JOHN HARBAUGH: Hey guys, how are you doing? Everybody good? Alright, good seeing everybody. Beautiful day for practice out here. Had a good practice and all eyes to Sunday. What questions do you have?
Q: What were you doing at the end?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Oh, we had the champ (UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane). He was here watching practice. A bunch of the guys were over there sparring with him a little bit, I guess. He said he always dreamed of being a tight end. Had to check out his hands a little bit to see how he looked. You never know, that could be the big story. The new free agent.
Q: Are you going to keep the door open for Skatt (running back Cam Skattebo)?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, let's keep it open. Let's keep it open, let's see what happens.
Q: Was he able to do anything today at practice?
JOHN HARBAUGH: No.
Q: (Quarterback) Jake Haener was released yesterday, I know he's likely going back to the practice squad. You opened up a roster spot. Anything to that?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, there's something to it. There's a reason for it. I'm not making any announcements at this meeting, this particular press conference. We have certain roster moves we need to make with our various situations.
Q: You're talking internal roster moves?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah.
Q: John, I assume you talk to the players about it for each game. Hostile environment, heated division rivalry. Do you have to tell your players, let's be a little careful, make sure we keep our emotions in check?
JOHN HARBAUGH: That's definitely part of the message. Different kind of ways to try to make sure we understand being smart is really important. Playing with discipline is really important. That's a big part of winning football.
Q: With (wide receiver) Malik yesterday, was that just something where he wasn't physically ready to go?
JOHN HARBAUGH: It was just something, an in-season type thing.
Q: What did you see from him today?
JOHN HARBAUGH: He practiced fully. He was full participation. It's not an issue. He'll be full-go for the game. He made the announcement. Did you hear what he said?
Q: I think he said, "I practiced."
Q: How is (wide receiver) Charlie Jones, how is he managing the thumb?
JOHN HARBAUGH: He's managing it. He was out today catching and everything like that. Just want to make sure he could catch. I haven't talked to him yet. We'll see how he felt.
Q: (Safety) Jevon Holland is listed as the back-up punt returner. What is your comfort level with using an every down starter in that type of role?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Not ideal. If we have to do it, we will. But not ideal, Jevon's really good. I don't have any worries, any qualms about Jevon at all. Knowing him, he'd be thrilled if he gets an opportunity to do it. The more he can do. He'd be very capable of doing very well, but it wouldn't be the ideal.
Q: You mentioned earlier in the week about being on the other side of this rivalry. Does this mean more to you? Or is it special to you to play the Eagles now, in this rivalry, in the NFC East?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Do I take stock in that? I haven't really thought about it. I think it's something kind of cool. But beyond that, no. Because it's just a really important game for our team. Really, honestly, that's really what overwhelms your thinking, the opportunity that we have against a big rival. We know what kind of environment it's going to be. We know what type of game it's going to be. We understand all that, our guys do. And that's what you just get ready for. All the other stuff is just kind of interesting. Pulling up on the bus, the few times that we played there in the past, since I left there, it was always kind of interesting going into the stadium and stuff because you've been there before but so long ago. It's really way, way, way, way, way more about what's at stake for us.
Q: You keep mentioning it's such a big game. I'm curious, why?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Division game, man. Division game. We're trying to win the division first. That's our first goal here. This game will go a long way toward that. That's why it's so important. Division games are big. Division games on the road are really big. Those are big wins if you can get them. They're tough to get. It's a big challenge. We're excited about the opportunity, but we understand it's a daunting challenge.
Q: You had talked about compartmentalizing everything this time of year. Living in different worlds, being able to handle that. Whether it's coaching staff or team. Two games in five days. You've got the trade deadline coming up. Have you found that it's a maturity aspect of it? It's a seasoned experience thing? Or is it just kind of that random that you're able to handle it? Or is it a success factor? The idea that you know you're a successful group so you can handle all of these things. Whereas, if you weren't built the way you are, maybe it would be hard to, maybe a distraction here or there.
JOHN HARBAUGH: Great point. That's a really interesting proposition. I don't know the answer for sure. I just feel very confident in our guys. I know our guys can handle whatever is thrown at them. You've got to go in there and play the kind of football that's going to win a football game. It really does boil down to that at the end. Our guys can handle the pressure. They can handle the distractions. They can handle all the different things going on, being thrown around, because they know they have a job to do. Each player and each coach knows they have a specific job to do. That's what they're going to be concerned about doing. Anything else is not your business. There's nothing you can worry about, but you can do what you can do. I'm very confident in our guys that way. How well we do it, that's up to us. That's what's going to determine whether we win or not, how well we do it.
Q: It applies to you too, right? You've been through this a long time. I'm sure there were seasons where it was too much, but now you're able to handle it.
JOHN HARBAUGH: I don't know. That's too much for me to think about (laughter).
