OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It was a Ravens season that took a steep decline in early December and never recovered.
"For whatever reason we just didn’t come up with a play that we needed to get a win down the stretch and all we really needed was one, I guess two down the stretch and that would have gotten it done for us," said John Harbaugh.
The Ravens head coach held his end-of-season press conference Monday. He spoke publicly for the first time since his team closed its season with six consecutive losses and fell short of a playoff spot in the process. An 8-9 record was not good enough.
Major injuries to key players were a factor all season from training camp to the finale. Harbaugh's team put 25 players on injured reserve.
"This year we just got smashed with them," he said. "You can say it’s bad luck. You can say it’s fluke and I get that. But, I don’t feel like we have the luxury to live there."
Harbaugh added that he met with his performance staff for four hours a couple weeks ago to figure out how to cut down on the injuries.
"We’re going to look at everything. We’re going to change a lot," he said.
The biggest in-season injury was suffered by quarterback Lamar Jackson. A bone bruise in his right ankle caused him to miss the final four games of the season.
"It just didn’t heal very quickly. It was painful. You could see it," said Harbaugh. "He stayed in the boot longer than we thought. He was still limping even at the end of the season."
Harbaugh said Lamar will begin getting back to work the day after the Super Bowl.
"I can’t even emphasize enough how determined he is to improve and to get our offense where it needs to be."
As it stands that offense will again be run next season by Greg Roman. Harbaugh said he expects Roman to return as offensive coordinator but admits nothing is a lock.
On the other side of the ball University of Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was hired as the Ravens’ new D.C. Macdonald coached seven seasons on Harbaugh’s staff before spending last year with the Wolverines. Don ‘Wink’ Martindale was let go.
"Sometimes it is just time. I feel like we both felt that way," said Harbaugh.
Regarding the defense and the hiring of Macdonald, Harbaugh added: "It’s not something that you want to start over on. It’s something you want to build on."
We will hear from Macdonald this week. He is scheduled to hold his introductory press conference on Wednesday.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
