Notes
Lewis ‘looks good’ after injury scare
Starting guard could play Sunday; Harbaugh enjoys relationship with Showalter
After suffering what appeared to be a frightening neck injury in Sunday’s 21-0 victory at the Tennessee Titans, starting left guard
“He came back with us last night,” coach
Lewis, the organization’s fourth-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft, injured himself as he pulled to the right side of the line and made a kick-out block on linebacker
Harbaugh said rather than move
“I thought Boze played really well,” Harbaugh said. “He did a good job, solid.”
After wrapping up a three-game road trip with two wins, the Ravens can look forward to playing four of their next five games at M&T Bank Stadium — beginning with Sunday’s game against the NFC South-leading New Orleans Saints. It’s a comforting position, Harbaugh said Monday afternoon.
“We’re in a good place,” he said. “Not as good as we could be, but you can’t look back and lament that. You’ve got to move forward, and we’re happy to be at where we’re at. We’ve got to make the most of it. Like [outside linebacker]
“What you need to do in the NFL is stack wins. You need to find a way to get on a roll, and you do that by getting better every single day — all the things we always talk about — and going out there and playing good, winning football on Sunday. That’s all our focus needs to be. If we can stack a win on top of that win, then it really starts to mean something. But a huge challenge — whether you’re on the road or at home playing against the Saints. I’m glad we’re going to be at home. I’m excited that our fans get a chance to see us and get to be a part of it.”
There’s certainly much for the players and coaches to be pleased with from their dominant performance in Tennessee. The defense pitched its 14th shutout, which ranks as the most in the NFL since the franchise’s start in 1996. The 51 passing yards were the fewest allowed in franchise history, and the 106 total yards were the second fewest.
But Harbaugh argued there was plenty for the team to review from Sunday’s game and even quoted a line from
“It’s never as good as you think, and it’s never as bad as you think, and when you go back and watch a game like that, sometimes you’re a little bit surprised by what you see in terms of, there’s more negatives than you remember,” he said. “So you get in there and you go to work, and that’s it. There’s an old poem. Meet triumph and disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same. … To me, that’s the approach. So yeah, you look for every single thing that needs to be corrected, and you try to chase perfection.”
The Ravens’ advantage in time of possession against the Titans was aided by three drives of seven minutes or more, including a series in the first quarter that chewed up 9:09 and ended with quarterback
“I think a lot of things went into that,” he said. “We ran the ball a lot — toward the end of the game with more success, obviously, and that’s kind of what you’re talking to. I think we had 16 defensive snaps in the second half, so that goes to the fact that we were getting three-and-outs and also to the fact that our offense was staying on the field. We had one really long drive. We kept the ball, didn’t score a lot of points, but we kept the ball a lot. We made a number of third-down conversions. I think we were maybe 12 of 17, I think, on third-down conversions, and one time, I think, we’d only missed one. And a number of those were long third-and-longs. So those probably two things went hand in hand.”
“Got a text, communicated with Buck Showalter after the game last night, and we’ve gotten to be good friends over the course of the last eight years — played, [did] a lot of things together,” Harbaugh said. “Really, really admire him, respect him. I’ve learned so much from him over the years as a coach and a leader, and relating to players, all different things that come up. And just wanted to acknowledge that and, I think, what a great job he did in Baltimore, how amazing he’s been for the fans, for his fans in Baltimore, how much I’ve enjoyed watching his teams play, what a great job he did for the Orioles. So I just want to just say that and get it out there because he hit me last night about our team and stuff, and I always enjoy talking to him.”