It has been a tough run of injuries for the Baltimore Ravens as they prepare for a Week 5 contest against the Texans. And Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken directly responded to John Harbaugh’s criticism of the offense, according to a post on X by Jamison Hensley.
“There’s nothing that John said that we didn’t already talk about,” Monken said. “Not one thing. There was nothing about that … I hadn’t already heard.
“One thing I’ve done throughout my career is that you gotta look at what you do. How do we scheme it [and] how do we coach it? How do we execute it [and] how was our plan? And when it’s below the line, you gotta own it and fix it. The expectation here is to be elite. We’ve been elite. And we’ll continue to be elite.”
Ravens’ offense trying to recharge its batteries
However, Harbaugh said the offense needs work, criticizing a decision by Monken on the second possession against the Chiefs that ended in an interception, according to baltimoreravens.com.
“It wasn't a good play call,” Harbaugh said. “It wasn't a play where we put our guys in the right position in that situation. I'm not happy with it at all, none of us are. We had downfield routes with no checkdowns. That kills your drive. I don't like that play call at all, or the result of it.”
He also said the Ravens didn’t have a good plan for a fourth-and-one situation.
“You go for it and you don't have a good plan,” Harbaugh said. “You just don't. We didn't do a good job at all. We all know it. (And) we all agree with it. We came up short. We didn't put our players in the position we needed to put them in to execute and convert on third-and-short and fourth-and-short. That was bad ball, and it can be fixed, and we have to fix it moving forward.”
It’s kind of humorous when you think about it. The Ravens scored 40 points in one game and 30 in another. And yet Harbaugh gave his defense a pass while criticizing the offense.
“I have confidence in all our guys, including [Defensive Coordinator] Zach [Orr] and our players, our coaches,” Harbaugh said. “I watch our guys every day. [And] I watch how they work. I watch how well they coach. I'm in meetings, I watch the meetings. (And) I know our schemes that we're running. I know the soundness of what we're doing. I understand what we're up against from week to week and play to play.”
