Head Coach John Harbaugh
Q: When you went back and looked at the tape, what did you see for why the running game was so successful?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, I think it probably started with Skatt (running back Cam Skattebo). I mean, he was running really, really hard, really, really well. Set the tempo, brought the energy, juice. I thought his reads were really good. Then of course the blocking. So, there was a lot of good blocks. I thought we did a good job with the game plan part of it in terms of getting in the right plays and everything. But a lot of things that needed to get better too. Plenty of things that weren't good enough, that need to improve, that can be so much better. I think when you talk to the guys, that's what they'll be talking about. That's what they were talking about after the game.
Q: And then real quick, your players spoke about your tackle of (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) at the walkthrough. Well, what's your perspective on that? What happened there?
JOHN HARBAUGH: (Laughter) It just kind of evolved into an opportunity to tackle. And I couldn't pass it up, I guess. But no, it was good. It was fun. It was all in fun. Got a lot of laughs. Some guys gave me a sideways look. Some of the players were like, 'What are you doing?' So, it was good.
Q: Is this a regular part of your repertoire? Or is that a first for you?
JOHN HARBAUGH: We may have to add it in. I usually do tackle guys or imitate tackling guys because I really couldn't tackle them in real life, I'm sure. But I have done that before, so it wasn't a first.
Q: Going back to look at (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart), just when you go back on the tape, you obviously said he was tremendous with what he had to handle on his plate. But when you look back at it, was there anything else that just kind of stood out with how he just kind of managed the game? Whether it was how he changed plays at the line scrimmage or just made the right throws? Was there anything that particularly stood out when you looked at it again?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, the thing probably once I looked at this morning would be the accuracy. I thought his accuracy was really good. His on-time, the rhythm passing, if you want to call it that, getting the ball out on time was really good. In critical situations, especially when we needed to convert against man or zone, but numerous times against zone, he was able to put the ball right where it needed to be right on time. And that was a big plus for us.
Q: I was going to follow up on that with third down. It seemed like I think he was, looking at this right here, I think seven-of-seven on third down. I mean, just how much of that was something to be impressed with, just with him being able to not just make those throws, but do it when y'all needed him on third down, especially.
JOHN HARBAUGH: No, it's exactly what you're saying is right. I mean, we should be impressed by that. That's the idea. That's the kind of efficiency that you hope to have And that's what moves the chains.
Q: Hey, John. A lot of your players talked about how your training camp sort of set the foundation for them being prepared for the opener and it clearly looked like that. What is the challenge, or how do you as a coaching staff now sustain that, everything you built in training camp, and continue it throughout the week-to-week part of the season?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, really everything you do before is a foundation for what you're going to do next. So, we're building on our foundations every single day, what's under us and what we have banked, so to speak. Try to maintain an understanding of that but we also understand that how you play this week is not going to be good enough to win next week. How we played this last night will not win the game next Monday night. It won't be good enough. So, we've got to improve. We've got to keep improving and we've got to put everything we've got into this week to improve the most that we possibly can if we're going to have the best opportunity to win this game. So, we've got a lot to do. There's so many things on that tape as a coach that you just focus on that you just know have to be better. So, we do have a good understanding now of where we're at in terms of all the details with our football. And we understand because of that how far we have to go still. So, that's what we'll be working on.
Q: You were with the Ravens when the Giants used that famous NASCAR package where (former Giants defensive lineman) Justin Tuck used to slide inside and they kind of popularized moving ends inside to get in your face pass rush. And then last night they put up a stat, some Pro Football Focus package stat that when you guys moved (outside linebacker Kayvon) Thibodeaux inside something like six pressures on seven snaps. What did you guys like that you saw about having that kind of thing where whether it's (defensive lineman Chauncey) Golston or Thibodeaux where you can slide that guy inside and get an extra rusher on the interior?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, no question. It's our personnel. That's the way we're built. We've got those guys. And for those guys to be able to go in there and do that and even those two guys are different in the way they do it. So, it's different things that we do with those guys. But it just puts some athleticism on the field. I mean it gives some things up too when you do that. But our games, our twists, our stunts, those things become even more effective. That was a big part of it, you're right.
Q: Does that take some buy-in from those, especially I guess I'm talking about Kayvon. You're not naive to the fact like contract year, getting sacks you know is what gets you paid, all that kind of stuff. And here he is banging heads with guards and centers on third downs.
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, I don't think he's planning on banging heads with them. I think he's planning on beating them you know for his pressures and his sacks. He's excited about it. Those guys love going in there and going against those guards and having a chance to run those inside stunts. A lot of times as the penetrator, if you run an exit stunt or an exit stunt, it's the end who goes first. When you run a tech stunt, a TE, it's the inside player that goes first. And that's what those guys get a chance to do and a lot of times that's the player that comes free on the stunt. So, they know that. So, they don't mind going in there at all. They like going in there.
Q: John, I had a big picture question about practice squad. Obviously, there's a lot of guys on there that have different roles and it's evolved over the years from being just a developmental group to a game day roster building group. But just in general, what is your message to those guys when they come in, especially the younger guys? And what do you want to see from them week-to-week?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, every guy is in kind of an individual place with that, certainly. The message is you're on the team. I mean, when you're on our practice squad, in our eyes, you're on our team. And so, we're counting on you to be your best every day and to become your best going forward because we're planning on putting you in the games and playing you when the time comes. So, that's the message. I think part of the job responsibility to your question is that practice, they need to do a great job of understanding what they're doing for the offense or the defense in terms of getting the look they need to be ready for the game. Sometimes you got to be a good actor. You got to play the role. You got to play the (Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman) Aaron Donald role and do that maybe as a defensive tackle and try to emulate some of the things he does. You'll be asked to do that. So, our guys are a great group. We really appreciate those guys. They've done a heck of a job. So, we feel good about our group.
Q: Hey, John. First off, how did you come out of the game health-wise?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Fine.
Q: And then as far as your corners, what did you think about their play? And I don't know if you agreed with all the PI calls, but what is maybe the coaching point to (cornerback) Dru (Phillips) in particular?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, just play-by-play, I mean, probably a couple of them were definitely justifiable and good calls. One or maybe two of them were a little bit more – very gray. So, you just look at each one and you try to make the coaching points that you can per play. I mean, you can't grab a guy. You can't restrict a player from making the catch. Just like an offensive player shouldn't be able to create separation by extending his arms and pushing off. So, you just try to coach it play-by-play.
Q: And one last one. When (cornerback Deonte) Banks first went out, (cornerback Paulson) Adebo went in. And then when (cornerback Greg) Newsome (II) went out, you put (cornerback) Colton (Hood) in instead of Adebo. Just curious, what was the thought process on how you went about that substitution?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Just looking for the best combination, the best play. We're just trying to put the guys out there in any given type of situation that we think is going to give us the best play. You know, the best chance to win the game at that position. There's a lot of factors that go into that. Not going to delve into all those things, but that's always the objective of any of those types of moves. Just what's going to give us the best chance to play our best, in terms of who's out there doing what.
Q: I have kind of a two-part question about the fullbacks. What does (fullback) Patrick Ricard bring to your team? And why has that position remained important to you over the years, even as more and more offenses have veered away from it since you started coaching?
JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, we – I think probably the best answer to that question is kind of just when you study what we do, which I know you do, it becomes self-evident. Because the jobs and the roles that he's being asked to play are built into our offense. Not everybody has those, but a lot of people do. And sometimes people do them with different types of guys. I mean, (49ers fullback) Kyle Juszczyk, for instance, we had him at one time. We drafted him into the league and look at what he's done. He does a lot of the same jobs that Pat does, but just in a different way. So, there are fullbacks around. There's also tight ends that do some of those jobs. Pat does his thing his way, and there's some things that I'm sure some of the Juszczyks of the world can do maybe better, if you want to call it that. But there's a lot of things that Pat can do that nobody else can do. Nobody in the world can do some of the things that Pat Ricard can do. And that's good for us. That's unique for us. So, it helps us be who we are. It builds into our team persona, our team identity. And we love that. We love that about him as a player and we love having that chance to take advantage of all the guys' unique abilities if we can.
Q: You had said last night in the postgame press conference that (tight end) Isaiah Likely probably knew that he would be getting a video and a text from you at around three o'clock in the morning about the fumble. That wasn't the first time I've heard that mentioned by a couple of your guys from down in Baltimore. Pat Ricard said it would not be a first time to get a text from you around 11 o'clock after a one o'clock game about maybe a specific step he missed on a block. I'm curious, with all the new players that you have on your team, is it a soft launch for everybody? Or do you just kind of hit them with something like that? And does that speak to your coaching and holding guys accountable? And maybe if they don't see it coming, they react a little differently than the next day in person, that kind of thing.
JOHN HARBAUGH: I don't know. That's a good question. I don't do it that often, really. There's so many guys and so many plays, and our coaches do just a great job. Our coaches are on it. So many times if I ask a question, a coach will get to me about something. He goes, 'Hey, you're going to see this,' just to get out in front of it. Or if I ask, the answer that I'm hoping for or expecting, he's already saying it, because we've talked about these things before a lot of times. But it's always good to just make sure you continue to stay aligned in terms of the football. That's the most important thing that we need to be on the same page about, is our football. All the time, every second, every step of the way. For me, sometimes it's just easier just to talk to the player, too, directly. Especially if it's something I'm really sure about in terms of what we're doing or what I want to see. So, sometimes it's also a relationship. You get a chance to connect on a football level with guys. But yeah, I think guys appreciate it more than anything. A lot of times it's really positive, too. Something they did really well, just pointing out that, 'Hey, man, this is awesome. It's incredible what you did out there. Keep rolling.' I think every coach does that. All of our coaches do that. They're all good at it. And that's what we want.
Q: You've talked a lot this summer about the way this offense has been built and all the different voices and people and systems that it's put together. How much of that is, we need to put this together for Jaxson, for our starting quarterback, and how much of it is, we need to put this together for our team and Jaxson has to be a part of that? Because it seemed like last night it seemed to very much come together.
JOHN HARBAUGH: Right. It's an interesting question in the sense of how much. I'm not sure if it's measurable. We haven't done the measurements on it, but definitely those elements are in there for sure, all those elements. And also probably the third piece would just be how much of it is for what the vision is of the offense, what we want it to look like, what type of identity do we think we need to be as a team offensively to be as good as we can be. What principles are there that are kind of non-negotiable principles that wouldn't matter who the players are, who the coaches are, they would have to be part of it. So, one of the things that is one of those non-negotiables is ball security. We're putting the ball on the ground entirely too much. It's got to change. We've got to make the change on that. Every single ball carrier has got to make sure that it gets better, and it's up to us as coaches. We've got to drill it. We've got to teach it. We've got to make sure that we do it better because the ball's on the ground four times, and that's just not even close to being acceptable. So, as an example, I used that just from this last game. Yeah, all those elements are certainly part of it.
