Mark Andrews called the Baltimore Ravens’ 33-10 Thursday night loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars “not acceptable,” Derrick Henry said “it wasn’t good enough,” and Roquan Smith said a football player “can’t be circumstance-based.” Baltimore fell to 4-5 with its fourth straight defeat, and the players who spoke afterward put the blame on themselves rather than on the quarterbacks who were unavailable.
Undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano made his first career start with Lamar Jackson on injured reserve and Tyler Huntley also sidelined. The Ravens finished with 55 net passing yards. Kickoff for their next game, against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football, is Monday, November 16, at 8:15 p.m. ET, which is 3:15 a.m. Tuesday in Cairo.
Andrews: fans “have every right to boo”
Andrews said the short week after losing Jackson and Huntley was tough, but he credited Fagnano for “being a pro” and said teammates rallied around him. “We felt like we were ready to attack, and things didn’t go our way,” Andrews said. “We just have to be better. We are obviously kicking ourselves in the foot with the mistakes and the penalties.”
Asked about the home crowd raining down boos, Andrews did not push back. “They have every right to boo or do whatever they want to do,” he said. “Obviously, us in here, we have to stay together, be on one accord and just keep on relying on each other. You have to be there for your brother, and that’s what we’re going to do, is keep it in-house and continue to fight for one another. We’ll see how this thing shakes out, but I believe that we have a bunch of fighters [on this team].”
On Jackson’s absence, Andrews said: “Lamar [Jackson] is incredible. He is obviously going to be sorely missed. He’s such a special player and a leader on this team, and has been for a long, long time. But again, we have guys that are going to step up. We have so many great players on this team and we deserve to put out a better product because we have such talented players and coaches and guys that really want to get this thing going.”
He owned a fourth-and-one fumble as well. “It was really on me, just not taking the handoff well. It’s tough,” Andrews said. Looking ahead, he said the locker-room message is to “take these couple days, rejuvenate and be refreshed and ready to go” and “try to get this thing to 5-5.”
Henry: “I have not mentioned me going anywhere else”
Henry carried a heavy load again and finished with 17 carries for 57 yards. His frustration was clear. “It wasn’t good enough. We’ve got to be better,” he said. “[The Jaguars] were the better team. [It was the] same story.” Asked how frustrating the four-game skid feels, he said: “I mean, we lost four times. It’s frustrating. We’ve got to be better, watch the film and get better from it.”
With the trade deadline approaching Tuesday, November 10, Henry was asked whether he still plans to be with Baltimore. “I have not mentioned me going anywhere else,” he said. “I’m saying, ‘Let’s go back to work. Let’s try to get better and turn this thing around.’” On the addition of Jacoby Brissett, completed Friday, Henry said before the deal was official: “We need all hands on deck. I feel like [Jacoby Brissett] can come in and help us. We’ll be excited to have him, and we’ll see where it goes.”
He rejected any shortcut. “[We’ve got to] go back to work, go back to practice. We’ve got eight games left,” Henry said. “I don’t have the magical answer. We’ve got to go back to work.” Asked if the team can turn it around, he said: “We have to. It’s the only thing we can do – is go back to work and try to get it going.”
Roquan: “you can’t be circumstance-based”
Smith tipped his cap to Jacksonville first. “Hats off to [the Jaguars]. [They are a] really good team,” he said. Then he drew the line he keeps coming back to: “As a person, as a man and especially as a football player, you can’t be circumstance-based. So, regardless of the circumstances, you always just have to be in the response business.”
He said the effort is there but the details are not. “It’s [about] the details play-in and play-out, and you show it sometimes, but not consistently enough,” Smith said. “When they lay the ball out there, our job is to stop them from scoring and stop them from moving the ball, and obviously, it hasn’t been to that standard. So therefore, we all have to look ourselves in the mirror and get back to the details … each and every person doing their 1-of-11.”
On fans and the four-game stretch without Jackson in the lineup, Smith refused the easy out. “Circumstances are the circumstances,” he said, “but at the end of the day, I personally, and I know each and every guy in this circle, [will] never surrender. Never surrender.” He added that weak-minded people would let a skid snowball, “but I know that’s not a lot of guys in this locker room,” and that teammates will “stand ten toes down on what they believe in.”
Humphrey: “I just have to do better”
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey said the early 52-yard explosive “kills momentum” when the offense is already short-handed. “I just have to play better fundamental football,” he said. On the three-week defensive slide, he said everyone has a play they wish they could have back: “It’s a conflict of you look at the game and you’re like, ‘Man, there was 50 plays. You play good on 49, but it’s that one [where] it’s just the momentum that it killed.’” His close: “I believe in myself and my guys believe in me, so I just have to do better, really. I think it starts with me.”
The Ravens next play the Chargers on Monday, November 16, at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday Night Football, which is 3:15 a.m. Tuesday in Cairo.
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