John Harbaugh: Ravens Press Conference 12/2/24

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

Welcome into the Ravens Press Pass Podcast. It is Monday, December 2nd. The Ravens fell to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. And it's now the team's bye week. The Ravens are sitting at eight and five going into the bye week. They've got four games left in the regular season. And head coach John Harbaugh today talked about the team's focus and approach during this bye week.

John Harbaugh (0:23)

All right, good to see everybody here. Appreciate it. Had a good day today.

Met with the guys. They were in watching the tape and going through the game. They'll be coming back Monday for practice and for meetings. And we'll be focusing on the Giants. In the meantime, coaches will be here all week. And we're gonna go through really every aspect. It's a little different with a late bye like this. I don't think it'll be so much geared toward midseason reviews and things like that, cuz we kinda pretty, I think we have a good idea. I know we have a good idea on where we're at. We're gonna be looking for ideas and adjustments and watching our opponents that we're gonna be playing the next three to four weeks. And doing everything we can to be ready for those games and to create as many opportunities for our players. Put them in position to make plays as we can. That's what we'll be searching out the next five days. What question do you have?

SPEAKER_3 (1:20)

John, I know we asked about the Anthony Johnson after the game. Is there any other clarification to give with that?

John Harbaugh (1:26)

Right. At this time, I'm gonna have to wait just to clarify it. There's some moving parts there that we're gonna have to figure out and explore and just see where we're at.

I know it's not the answer you want, but it's the best I can do in fairness to everybody right now.

SPEAKER_4 (1:46)

Are you expecting to continue to be on the team after the bye week?

John Harbaugh (1:48)

I think, like I said, we'll just work it out, see where we're at over the next few days and this week.

SPEAKER_5 (1:56)

With the bye week, what are some of the– what have you seen in this first part of the season that you are pleased with, and what kind of adjustments would you want to see moving forward with just the four games?

John Harbaugh (2:08)

Yeah, that's such a big question and a good question. I think that's all encompassing the answer, really, because it includes every aspect of our team. I mean, there's certain things we want to look at, you know, special teams. There are things on offense and things on defense that we want to look at in terms of what we can create to be ready for what's in front of us. I mean, I'm happy with the first part of the season. It's not perfect. I'd like to have a few more wins, but I'm glad we have the wins that we have. You know, everything that we– every goal that we have is in front of us, and we have the team to do it. So, what can we do to– Bill Parcells had a great quote. He said, the season starts after Thanksgiving. Wow, what a truth for the teams that, you know, are still in it. And we're one of those teams. So, we have an opportunity now. The season starts now. I think– I'm proud of our guys. I feel like they've fought through a lot of things this year.

It's been 13 straight weeks. We've had a lot of tough games. We've had a lot of travel. We've gone against teams kind of in situations where they were, you know, they were hot, they were at their best, they were playing good football, they were healthy, and it's a challenge. And I think our guys handled all those challenges really well. So that forges you for what's ahead. It's made us the team that we are, and I think recognizing with some rest this week, their legs back under us, we'll have a chance to do really well going forward.

SPEAKER_6 (3:34)

John, can you take us kind of through your thought process as you figure out how to deal with a situation you probably didn't think you'd have to deal with right now, which is Justin Tucker and the kicking issues?

John Harbaugh (3:46)

So what's the question on it?

SPEAKER_6 (3:47)

Just kind of your thought process as you try to figure out how to fix this, you know, Tucker's issues or however you kind of approach it right now.

John Harbaugh (3:57)

Yeah, you do. You rack your brain. You think about everything because that's a big deal, you know, obviously. And we all know it. Justin knows it, too. I mean, points were at a premium in the game. They have been a few of these games. And sometimes we haven't made the most of our opportunity to score points because, you know, you're making kicks. And so and Justin expects to make every kick, no matter how far it is or what the situation is. And those are makeable kicks for him. So, yeah, we're racking our brains, talking to Justin, talking to looking at everything, looking at what we're doing. I'm very confident that it's going to get fixed. I believe it will. It has to, you know, and he's the guy to get it fixed. So, you know, sometimes you respect the player and you respect his ability to get it worked out. With help from the coaching from Randy and from Chris, I feel confident that it will get done.