Vic Fangio

Q. How will you replace DE Brandon Graham? (Jeff McLane)

VIC FANGIO: Just by committee. Really that’s what’s going to happen. It’s going to be a lot of guys picking up his load that he’s been playing. It won’t be one guy.

Q. This may sound weird, but because DE Brandon Graham lines up at various places, does it make it easier because you can use D-tackles, et cetera, to fill in for him? (Jeff McLane)

VIC FANGIO: No, it doesn’t. Yeah, he has lined up a bunch of spots for us; done a good job. You know, [we would] preferably replace him with another outside edge player to do the same job.

Q. What do you know about DE Charles Harris? (Dave Zangaro)

VIC FANGIO: Not a lot. Not a lot. Hoping to find out here soon.

Q. Had a chance to watch DE Charles Harris at all? (Dave Zangaro)

VIC FANGIO: No.

Q. What is your process when you bring in a player to catch them up as quickly as you can? (Dave Zangaro)

VIC FANGIO: Well, you’ve got to cram like some of us used to do for exams. You’ve got to put in a lot of extra time and get them on the practice field and get them rolling and see how quickly he picks things up.

Q. What’s DE Tarron Jackson shown you in the time you’ve had with him? (Reuben Frank)

VIC FANGIO: He was basically the same guy that left here when he came back. He’s a possibility too for sure.

Q. What’s your level have concern overall having lost DE Brandon Graham? (Tim McManus)

VIC FANGIO: It’s part of the game, but I hate losing him for a lot of reasons. One, it might be his last year. Two, his leadership. Most importantly, he was playing really good, and guys playing really good are hard to replace.

Q. Does DT Milton Williams have that skillset to go outside? (Ed Kracz)

VIC FANGIO: He could. Not a steady diet though.

Q. You think DE Brandon Graham has another year? (Brooks Kubena)

VIC FANGIO: I do. He can’t retire on an incomplete year.

Q. Have you told him that? (Brooks Kubena)

VIC FANGIO: Not yet, but I will.

Q. How has Ravens QB Lamar Jackson evolved throughout his career? (Jason Dumas)

VIC FANGIO: Just getting better and better at everything that he was already really good at. Without giving a long dissertation about him, I just think he’s a very special player.

Q. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has had great success against your defenses in particular. I think his numbers are off the charts. (Bob Brookover)

VIC FANGIO: Thanks for reminding me.

Q. Well, do you have, for lack of a better term, nightmares about him? (Bob Brookover)

VIC FANGIO: Their whole offense is dynamite. They run it great. They throw it great. They’ve got good receivers. They’ve got the best group of receivers there that they’ve had in a really long time. Two really good tight ends. Their line is blocking good.

It’s no accident they have the No. 1 offense in the league.

Q. When you look at Ravens Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken, what does he do that can be frustrating for the defensive coordinators and makes him unique? (Chris Franklin)

VIC FANGIO: Well, he’s got a lot of talent, and they run it effectively. They play pass it effectively. They drop back effectively. You’ve got the Lamar Jackson gun-run game to defend. Obviously, [Ravens RB Derrick] Henry.

They’ve got a lot of weapons and a lot of ways they can hurt you.

Q. With Ravens RB Derrick Henry, what has he done to complement Ravens QB Lamar Jackson? A lot of people looked at that before the season. He didn’t seem like that gun-type runner. Why do you think it’s worked so well? (John McMullen)

VIC FANGIO: They don’t get in the gun all the time when Henry is in there. They’re under center probably more than they were last year. But Henry has done well out of the gun, too, running the ball.

Everybody thought he was descending; they were wrong.

Q. You’ve seen LB Zack Baun play versatile roles for you in this defense. Does DE Brandon Graham’s injury change anything with the way you would use Baun? (Zach Berman)

VIC FANGIO: Not really. I don’t want to weaken another position. If you can not make too many changes for one guy missing, that’s better.

Q. Are you comfortable with OLB Josh Sweat seeing an expanded workload or do you worry it can be too heavy? (Jeff Neiburg)

VIC FANGIO: No, I see his workload pretty much staying the same as it’s been.

Q. With OLB Jalyx Hunt, his workload is going to have to increase. Do you think he’s ready for that? (John McMullen)

VIC FANGIO: We’ll find out.

Q. What have you seen from him behind the scenes though, OLB Jalyx Hunt? (Dave Zangaro)

VIC FANGIO: He’s been getting better. He hurt his ankle two weeks ago against Washington. He wasn’t fully healthy last week. He was healthy enough to play, but hopefully he will be better this week because we’ll need him to step up.

Q. Having played a Ravens QB Lamar Jackson offense before, is there anything you can learn from that? (Ed Kracz)

VIC FANGIO: They’re just really good. He’s really good. They have a more complete offense now than they’ve ever had and they’ve always been good on offense since he’s been there.

They’re really good and really versatile. They’re multiple. Their run game is multiple. The play-action game off the run game is really good.

They’re good.

Q. Do you look forward to these matchups where you’re facing the best? I’m sure you’d rather face the worst offense, but how much do you look forward to this matchup and seeing what your guys can do? (Reuben Frank)

VIC FANGIO: Yeah, I’d rather play Swarthmore [College]. I mean, you look forward to it. Yeah, you look forward to it. It’s a test, a challenge. You get all that.

Q. Rushing numbers are up across the league. Any theories on why that is? (Tim McManus)

VIC FANGIO: I think I told you guys once- maybe I didn’t- that my first three years in the NFL ’86, ’87, ’88, compared to last three years in the NFL, ’21, ’22, and ’23, passing has gone up 4.5%.

The run game has always been there. Teams are running it better. Teams are finding out the value in running the ball to winning. So, the run game hasn’t ever disappeared really. The fullback disappeared. Ironically, Baltimore has a fullback, so we will see some two-back runs this week.

I don’t think the run game has ever gone away. There are more teams majoring in it now.

Q. Is it because there are more two high safety shells? (Jeff McLane)

VIC FANGIO: I think that’s part of it. That’s probably a little part of it.

Q. Do you think you played a role in that? (Jeff McLane)

VIC FANGIO: I don’t know.

Q. The comment you made last year about Lamar Jackson was that the definition of a good quarterback is there is no one way to defend him. Are there teams who try different things? What’s the process like in seeing the way different teams- (Zach Berman)

VIC FANGIO: You watch it. Nobody has been really, really successful doing it one way. With quarterbacks like this, like I said — and I’ve said that many times, what you said I said.

That’s the definition of good quarterbacks. There is no one way to play them.

Q. Why S Tristin McCollum over S Sydney Brown when you needed a safety? (Jeff McLane)

VIC FANGIO: Tristin has had the most reps going all the way back to training camp. I believe he’s more ready to play.

Q. Does QB Jalen Hurts fall into that category of no one real way to defend the quarterback, like Ravens QB Lamar Jackson? (Ed Kracz)

VIC FANGIO: Yeah, I think he does.

Q. How confident are you in CB Isaiah Rodgers if he has to go in instead of CB Darius Slay? (Bob Brookover)

VIC FANGIO: Good. Yeah, he’s done well when he’s been in there this year. I would expect that to continue.

Q. What is it about him over CB Kelee Ringo, do you think? (Ed Kracz)

VIC FANGIO: They’re close. I think Isaiah from day one of OTAs through training camp has covered a little bit better. But they’re close.

Q. When you see QB Jalen Hurts and RB Saquon Barkley in the backfield, you have to account for both of them. Do you see similarities there between Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and RB Derrick Henry, how tough they are to play? (Martin Frank)

VIC FANGIO: Absolutely.

Q. How are they so tough together? (Martin Frank)

VIC FANGIO: Because you can hand it off to a great running back or keep it yourself and get on the edge or run some powers, too.

Any time the quarterback can run design runs it adds another level to an offense.

Q. You’ve spoken about OLB Nolan Smith in this setting a few times. Is this the role you expected for him this year, and has he exceeded expectations? How would you characterize that? (Zach Berman)

VIC FANGIO: I didn’t know what my expectations were because he really didn’t play a lot last year, but I do think he’s played well. Credit to him that he’s kept improving, too.

Q. Can OLB Nolan Smith play more snaps? (Reuben Frank)

VIC FANGIO: Yeah, probably a little bit more for sure.

Q. Will DT Jordan Davis be getting more snaps if you move DT Milton Williams to the outside? (Jeff Kerr)

VIC FANGIO: Possibility, yeah. He can organically get more snaps this week just because there is probably a better chance we’ll be playing some base defense this week.

Q. Could OLB Nolan Smith work inside like DE Brandon Graham? (Brooks Kubena)

VIC FANGIO: Probably not. On a rare occasion.

Q. DT Jalen Carter was double teamed a bunch the other day. How do you feel like others maybe benefited, especially DT Milton Williams, from the fact he was drawing so much attention? (Olivia Reiner)

VIC FANGIO: Yeah. You just answered your question. Milt was a benefit of that. And the sack that [LB] Nakobe [Dean] got at the end of the half, they slid it to Jalen [Carter] and he got the backs blocked.