Coach John Harbaugh: 'That was a players' win in every way'

John Harbaugh (0:00)

First of all, I just want to humbly say, just personally, very grateful to my Lord, High Rock, Protector and Stronghold, Lord God in Heaven, and our guys, man.

That was a players win in every way. Blocking, tackling, special teams covering kicks, pass game, operating, getting stops when we needed stops, fighting back adversity, but just playing one play at a time as well as you can, irregardless of the last play, with no thought for the next play, as hard as you can, as Abdul told the guys at half time, no matter what, empty the tank, no matter what, come back in here with nothing left. And that's what they did. The other thing, the work that they put in, the lifting, the running, practicing, everything, to continue to be strong in the fourth quarter and be strong in the fifth quarter is impressive. Our guys have done that. They've been the stronger team at the end of pretty much every game so far this year. So really happy with them. And I think the players deserve all the credit for this great victory against a really good team. What questions do you have?

SPEAKER_2 (1:08)

John, what does it mean about your team that they've responded like from Cam Scadaboo to your defense being called out last week, what does it say about the players that they responded to those challenges?

John Harbaugh (1:18)

Pat, I think that's exactly the story. I mean, to me, that's the point that it tells you who they are. You know, you might have thought before the game, we're going to find out about our guys. We're going to find out about who they are, and we did. And you saw it. They did.

They took the bull by the horns, and they got the job done.

SPEAKER_3 (1:37)

It looked like a quarterback starting his first game for a new team, the way it all looked. What did you see out there? Because it was kind of like just seamless.

John Harbaugh (1:47)

I felt the exact same way. I really did. I mean, to me, I saw exactly what you saw with that. That was what it was.

There was no procedural penalties. We had no issues with the clock running down. We had no formation issues. All the checks were made really well. I thought he did a great job.

He's not a guy who's never played before. So he's young, but he's played, and he showed it. He showed it. He made throws. I'm sure he didn't play perfect, but he played a heck of a football game. He deserves a lot of credit.

SPEAKER_4 (2:17)

A range of emotions. Scattable breaks off that long run in overtime, and then he's come and lippin off the field, and then obviously to motor. For you, what was that?

John Harbaugh (2:27)

It's a range.

It's a range.

You got to try to just stay in the moment. That's the other thing our guys had talked about when they spoke. They talked about playing with joy, and there's a fierce joy in football. It's what football is. It's not happy joy. It's a fierce joy to compete and to find a way to win games like this, because it takes you empty and it takes everything you got, and it takes you fighting through those types of circumstances that you're talking about. To me, that's a great point. And to have them do that and just keep pounding the next play, then you never, because what we always say and they believe is that the next play could be the play. It could be the play. So play it like it's the play. And that's what those guys did. Scatt did it. The offensive line. The offensive line deserves a hell of a lot of credit. Would you agree? I mean, come on now. And it wasn't easy yards in there. So, but at the end, they were easier.

SPEAKER_5 (3:15)

John, the amount of adversity that you guys have faced this year in terms of both in game, but some of the guys that you've lost this week, losing Edmonds, another really important piece to this defense, and the fact that you guys just keep bringing it, keep coming. Was there a moment where there was in West Virginia, was there a moment when Jackson went down, when you realized that this team had the mental makeup that they can survive these things?

John Harbaugh (3:35)

That's a great question. I would say just a lot of moments stacked on top of each other because they just didn't bat an eye, they continued to work hard and fight. Every type of situation, they met the same way. Maybe it started with Jackson, then it went to the next and next and next to Tremaine this week. And Tremaine, too, he was there, he was trying to get back, trying to find a way to basically not listen to the doctors and continue to play. But then he's here on the trip with us. And those other guys will be on the trip as soon as they're allowed to be after the surgery.