Player reps: We're all in this together

June 9, 2010 3:12 PM by Dan Kolko View Comments

I passed along head coach John Harbaugh's thoughts on the Ravens needing to forfeit their final week of OTAs because of a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement's offseason workout rules.

Below are the thoughts of Derrick Mason, Chris Carr and Todd Heap, the team's player representatives to the union, as well as Domonique Foxworth, who is an executive committee member for the NFLPA.

Mason

On what happened with the complaint that was filed:
"Guys voice their opinions, and what we're trying to do in this locker room is protect the guys. That's it. We're not trying to be whistleblowers here, or whatever you want to call us. We're trying to protect the locker room, and in essence, it protects the team and the coaches because you don't want guys out there any more than what they need to be, because the longer you're out there, the more you're susceptible to injury."

On if the coaches might try and make up the lost practice time come training camp:
"Well, you try to think positively. (laughter) You try to think that coach Harbaugh won't see it that way - wink, wink. (laughter) No, it's a situation where there was wrong done. Whether it be by accident or not, I think it was a legitimate mistake. And when you have a situation like that, you don't try to punish the team because there was an infraction laid down on you."

On the league's ruling that the Ravens had violated the appropriate tempo of OTAs:
"It wasn't the tempo. I mean, the tempo on the field, you can't stop guys from going a certain speed. You can't say, 'Guys, back off.' Even though coaches might say it, or other players might say it, the natural instinct is to go. And if you're not going hard, then you open yourself up to injury. So, I don't think... People are saying, 'Well, it's the tempo of the practice.' It wasn't the tempo of the practice. Unless you were here, you can't say what it was, but it was just a miscommunication about the time allotted amongst the team and amongst the guys being out there at practice or whether it's at meetings."

Carr

On his take on the incident:
"We're all in this together. It's one of those things, when you're a team, you want to care about the coaches and you want the coaches to care about you. So I think it is a great thing when you can communicate with each other and talk to each other about things and for nobody to get disappointed with things. We're each trying to get to a common goal."

Heap

On how the process works when a player has a complaint:
"The players don't have to come to us. It's a union. You're part of the union. You can communicate with whoever you want to. With this team, our process has always been open communication, so that's how we handle it. Coach [Harbaugh] has really been good with that. It's been more of a positive thing than anything."

Foxworth

On how Harbaugh has reacted to the incident:
"All of us are good, honest men around here, so when you do wrong, you take responsibility for it. That's the message that coach led to us. It's a good example to set. You correct it and you move forward."

On if the violations were an accident:
"Everybody wants to do the best they can and you feel like the more time you spend working on something, the better off you can get. But sometimes, it's better to get a little break in here and there. I think honestly, you can unintentionally overdo it."

On the communication between the players and coaches:
"I think that's the hallmark of a good team is communication. Coach has said several times that his door is always open, and I think by what's happened recently, we see that's true. I think that builds confidence in the team and the relationship with the coach."