(on his feelings for this game)

“No, I was ready to play ball once I was out there. Now it’s on the ending. Going to watch a few highlights, eat a little apple pie, move on.”

(on emotions even at the coin flip)

“No, I don’t think so. That’s kind of what I came here to do is be all business. Once we go between those lines that friendship…they were going to help me up, and I wasn’t expecting I was going to put my hand up to be helped up.”

(on the deflected TD pass)

“On the route, they were playing me in and out. They had  [Charles] Godfrey was inside, and Melvin White was outside, and I was in tight. So when I ran my out route, they played me in and out, and Melvin was trying to bait Joe; Joe saw that so he moved on. But from my vantage point, it looked like he was starting to scramble, and so when he started to scramble, on my side of the field, just kind of like Cincinnati, you take off running. So I took off running, and then the flight of the ball, the nose was up, so that means it’s going to continue to go. Then all of a sudden I saw [Owen Daniels], but I was still already on my horse running, and [Owen Daniels] tipped it, and I was still running, so I caught it. When it tipped, I ran forward. Somebody’s going to have get it, I guess. So I happened to be there.”

(on his emotions, if he got vindication)

“Not really.You go out there and you play, you start to lose and forget who your opponent is. You just start to go and understand that there’s DB and a safety, and guys are trying to hit you. Those jerseys, you focus less on the jersey; you start focusing on the scheme. And that’s what I did. I didn’t really say too much to guys, except some guys I didn’t get a chance to see and earlier said hello to. Other than that, I was just playing. My whole goal, I know so many people were saying this over and over, I get ejected, I fight, I talk mess. What I went in there and did is, I just went in there and played and not have anything good, bad or indifferent to say. I just played, and at the end of the day, honestly, they didn’t deserve anything I had to say that would be derogatory, and I had no need to. They didn’t even deserve for me to spin the ball on them. I just caught it, and put it down and got on about my business. It was all business, and that’s what it’s always going to be.”

(on his looking for Carolina WR coach Ricky Proehl afterwards)

“It’s probably a shocker but me and sleep are pretty good. Me and sleep go together pretty good. I didn’t sleep very good, so I was up watching UNC Chapel Hill ; I was watching the Tar Heels get ran through, and Ricky Proehl’s son, Austin, was playing. When Ricky came to Carolina, Austin was nine years old. I watched that young man, now he’s a freshman in college playing. Ricky’s had a very huge significant part in my life as a man and also as a football player. So it was great to just see him, and I’ll embrace him because, and I told him that everything I am as a football player and as a man, he had a part into it. Ricky did a lot. He taught me a lot. Honestly, he taught me more than any receiver that I played with. Ricy Proehl  has always been there. It was no competition; he was always giving information. I miss that guy. I have a new guy [Ravens WR coach] Bobby [Engram], but I’ve known Ricky. Ricky coached me and played, and that’s a bond that can’t be changed, and the jersey is never going to change that.”

(on if this might be the only time they play Carolina)

“I’m not in charge of that. That’s the NFL. Maybe kind of like the Peyton [Manning] and Tom [Brady], maybe they’ll have me come to Bank of America Stadium. Who knows?”

(on if he talked with Carolina coach Ron Rivera and/or GM Dave Gettleman afterwards)

“That’s a non-question. I’m not going to answer that one.”

(on what’s different about being with the Ravens)

“Yes, [the Ravens] have two [Super Bowls], Carolina has zero. I know I went to public school, but two plus zero, I’ll take that. They understand. They know, and they have the recipe. It says a lot without even saying anything, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here.”

(on his performance fits with his definition of Blood and Guts)

“Blood and guts, honestly, at the end of the day is about your heart and soul and putting it out there. Guys got hurt. [Carolina RB] DeAngelo [Williams] got hurt. You’re putting it out there. You see those linemen’s jerseys, their pants. There’s blood out there. It’s going to be out there. Blood and guts just means I’m going to go hard, and I’m going to play my butt off. They knew that, and they understood that. They game-planned for me.”

(on his meeting with owner Jerry Richardson)

“The moment with Jerry is the same moment I had when, after my meeting with [GM Dave] Gettleman. I met with Gettleman whatever day I met, and the following two days later, I scheduled a meeting inside his home and thanked him for the opportunity. That meeting with Mr. Richardson is the same meeting I always had. Nothing but respect and honor, and it will always be that way.”

(on emotions playing against certain Panthers)

“There’s some guys I talked to that I caught myself getting choked up that I had to leave. I played with Thomas [Davis] for 10 years. Now he’s on the other side. Jonathan Stewart, we talk repeatedly, text each other. So it was a lot.”

(on his not being as angry as some Ravens folks thought he might be)

“Honestly, you guys see us for 45 minutes or 10 minutes out of the day for two times a week, and you guys watch us play ball, and you guys write your articles – and you think you know us. We’re a little bit broader than you guys give us credit for. And so a lot of people thought I was going to be a certain way, and I knew how I was going to be. You guys are shocked, and [it’s the] same reason now all of a sudden you all are saying I’m playing so well. How is that? What is your diet? You just play ball and you take care of yourself and do the right things and you try to live right. Every so often, you get caught on camera saying something that you’ve got to explain to your kids – why Daddy shouldn’t say it – but it happens.”

(on where the second TD ball will go)

“That second touchdown ball will probably go in Junior’s room. It’s pretty special that it’s [about] Steve Smith Sr. That means a lot to me. So that’s where it will go.”

(on if he made good on his promise from Week 1 saying he can still play and wait for Week 4)

“That film was a coaching session. They’re going to be coaching. I’m 35 years old, and I ran around them boys like they were school-yard kids.”

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