PRO FOOTBALL

Safety Richie Grant

■ On the practice: “We had a couple of picks today. Really good, we’ve been banging against each other all camp, and we get to size ourselves up in practice against another team; that’s always good. You can do certain calls, get different looks, different receivers running routes against you and stuff like that. It was really good.”

■ On facing QB Joe Flacco: “He knows how to spin it. He can throw it from that opposite hash and throw the out. He knows how to spin it. They were giving us just different route trees than what we are used to going against our offense. Flacco was out there making good decisions spinning the ball, for sure.”

■ On how the defense is coming together: “We are building every day. Every day we are meshing. Seeing what works and what doesn’t work. Then we are improving every day. Just moving forward.”

■ On what to expect in the game: “(A lot of) effort. Just go out there and give it our all. Just have fun doing it.”

■ On how he’s doing: “I’m feeling good. I’m settling in. I think we have a really good group as a defense. I think we all pretty much just want to get better every day. You can’t ask for (anything more) from a group than that. We just want to get better every day. Trying to come together. We are hanging out more. Just becoming brothers.”

■

On any nickel back advice for Dee Alford:

“Dee Alford is playing absolutely great right now. I mean this man is everywhere. He’s a ball hawk. That’s what you want in a DB. He will also come up; size doesn’t matter. He comes up and he’s in the run fits. Pretty much with him, one step at a time, one day at a time like he’s been doing. I told him don’t worry about (anything), you’ve been on the right track. Whatever he’s been doing, keep doing it.”

Guard Chris Lindstrom ■ On the practices: “Really productive to come out here and get some work. It was different looks that you haven’t seen. You get more reps of different combinations in highly competitive, high-leverage situations.”

■ On the line coming together: “It’s getting there. We are just gearing up for the season. Just as many reps that you can bank. We are just getting a feel for each other.”

■ On the rushing attack:

“It’s Year 2 in the system, the second year of feeling what the coaches want from us and knowing that now as players. We have all of those reps banked. Now we’re able to hit the ground running this year.”

■ On pass protection:

“That’s always a priority for us. We always want to keep (quarterback) Marcus (Mariota) safe and really everybody at quarterback. Our job is to finish in the pocket and keep those guys upright so that they can make their plays.”

Tight end Kyle Pitts

■ On what the first-team offense needs to improve on vs. the Jets: “Just less mental mistakes. I felt like we had too many in the first drive we had last week. We are just trying to (eliminate) those.”

■ On how long he wants to play in the game: “However long I’m in, I’m going to compete to the highest level.”

■ On getting open vs. the Jets: “I just had a go. It was my time to win one-onone. The ball came my way but, unfortunately, it was incomplete. It’s OK, we’ll get it back.”

■ On the 14-6 score with 45 seconds left and no-timeout situation:

“It was good situational football. Having us think differently and knowing that there were no timeouts and that we needed to score. ”

■ On his second year in the league: “I would say mentally, I’ve grown. Before the ball has snapped. Still, I’m trying to get faster at it and seeing the ball, postsnap and pre-snap.”

■ On the offense’s identity: “I feel like the identity of our offense is still growing. We’re going to add another step to it this coming Monday. We just have to keep stacking weeks.”

Offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford

■ On the practices: “I love these joint practices. It’s great work. It’s always a good way to break up camp and go against another team. It’s very competitive.”

■ On the Jets’ 4-3 front:

“You’re seeing a little bit of a different team as far as what they do defensively. It’s always good work. The guys do a great job of working together. I think things like this kind of help you grow. I know it helps our unit grow. We get to see some things that we might encounter in the game or in the season. It’s been great work.”

■ On blocking a 4-3 vs. 3-4 front: “Different type of combos that we’ll work. Get that work for a couple of good days before we get into our next (exhibition) season game. Obviously, we’ll see it during the season as well.”

■ On open competition at right tackle: “It’s going great. I think Kaleb (Mcgary) is playing awesome. I’ve seen him play; you see a lot of energy from Kaleb this year. You see him playing extremely well with his pad level. I think you see his movement. He’s moving extremely well this year. The same thing with Germain Ifedi. He’s playing extremely well. ”

■ On the rushing attack:

“Year 2, guys understand the system more. We added some pieces, and you see those guys really competing. Just them knowing what we are wanting from them more and more. It’s been really fun this year.”