OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
“…Dynamics of the game have changed a little bit, but yeah, there’s certainly elements. Giving different
people the ball, trying a couple of different things as you get going on certain things. Always trying to put
our guys in the best position.”
(On how the stability of the offensive line has impacted the offense) “Well, it’s a challenge. Obviously,
there’s a comfort level playing and knowing who you’re playing with, experience next to the people, but
at the end of the day, it’s an excuse. We’re called on to produce in the run game, produce in the pass
game, and produce as an offense. We’ve got to find whatever way we can do to get that going. We’ve
done that at points in the season, but it needs to be better than it was the last two weeks.”
(On recent performance of WR Parker Washington) “Parker has done a good job. He’s made the most of
his opportunities when the ball has been thrown his way, he’s made a couple of tough catches for
touchdowns the last two weeks. He’s a young player that all the sudden is getting thrust into a heavy
role, a lot of usage, and he’s done a good job responding to it. He’ll continue to get better as he keeps
going.”
(On what WR Jamal Agnew does for the offense) “Obviously, he’s a dynamic ball carrier. We’ve all seen
that as a punt returner, he’s done that at times for us in the two years here as a ball carrier for us in the
offense. He gives us the speed, the vertical threat down the field that without a guy like that, obviously
you lack. I think that’s an element that stresses defenses a little bit, you know where he is on the field,
people are certainly aware of when he comes in the game, when he goes in motion, when he is near the
football is some way, shape or form. He’s continued to grow as a receiver from our time here. He’s still
relatively new to the position, so we’ve just watched him get better every single year, every single week
and grow in his receiver ability.”
(On what’s been working well in the redzone recently) “We’ve capitalized when we’ve had those
opportunities. That’s something that earlier in the year, it didn’t feel like we were struggling as much as
turning the ball over in critical situations. That obviously is a big hinderance for you, even if you’re
settling for field goals, it’s now the frustration of getting in the endzone. We were just turning the ball
over. That was certainly a big issue for us, it’s gotten better. I don’t know if there has been any
philosophical change, scheme change, anything like that. We’ve just done a good job of executing things
and taking advantage of our opportunities.”
(On progression of offense with TE Evan Engram) “Yeah, he’s done a great job of making the most of his
opportunities. Part of it is the coverage, the matchup, the way things dictate. He’s certainly somebody
that has produced with the opportunities given to him, he’s somebody that we can all trust and count
on. The quarterbacks have a lot of familiarity with where he’s going to be, where he’s going to be there,
and trust what we’ve asked them to do.”
(On how he saw miscommunication on the offense last game) “I think there was a big difference in
running the wrong route and not being on the exact same page with running a route. We have not had
wrong routes; it has not been this person doesn’t know what they’re doing, they’re running the wrong
route, things like that. I think back to when we had three interceptions the other day in the game, one of
them we didn’t expect the ball at the time the ball came out so we had one around, we ended up a
missed opportunity unfortunately that turned into an interception. If the ball hits the ground, it’s first
down, second down, we’ll keep playing the down or keep playing the series out. We had another one we
had a zero-blitz, ball has got to come out. They’re bringing more pressure than we have protectors,
quarterback threw a go-ball, I think the receiver thought the ball was getting thrown earlier because
where the coverage was, but again, understanding the entire situation of what the quarterback is dealing
with, ball comes out early, turned into an interception as well. Then, we had another one we took a post
route a little flatter across the field, where we were expecting a little deeper angle on that. Nobody ran
the wrong route on those instances, in terms of the detail of it and where we thought the ball was going
to go, where we thought the ball was going to be thrown at a certain time were just barely off.
Unfortunately, all those plays turned into interceptions which is not always the case, but unfortunate.”
(On if lack of time with QB Trevor Lawrence in practice last week impacting the offensive performance)
“Yeah, I think that’s certainly a factor if Trevor didn’t practice last week. There’s certain things that come
up and you continue to grow and communicate through them and show examples, do everything you
can to get on the same page. If any of those plays ends on the ball hitting the ground, then it’s
something you continue to learn from and unfortunately those turned into plays for the other team.”
(On what’s challenging about the Ravens defense) “Man, good players, good scheme combined with a
good offense right now that’s moving the ball well and scoring points. All of that factors in. I think they
do a great job on the first level of being physical, setting edges, keeping double teams off with the two
interior players, and letting the linebackers just roll side to side. They can do a great job of that, including
[Ravens S] Kyle Hamilton in that look, he plays a lot of the second level. Between him, [Ravens LB Patrick]
Queen, [Ravens LB] Roquan [Smith], those guys are flying sideline to sideline, the interior guys do a great
job of keeping double teams of combinations off of them and getting there. They’re able to clean things
up but they do a great job of presenting a lot of different looks to you. You’re never necessarily hone in
on what you’re going to see down in and down out. They’ve got good players that play physical and play
fast.”
(On what the Ravens are doing that allows them to create so many sacks) “They’ve always done a good
job with their pressure looks on passing situations. You go back to their Rex Ryan and all that, that was
always kind of their thing. All these exotic packages they could present to you and being able to get free
runners, which is a terrifying situation. It’s not always that guy beat that guy, it’s when they got free
runners because they’re messing with your protection schemes and to do that, sometimes they give
something up so it may feel like there’s space in the pass game. They’re manipulating the coverage,
they’re rolling out of it. I think a lot of that is guys being really smart in their system, understanding the
system well, where the holes are, what the presentation needs to be to the offense to get the offense
the point directed some way, and bringing some pressure away from it and rolling your coverage to
complement where those issues are. They’re obviously very well coached, they have been for a long
time, but I think Coach Macdonald [Ravens Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald] does a good job
with them. They seem to have a great understanding of what they’re trying to do.”
(On extra offensive pressure due to the Raven’s strong secondary) “Yeah, they’ve done a good job of
taking the ball away, particularly, we were looking through it today of [Ravens S] Geno Stone who has
done a great job of taking the ball. He’s had a couple of picks in the backend. I think there’s always the
issue of we’re always trying to throw it to our guy, no matter what. But I understand what you’re saying
in terms of they do a good job of challenging you and that’s a big part of it. They have physical corners
that want to play press, want to put their hands on people. Then, in the backend, they’ve done a good
job of making plays.”
(On if there’s an official name of QB Trevor Lawrence stretching the ball across the goal line) “No. We
don’t have any particular name for it. I like when he scores, otherwise I really don’t like it. We’ve talked
about it a lot, we’ve showed Baltimore last year had the one and then it wasn’t the playoff game, it was
the one before maybe. It was the playoff game, you see a lot of bad things happen. He knows that, we’ve
talked about it a million times, I don’t necessarily love it, but I love scoring touchdowns.”
(On anxiety when QB Trevor Lawrence reaches with the ball for touchdowns) “Yes. When I see him
reaching, before they even go, I’ve seen so many bad examples of that. Now, it’s worked and it’s great,
but it’s terrifying. It’s a called play, we sneak. Depending on what the look is, the quarterback is sneaking
it. If he has determined going over the top is the best course of action for him, as long as he scores and
he knows that, we’ve clearly stated that we are hesitant about the over the top. But I think he’s four for
four. It’s hard to argue with results.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023
(On having conversations with the offense on playing in another loud atmosphere) “Yes, we have. We
have talked about it and understand that you have to embrace your home crowd. We want them as loud
as they can be, we’ll deal with it. We want the Ravens to have to deal with it. Come, be vocal, let the
place get rocking, and we’ll take care of ours.”
(On performance of S Antonio Johnson) “I thought he did a real good job, he just continues to improve
and every opportunity he gets, he seems to flash. He made a great play late in the game breaking up a
pass and the pressure, he got the sack. He’s being able to step up, I don’t think the game is too big for
him. He understands, he plays well, he tackles well and he can cover. He has a variety of different talents
that he’s been able to use.”
(On if S Antonio Johnson will get more snaps) “Definitely. When you make plays when you’re given
opportunities, if we’re able to give him more snaps, we’ll look for multiple ways to get him out there on
the field.”
(On S Antonio Johnson’s length allowing him to play well) “It’s hard to find a nickel because you want
someone that can cover the small guys, can help you out in the run game, can blitz off the edge. We
have three guys that really can carry that role. Tre [CB Tre Herndon] does a great job of covering in there
and being real savvy. [CB] Greg Junior has some plays that he’s been able to make. You see Antonio
getting an opportunity to come in there and blitz off the edge, fit in the run and cover guys. It’s really
good to see the young guys step up when they’re given the chance.”
(On how the defense performed against the Browns) “Really, it’s not good enough. That’s the main thing
I take from it, because you can go out there and you can play 70 plays, you don’t play three [plays] good,
and that’s a bad day. We had a bad day regardless of looking at turnovers, how many times we forced
them to punt. It was the plays that we didn’t execute that hurt us. As a defensive coach and as a
defensive player, that’s what happens all the time. You have to be right all the time. We’ve got to get
better.”
(On importance of defensive focus on the upcoming game) “Really, I don’t think it’s focus. We
understand it’s just, I hate to use this word, but it goes back to communication. There’s plays where we
can talk and help each other out by letting each other know what page we’re on, then, at the end of the
day, we have to go out and execute. We have a technique to play and we have to go out there and play
it. Just talking about Lamar [Ravens QB Lamar Jackson], you know the problems he presents in the run
game and buying time as a passer. The thing you see from this year that we saw a little bit last year, but
his completion percentage is going up. He’s able to spread the ball to his weapons. He’s taking full
advantage of the guys they’ve surrounded him with.”
(On how to jumpstart the pass rush against Ravens QB Lamar Jackson) “That’s the thing, we have to rush
him, we have to pressure him, because we don’t want him sitting back there. He’s a guy that in the
pocket can hurt you as well as outside the pocket. We have a plan and we’ll try to execute that plan. At
the end of the day, we have to be who we are. We have to affect the quarterback and it didn’t work as
well as we wanted it to last week, so we get another opportunity for the guys to come out and go ahead
and execute the plan, let’s get after the quarterback.”
(On how the Ravens drop back passing game has evolved over the year) “You can see it’s different.
They’re still running RPO’s, they’re still throw the ball quick. It’s different, the route tree and the route
combinations that they’re using now with him [Ravens QB Lamar Jackson]. It’s pretty tough.”
(On what Ravens WR Zay Flowers has shown this season) “Quickness and speed. He’s a guy that can
really go, he’s a guy that can run, he can get in and out of breaks, he’s another weapon for Lamar
[Ravens QB Lamar Jackson]. You put guys on there and you’re able to spread the field and he creates
problems for defenses.”
(On importance of CB Montaric ‘Buster’ Brown this season) “Well, we have the next man up mentality.
With Buster, he’s got his opportunity and he’s went out there and played every week. He’ll continue to
get better, but just looking at it, he’s gotten the opportunity and he’s taken full advantage of it. He’s
playing well for us, we like what he’s doing, it’s good to see a young guy that his hard work has paid off.
He came in here a little bit raw, now he’s understanding the techniques, he’s out there, he’ll compete,
he’ll fight you. You want that from a defensive back, he has a short memory. If he does give up
something, he’s right back there challenging the next play. You like to see that.”
