[News] Late For Work 12/16: 46 Ravens-Eagles Picks; Tense Practice As Steve Smith Throws Helmet

[BR News]

Terrell Suggs says team is ‘a little messed up’ after emotional practice. All three coordinators express regret in weekly presser. Patriots work out Devin Hester.

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[KidNme]

Many of us fans tend to figure out what the issues are with our team despite what the media tries to feed us. The coaches and players are starting to feel the heat.
That can make us better or it can sink the ship. It's going to be hard to tell against Philly, if we're going to make any changes that work. Kind of like the Miami game being fools gold but in a way, it's nice to see some fire on the practice field. "Having each others back", as many of our players like to say also means holding the man next to you accountable and maybe that's starting to happen now. Not a very good litmus test until Christmas day against Pittsburgh so I guess we won't really know until the "skinny challenged" lady sings!

[lowcountryraven]

As a complete Ravens fan through thick and thin, I can feel the unrest of the players and coaches not playing the way they know they can play and missing an opportunity on National Television to show it. Keep that fire! Take care of the Eagles this Sunday first. Take care of the Steelers on Christmas and finish strong against the Bengals. Give yourselves an opportunity to play the Patriots again in the Playoffs. Keep focused and don't lose this opportunity that you have in front of you. No matter what has happened in the past, you still have all of your goals for this team this year. Let's put it all together and play the best football you can play. Let's go!!!!!! Control what is in your control individually, and just play football. Leave it all out their on the field and have no regrets.

[bioLarzen]

"“I take responsibility for this happening,” Rosburg said. “I take it very personally. It’s my fault that he didn’t have better opportunities to return and really show what he can do. We didn’t block well enough for him, we didn’t coach well enough for him, and when I talked to Devin, as you might expect, his response was, ‘It’s a team thing.’ He took full responsibility, and he understands that we all have to do this together. It was telling on his character, and that’s the kind of man he is.”

Sorry, Jerry, but I call BS here. If, as you say, it wasn't Hester's fault that he wasn't nearly as effective as hoped - then why was he released in the first place? Was he fired because his support cast didn't do a good enough job???

[ksk316]

When the patriots play the Ravens, they pull out all tricks out of their bag to beat us. But when we play them, we stick to our vanilla scheme. When the offense needs something desperate I don't understand why we don't do any trick plays anymore that could spark some fire. We used to do this in Flacco's initial years but we stopped them completely in recent years.

[TheRavengers]

I have to wonder how many shouting matches take place between coaches, coordinators and players that don't get reported, in light of Steve Smith losing his cool.

[b93333]

If Joe had even a small fraction of Steve Smith's desire to win the Ravens would be a different team.

[Black&purple#55]

When the patriots play the Ravens, they pull out all tricks out of their bag to beat us. But when we play them, we stick to our vanilla scheme. When the offense needs something desperate I don't understand why we don't do any trick plays anymore that could spark some fire. We used to do this in Flacco's initial years but we stopped them completely in recent years.

I'm with on that man, I hope we make the playoffs and knockout the Cheatriots

[terpmaniac]

I love Steve Smith! If the half, HALF the players on this underachieving team has his passion and his drive we would be undefeated right now!

[ibleedpurpleandblack]

IMO, I agree with #89's actions and comments - receivers have been getting a lot of flack for not catching balls and now #89 is speaking out and telling his QB to get his act right!! Which is about time!!!

We need the OL to step up and most importantly Flacco needs to step up!!!

[Bat-mite]

"“I take responsibility for this happening,” Rosburg said. “I take it very personally. It’s my fault that he didn’t have better opportunities to return and really show what he can do. We didn’t block well enough for him, we didn’t coach well enough for him, and when I talked to Devin, as you might expect, his response was, ‘It’s a team thing.’ He took full responsibility, and he understands that we all have to do this together. It was telling on his character, and that’s the kind of man he is.”

Sorry, Jerry, but I call BS here. If, as you say, it wasn't Hester's fault that he wasn't nearly as effective as hoped - then why was he released in the first place? Was he fired because his support cast didn't do a good enough job???

Eh, it's just your typical "this is what I am supposed to say" hype. Or rhetoric, or whatever you want to call it. You'll never get a straight answer out of any coach.

[JD08]

Smith needs to be the vocal leader of this team, because we lost it once Ray/Ed left, hope Smith goes at Flacco face to face, something to put a fire in him, piss him off, no more Cool Joe, need a mad ready to prove a point Joe

[Bat-mite]

If SSS is right, and if Flacco is missing passes, checking down too early, too lackadaisical, then what do we do? Flacco's not going anywhere. How do we get him to produce?

Monday night, when Brady chewed out Edelman, I wondered what Flacco would have done in the same situation with Pitta. They would have gone over to the sideline and laughed about it.

I feel bad for Smith. He wants to go out with a bang, and this team is not giving him that.

[PurpleRainBlackVeins]

Welp, guess we're not the only ones frustrated with check down Joe -__-

[TheRavengers]

Check down passes are cool but only when they're NOT the majority of your passes.

[RavensBaltimore]

If SSS is right, and if Flacco is missing passes, checking down too early, too lackadaisical, then what do we do? Flacco's not going anywhere. How do we get him to produce?

Monday night, when Brady chewed out Edelman, I wondered what Flacco would have done in the same situation with Pitta. They would have gone over to the sideline and laughed about it.

I feel bad for Smith. He wants to go out with a bang, and this team is not giving him that.

Smith has said in the past, without being asked about it, that he prefers "calm", and that he loves playing with a qb with Joe's demeanor. He referenced a play in his first game here, where he dropped a pass, and came back to the huddle expecting to get chewed out, and Flacco simply called the next play. He also mentioned a time in his first training camp where he was yelling at Joe for not getting the ball, and Flacco simply responded, "get your depth." He raved about Flacco's leadership style and calm confidence, and again, he wasn't asked about it. He completely brought that up on his own.

Sometimes an emotional outburst is just that - an emotional outburst. It doesn't mean Steve Smith has any issues with Flacco.

[TheRavengers]

Also, if all the coordinators are upset about the "game plan" on Monday night, then do something about it. Change it up, do something different, adapt to the opponent's abilities, basically stop with the same predictable offensive schemes that we've seen for the majority of this season.

[robbie29]

If SSS is right, and if Flacco is missing passes, checking down too early, too lackadaisical, then what do we do? Flacco's not going anywhere. How do we get him to produce?

Monday night, when Brady chewed out Edelman, I wondered what Flacco would have done in the same situation with Pitta. They would have gone over to the sideline and laughed about it.

I feel bad for Smith. He wants to go out with a bang, and this team is not giving him that.

Well said. I couldn't agree more. If the post-2012 Flacco is what we can expect for the next 5 years then there won't be much joy in Baltimore, especially after Suggs and Yanda retire. You look at Brady's emotion & passion Monday night, then look across the field at Flacco- you can see why Ray Lewis questions Joe's passion.

My heart really goes out to SSS. Especially if this ends up being his last season, he deserves more than what Flacco and this offense are doing. Not saying SSS hasn't dropped a few passes, but there's no question about HIS passion for the game and leadership.

[Wildwest Raven]

We're expected to beat Filly, but I'm not sure what team will show up. Will it be : 1) score 10 or so in the first half and hold on
2) fall behind and catch up in second half
3) the lights out team that beat Miami or
4) Monday nights team
Preaching the run then, passing, passing, passing...it's so inconsistent, and totally frustrating. I thought for sure we'd see the team that beat Miami, all season long. So here's to holding my breath at kickoff.

[eze17]

Glad the Ravens are getting "feisty"...Despite all the different scenario's, it's basically win the next three or go home. Don't depend on anyone else - Do your job and you'll reap the benefits. And we're not going to get anywhere without some fire in the player's eyes. It's seemed like the Ravens have been playing pretty lackadaisial all season...Now we'll see if they can actually turn it up a notch with their backs to the wall.
 

[respecttheRaven]

My heart went out to Joe last game when....how many balls were dropped that were right into their hands??!! I saw at least 4!!!! C'mon man........You can't put it ALL on his back. The offense has to work like a well oiled machine, their just low on oil. How many games this year has the O-line been whole,.... healthy? 3,4 games? I understand that some people need to blame "someone" but it all can't be on him. That's all you see around here anymore. Oh, and most of those balls that were dropped were for pretty good yardage.......and the penalties!!!! How many plays were brought back??!! I am not saying anyone is perfect....just saying it is a team effort...all the way around!!!!    

[whobilly]

We've been working on "fixing things" since September. When will they actually get fixed?

[gooftroop]

  1 hour ago, Bat-mite said:

If SSS is right, and if Flacco is missing passes, checking down too early, too lackadaisical, then what do we do? Flacco's not going anywhere. How do we get him to produce?

Monday night, when Brady chewed out Edelman, I wondered what Flacco would have done in the same situation with Pitta. They would have gone over to the sideline and laughed about it.

I feel bad for Smith. He wants to go out with a bang, and this team is not giving him that.

Smith has said in the past, without being asked about it, that he prefers "calm", and that he loves playing with a qb with Joe's demeanor. He referenced a play in his first game here, where he dropped a pass, and came back to the huddle expecting to get chewed out, and Flacco simply called the next play. He also mentioned a time in his first training camp where he was yelling at Joe for not getting the ball, and Flacco simply responded, "get your depth." He raved about Flacco's leadership style and calm confidence, and again, he wasn't asked about it. He completely brought that up on his own.

Sometimes an emotional outburst is just that - an emotional outburst. It doesn't mean Steve Smith has any issues with Flacco.

Agreed.

[fusuymada]

We've been working on "fixing things" since September. When will they actually get fixed?

We've been working on penalties since we were complaining about Michael Oher getting 4 a game 8 years ago. Seems the problem stems from exactly where the coach has repeatedly said it stems from, coaching. Discipline is solely the responsibility of the head coach and for 8 years he hasn't figured out how to teach his offensive lineman how to not commit a false start. 8 freaking years.

I was a little hard on Joe after the Patriots game but after re-watching the first half I have to agree with respecttheraven, our receivers dropped more passes than they caught. Wallace cost an interception and just straight out dropped a TD. Perriman was caught in la la land out on the edge when a ball smacked him in the chest when he wasnt looking. How can you blame Joe? Between penalties and receivers who have grease on their hands, as much as we get frustrated with Joe as the game winds down, had those who needed to take care of their own business earlier in the game had done so, it wouldn't have ended up that Flacco had to hurry us down the field.

Let's hope they get it together before these last three games however, I am not holding out much hope but the silver lining is we had a great draft, if we can follow that up with another one, lock up B Williams and a few others and we will do far better next season.

[OriolesMagicPlease]

29 minutes ago, respecttheRaven said:

My heart went out to Joe last game when....how many balls were dropped that were right into their hands??!! I saw at least 4!!!! C'mon man........You can't put it ALL on his back. The offense has to work like a well oiled machine, their just low on oil. How many games this year has the O-line been whole,.... healthy? 3,4 games? I understand that some people need to blame "someone" but it all can't be on him. That's all you see around here anymore. Oh, and most of those balls that were dropped were for pretty good yardage.......and the penalties!!!! How many plays were brought back??!! I am not saying anyone is perfect....just saying it is a team effort...all the way around!!!!    

The hate really amazes me. Joe has messed up plenty and most certainly deserves criticism. He does need to do better, no doubt about that. The money he is paid is thrown around constantly, but it is often forgotten that is what quarterbacks cost. They make more than the other positions on the field. I believe a lot of the vicious hate is rooted in jealousy of his wealth and success.

[robbie29]

  1 hour ago, respecttheRaven said:

My heart went out to Joe last game when....how many balls were dropped that were right into their hands??!! I saw at least 4!!!! C'mon man........You can't put it ALL on his back. The offense has to work like a well oiled machine, their just low on oil. How many games this year has the O-line been whole,.... healthy? 3,4 games? I understand that some people need to blame "someone" but it all can't be on him. That's all you see around here anymore. Oh, and most of those balls that were dropped were for pretty good yardage.......and the penalties!!!! How many plays were brought back??!! I am not saying anyone is perfect....just saying it is a team effort...all the way around!!!!    

The hate really amazes me. Joe has messed up plenty and most certainly deserves criticism. He does need to do better, no doubt about that. The money he is paid is thrown around constantly, but it is often forgotten that is what quarterbacks cost. They make more than the other positions on the field. I believe a lot of the vicious hate is rooted in jealousy of his wealth and success.

"it is often forgotten that is what quarterbacks cost"

No- $120 million is what TOP TIER Quarterbacks cost. Joe is currently bottom tier (lower than 25th), and has been 3 of the 4 years since his postseason run. That is where a lot of the frustration comes from.

[Raven1995]

  34 minutes ago, whobilly said:

We've been working on "fixing things" since September. When will they actually get fixed?

We've been working on penalties since we were complaining about Michael Oher getting 4 a game 8 years ago. Seems the problem stems from exactly where the coach has repeatedly said it stems from, coaching. Discipline is solely the responsibility of the head coach and for 8 years he hasn't figured out how to teach his offensive lineman how to not commit a false start. 8 freaking years.

I was a little hard on Joe after the Patriots game but after re-watching the first half I have to agree with respecttheraven, our receivers dropped more passes than they caught. Wallace cost an interception and just straight out dropped a TD. Perriman was caught in la la land out on the edge when a ball smacked him in the chest when he wasnt looking. How can you blame Joe? Between penalties and receivers who have grease on their hands, as much as we get frustrated with Joe as the game winds down, had those who needed to take care of their own business earlier in the game had done so, it wouldn't have ended up that Flacco had to hurry us down the field.

Let's hope they get it together before these last three games however, I am not holding out much hope but the silver lining is we had a great draft, if we can follow that up with another one, lock up B Williams and a few others and we will do far better next season.

Perriman its either Feast or Famine. Brandon Williams should be Franchised at least. Draft and free agency we need 3 DB"s , 3 offensive lineman, and another pass rusher. Might be losing Wagner. I can't figure out the false starts on Offense, but the penalties on special teams are worse. They put the offense up against the Goal line. Well at least Hester is gone.

[OriolesMagicPlease]

1 minute ago, robbie29 said:

"it is often forgotten that is what quarterbacks cost"

No- $120 million is what TOP TIER Quarterbacks cost. Joe is currently bottom tier (lower than 25th), and has been 3 of the 4 years since his postseason run. That is where a lot of the frustration comes from.

There are other factors other than Joe's play contributing to those numbers this year. I understand the frustration, I really do. What I don't understand is the hatred that moves from Joe as a player to Joe as a person.

[Minionhunter]

  1 hour ago, whobilly said:

We've been working on "fixing things" since September. When will they actually get fixed?

We've been working on penalties since we were complaining about Michael Oher getting 4 a game 8 years ago. Seems the problem stems from exactly where the coach has repeatedly said it stems from, coaching. Discipline is solely the responsibility of the head coach and for 8 years he hasn't figured out how to teach his offensive lineman how to not commit a false start. 8 freaking years.

I was a little hard on Joe after the Patriots game but after re-watching the first half I have to agree with respecttheraven, our receivers dropped more passes than they caught. Wallace cost an interception and just straight out dropped a TD. Perriman was caught in la la land out on the edge when a ball smacked him in the chest when he wasnt looking. How can you blame Joe? Between penalties and receivers who have grease on their hands, as much as we get frustrated with Joe as the game winds down, had those who needed to take care of their own business earlier in the game had done so, it wouldn't have ended up that Flacco had to hurry us down the field.

Let's hope they get it together before these last three games however, I am not holding out much hope but the silver lining is we had a great draft, if we can follow that up with another one, lock up B Williams and a few others and we will do far better next season.

Even Steve Smith was off, Joe even called him out on the field on the first play. I think everyone was a little too amped or something. But that game was a lot closer than everyone thought and the lazy line that the Pats rolled us if not for ST gaffs on their part is just plain wrong, if you say that, then you have to say that all our ST trouble (except the blocked kick) was just a fluke too and you come down to like a 10 to 6 game in the Patriots favor IF you go by throwoing out the fluke stuff. Refs were approximately equally bad at calls/no calls during the game. So it was a close game and the Pats were the more desperate team that night. They threw everything and the kitchen sink at us and they needed to. They unleashed everything in the toolbox and they needed everything.

I'm with Suggs, they better pray they don't see us again.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

"I did it because I wanted to..." Awesome. I am sure the rest of the team and the coaching staff appreciated that. And although he doesn't HAVE to answer the question honestly or at all, he could end all the speculation if he just answered it like an adult instead of a spoiled child. I would also like to hear John Harbaugh's thoughts on this and what exactly he did afterward. What head coach lets any player just walk off of practice like that unless that player is hurt? That is inmates running the asylum so to speak and that's exactly what got Billick fired.

I also don't like Suggs' suggestion that people are making a mountain out of a molehill. It isn't every day that one of your star players goes off on a tirade, tossing their helmet twice, kicking a football off the field, and then storming off and removing themselves from practice. That's kind of a story and I'd like to know whether it was Smith upset at himself for not being able to run like he once did, which I would totally buy and get if he said that, or if he was ticked off with Joe because he didn't seem to be as serious and as focused as Smith himself is and whether that was a perception or reality due to Joe's catatonic facial expressions.

One way to stop rumors and speculation about a story is to get out in front of it. Now you got to deal with it being what it is.