your own way at all? Like how emotionally frustrated you get when you're not achieving that high level you and the team can get to? Do you ever get in your way at all, your own way emotionally, when it doesn't look perfect and it's not working?
MALIK NABERS: I would say for sure, for sure, I have my I have my moments, but I continue to try to realize that I only can control the controllables. I can't just freely just run any route I want. I have to run specifically the routes that I'm given. And like I said, I can't stop the defense from doing their scheme to stop me from getting the ball, but I can help get other people open. And I can help the team on doing anything else that I have to do if I have to run off two people to get the look so (quarterback) J.J. (McCarthy) can give somebody the ball. I'm going to do my job and I'm going to do that. So, I can just be frustrated all I want, but in the game, we're trying to win and I want to win. I'm going to do everything I can to win the game. And the outside world is not going to see that they're only going to see the stats, they're only going to see the catches in the moments that are not made, but they won't see what the defense is doing. They won't see how the defense is trying to scheme me up to not get the ball or to not have a good game. So, I got to be okay with that as a football player. And as you know, like I said, a good receiver in this league, I got to be okay with having my opportunities and making those opportunities count. And just knowing when I got to help get somebody else open and help the team win as much as I can. So, I hope that answered the question.
