John Harbaugh working through ‘challenge’ of coaching and teaching with a mask originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Ravens coach John Harbaugh has had, like everyone else, his struggles with wearing a mask. The difference is, he hasn’t been docked any pay.
Harbaugh has remained diligent in wearing a mask or gaiter along the sidelines during the Ravens’ first two games. Other coaches around the league cannot say the same.
After Week 2, the NFL fined Jon Gruden, Sean Payton, Vic Fangio, Pete Carroll and Kyle Shanahan for violating the league’s COVID-19 gameday protocols. They were each fined $100,000 and each franchise was fined $250,000.
“I understand the issues, it makes it a little more challenging to communicate,” Harbaugh said Thursday. “We just really made an emphasis on it. We do it in practice, we do it in meetings, I mean I’m in the meeting all the time and I’m talking, I’m trying not to breathe this thing in cause we talk fast, I got to hold it like this to talk during the meetings because there’s a lot of information that you’re giving your guys. It’s really hard to do it through a mask.”
Harbaugh, upon being asked about the masks, pulled up his Ravens mask and asked what reporters thought.
The Ravens haven’t had any issues with COVID-19 during the season, and neither has Harbaugh with his mask. But the fines levied against his fellow head coaches were strong enough to get the message across.
“I thought, ‘Ouch,’” Harbaugh said with a grin. “That’s what I thought.”
