Head Coach John Harbaugh

JOHN HARBAUGH: Okay, good to see everybody. We are kind of now locked in really for the game. We'll have a walkthrough for the game tomorrow. We haven't really practiced the plays for the game yet, but I'm sure we'll run basic plays in the game. And then kind of walk through what the Vikings do. Tomorrow, we're not preparing for the Vikings. We aren't practicing at all against them except for tomorrow's walkthrough. That's how we do the preseason. But we just really want to see the guys play. We want to give them a chance to play free, play loose, and just play to their best game, and try to show and shine what they can do. So, that's what we're doing.

Q: Does that include (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart)?

JOHN HARBAUGH: That's such a great way to ask that question. It's awesome. So, here's the thing. I talk about one guy and say how much he's going to play, then what's the next follow-up question going to be? It's going to be the next guy, then the next guy, then the next guy. So, I plan on not talking about who's going to play. That's what I plan on doing. I just decided just to leave it out there. You'll see when the game comes. It'll make the speculations so much more fun, if you don't know exactly what's going to happen.

Q: How do you value, though, those first team players getting those reps?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I value first team reps very much. And you have to measure that against the risk. So, there is risk as well. And that's part of it, too. And you have to make that decision. In the past three or four years, we didn't play hardly any starters. Before that, we would play them a series or two, and we usually went even all three games. Way back when, we had the – we kind of brought it from (Chiefs Head Coach) Andy (Reid) the way we worked it. Andy had the most reps for in the third preseason game. Then the fourth preseason game those guys only played one series. So, there's a lot of formulas. People used a lot of different formulas. Our formula was pretty much to spread the reps out evenly through the three games for the guys that needed to play. And we have a plan for that right now by guy. That's what we'll do.

Q: Is there anybody who's rehabbing or injured other than (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) who we know definitely won't play?

JOHN HARBAUGH: There are, I would say there's – yeah, (wide receiver) Jalin Hyatt will be out, ruled out as far as an injury. Some of the other injuries would be guys that would probably be game-time decisions or right up to it. So, some of those guys that didn't practice today would probably be game-time decisions. I'm probably forgetting somebody. If you want to ask about the injured guys, you could, but I might not answer.

Q: (Cornerback Paulson) Adebo?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Adebo would be one of those game time decision guys.

Q: How much do you value these reps though, or weigh the factor that it's a new offense, right? And that you are trying to install a new offense and the quarterback hasn't done these plays against other competition and on the field. So, how do you put that into the equation, then?

JOHN HARBAUGH: And that is the crux of what we have to consider, to your point. So, that is a big part of it – executing a new offense – but also a young quarterback. We've got a young quarterback who's just in his second year, who didn't play a whole season even last year. So, he's just getting started. And we're going to be playing two of the best teams in our conference right out of the gates. And so, we'd like to be ready for that. So, that's part of the consideration. You balance that up against the injury considerations. And then if your quarterback's out there, then you've got other guys you might want to put out there to protect him. So, believe me, that's all the things we're thinking about right now.

Q: John, (Inaudible) you knew a lot about (cornerback) Colton Hood from studying his film, but sometimes, as I'm sure, a lot of times you get to see a lot more out here in practice. So, what are the things that you've seen from him out here that maybe hadn't shown up on tape?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I would say his attention to detail, but his ball skills. I mean, his ball skills showed up on tape. So, that wasn't – I mean, we've seen the ball skills. He's very sticky at the top of routes, maybe more sticky than I thought. But his attention to detail, to technique, and his determination to do everything right, almost too much. This guy, man, he's a perfectionist. He gets mad if he doesn't do it exactly right, which I kind of appreciate that kind of mindset.

Q: You got us all intrigued today with Malik Nabers in a red jersey. What was the purpose of that?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, we're trying out the red jerseys. Maybe we'll go to red jerseys one of these times. Malik was lobbying for the red jersey of the future, but that wasn't the reason. The reason was to make sure that nobody touched him. I don't know if you saw what happened to the wide receivers coach, Chad Hall, in individual. So, we had a rule that everybody respects the red jersey for Malik, obviously, when he's out there, and in individual, Chad was the DB and Malik was releasing off of Chad. Somehow they crossed signals in which way they were going, and Malik went to punch his way through, arm over, and he caught Chad right in the face. Split his lip open, he got stitches right out there on the field. Chad Hall took stitches on the field. Tough dude.

Q: I know a lot will be made – just the idea if he was on the field. We know it was kind of a walkthrough, jog through, half-speed.

JOHN HARBAUGH: Not half-speed. They seem half-speed to you?

Q: Well, no, I'm saying with Malik. When you were out there with Malik, it definitely seemed like it was –

JOHN HARBAUGH: He was out there in the drill. Now, maybe he went half-speed because he's really, really fast, but okay, sorry.

Q: The purpose of it, right? I mean, you're not – nobody's going to be –

JOHN HARBAUGH: It was a no-physicality practice. It was a timing practice, as much as possible, with no physicality.

Q: Do you sense, though, knowing who Malik is and what he means to his team and his teammates, and how far he's come and how far he still has to go, that it was significant in a way? What was the significance for you?

JOHN HARBAUGH: No, I agree with that. I think that's right. I feel like the players were excited when we talked about it in meetings this morning. They were excited. They were giving him a hard time at practice. But everybody was happy that he was out there. Because it's a big step. It's a big step to get into team drills. So, for him to do that was – yeah, it was a milestone, I would say, for our team.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart

Q: How are you feeling three weeks in?

JAXSON DART: I'm excited, three weeks in. I feel like time in Greenbrier just, you never knew what day it was. But I'm really excited. I'm happy with where we're at as a team. The guys are putting in really good work. And I think that, obviously, we have a lot more room to improve in certain areas, but where we're at right now, I'm really excited and I think guys are doing a great job.

Q: Is it fun to throw to a guy in the red jersey (wide receiver Malik Nabers)?

JAXSON DART: You saw it? Yeah. No, it's great to have him (Nabers) back out there. I've said this before, he has a certain presence about him anytime he touches the field and I think the big thing today was also you just saw how excited he was himself to be out there. And we're in like an ACT-style format of a practice but he's running all the way down, scoring. Yeah, just can't wait for it to be full go when the time comes.

Q: What do you think offensively you guys have done well? And then what do you think are the thing you all need to improve on?

JAXSON DART: I think that we're still continuing to try to find our identity in certain areas. And that's just because not all of our install is in. So, you've got to continue to put things in. Find the things that you're great at as an offense and you just kind of build those things up. I think that we've excelled in a lot of areas. And I think that it starts up front and I think that our guys, especially in the run game, have done a really good job. And we're able to have a really good test against our defense day in and day out, which has been a really good competitive atmosphere for us to continue to have conversations, continue to improve in certain areas and I think that the big thing is, too, is we have a lot of guys moving around in different spots. And that's been really good because each guy is able to understand the use and the responsibility of each and every spot. So, like I said, I'm happy with where we're at and we've just got to continue to take the right steps.

Q: Jaxson, if you go in a year's time from last year's first preseason game until now and think about how far you've come, how much has changed around you, what in your mindset right now, where are you as a quarterback and where do you want to be and what do you want to become?

JAXSON DART: Yeah, I definitely feel like I'm way ahead of where I was last year from just an experience standpoint. Being able to learn conceptually NFL systems, being able to just have the leadership, being able to see things through different lenses of different positions just from obviously my experience. So, that's what makes me really excited about this year. I feel like it's just another opportunity for big growth and I wouldn't want it with any other coaches than we have right now, as well as any other players in the group that we have. So, guys are bought in, guys are really pushing themselves. And you can see it at camp each and every day and just the environments that we're in. And I think that the development goes for everybody, not just me. I think that the coaches have put a lot on our plate and we've been able to put a lot of time and effort into it. And I think that every single one of us are developing and, yeah, I'm excited to continue on this track.

Q: A lot of times when a player's hurt for a long time, sort of out of sight, out of mind. I think there's probably a lot of people that forget how good Malik can be. Not that you're one of them, but can you just sort of remind us what he can do on the field?

JAXSON DART: Yeah, I think that he can change the game at any point and at any time. The ball is in his hands and there's a chance that it could go for six. And I think that that's just the type of player that he is. That's the skill sets that he has. So, when you have that on offense, it's game changing. And so, whenever his time is right to be back out there with us, I can't wait for it, certainly. And I know that he's just going to make our team that much better.

Q: What's it like in the experience in the coaching room, specifically on the offensive side, what's that like in the meeting room when you have some of the guys with head coaching experience?

JAXSON DART: I think it's so cool. I think it's so cool that we have as many coaches as we do that have had head coaching experience and who have done it at such a high level and have won Super Bowls.

And you get to hear their perspectives, you get to hear, obviously, their coaching each and every day. And I think that that alone, I think gives this staff a really good edge for us as a team and I think that as players, we have all the confidence in the world in them being able to put us in the best spots to succeed. So, day in and day out you're just trying to be a sponge and learn from them as much as you can. And I think the cool thing is that you can go on each side of the ball in all the different areas and learn something with this coaching staff. So, I'm definitely really excited about it.

Q: How would you describe how (Offensive Coordinator Matt) Nagy wants to call it? Like, is it creative? Is it aggressive? What you've seen working with him, how would you describe what Nagy wants to do with an offense?

JAXSON DART: Yeah, he's definitely aggressive. He's definitely wanting to create explosive plays.

But I think the big thing is, is he wants to always stay ahead of the sticks. He wants to be moving forward. And that's the big point of emphasis that we have of any negative plays, whether it may be penalties, whether it may be loss of yardage on a run or sacks, he's really big on minimizing those things. And I think that as an offensive coordinator, when you're able to get your players to do that, it definitely helps him feel like he's in control of the game, helps our offense get into a flow. So, he understands that every single day, every rep, every team that we're going to go against is independent of its own. And I think that with his experience, where he's been, the successes that he's had, even some of the things that he's learned from himself, he's open about it. And I think that that gives us as players a lot of confidence and helps us buy into his offense.