Q. "Scared money doesn't make money" has become the unofficial motto of the last couple of weeks, and it refers to approaching the game each week with an aggressive attitude. Is it fun for you to coach that way?
A. It is, because pressure is ever present. And so you're either feeling it or applying it, and that mantra, that mindset, is a means for this collective to apply pressure in these significant moments as opposed to feeling it. We're gonna play and play to win. We realize the road is narrow. We realize there's very little margin for error, and in the midst of all of that is a beautiful opportunity if you're right-minded. And so that's the meaning of the mantra in an effort to control the perspective component of where we are.
Q. Is "scared money doesn't make money" the same as "playing with nothing to lose" in terms of attitude and approach?
A. It is. It's about playing to win as opposed to playing not to lose, and sometimes that includes calculated risk-taking. And notice I said, "calculated risk-taking," not gambling. Calculated risk-taking is based on information and preparedness.
Q. In terms of the in-game decisions you have to make, what's the difference between aggressive and reckless?
A. Information. If there is enough information that you can make an anticipatory decision based on that, then you're not being reckless. If you're guessing, if you're hoping, like we talk about it all the time in regard to trick plays, they're trick plays if you've got no information. It's calculated risk-taking if you have information that reduces the possibility of what it is you're going to be running it against.
Q. Well, like last week in Seattle, you went for it on fourth-and-1 on the opening series, and the defense bailed you out when the offense didn't convert. So where did that fall in when it comes to this discussion?
A. That was just about setting an attitude, or trajectory, early in the game that we're here and we're here to win. We're not intimidated by the environment. And we'll take the calculated risk in an effort to do so.
Q. What makes Mason Rudolph such an effective deep-ball thrower?
A. Arm talent. It starts there. It was on his Oklahoma State tape. He and James Washington, the careers they had in Stillwater, Oklahoma, throwing the deep ball was really impressive. He's got arm talent. He's got arm strength. The trajectory of it. It's a very catchable ball. It's the physical things, and it's the mindset that he has.
Q. The term "bell cow" isn't generally used to refer to offensive linemen, but if we were to use that term to be synonymous with "the main guy," who is your bell cow on the offensive line?
A. I think it's quickly becoming Broderick Jones, to be quite honest with you. Although he is really young, he plays with a desired demeanor, and it is contagious. He took the fight to Seattle and his teammates followed. And so you don't have to be a grizzly veteran or a gray beard to lead. I think he's finding his footing in that area, and that's exciting. It's very similar to the way that Maurkice Pouncey matured through his first year as a player in the things that we saw in him that eventually became captain-worthy and things of that nature.
Q. At your practice facility, you have grass fields as well as an indoor turf field available. You've never been one to be intimidated by weather, and so what goes into your decision to practice outside or inside?
A. If the ground is safe, we practice outside. And so as it pertains to rain, it's about slippage, and as it pertains to cold weather, it's about can we get our cleats in the ground. Because you have soft tissue injuries when you have slippage. As long as the ground is safe, we're going to go outside. It is always our desire to go outside because we have an outside venue; all the venues in the AFC North are outside venues. We want to take the mystique out of engineering victory, and so we want to practice in the environments that we play.
Q. If you're going into a game where the venue has artificial turf, might you practice indoors because the surface in your indoor facility is artificial turf, just to get the players used to that?
A. Going to Indianapolis, for example, a couple of weeks back, so certainly. You know we're playing in an indoor environment, we're playing on an artificial surface. And we have that type of environment available to us in preparation, and so we utilize it.
Q. Today's opponent is the 13-3 Baltimore Ravens, and last Monday you said about them that "they've been steamrolling people." What does an opponent have to do to prevent that from happening to them?
A. You've got to show up for the fight. You can't be intimidated by their record, or reputation, or the environment. Thankfully, we're highly familiar with them. I doubt that will be an issue for us. We've played them a bunch. We've been in that venue a bunch. We understand the unwritten rules of playing against them and some of their schematic things that are a little bit unique, their level of aggression defensively schematically, the amount of designed quarterback runs and quarterback mobility things that they do offensively, and so we're just better positioned probably to fight that fight than most because of familiarity.
Q. Do the Ravens try to bully opponents?
A. That's true. But that's just our game, and I think that's what makes this rivalry what it is. I saw a couple of weeks ago that Patrick Queen said that a lot of people don't want to play their style of football. I agree with him. But I also agree in the fact that we play a very similar style, and styles make fights, and that's why this has always been such a highly anticipated matchup.
Q. It seems at this point that Lamar Jackson is the overwhelming favorite to be voted NFL MVP. What makes him MVP-worthy?
A. They're 13-3, first of all. The way he leads and engineers victory for them, but the cleanliness in which he plays, the prudent use of his mobility. He's their leading rusher. He's probably got (close to) 900 yards rushing, but he does it in such an efficient way he doesn't absorb a lot of punishment. He makes good decisions. He spreads the ball around in the passing game, to the tight ends and running backs. He's got a new lead receiver in Zay Flowers, and that transition has been very fluid. He just does all the things that you want a signal caller to do. He's experienced, while at the same time he has not been beaten up physically by the game. He's in that sweet spot in his career where he knows what he's doing, but he's still very talented and has experience to boot.
Q. You talk about growth and development of players. What is Lamar Jackson's most recent area of growth and development?
A. I'm probably describing this from the outside, and I'm sure that (the Ravens) could tell you with great detail, but I think it is the prudent use of mobility. We say in this business, "Every meal is not a banquet. Sometimes it's just a snack." And over the years his prudent use of mobility, his willingness to stay in the pocket, his willingness to stay behind the line of scrimmage and look downfield in the passing game as plays break down, has matured and developed. I think that's why he and they are benefiting from it. When he was young, you were concerned about him taking off and running. Now you better be concerned about him taking off and running and extending. And there are some challenges from an extension standpoint in terms of staying close to people downfield in zone and man coverage. A classic example of that came in our first game against them this year: We had him in a third-and-18. He escaped out of the pocket to his left and ran toward our bench. We had a bunch of guys chasing. He hit the brakes, stopped about a yard short of the line of scrimmage and found Zay Flowers downfield beyond the sticks. They converted a third-and-18 in a 2-minute drill that kind of led to that sequence right there at the end of the half. We should have been off that field. But that's just growth and development in him and how he sees the game now and makes it increasingly more challenging. His legs are dangerous, no doubt, as a runner, but his willingness and his ability to extend and his full-field vision in the midst of all of those things is increasingly more difficult.
Q. Rookie Zay Flowers is leading the Ravens in targets and receptions by significant amounts. How do the Ravens utilize him, and what is making him so effective?
A. They do a nice job of moving him around. He's not nailed down in one spot. He's got really good football intellect, and that allows that to happen. He's good in the short passing game, the screen game. He's a good route-runner. He's good in gadgets. He's good down the field. I'm just highly familiar with him because my son played with him at Boston College, and I just got probably more exposure to him than the rest of the National Football League. So I'm not surprised by any of the things that I'm seeing from him. I saw it in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
Q. To run the football successfully on the Ravens defense, who is the one guy you absolutely have to get blocked consistently?
A. I'll say two guys – Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen. That inside linebacker tandem, they make a lot of plays. Oftentimes in this business, we say, "Unblocked varsity linebackers make tackles." And it's no question that both of those guys are varsity. And so we better not stick on combination blocks or double-teams too long, because they'll run through gaps and make plays. We've got to be cognizant of where they are. We've got to get hats on those guys. We're not going to have a run game unless we're on those two, and that's just the reality of it.
