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 8, 2009, 3:08AM

Head Coach John Harbaugh
(on the loss) “It obviously was a tough loss in a tough environment against a good football team. Our guys fought back. We were down 17-0 at halftime, we got it back to 17-14, but we didn’t do what we needed to in the red zone to get it done.”

(on the Ravens playoff outlook) “We are fighting for our lives right now, but we are still breathing. We are still alive. I think our character and heart will show through as we finish up the season.” 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.”
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 17, 2009, 3:58AM

Head Coach John Harbaugh

(Opening statement) – “Obviously, that was a hard fought victory over a team that had two weeks to prepare for us. I thought they did a heck of a job. They played with great emotion, tremendous intensity and it was a dog fight. I’m proud of our guys. It was a tough first half. We played tremendously well on defense throughout the game. We put 13 points up early in the second half and separated us a little bit. That was really the key to the game. A shutout is just a credit to your defense. We were dealing with some difficult formations and alignments. Things they were giving us were challenging to line up against. I thought our guys handled that really well. We stopped Joshua Cribbs – that, in and of itself, is an accomplishment. Those were kind of the keys to the game.”

(On the injury to LB Terrell Suggs) – “As of right now, I don’t know. It’s not one of those catastrophic knee injures. We’ll get an MRI tomorrow and let you know.” 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 »

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 »

The Ravens free agent fortunes to a dramatic turn today as the team announced that it had reached agreement with veterans Ray Lewis and Matt Birk.  Ravens fans can now more easily shake off some of the frustration of losing out on 3 key contributors from last years squad in Bart Scott, Jim Leonhard and Jason Brown.  Full terms of both deals have not been disclosed.  Birk’s deal is for 3 years, while neither the length or financial terms of Lewis’ deal have been disclosed.

In Birk, the Ravens not only added a 6 time pro bowler, they also picked up a player that can fill the leadership role vacated by Brown on the Ravens young o-line.  The Ravens clearly wanted to find an established talent to replace Brown, evident by their aggressive approach to getting  the deal done with Birk, a St. Paul Minn. native.  John Harbaugh feels the move improves the Ravens immediately:

“To add a player like Matt, who will also give us outstanding leadership, makes us a better team,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “We’re not standing pat. We’re moving forward and getting better.”

Birk seems to be at the least an adequate replacement for Brown talent-wise and I like the leadership and presence he will bring, but would the Ravens have been better served in making a better offer to Brown?  Brown’s youth and cohesion with the other members of the line was appealing.

Whether or not the deal for Ray Lewis, reportedly for 3 years in the range of $20 to $25 million, results in a happy ending remains to be seen.  After losing out in the bidding war for Bart Scott, it was clear the Ravens needed to make every effort to bring back Lewis.  Lewis after all, has been the face of the Ravens for the teams entire existence.  My concern is with the way some of this played out in the media and whether Ray is truly satisfied with the way this all came down.

All sides are saying the right things at this point, witness some of Ray and John Harbaugh’s comments today:

“From beginning to end as a Raven … Wow! To be with the same team with the same fans for an entire career, that doesn’t happen in the NFL,” Lewis said in a statement.

“My heart is with the Ravens,” Lewis said. “My heart is with Baltimore and the great fans. What can I say? Here we go!”

“What a great day for the Ravens,” coach John Harbaugh said. “To get the commitment from Ray means so much to the team, to the franchise and to our fans.”

But what is said outwardly does not always reflect how team and player feel about one another.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying Ray does not have a lot to offer to the Ravens, but it became clear that there is some tension in the relationship.  Sometimes tension can be a motivating factor, or it can lead to a bad situation.  Will Ray and the Ravens be able to move beyond this?  And will Ray be able to retire as the icon in Baltimore sports history that his play on the field has afforded him?