Posted Dec 30, 2013
WR
Marlon Brown
On his rookie season: “It was breath-taking. It was everything that I ever dreamed it would be. I’m blessed, and I’m thankful that I got the chance to be a part of the Ravens and have a season like I did as a rookie.”
On how much better next year could be: “The season is over right now. I’m only thinking about getting better right now. I feel like the rest of the team is the same way. I feel like in the offseason, we’re just going to grind and get better.”
On tying WR
Torrey Smith’s rookie touchdown record: “I don’t know what it means, but it’s a blessing. I thank God. I’m just trying to get better. It’s all good and all, but the season is over right now, so I’m trying to get better right now.”
On where he thinks he can improve: “I’m just trying to improve everything I do – route-running, reading defenses, blocking, catching … It is what it is. I’m trying to get better at everything.”
On where he made the most progress this year: “[It] probably would be running routes, because I’m more flexible, faster and healthy. That’s probably where I improved the most.”
On taking on a bigger role next season: “Yes, for sure. Right now, I’m just trying to get better. If that means playing a bigger role in the offense next year, I’ll take it.”
CB
Corey Graham On how tough this day is in the NFL: “It’s rough; it’s different. Obviously, not making it into the playoffs, it hurts a little bit. Being here right now, seeing guys [and] knowing that it’s the last opportunity that this same team will be together – it’s a little rough. That’s how this league is. You’ve just got to go out there, get better and make it better next year.”
On if he’s had a chance to reflect on the season: “A little bit – not much. It was a rough season; things didn’t go the way we planned it to go. We didn’t play well enough to be in the playoffs. This is what happens when you don’t play enough good football. You end up in here early.”
On what he’ll be doing in the next couple of weeks: “Obviously, I’m going to look at my film and see how I played this year. Obviously, being a free agent means that it’s a little different situation. I don’t know what’s going to happen, whether I’m going to be here or going to be somewhere else. I’m just going to leave that up to my agent. I’m just going to get back to work, get back to working out and try to get better.”
On if he’s had any conversations with the organization about his contract: “Yes, I would like to be here. When you win a Super Bowl somewhere, you get the opportunity to play somewhere, and things start to go well for you, you want to be in the place where they gave you opportunities. It’s a good organization; they gave me a chance to play. When I first came here, all I said was that I wanted an opportunity – they did that. I’m grateful for every opportunity I’ve gotten here.”
On if it’s good that he’s proven he could play cornerback in this league: “It’s good, [but] I already knew that. I already knew that coming in here, and I just wanted an opportunity. I’m just grateful that these guys gave me an opportunity to show what I can do. [This year,] things went alright. Obviously, this year, things didn’t go as planned. We didn’t finish the way we wanted to finish. We’ve just got to go out there, get better, find a way to get better and play better next year.”
S
James IhedigboOn why the season didn’t click for the team: “I don’t know. You could just sum it up [as a] lack of execution and key game situations, but [those are] just things to learn from.”
On if he has thought about how much he wants to be back with the Ravens: “That’s kind of out of my hands at this point. I’m just kind of frustrated about the outcome of the season. I’ll let my agent handle all that stuff. There is really no comment on any of that.”
On if having two strong safeties starting was a challenge: “No. We played at a very high level. We’re both very versatile players. I can play strong and free safety, and I’d like to think I played it pretty well this year. It really wasn’t a challenge at all, no.”
On if he feels he proved something as a full-time starter: “Of course. That was a goal, personally, going into the season is to prove that I’m a Pro Bowl-caliber player. Like I said yesterday after the game, with the support of my teammates, I definitely believe I made that impact.”
On if he saw progress from rookie S
Matt Elam as the season went on: “Of course. He had a big game against Detroit [and] definitely continued to get better and better. This offseason will be big for him.”
On the coverage on the last WR A.J. Green touchdown catch Sunday: “I don’t remember what play you’re talking about.” (Reporter: “Where A.J. ran for the 53-yard TD.”) “Oh, the coverage? I don’t know. It was some form of Cover-3 and Cover-2 put together.”
On the difficulty of trying to win the Super Bowl in consecutive years: “That is definitely one thing that hit me even after the game – how hard and how much work you have to put in to be a champion, and how consistent you have to perform at a high level every day, every game to be a champion. And this year, we just didn’t do that.”
On if the team can turn it around and be back in the playoffs next year: “Of course. You look at the guys on this roster – it’s not a matter of talent. Like I said, it’s a matter of execution, and that’s offense, defense, special teams. That’s the difference between championship football and your season being over.”
T
Eugene Monroe On if he hopes to sign another contract in Baltimore: “That would be awesome. I loved my time here and feel like I fit in pretty well. I came in here and played well every game, and I’d like the opportunity to do that here again.”
On what he ultimately feels went wrong for this team to miss the postseason: “Just not playing well enough when we needed to. Getting turnovers with great field position and not coming away with six and seven points – that hurts you.”
On what he thinks needs to transpire to improve the offensive line: “That’s not something that is in my control. I can only work to improve myself. So, as far as the entire unit, that’s up to coaches and that’s up to front office, however they handle it. But I’ll do my best to improve my performance, and that’s a goal of mine every year.”
On if he would go to the Ravens first to talk about a contract before fielding offers from other teams: “I’m not there yet. We just finished the season yesterday. So, I don’t have the answer for that.”
On if he can share any of the coach’s messages that were just delivered to the team in their final meeting: “Not going into too much detail, [it was] really just [about how] the mentality that’s been instilled here won’t change. Everyone involved in this organization is going to do what it takes to get better, and that’s what it is.”
LB
Daryl Smith On if he hopes to return to the Ravens next season: “Most definitely. I love it here and would love to be back. We’ll see how it goes though.”
On if he’s had any discussions with the front office about returning: “I think they want me back, but we’ll see. Only time will tell. I know they’ve got a lot of stuff to do this year, and a lot of guys up [with their contracts]. So, we’ll see.”
On if he feels like he proved himself this year, coming in and taking on a starting and leadership role: “I hope so. I came in and did the best I could, so we’ll see what happens.”
On if today is a tough day with expectations being higher than this: “Most definitely. Anytime you end the year like this and you’ll be at home watching the rest of the teams play, it sucks. But, it is what we earned, and the only thing you can do is go back and regroup and come back stronger next year.”
On why the defense struggled late in games to get stops this season: “I wish I knew. If I knew the answers, we would have benched all of that. Just unraveling, I guess, toward the end, and not being able to get off the field, make the play that we need to make or miscommunication. I mean, hey, it was a number of issues that came up over the season, and that hurt us.”
On if his role played out the way he expected when he signed in Baltimore: “Yes, I hope so, but I hoped for a different outcome. But it is what it is, and we’re going home.”
RB
Ray RiceOn if it was the toughest season of his life: “It’s tough. It’s tough when you’re home this early. Certainly, it’s a spark of fire for next year. Like I said, I’m not even unpacking my locker yet, because I’ll be around. I just feel like it’s too early to be packing up. We’ll get back. It’s not easy. It’s tough. This is a hard-working bunch, and we’ve just got to find things that fit us. We’ll get back and be better.”
On how he would sum up the season: “We fought. One thing I can say about the year … I always try to take the negative out of it. One thing you know about these guys in the locker room is that even when it got tough, we never turned our back on each other, and that just shows the character of a man. Even through the tough times, we played for each other, and it was genuine love. And we’ll build on that, and that will take us where we need to be.”
On if he expects the team to look much different next season: “I don’t really get into all that. What they do upstairs is something that we can’t control as players. Whoever they bring in or whoever is not going to be here, hopefully we can mold guys into the Raven-like mentality.”
On the feeling of missing the playoffs for the first time in his career: “It’s tough. Like I said, it’s not normal, especially for me. I’ve always been to the playoffs every year. I always try to take something to take the light off it. Maybe there is more time with my daughter now to watch her grow up a little more. I get to celebrate her birthday. I actually get to be around for my birthday [on Jan. 22]. I never was around for my birthday, so I wasn’t looking forward to that. But, more time with the kid, more time with the family – you never can take that away. When you’re here, this was your family. This is our family. Over the last couple months, we battled, and it’s tough to see it end like this. We could’ve done some great things, and we’ll just try to bounce back and get back to where we need to get back to next year.”
On if he would’ve believed at the start of the season that this would be the worst rushing season in team history: “No. We’ve always been able to run the ball, so I’m sure that will be an offseason study to get things back in the run game to help Joe [Flacco] out in the passing game as well. They all offset each other. We’ll get back to that. I know running the ball is something that we’re good at and we’re capable of doing. We just have to work at it.”
On if he ever got fully healthy after his hip injury: “I got healthy enough to go out there and perform and help my team. My deal was a rest deal, so right now, I’ll get the rest on my leg, and I’ll come back in the best shape of my life.”
On if he is surprised by the way that some fans can turn on a team that just won a Super Bowl: “Hey man, that’s life. They ride with you when you’re up, and you’ve got to take the punches when you’re going down. I try not to get in the middle of that. This is a job, and this is my profession, and that’s not really what I signed up for – to get into it with fans or whatever. My job is to come here to work and to battle with my teammates week-in and week-out.”
On if this season gives him more motivation going into the offseason to try to prove that he is still a premier back: “The premier back stuff is something that you will write about, but for me, it’s just getting back healthy and knowing the capable player that I’m able to me. As far as being a premier back, I’ve proved that over the years. I don’t think I need to go out there and prove that I’m a premier back. I just need to go out there and get healthy and do what I’ve got to do and go out there and prove that I’m capable of leading my team the way I’m supposed to, and that’s going out there and making plays and being the Ray Rice of old.”
On sharing touches at running back: “This year, I had to do what I had to do when I had the leg, so I wasn’t going to put myself in a position to hurt the team. When I was out there, I was capable, I battled, and we just had to do what we had to do. Next year, we’ll reevaluate things and come back in the best shape of my life, and I’ll go back after it. I’m still young.”
On if he is starting to realize the impact being a running a back has on his body: “No. What I had this year was different. I had a muscular deal. That was my first time dealing with a muscular kind of injury. So, as far as taking a toll, I really didn’t take the blunt of the hits that I’m usually taking. I just had a muscular deal. The rest of my body feels fine. But, as far as my leg, once I get my leg rested and get the proper rest that was needed, I’ll be back at full steam. I didn’t take the hits that I normally would take in the shoulders and ankles. I dealt with one thing this year, and that was my quad and my hip. So, that was something that was different for me. I’ve dealt with everything else.”
On if he can admit how much of a hindrance the hip injury was throughout the season: “It’s not admitting it. You guys knew what it was; it was on the injury report. It’s not about admitting it. I told you it was something that limited me in doing some of the things I wanted to do, but it didn’t stop me from playing. So, I don’t know about admitting it any more than I already have. It’s just something that I dealt with. But, everybody has dealt with an injury. You go around the locker room right now, you can’t ask one guy who played here healthy, 100 percent. So, if I was 85 percent, that’s 100 percent on Sundays. So, that’s where I was at with it.”
On his relationship with head coach John Harbaugh: “We’ve been fine. Six years, came in [as part of the] first class with him. We’ve got a lot of wins together. That’s one thing – we share a lot of wins. We’ve got a great relationship. There is no friction between me and coach. We understand each other, and we respect each other as well.”
