Indiana coach Tom Crean is married to Joanie Harbaugh, sister to John Harbaugh, coach of the Ravens, and Jim Harbaugh, coach at Michigan. The Ravens running back rushed for 150 yards against the Steelers, and then 121 yards against the Cleveland Browns. But a few minutes later, Harbaugh wanted to make sure his comment wasn’t misinterpreted.
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“I cried like a baby, man”, Smith said. “You want them to be successful, but if it’s between me and them, I’m rolling with my team all day”. Ravens coach John Harbaugh confirmed Taliaferro’s absence was injury-related and a not a numbers issue. Veteran 49ers left tackle Joe Staley must have seen the television, too, and his memories of that game – a 34-31 Ravens victory to end the 2012 season – are obviously not as pleasant as Smith’s. But he said he did admire the way the 49ers have played – “I think they’re a physical, hard-playing group on both sides”, he said – early in the season. He loved the players, loved the fans and loved being a 49er.
“It’s just another game”, Boldin said Wednesday. Yeah, it’s too much to worry about and too much to prepare for. And too many things that we’re dealing with to even deal with that stuff.
“That’s very much irrelevant to what we’re trying to accomplish”.
“We’ve got to become a better football team”, Harbaugh added. After all, he does have a few other matters concerning him.
Off to the worst start in franchise history and carrying an expansive injury list, the last-place Baltimore Ravens have reached a pivotal point in a stunningly disappointing season. His little brother is doing a fine job of getting in the last word. “Especially a year ago when you have a guy like Steve [Smith Sr.] that can really beat man-to-man coverage, and …”
USD, of course, marked the first time Harbaugh produced a patsy-to-power turnaround. 13 Northwestern 38-0. But his brother said he was a bit surprised by the way the Wolverines have been winning.
Meanwhile, the 49ers (1-4) have lost as many games under Jim Tomsula as they did in Harbaugh’s first 21 games as their head coach.
During five career games against San Francisco, Smith has had subpar success, notching 35.4 yards per game and zero touchdowns.
49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, coming off his best game of the season, will be attacking a Ravens defense that’s given up the fifth-most yards through the air this season.
In other words, John Harbaugh actually might be more anxious his defense than defending his brother’s honor.
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That includes the coaching staff. Harbaugh said there won’t be any changes anytime soon. “I don’t doubt that our guys are going to play to the level of expectation that the Ravens expect”, he said. The Ravens knew Smith would be influential given that he has been friends with Wright for 14 years and they were high school teammates at Colton High School in Southern California. Once you kind of realize all that, it’s bigger than worrying about anything besides that. “That’s how he feels about it. He’s great about it. If he’s great about it, I feel great about it for him”.
