Head coach Mike SmithOn preparing for Baltimore's rushing attack:
"They've done a very good job running the football. It's the Houston zone scheme that coach Kubiak has brought with him. It's a one cut – when I say one cut they're going to try stretch your front and take one cut – there's not going to be a whole lot of dancing and changing direction. They want to get north/south as fast as they can. They've been efficient regardless of who the running back is lining up behind the quarterback. They also do a very good job of trying to get guys on the ground, especially on the back side."* *
On Steve Smith and Torrey Smith and how they benefit from the play action:
"They are. Steve Smith's having a great year, leads their team in receptions. He's had nine explosive plays, which leads their team as well. A lot of it is set up because of the strong running game. The bootlegs and the waggles, the max protection and the ball going deep are part of that offense. Steve's playing outstanding ball. We all know what Torrey's capable of doing. He's a guy that can stretch the field very fast."
On whether Harry Douglas was out today and the injury report:
"Yes. There's one player not participating, everyone else was out on the field. In terms of limited participation, I think there were five or six guys. I don't have them all to memory. Harry was the only non-participant."
On whether he's concerned about Harry Douglas' status:
"It's a concern. Anytime you don't have a guy that's helped you win games out there it's a concern. He's working hard with the atheletic performance guys. He's increasing his work load, and we're just hoping that we get him back sooner than later. There's really no timetable in terms of when he may be back."
On Gary Kubiak implementing his system in Baltimore:
"Yes, he was able to bring some guys from his offensive staff that've been doing it a long time, so the transition has been smooth. He brought Owen Daniel in who's been a very good tight end, that not only understands the blocking, but also understands what has to take place in the passing game. They've been very efficient. That game was probably the most impressive I've seen on tape this past weekend against Tampa.
Quarterback Matt RyanOn going to silent count in the game this past weekend, the communication factor in the huddle, and Peter Konz:
"I think Pete's done a great job. Across the board, Pete's played well the last two weeks, and come in and done a great job of replacing Joe (Hawley). I think he's done a good job from a communication stand point. I think it goes from there and it's got to work itself all the way out. We've got to be better across the board, and that's one of the challenges of going on the road, it always puts a stress on communication, but I think that's an area where we can improve. The way to do that is to be better in your meetings, better in practice, and make sure that we know our plan inside and out, so that when we get there we understand our singnals and all those kinds of things and we execute the way that we're capable of."
On whether or not he remembers ever using silent count in the Georgia Dome:
"No. It's one of those things where you don't play particularly well, we've been good at home in the past and that gets our fans going. Our fans have been great though. Our fans have been great since I've been here, but it was a tough one Sunday."
On what type of challenges these next two weeks will present:
"I don't think we can worry about next week at this point. Our organization has done a great job of having us prepared, having all our bags packed, all that kind of stuff done at this point. All the stuff that we need will be in London when we get there. At this point it's a normal trip; it really is. From now until Sunday at 1 o'clock it's the same as every week, and that's where our focus has to be. We can't worry about how next week's going to shape out, or what the plans are and all that kind of stuff. We got plenty of people in organization that work on that and who have focused and done a great job. I think from a player's perspective it's one at a time. We're six games into it. Certainly not where we would like to be, but certainly not out of it by any stretch either. In order for us to kind of claw our way back into this thing we have to take it one week at a time, and play our best football every week, but we can't worry about next week."
On why Baltimore has owned the NFC South:
"They're good across the board. All three phases are solid. They're very good offensively, very good on special teams, and very good defensively. When you're sound in all three phases that makes you tough to beat. We can't worry about the last five times that they've played anybody in the NFC South, we have to worry about this week. I think if we focus on that; focus on preparing as best as we can this week and staying confident and cutting it loose on Sunday, I think we'll be alright."
On what's going on in the fourth quarter:
"We're not playing good enough. That's it. Plain and simple. We're not playing as well as we need to be playing. In order for us to win games, and win games in this League you have to finish games strong. We haven't done a good job of that."
On how they can turn that around:
"We have to execute better. I know I say that a lot, but it comes down to execution. We've had opportunities to make plays and we just haven't made them. We've got to remain confident in the belief that we're going to go out there and make those plays when they present their selves. You have to trust in what you believe in. For me, I think it's preparation and doing a great job in practice, so that when games roll around you feel like you're ready to do it."
On lack of execution guys trying to do too much:
"I think sometimes if you're trying too hard to force something to happen It can cause things to go sideways a little bit. I think one of the big things is, you can't force things to happen, but when plays are there to be made we have to make them. There's no getting around that. We had opportunities this past week. We had opportunities this season to make more plays than we have, we haven't done it, and across the board starting with myself when those opportunities present themselves we've got to hit them."
On how much they miss Harry Douglas:
"Certainly, Harry's a big part of what we've done, historically here and certainly the last two years. It's always tough when you have guys go down. It's always tough to replace that production. When he's in there it adds another dimension to us. That's part of this League. That's part of how a season shakes out. There's going to be times where certain guys are down and you've got to find different ways to get it done, and we have not done, collectively, a good enough job of that."
On the drops from last week and how much the receivers are looking forward to getting back out on the field on Sunday:
"I think everybody. I think myself included. I think everybody's looking forward to getting back out there and playing again. Even, getting back out onto the practice field this afternoon and working on our craft, and trying to be better than we were Sunday. Physical mistakes they're going to happen at times. We're all professionals, but we're all human and mistakes are going to happen. We can't as a whole have them happen collectively across the board at the same time. It's one of those things it's a tough Sunday, but part of being professional is being able to put that behind you good or bad, and move forward to the next one, and I think everybody's excited about that."
On third and longs being easier to defend:
"No question. I think situational football is huge, and that's the way we prepare. We prepare for different situations when they come up. We know that from an offensive standpoint if you're in those third and ten plus, third and nine plus, you're chances of converting go way down. We've got to do a better job on first and second down, and then when we're in those third and manageable – two to five situations – we've got to execute at a high level, but we've got to be ourselves in more third and two-fives."
On defenses cheating a little bit on the longer third downs:
"Obviously, from a pass rush standpoint it's a different deal because they understand what's going to happen. Different defenses play different situations differently. What we faced last week won't necessarily be the same as what we face this week."
On what the losing streak has been like for him:
"Certainly it's always tough when you're putting in the work and not getting the results that you want. It's tough in this League to win week-to-week, and in order for us to be where we want to be at the end of season we've got to be mentality tough and be able to get through it. You just have to keep your head down, keep working, keep believing in your preparation what you're doing during the course of the week and remaining confident. Again, that's part of being a professional. There's going to be weeks where it goes against you and you have to be able to keep that mindset that this week we're going to go out there and play the way that we are capable of playing."
On the veterans stepping up and telling the young players everything is going to be ok:
"Certainly you talk to young guys about the length of the season. Some of the best advice when I came into the League was that all these games count one. It doesn't matter if you string together 10 in the first 10, or 10 in the last 10, you've got to string them together at some point. We've got 10 in front of us. We've got to find a way to get a win this week. Chalk off another one and move forward to the next week, but I think our young guys have bought into understanding there's got to be a sense of urgency right now and we've got to take care of business right now."
On Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs:
"They're certainly two big factors to it, but there's more to it than just that. Elvis Dumervil has done a great job of coming to Baltimore in pass rush situations. I think he's got something like five sacks on the year so far. At linebacker, Daryl Smith, veteran guy who has come in and he's kind of the quarterback of that defense, gets everybody on the same page, does a really good. In the secondary they've got some talented guys across the board that can make some plays. They're two of the best, Ngata and Suggs, and we have to be aware of where they're at, but they've got a deep defense."
On whether he would like to run the ball a little more:
"Yeah, I think certainly we'd love to run the ball a little more effectively than we have up until this point, but whether we're running or throwing it in those first and second down situations we just need to be more efficient across the board."
