Right Off Russell

by BaltimoreRavens.com

Head Coach John Harbaugh
On if he thinks QB Joe Flacco’s performance problems of late are caused by injuries or other defenses getting to know him better or anything at all in particular: “I think there are a lot of explanations. There are a lot of little things that go play by play. The bottom line is Joe can play better; we can play better around Joe in the passing game. And turnovers are what we’re talking about – specifically in the red zone. Those are decision-making errors. I’m going to say in the big picture, it’s part of his process. We talked about it after the game, we talked about it today again. Let’s get through this right now. Let’s make the improvement right now. We try to do that as we go. Read more »

by BaltimoreRavens.com
Dec 3, 2009, 4:50PM

Head Coach John Harbaugh

Opening Statement: “OK, good to see everybody. We were back at work yesterday, but we’re obviously moved back in our schedule with a Monday night game. So, today is our Wednesday, and we just all move it back a day, as you guys know. So, we’ve had a good start so far. We have practice a little bit later.”

On whether having an extra day really helps the preparation aspect of the game: Read more »

BaltimoreRavens.com
Nov 30, 2009

Head Coach John Harbaugh
(opening statement) “I can tell you right now, about injuries – I don’t know a thing. You know, I just haven’t had a chance to look into it. But [Senior Vice President of Public/Community Relations] Kevin [Byrne] kind of got that covered. First of all, what a game. We’ve had a few of these this year. We’ve had a few where we’ve walked in here, been in this kind of football game, and they’re not perfect, and they don’t lay out exactly the way you might plan them, and we come up on the short end. We didn’t come up on the short end tonight. Our guys came up on the long end of this one. I was proud of them in those other situations when we didn’t win, and I’m proud of them in this situation when we did win. Maybe just a little bit more, I’m proud, to be honest with you. But that’s a really good football team. We were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. I’m really not interested in hearing questions about who didn’t play for them and who didn’t play for us. That quarterback over there, Dennis Dixon, is a player. We liked him coming out of the draft. He can throw. He made some tremendous throws, especially in the first half. They caught us a little bit…we had an all out blitz, and they just had a great call, and they executed it well. It was a perfect call, really, against that defense, and the young guy made a great play. So, I have a ton of respect for that football team, and we’re very proud of this victory.”
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BaltimoreRavens.com
Nov 22, 2009, 6:51PM

Head Coach John Harbaugh

(opening statement) “Obviously, it was a disappointing and tough loss. I thought our guys competed and fought and did everything they could to try to find a way to win the game. We all could have done better, me included, during different situations in the game. I thought we rebounded well after the first drive. The obvious difference was in the red zone, both ways. That was the difference in the game. So, what do you have?”

(on if he talked to S Ed Reed about the final play) “We haven’t had that conversation. He didn’t say anything about it. I haven’t talked to him about it.” Read more »

by BaltimoreRavens.com
Nov 18, 2009, 7:18PM

Head Coach John Harbaugh

Opening statement: “He everybody, good to see you. We had a couple of situations with the injuries. Haruki Nakamura will be put on IR [Injured Reserve], which is obviously disappointing to all of us. We worked some safeties out earlier here today. We just have to see what direction we’re going to go on that. We’ve have Matt Lawrence with a little knee issue, that we’ve got to have to take about another week to figure out what’s up with that. Of course, we let Steve [Hauschka] go yesterday. I think everybody’s pretty much aware of that. Anything else? Billy Cundiff will be the kicker. We’ve been working kickers out for a couple of weeks here, and he did a nice job. So, he’ll be our guy.”

On juggling kickers in the middle of the season: Read more »

by BaltimoreRavens.com
Nov 4, 2009, 5:16PM

ILB Ray Lewis

On if he has seen any other plays ahead of time, like him calling CB/RS Lardarius Webb’s kickoff return TD: (laughing) “That’s funny. No, I haven’t seen too much. Hopefully it comes close to the game. No, it was just something… Sometimes you feel something, sometimes you see things, you just really want to just pass on true belief. That’s what I mentioned to him [Lardarius Webb] walking out of the locker room, like, ‘If you believe it, it’s going to happen.’ Once truly two or three agree, then whatever’s going to be is going to be if it’s supposed to be his will. That’s why I came back and touched the man. He’s a young kid with so much. Has a gift to just… You can transform quickly in your career, you can go through that long process, but he’s the kind of kid that needs to go fast. That was my job, to just lead him.”

On what he said to Webb on the sideline after the play: “I was just saying, ‘Do you believe me know?’ God is real. You’ve just got to believe it.” Read more »

by BaltimoreRavens.com
Nov 2, 2009, 6:34PM

WR Derrick Mason

Did this win over Denver take pressure off of the team? “Not really. We understood where we were as a team. While we were in the position we were in, there was no panicking, there was no pressure. You know, we just felt that we needed to finish out games. We had to start fast and end fast. The three games previous, we either did one or the other, either started off slow and had to play catch-up, or kind of started off fast and then fizzled out toward the end. So, pressure? No. But we understood that in order to keep ground with the two teams in front of us, we had to win this game.”

How well are you prepared for a tough schedule coming up? Read more »

BaltimoreRavens.com
Oct 28, 2009, 6:51PM

LB Ray Lewis

On if he is happy about being back to play football: “Why wouldn’t we be? I’ll sum it up like this: Basketball season started, and you always watch a different sport. You see the excitement behind it all. I watched the Lakers last night, then the Celtics and the Cavs. It is kind of exciting to see how the season is going. I was sitting there with my girl and my boy, and was like, ‘Wow, we get to go back and play football again.’ So, you had your little break all week, which is a good thing. We needed it and really got after each other on the bye – practiced some small things. I think now we’ve got a nice little chip [on our shoulder] once we get back to the field on Sunday. So, it should be a good thing.”

On his thoughts about knocking off an undefeated football team: Read more »

Photo courtesy of examiner.com

Ravens fans got a big dose of good news today when it was announced that Derrick Mason will return to the Ravens rather than retire.  I am sure the front office  and many of his teammates were excited by the news as well.  Mason is a character guy who plays with a lot of passion and toughness.  He has led the Ravens receivers with his productivity and leadership since he got here and his return boosts the Ravens receiving corps back to a respectable level.  That level could raise greatly should Demetrius Williams put it all together and become the consist threat the club believes he can. Read more »

WR Derrick Mason has apprntravoached the Ravens about a contract extension.  Mason who is 35 has 1 year left on his deal with the club.  It makes sense that a player of his age and contract situation would look for an extension.  Mason’s reasons are simple, he feels he has earned the right with his play for the Ravens to make a longer commitment to him:

“I have one more year left on my deal, and I want to play more than one year,” Mason said. “For a player, one year is no security. No security whatsoever. I think I’ve earned the right to go to management and let them know that I want to play more than just one year.”

Mason also said that he would have to pursue other options, like a release, should an extension not happen before next season.  Mason has been the Ravens most dependable and productive receiver since joining the team prior to the 2005 season.  Mason has never missed a game in his 4 years with the Ravens.  His toughness and durability were never more clear than this passed season when he played the 2nd half of the year after separating his shoulder against the Houston Texans.  The Ravens cannot afford to lose his productivity next year.

The question is, is Mason in the Ravens plans beyond this year?  He may need to be since there are no receivers of signifigance on the roster under contract beyond 2009.  It will be a tough call for the front office since few receivers are productive in their late 30’s.  If they can somehow convince Mason to play the year without an extension and then re-visit this after ‘09, that would be ideal.  Unfortunately, it is unlikely to happen.

What will be interesting to follow is whether the Ravens make any other moves to acquire a receiver in free agency.  Marvin Harrison’s name has been thrown around by some media sources.  I find this unlikely since Harrison is a very similar receiver to Mason at this point, and probably a step slower.  Should a guy like Torry Holt come available, then I would argue that an upgrade over Mason could be had and the Ravens could allow Mason to walk.