Q. What is the general procedure for a regular season halftime in the NFL? How much time do you have? How much of that is spent on player equipment issues, with medical staff, in the restroom? Is video watched or presented? Diagrams on the board? What realistically can get accomplished in that time frame?
A. You're looking at about a 10-minute halftime when you subtract travel time in general, and that 10 minutes is probably broken up into about three parts. The first component of it is the personal things that you mentioned, equipment, training room and things of that nature. While that's going on the coaching staff is gathering and reviewing ongoing conversations from the first half. Then there's a middle period where the coaches are interacting with the players and talking about whatever needs to be discussed, adjustments and so forth. Mind you, most of these conversations have already taken place in-game. That's what happens between series. But oftentimes you get an opportunity to complete some of those conversations in totality, if the dry erase board is required, etc., things that aren't available to them on the sideline, or maybe just more in-depth discussions, or global discussions involving all people as a collective. And so that goes on for 4, 5, 6 minutes. And then there's probably a 2-minute segment at the end, where I'll have something to say to the collective, or Danny Smith as a special teams coordinator, will bring the offense and defense together and make whatever adjustments and comments need to be made in that area. And so halftime adjustments certainly exist, maybe not to the extent that people perceive them. And the critical component of it is you can't wait until halftime to make adjustments. You make adjustments continually throughout the game, in between series, depending on what phase of the game you're in, and you complete those adjustments, or round out those adjustments or conversations at halftime, But then again, in the second half, those adjustments continue through the remainder of the game as well.
Q. Earlier in the week, you claimed WR Adam Thielen off waivers. He's 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, 35 years old and in his 14th season. What did you know about him, what do you like about him, what made him a good addition at this time?
A. He's a been-there done-that guy. He's got some measurables, maybe that some others in our position group don't have, and so he rounds out the group from a different talent or skill-set perspective. His body of work speaks for itself. I've always appreciated his in-game savvy, his feel for spatial awareness, his route savvy, his ability to separate on non-vertical routes. And it's been a good week with him. All the things that I've appreciated from afar, I've had an opportunity to observe up close, and we're excited about including him in our work today.
Q. It seems that a lot of teams that don't face the Ravens regularly often go into a game against them unprepared for their physicality. Does the challenge of going into Baltimore to play the Ravens require a special mind-set?
A. Certainly it does. They're a team that embraces the physicality component of the game. As it pertains particularly to us, I think the nature of the rivalry is understood. I'll travel around to colleges and universities for Pro Days, and college players will ask me about the rivalry. You draft a guy, they ask you about the rivalry. They come with a preconceived notion about what it already is and what is required of them, just because of the relationship that we've had with the Ravens. I don't know that if you're on other teams, there is that level of awareness of what you're going into, but certainly, if you're a Pittsburgh Steeler, or you're an aspiring Pittsburgh Steeler, you have an appreciation for the physicality when these two teams come together. And so as individuals, they understand what's required of them.
Q. Do you have to prepare guys who are new to it?
A. I don't do a lot, to be quite honest with you. Like I said, it's understood, and those who have been a part of it before really lead that charge. Our veteran players do a really good job of making sure the guys understand the intensity of it all.
Q. The Ravens currently are ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing yards per game and third in the NFL in average per carry. Linebacker Malik Harrison spent his first 5 seasons in the league with the Ravens and has been used here in run-down circumstances. What might he contribute to your efforts to deal with that part of Baltimore's offense?
A. You absolutely said it. He's a run-down linebacker. He's here because of our familiarity with that skill-set. We've competed against him, and certainly he's competed against that offense in a variety of settings during the early portions of his career. And so it should be an asset to him in terms of diagnosing things and understanding schematic personality. Guys like him are a major component of this matchup, but there has been a lot of that over the years. Arthur Maulet recently, for those guys, being a former Steeler, etc. There are layers to this thing. Patrick Queen. Mike Wallace was a Raven after his Steelers career. And so familiarity oftentimes breeds a lot of things.
Q. We've talked about the number of quality running backs you've faced so far this season, but what makes Derrick Henry different from those guys?
A. Size and home run hitting ability. He's a 250-plus-pound runner, and so if he gets into your secondary that's a problem. But he also has a dangerous stiff-arm, and his length is a component. And so he's able to ward off cut-tackles with that stiff-arm. It's a very technical thing to work through-stiff arms during the course of a week, and certainly we highlight that component of skill development when we're leaning in to play against him. We did it when he was a Tennessee Titan as well. It's something that's really exclusive to him. Gotta do a good job of warding off the stiff-arm. You can't give him downhill running lanes. A 10-yard gain can quickly turn into a 50-yard gain as people run parallel to that stiff-arm. So you just understand that when you see him. A major component of minimizing those things, is not allowed a 10-yard game to happen. Probably more so than any other runner in football. 10 turns into 20 turns into 30 because of his long speed, his size, and his stiff arm,
Q. A running QB like Lamar Jackson forces opposing defenses to play 11-on-11 against the run, because there are 10 blockers available for the guy with the ball. What are the things a defense has to do to be able to handle 11-on-11 football?
A. First and foremost, you got to be aware of the situations in which it occurs. There's a certain amount of risk you absorb as an offensive group when you choose to run the quarterback. And in today's game, when you've got a guy like Lamar, you're just not willing to absorb those risks in all circumstances, particularly benign circumstances. And so the urgency gets elevated when there's a line-to-gain component to the play, or when you're dealing with being inside the red zone where points are a component of it. And it starts there for us. Then it's personnel groups and offensive formation structure that provide clues regarding their intentions. We're highly familiar with Baltimore, and I don't say that like we've got some secret. They're highly familiar with us as well. That's just a component of the matchup, but when you're highly familiar with somebody, there are clues, there's a feel, there's a rhythm or anticipation of when those things might occur, and generally, we've been pretty good about managing that. Certainly the inclusion of Derrick Henry has made that more complicated. We had a better handle on it pre-Derrick Henry, but that's just the nature of this thing. That's why you acquire talent, and the collective is a major component of individual success.
Q. The Ravens recently signed TE Mark Andrews to a contract extension, and he's often paired at the position with Isaiah Likely. How do those two TEs complement each other, and how do the Ravens deploy them?
A. Both are very, very functional men in the passing game. Likely is (Andrews') understudy. They're interchangeable at times schematically. But the reality is that (contract) extension is well deserved. Mark Andrews needs no endorsement from me. He's in the same draft class as Lamar. You feel that when you play the Ravens, their relationship, the fact that they grew up within that organization together. He's the all-time receiving touchdown leader in organization history. And so it speaks for itself, and I'll say this, too. Zay Flowers is their No. 1 wide receiver, and he's not a big statured guy. And so when your lead receiver is not a big statured guy, oftentimes the tight ends assume a significant role in the red zone, and that's been a component of play for them. Those two guys are significant in the passing game in the red zone, and oftentimes they utilize both of them in two-tight-end personnel groups, and so they complement one another. They're interchangeable, but in a lot of significant moments, particularly in the red zone, they're working and working together.
Q. Andrews has been their tush-push guy, too.
A. No question. He's a multi-talented guy. I think he was a high school receiver, if I remember his draft profile. And anytime you're dealing with high school receivers who morph into tight ends, you're dealing with a guy who generally has fine motor skills that are beyond the tight end position, and you really feel that – run-after and things of that nature, just general mind-set regarding athleticism. But he does a great job on the tush-push, and it minimizes some of those close quarter hits that Lamar would have to take. And so his value in that is the same thing that we do with Connor Heyward in an effort to minimize some of those close quarter hits that could occur if we utilized Aaron (Rodgers) in that space.
Q. The 39th installment of Mike Tomlin vs. John Harbaugh will be contested today, and it's the second-longest head-to-head coaching matchup in NFL history, behind only Chicago's George Halas vs. Green Bay's Curly Lambeau. When coaches go at each other so often, do things become more complicated or simpler?
A. Both. They do. There are depths to those waters, which makes it complicated. It's chess, not checkers. But at the same time, my experience and Harbs' experience is not the experience of those who are playing. And so you've got to be conscious about not projecting that onto those playing. I know that I am, and I assume that he is. I'm appreciative of being a component of this matchup for this length of time, and I'm sure he is. But for a lot of these guys, it's a different perspective. And so I've learned it's about the players. It's about the guys on the grass. It's about readying them. It's about them finding their place in the history of this series. And that's the mentality and mind-set that I bring to it.
Q. This is a game in the first week of December between two teams with 6-6 records that are tied for first place in the AFC North. Do you believe there is such a thing as a must-win game at this stage of the regular season?
A. I think they're all must-win games. I do. I understand what you ask when you say that, but I routinely answer it the same way, because I just want everyone to know that we get 17 opportunities to state a case for ourselves in this business, and there's extreme urgency. I love how the schedule organizers position things. They know that it's going to come down to Steelers and Ravens. I love being a part of it. I'm excited about it. I view this as a must-win. Certainly I don't run away from that. I run to it. But if you ask me every week, I'm probably gonna say the same things, but I understand what you're asking when you say that.
