HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on QB-Joe Flacco)
"He's grown, I think. Like any second-year guy, any younger player, he's still developing into the quarterback he's going to be. He's not where Peyton Manning is right now, experience wise. He's had some ups and downs, but we're pleased with how he's come along."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on offensive balance)
"The balanced part of it, I guess, is a big picture thing that you look at over time. One game to a next it can certainly fluctuate based on how you're playing somebody. I know against Houston they came out throwing, other games they've run more. We just want to be better. I think we want our offense to get off a little bit faster than they've had. That's any offense. You want to do as well as you can, yards, points, things like that. It's not exactly like we're lighting it up right now, so just try to the best we can."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on why the offense has been slowed as of late)
"I think just doing things better, throwing better, catching better, blocking better, making better decisions running the football; just all the little things that are the difference in making a play here or a play there that keep a drive alive or give you a big play that scores."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron helping to develop QB-Joe Flacco)
"Cam has a tremendous track record with quarterbacks, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, just a number of guys even when he was with the Redskins before, Gus Frerotte he kind of came from nowhere, Cam was responsible for that. When he was a coach at Michigan, I think his whole string of quarterbacks ended up playing in the NFL. It's just kind of been his forte as a coach. I don't think there's a better developer of quarterbacks out there than Cam, and he's doing a great job with Joe, and I'm really happy that he's here doing that."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on taking time to develop QB-Joe Flacco)
"The problem with any quarterback is that it takes time. People start getting a feel for how they play and what they do, and they start throwing them some looks they haven't seen. He sees it for the first time, and he learns how to adjust to it. The great thing about Joe is he's really a quick learner. Once he sees something once, he's pretty much got it. That's probably the key because there are a lot of different types of combinations that defenses can run at you."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on injury status of LB-Terrell Suggs)
"Suggs will be out this week. He's got a knee sprain and it's kind of ligament issue in there. We'll just see how fast he heals."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on the play that Suggs got injured on)
"It's a disappointing play, for sure. It's against the rules, clearly. That's why they have the rule in there. I'm pretty sure that everybody knows that rule in the league. I don't think it was intentional by any stretch. That's not the kind of guy (Cleveland Browns) QB-Brady Quinn is. He's a class act, a great young guy, but I think he'd like to have the play back. Obviously, it caused some damage."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on releasing K-Steve Hauschka)
"We just have to kick better. It's not so much missing or making. When you watch the kicks they weren't the kind of kicks that I felt where strong kicks, that were a product of a good swing. When that happens a couple of times in a row, we just need to be able to make those kicks."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on K-Matt Stover coming back this week)
"I'll tell you one thing, I just heard about it in our press conference. It's a real hot button topic here. People here just love Matt. I love Matt. Matt's one of my best friends, as a player in this league, and we've known each other a long time. He'll be a competitor this week and when you go up against the guys that you care the most about and play against them, you want to put your best foot forward, figuratively. We'll just try to do the best we can. The Colts are very fortunate to have him. He's a class act, he's a great person and he's a very good kicker."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on defense giving up more big plays this year)
"We're never satisfied. I think statistically we're pretty close to defenses of the past. Over the years, there has been a little been of a transition with some new players in there. The Ravens have always given up big plays, probably more than they should. At the same time, they've made a lot of big plays. We've given up a few more than we ever want to, but we're getting better at that the last few weeks. Obviously, that will be tested severely this week. We haven't made as many plays as we'd like to. We haven't had quite the turnovers that the Ravens are accustomed to having. That will be a difficult challenge, obviously, this week, as well. When you can balance some of that by making big plays of your own, that's sort of the key."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on season wearing on younger players)
"I think that's one thing you really have to be conscious of as a coach in this league. I thought we did a really good job of that last year as a staff and an organization. Right now, I think we're on track to doing a good job with that this year. Our guys are very strong. You have to have the kind of guys that take care of themselves, that do the right things when they leave the building, that really like football and study football, and you're probably okay."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on his brother, former Indianapolis Colt and current Stanford head coach, Jim Harbaugh)
"I just got off the phone with him about a half-hour ago. I couldn't be more proud of him. He's a great coach. What he's done there, to take that program and basically transform it completely, in terms of how they feel about themselves and the way they play. Basically, to turn the tables on the Pac-10, in the sense that Stanford is now the most physical, probably the most physical offense, for sure, in the Pac-10, they're starting to play that kind of defense the last couple of weeks, too. I just think he's done a great job. He's happy there. It's pretty neat. He talks most fondly about his NFL career about his days with the Colts. I know being in the Ring of Honor there, it's probably his most cherished accomplishment in athletics, his time with the Colts."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on who Jim Harbaugh will root for)
"I didn't ask him. I guess I just kind of assumed he would go blood thicker than water. You may have to give him a call and find out for sure. Now that you mention it you got me worried a little bit."
HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH (on if Jim Harbaugh is thinking about coming to the NFL to be a head coach)
"I have no idea. I think he's really happy there. I think he'd be a great NFL head coach, and believe me I grill him on the same thing. He always says the same thing, that he's really happy at Stanford and he loves what he's doing."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on if the game is slowing down for him)
"I would say so. I'm definitely more comfortable in certain things. I think us as an offense, our whole team is definitely reacting a little bit better to some of the things we (see)."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on if he's pleased with balance in offense)
"I think I've been pleased, for the most part, with what we've been doing as an offense this year. We started off really well. I know we haven't necessarily had as many yards or anything like that in the last couple of weeks, but I still think we're playing pretty well and doing the things we have to do to win football games. As long as we keep playing the way we can and bring some consistency to it, I think we're going to be alright."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on the second year compared to the first)
"It's definitely a part of having to go through certain things, and then you're able to react to them better the next time. Another year in the offense, another year in the offense for everybody on this team, gives a lot more confidence. We're able to go out there and play a lot faster. In order to be successful, you have to be able to go out there and play fast and react quickly and react to things on the fly. I think that's the biggest thing, that we understand our offense a little better, therefore we understand what the defenses are giving to us a little bit better, and we're able to go out there and do everything that much quicker. It makes all the difference in the world to be a little bit faster when you're doing things and to be more sure of yourself when you're doing them."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on only scoring one touchdown at Cleveland on Monday night)
"Like I said after the game, it wasn't a pretty win, but it was a win and it's what we needed at the time. Now, we're going to get back and get ready for Indianapolis. That's exactly what it was. I don't think we're happy with one touchdown, but at the same time it was a win and sometimes it's going to be like that in the NFL."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on if he hit a rookie wall last year)
"It never shut down or anything like that. There's definitely a point where you get tired and it becomes a grind, but I think it's like that for everybody. Once you hit the playoffs, it's week-by-week and it's so exciting. It's tough to not get caught up in the whole atmosphere and just be so excited. That was just a blast for myself, and I had a great time throughout the whole thing. There definitely came a time in the regular season where you get a little bit tired and you have to grind through it. I think me and I think we as a team did a really good job of doing that last year."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on taking care of yourself during the week)
"Definitely. I was fortunate last year. I stayed pretty healthy physically. It's more about getting through it mentally and being able to keep the same routine week-in and week-out and not letting down on it."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron)
"I think it's been good for our whole offense. He has certain ways of looking at things. I think we've done a good job of being able to do multiple things within our offense. I think we're coming along at a good pace. We just need to make sure that we continue to get better week-in and week-out, and we don't take a step back. I think this week is going to be a big week for that."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on last year's game against Indianapolis)
"It was an ugly game for us. It was one of those games where we came out and (they) put it on us pretty good. We're going to come out, we're going to be ready to play, and I think we're going to see the benefits of what we've been doing and working so hard for."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on the Colts' defense)
"They're an attacking defense. When we came in there last year, they hadn't won a couple of games and they had a couple of losses on their record, and we came into their building and they were flying around ready to go. We're going to expect all of them. They're going to be pumped up. They're an undefeated team. They're going to be looking to come out of our place with another win. They're going to be fired up, ready to go, and we're going to have to make sure we come out on fire and calm them down a little bit."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on Baltimore residents wanting to beat the Colts)
"These guys definitely have an extra incentive for us to win this game. Our fans love seeing Indianapolis come into our stadium. It should be a great game, I think. We're going to enjoy it. They're going to enjoy it. We just have to make sure we work hard during the week and come out and give ourselves the best chance of winning."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on RB-Ray Rice's emergence)
"I think it's been big. He's a second-year player, just like myself. What he's been able to come in and do has just been huge. He's running the ball well, and I think the big thing for us right now is he's been an extra threat in the passing game. Anytime you have that as a quarterback, it makes you're job a lot easier because you can just dump the ball to him at anytime and let him take care of the rest."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on coming into the league with RB-Ray Rice)
"Me and Ray get along great. I enjoy giving him the ball and watching him go. I think he enjoys it just as much. He's going to be huge, and I hope he's going to be a big part of our offense for the next handful of years. We have to keep him healthy and use him in the right ways, and I think that's what we're doing right now."
QB-JOE FLACCO (on WR-Derrick Mason wanting the ball)
"We can keep Derrick quiet as long as we're giving him the ball enough during every game. It's when he's not getting the ball as much as he thinks he should on a game-by-game basis that during the game he might come up and let you know. You have to ignore it a little bit. He's a veteran player. He knows he wants the ball, and I understand he wants the ball. He's only going to get it when he deserves to get it, and that's usually every time he's running a route. He'll get the ball, and he'll be happy. I don't think at the end of the year, if Ray has more catches than him it will be any big problem. There may be a game here and there where he'll be unhappy."
