September 13, 2009|By Jamison Hensley | Jamison Hensley,jamison.hensley@baltsun.com
As the Ravens open the regular season today against the Kansas City Chiefs, John Harbaugh enters his second season as Baltimore's head coach with heightened expectations. He has heard about the fans' Super Bowl aspirations and their pleas to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (more than you can count, in fact).
In a sit-down with The Baltimore Sun's Jamison Hensley, Harbaugh addresses the championship buzz, the criticism of his wide receivers, his confidence in a new kicker and whether there is a secret to reaching the playoffs in consecutive seasons - something the Ravens have done only once in team history.
Question: After reaching the AFC championship game, is there a feeling that anything but a Super Bowl would be a disappointment this season?
Answer: We don't look at it like that. We don't define success like that. We're just trying to become something. We don't look at it as needing to take one more step. We have to take 19 steps to get back into that spot, and that's hard to do. The players understand that better than anybody else because they understand how hard it is to win a football game in this league.
Q: Last season, there were some doubts about you as a head coach because you had never been an offensive or defensive coordinator. Do you think you proved something as a rookie head coach?
A: Everybody's got something to prove. And that won't change even if we're here 12 years from now. We all have something to prove every Sunday.
Q: Did you want to prove something to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti?
A: Not to Steve. If I wanted to do anything, I wanted to prove Steve and the organization right. I think anybody who gets a job would want to do that.
Q: Everyone wants to criticize your wide receivers. Does it get tiresome to defend this group?
A: No, I would never get tired of defending them. If someone attacks our players, I'm going to be the first one to step out in front and defend them. These guys are on this team for a reason. We believe in them. They've earned the right to be Ravens and to be trusted.
Q: What do you like most about your receivers?
A: They're incredibly competitive. They're very precise in what they want to do. They are guys you can win with. They're winners.
Q: The Ravens threw the ball in preseason more than they did at any point last season. Will there be more responsibility placed on Joe Flacco this season?
A: He's another year in and should be that much better of a player. He should be able to do more for us. He should do the things that he did last year even better. But that's not just Joe. It's the offensive line, wide-outs and running backs. I don't think it's more of a burden on one guy. We need to be better at more things to be a better team.
Q: How much better do you expect Flacco to be after what he experienced in last season's playoffs?
A: There's no way to measure that. To me, that will be determined by how we play. It's not a one-man deal. It really isn't.
Q: After seeing Steve Hauschka this summer, do you still consider it a gamble to go with a young kicker?
A: It's always a gamble to go with anybody. Unless you have a crystal ball and can read the future, you could put Jan Stenerud in there and it would be a gamble.
Q: You expressed a lot of confidence in Hauschka last week. Was that important for him to know that?
A: We're behind all of our guys, but it's important that [Hauschka] has got confidence in himself. He's the guy who is going to go out there and do it. I just wanted to let him know that's it is never one miss and done. Coaches do it all the time. You act like the kicker is held to a different standard than every other position, which is basically perfection.
Q: Will fans notice any difference in the defense under new coordinator Greg Mattison?
A: I don't know. It would be interesting to see their perception of it. I think it will be our defense, like it always is. It doesn't belong to anybody. It belongs to everybody.
Q: After starting a rookie at quarterback last season, is there any hesitation to start a rookie at right tackle in Michael Oher?
A: No. We play our best guys. He's one of our best five [linemen], and he's proven that. He's got to continue to demonstrate that. Obviously, he's off to a good start. We expect him to be a dominant player as time goes on. To that extent, he's on his way.
Q: How much impact can running back Ray Rice have on the offense?
A: This whole thing about who starts and who doesn't - I have no interest in it. They're all going to play. ... But I think Ray is going to be a very good player in this league for a very long time.
Q: Do expect increased production from your return game with Chris Carr?
A: The return game is something we have worked really hard on. [Carr is] a proven returner, and we have some other guys, too. We probably have more options than any other team in the league. We have Lardarius Webb, Ed Reed, Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton.
Q: Other than visiting the troops in Iraq, what was the most memorable time of your offseason?
