Anthony Weaver, Declan Doyle, Anthony Levine Sr., & Derrick Henry: Ravens Press Conferences 9/17/26

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1:03At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs and cyber security, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides a support you need to take the next step wherever life takes you. American Military University, it is made for what's next. Learn more at AMU.APUS.edu. Welcome into the Ravens Press Pass podcast. It is Thursday, September 17th, and the Ravens are preparing for the home opener coming up on Sunday against the Saints. As we prepare for that game, we had a chance to hear from offensive coordinator, Declan Doyle. With many receivers, it looks like maybe you can shop eight minutes, look like a logical guy to get some increased opportunities.

2:03What if, can you see Adarshad over the summer in New York? Yeah, I think he's grown. Obviously getting exposed to him in the off season was great. Just being around him every day and starting to see how he worked and all that. Obviously we missed him for a little bit during OTAs. But he had a good training camp. I've been really excited about him. He was a guy that in that game, I was trying to get him the ball a little bit. That first play of the game we call a naked. My thought was it's going to be soft, that corner may pop. But really if they play soft zone, the corner kicks off, we're going to kick the ball to bait, and we'll get the game going. He has certainly earned trust with myself, the rest of the staff. He's done a really good job. That's a game that there's a couple balls that he probably should end up going to him. One of them we end up killing and we have to run the run. But he's been great. We've enjoyed being around him. It's been fun to watch the seriousness of his preparation and what he brings to that room from a leadership standpoint. Does that play call, do you get the sense of when you need to get a guy involved early, especially as a driver's seat?

3:09I think you're trying to feel the game a little bit that way. Part of that is as you script the plays thinking about the number one thing is this is always a players game. So you're thinking about who's touching the ball, who are the guys that need to touch it. But certainly as the game goes on, you have to have kind of a feel of what does that look like, who do we need to get going, who hasn't got one yet. And that was the case in that game. I had a few plays in the openers that I felt like I wanted to try to throw the ball to him. It just didn't play out that way. And as the game gets going, you're like, man, I've got to get beta touch here. Because he played really well away from the football. And that was the thing I was most excited about. You turn the tape on. He's blocking. He's going after people. That long touchdown run from Derek. It's sprung by beta on the front side. And so guys that play like that, that play the way we want it, we want to play. You want to try to feed them and get them going. When we saw how much you're able to do with Zayah just in that one half, we don't know yet if he's going to be available on Sunday, obviously.

4:11But what's kind of your general view of that? If you're missing a key guy, do you game plan around the absence, or do you more say, okay, we're going to find other people who can do the things he can do as best we can? Every game plan is different because every defense is different. The availability of our players is different. It's why we talked about having like a full 70 man roster that everybody's ready to step up next man in. And really, like even throughout the preseason, the message to the entire group was like, there is no drop off inevitably throughout the year. Guys get hurt, get banged up. But whoever steps in there, there's no drop off from one of the next. Like we got to be ready to go. We know our assignment to be able to execute at a high level. So certainly, like the availability of players, whoever that may be, shapes kind of how you game plan things. And I think that really is like that is what being a good play call or a good play designer is, is being able to adjust because throughout the year, most of the time, not everybody's ready to go. And so you got to be able to work around the players, work around the availability, you got to be flexible. Because in this league, like it just is what it is, you can have a big week and you can get humbled real fast if you don't stay grounded.

5:15And so, you know, that really is kind of the way we're approaching this. Kind of picking back off that like with the running game, we watched film, what did you see that kind of stood out to you, but then Derek and the offensive line? I would say that Derek, the O-line, the perimeter blocking, it was what we talked about, you know, you guys asked me last week, like what did we want it to look like? And we want our tape to speak for itself and be playing, you know, violent away from the football, being high effort players. And I think that showed up in the run game. Obviously, we were physical, we were able to create a lot of space for our backs. We feel like our backs, if we can get them on safety and corners, that's a good match up for us. And we were able to do so successfully in the game and that was kind of what led to the run game being effective. And it's really what you hunt kind of every week. There was a good amount of mystery, what your offense would look like coming into the season. I know it's just one game and how that you have stuff that's on tape out there. How do you expect change the way the offenses defend you at the moment? I think that every week you get to be very aware of what they're watching. And so that's part of the process is understanding your self scout, kind of what's going to be on, like they're going to go to practice today too.

6:22Like what are they practicing? What are the plays they're practicing? How do they view our offense? And so throughout the year, like that will be something that is constantly re-evaluated week to week. And it's something that like from year to year even, like you have to be evolving constantly. The second you are stagnant, you're sitting duck. And people can start to game plan, you can attack you. And we kind of knew that. That was kind of advantageous that we hadn't put anything out there yet. But now that's kind of the chess match that starts is people have stuff on you. You got to keep working and evolve and be creative and find ways to get our guys to ball. So the moment after the game with you, Dr. Lamar, how much was the call plays for him? First time in a game, how fun was that? Yeah, it was great. I mean, he operated at a high level. I thought he played well. And really it's the whole group. I really enjoy the communication with Lamar. I hadn't had that yet in a real game. I didn't know how that was going to be initially. That was why I was kind of considering up or down or how that would be. But I got a direct line right to him. I can watch him on TV as I'm talking to him and I see his responses and stuff like that. And so that was great. I felt connected to him. I felt like he was able to see the game kind of how I saw it.

7:32And that's a byproduct of spending time together and that relationship only continues to grow the more time we spend together. That Z-Flyers touchdown looked like you had just zero reaction watching it unfold. It was just going through your head. I mean, really the mindset of when you're calling the game or you are involved is you're trying to eliminate any emotion. You're trying to eliminate anything that would cloud your judgment or what's going to happen next. I'm watching it and I'm basically thinking like, okay, I'm watching it and waiting if he gets tackled where at the eight yard line I have to have a play as fast as I possibly can to get into L. And so that's kind of the mindset and then as soon as he scores, you immediately flip to like foot on the gas like everybody on the staff. Like we got to get our guys back right now. Don't stop like we got to keep going. And you don't smile until it hits the rows and then celebrate it real quick and then you got to get on the next team fast. But that's kind of like that's the way I think that you have to be. You're never trying to fight like a two front war.

8:33Like we're fighting it opponent on the field. The more emotional I get, the more people have to deal with me and all of our energy should be towards fighting the opponent. What did you do to any emotions after pulling against your brother? That was really cool. It was cool. I walked out of the press box and he was standing right there for me. That's like at some moment that I'll never forget. That's a really cool thing. It's very unique to that opportunity. And it was pretty cool. You're talking again now. Yeah, yeah. Soon as it was over, it was good. He gave me what problems we gave them. I'm really excited for him and his opportunity and them there. And then I know that they'll work through this and keep working. I've been using a couple of years in New Orleans. I'm sure got to know Alcamara pretty well. Just all these years he's still on that same team. He's on a good play. People on the team. What does it kind of say about the longevity of the guy? Have a position like that where there's so much turnover that all these years later he still do his thing?

9:36Yeah, it's really fun to watch him still. Like I was around him for four years. I got to see him play at a really high level. And obviously he's a guy that continues to do that. Really, there's a lot of guys in that organization that I kind of have a soft spot for in my heart. Because I spent four years there around the ownership group, the front office. A lot of these players that are still there. Like Joanne Johnson still there. And I remember when Joanne Johnson was a receiver. And he was an undrafted player that we moved to tight end. And we spent a lot of time together trying to teach him how to be a tight end. And now watching him have success. And so it's cool. The league is really small. That's just the way it goes. And you see these guys year to year. But yeah, I mean, obviously what Alvin's been able to do over a longevity at that position has been really impressive. One more place approach. Do you have plays that you think of as almost like once a year plays? I mean, like those those trick plays that really get excited when it works. But you know, maybe say that has to go back in the bag for a while. I mean, do you think about it that way? No, not really. Like I feel like there's a you got a you got a deep well of things that come up.

10:37And then you're constantly trying to figure out new stuff. And as you watch film and you're preparing for the next opponent, there are times where you flash back and you're like, okay, I see this defense. I see what's happening here. This is something that you know, we may have done in the past at a previous stop or that might fit this week. Or it's like, hey, we you know, we ran this play. Like how do we hit the counter punch? Like how do we create another big play? And so you're really just trying to figure out, you know, how to set these things up and continue to work through it. But really like the way you view offense, you have an install that goes in that you're, you know, this is the bread and butter of what we do. And then every single week, it's got to change because the defense changes. Good. Thank you guys. Traditions are a game changer. Traditions have the power to turn a simple moment into a memory. Bring a whole city together. And they're even what inspires us to make our masa and tostitos the traditional way, starting with whole corn kernels. No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. We craft our chips for whatever your tradition is. Tostitos, tradition matters.

11:43The official chip and dip sponsor of the Baltimore Ravens. Next up, we heard from defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver. When we look at that, the taste from the first game, what impressed you the most about the defense? I was just pleased the manner in which we play. Everything we talk about when we hit the pipes field that has to be our standard. Right, communication, playing with violence, attacking the ball, effort, and angles. I thought all showed up on tape. There's always things, particularly game one that you got to work on. We're still trying to make sure that we are of one accord. We were in lockstep. But in this game, you're constantly chasing something. Right, and that's where we're chasing this week. Could that point, was your impression of the past rush? I know, you know, like trade, for example, how big impact it, not necessarily statistically? Yeah. But his thoughts on what you saw from the past rush and giving this thing back. Yeah, I was pleased. I thought those guys worked really well together. I thought it was coordinated the entire game.

12:44I thought we impacted the quarterback and hit him, even though we didn't necessarily get the sack number. So I was pleased with how those guys attacked the pocket when it came to rushing the quarterback. Daniel Jones is not one of those guys going to let you sack him. He does a great job of getting rid of the ball. And obviously he has wheels and legs, man. I got to move. But I thought, Tray, Tavius Robinson, those guys on the ins here, you're working their games with Kaleis and all those dudes, man. I thought they did a really good job in the entire game. Take aways, is there? I know you want those every week, but is there a true recipe that you can develop more and see more happen? Or is it just the play and how the play develops? Is there a secret to how to produce and take aways? I don't necessarily know. There's a secret sauce to it. I think a lot of it is just the player that you bring in and the mentality in which you text the field. I think from a coaching perspective, you get what you emphasize. So when I was in Miami, for example, that first year there, I felt like we were so focused on just making sure we were doing the right things,

13:47schematically and playing the right way that we kind of ventured away from just communicating how important take aways were. And making sure on the field, we were conscious about the ball. I thought year two, we did a much better job of that and obviously saw the production increase. As a coach, we're always talking about it. I think the players they see are making sure you're reinforcing it on film and just making sure that when there's those offs that they miss that you're constantly pointing it out to make sure that it shows up on Sunday. We don't know when now he's going to make this video, but when he does, how do you see that changes? I think we all know the impact that that kid has. He is a three-down menace. He's impactful in the run game. He harasses quarterbacks and offensive linemen with his power and his finesse. So when you talk about a defense that I always think is pretty solid and taking us to yet another level, I would expect not to use you just that. When Marlin makes a play that he did, he does have the nature of that play. I know. You're gonna understand how does that have to go and carry the ball.

14:52I mean, that's what he does. That's what he does. I think anytime you get a takeaway on defense, it's a big deal. It gives everybody an added boost of energy. The thing you know in Marlin is he starts smacking his helmet. If he starts doing this, good things are happening for the Ravens. Let's get him smacking that helmet as much as we possibly can. You weren't even asking me, I believe, but the team struggled at home. Defensively, you know, you play here, you know, the bank can get life. Yeah. He gets good moments. Much can, you know, defend with you. You got something about doing things. Kind of create that avalanche of things. Effect. You guys, they can play, it's a crowd going towards you. Things like that. We control the value, right? We control the value when it comes to the bank. So I've been stressing with the guys all week, the importance of communication. Right? We had some couple breakdowns here and there a week ago on the road when they're particularly quiet. And now we want, we want to make sure our crowd is rocking. So we want to make sure that we're all given calls, echoing calls. Just to make sure again, we're all on the same page because I truly believe like when we're in lockstep and we're in one accord and we're operating that flow state, we're going to be a tough defense to be.

15:58Just to talk about how we're getting through this, we're all thinking we want to be too many of them. How do you see that? Why is that? And this preparation changing anyway, this week? I think a lot of it's just because the guys that are out there playing for an extended amount of time don't really get many reps in the preseason. So a lot of those times there's things that, where there's nonverbal communication, right? Just being out there playing together. That needs, you need reps in that. As much as you try to simulate it here on the practice field, it's different. It's different once those drive gets extended, once the crowd into it, it's just different. So the more those guys play each other, now we're 50 something reps in, the better that's going to get. A lot of talking about Jesse Waking player with a lighter box, trying to get that pass roast without necessarily sending a ton of bodies. Yeah. To your mind, what is the key to that working? Players, right? I think we have space condensers at all level. I think we have it on the edges with our defensive ends.

17:00I think we have the bigs inside that can chew up two gaps, right? Because in today's game, when you're trying to play with lighter boxes and lighter people really on the second level, you better have that mass up front to just eat space and take away gaps. I think we have that. And then I do think the guys that we have on the second level while they may be smaller in nature, they play with a violent and physical nature. So when you have that, I think you can have the success in a run game. What is the key to slowing down a person on the game? Oh man. Just constant awareness of where he's at because they move him around a lot. So he's one of those guys where you can't match up certain guys on him. It needs to be all 11 every down, no one where he's at and just making sure we're counting for him from a coverage standpoint. Other shocking by years is a young quarterback, but not really by experience. What kind of impression has he made on you watching out of him on film?

18:01We played them towards a latter half of the year when I was in Miami last year and I was impressed with them then as a rookie. He reminds me a little bit of like a poor man's jaw challenge has all the arm talent in the world can run. I don't think he gets enough credit for how good an athlete he is. So particularly as you get down the low red, where we're constantly going to be conscious of just his ability to scramble and create those extended plays. No different than our guy, right with eight. And I just think the more reps he gets, the more confidence he's going to get in that scheme with the talent around him. I think they've done a good job of trying to build the talent around him. They got tremendous skill players. I think they've upgraded their own line from when I saw a year ago. So it's guys and limit for the kid. Two more for me. More? Done? Oh, that got him hot. Next we heard from a special team's coordinator, Anthony Levine. So it's clear how you doing, buddy? I'm good, man. Having a great day. Yes, I'm. It's happening good, man. Feeling good. Yeah, I would assume that you were happy with the kickoff eternity.

19:06If that's true, what went right on kickoff returns? Do you guys have like a target, your line, like say, you know, we return, we won't get to at least to this number or not? So if the ball is kicked into the end zone, then the ball goes to a 35-year-old line. So every time we get the ball, our goal is to get the ball close to a 35-year-old line as we can. Now every single time we get a return, we want to, you know, try to get it to the house and go score a touchdown. But as long as we get in close to a 35-year-old line, I think we're doing a really good job. So, but in the game, when you have guys back there like Chris Moore and LaJonte, and when our league goes back there, man, with those guys, when they got the ball in their hands, what we do is we make sure that we give them room and let them pick what they need to go. And they do a great job of sending the lanes and running through it. So as long as they keep doing that, man, we're going to be good. What's it like coaching Chris Moore or teammate and then team obviously his elevation of what he's meant to this roster now?

20:08Oh, that's a good question. Caution Chris Moore is great because again, he was my teammate, so it could be weird, but it's crazy because it's not weird. Because when I coach him up, he actually takes the coaching. You know, like some guys that, I wouldn't say some guys, but probably if you play, if your teammates were the guy, some guys that it'll probably be weird, trying to coach him up, and they already are accustomed to doing certain things. But again, Chris Moore is a raven, so he understands, you know, everything I'm telling him to do, he respects it. He respect me and he respects the room. You know, and he's a pro at the end of the day. So, and he comes in, man, he works hard, but Caution, I mean, it's, honestly, it's easy. It's easy because, again, he's going to work. Whatever you ask him to do, he's going to do it. You know, and like Coach Jess pointed out yesterday, Chris Moore coming into his 11-year, and last week, he took the most rups on scouting, being a veteran. You know, so that, that right there, when you, Coach, the guy that, that works that hard, that's easy.

21:10Was that, I mean, was that pretty much the ideal week that you would have drawn up for Tyler Lover? I mean, so much talk about him in the preseason, then he gets that opportunity. You know, the important point of the game, I mean, how big a deal was that time? Well, he's been doing the name practice. And the thing is, again, like when we talked about it, Randy Brown does a great job with him and working on his fundamentals and his technique. And what we just keep telling him is, take what we do in practice, take what you do in practice, and then take it to the game. And on Sunday, that's what he did. What he did was, he went out there, he was calm, he was loose, and he on the still, man, I'm going out there. I'm working on fundamentals, I'm working on my steps, foot the ball contact, and I'm just going to let it fall through. And I'm just going to let it rip. And that's what he did. He went out there, I think, now he's at a great point, where he's just, you know what? I'm just going to go out there, do what I do, kick the football, and make sure I'm having great foot the ball contact. Like what, Coach Randy talked to him about having.

22:10And he went out there on Sunday, and now he got to continue to do that again and again and again. So I'm happy for him. Anthony, you bigger pick your question. How much discussion is there before? I'm assuming Tyler, pretty much most cases, could last it for the ends of the year. There's so much discussion goes into when to kick it and play, what kick to employ, and how much do you talk about that before each kick? Well, we talk about every kick, so, but again, it comes down to this, it comes down to a field position. And we feel like we have a really good, special team joining where we get to take advantage of the field position. So, if we kick the ball in the end zone, kicking touchbacks, then the ball goes to the 35-year-old line. You know, so as a kick off team, we want to stop them from getting as close to the 35-year-old line as possible. So we want to have those guys back up, and we want to win that field position. If we just give them to the 35, every time kicking touchbacks, I mean, what's the point of even having, I kick off team, Mark Deere. You know, I think those guys do a really good job of going out there, setting the tone for our football team, because I kick off team is the identity of our football team.

23:17So, it is a discussion out there, but we want to go out there and win the field position. Good? I don't think so. Actually, you know, he had a good opener. He, a young guy, he doesn't seem like he is phased by it. Did you feel like you have the same thing to him, like, since the 20th of that first game, you just kind of let him do his thing? No, I've got to fire him up for the fun of it, because he's so confident. He's so confident, man. He's an easy-going guy. But again, he comes out here and he works hard. So sometimes, I have to personally bring him down the notch, because he's so confident. And we want him to be confident, but sometimes you can be overconfident and just kind of just made miss hit or do something crazy, because you're so overconfident. But I love his confidence and I love the way that he plays and I love the way that he goes about his business. So sometimes I go out there and I mess with him, I'll fire him up just for the fun of it. Just to keep him humble. You know, not that he's not a humble kid. Me saying kid is kind of crazy.

24:19But yeah, what I'm trying to do is just trying to keep him humble and he is humble. So please don't not take it that he's not humble, because he is. But he's a confident football player and I love that. I'm so fire him up for the fun of it. All right, we good. I appreciate you guys. In the locker room today, we heard from veteran running back Derek Henry. We mentioned that he already broke his high school records. Is that something you even thought about or was that a surprise that he even said that? I mean, I've met him before, he said something about it before. I'm not really thinking about the record right now, but it was on the wall. Jesse Mitchell, talk about how there's often no off improvement from week one to week two. In your experience to leave, why does that often the case that he's made that deep from week one to week two? I just think it shows focus and sharpness everybody trying to hone in on the details even more than the previous week.

25:23And I'm trying to be better than the previous week as well. I've got to a great start, but we know we still got to put the work in to keep that momentum going. And just trying to stay focused on doing the right things and going to display offense deepens on all three phases that we want to do. And we want to represent and go out there and try to get in the game. There was last week, we didn't know what the officer would look like. What I asked you question is what to expect, but you had a pretty good idea obviously with you guys practicing. Just what was your thoughts on week one and you guys showcasing this often? I mean, I thought we'd make some plays. We were able to put some points on the board, get some explosives, things that we preach and want to do. A lot of things that build off of, of course things you always got to work on. But a lot of good momentum to going into this week for sure. I really don't know how many, I presume, where you don't like to focus on your individual success. Why is it important for you to kind of keep that focus on the team? Because it seems like that's always your focus. I'm just not...

26:23That's stuff to come. It's a team sport. It's on the world, it's a suite. All that, I have to win it happens. I'm not going to be trying to highlight it. Eric, how much of you guys have been talking about what happened last year in the record and maybe trying to get off to a much better start? The last year is in the past, can't control what happened last year, it's in the year. Focus on what we can do this year. And that's New Orleans at home, first game in the state, I'm excited to get to that. And try to go out there and put our best before it to be the good thing. What do you want that fans are able to get in this first home? What would you want them to walk away with? What I want the fans to walk away with? That's what the victory is. That's what I want them to be cheering that we won in the pre-Pedigree game. So hopefully that's a result. You're listening to The Ravens Press Pass Podcast. Make sure you subscribe here also head over to the Lounge Podcast Speed. You said down with Ryder, C.E.R. Chris Moore as well as astronaut Reed Weizman,

27:24who's going to be the leader of the uprising for Sunday's game against New Orleans. It's going to be an exciting game. It's our white noise game. We're encouraging fans to wear white to that game. So make sure that you plan accordingly, wear white, get there early and being your seats by 1230 to see all the pre-game festivities. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back with you again tomorrow. Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire? Try them all only at my dogs. Some people use chatGPT to answer questions. Others use it to get real work done. With chatGPT work, you bring the goal. Plus real inputs like briefs, notes, files, feedback, data and project plans. It can help turn them into an analysis, tracker, deck outline, prototype, or workflow you can review and keep shaping. You stay in control, giving direction and choosing the final output.

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