Ravens Coach Sees Hard Knocks as 'Major Distraction'

The Baltimore Ravens will be in front of the cameras from here on out.

Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken on the field before the game against the Washington Commanders at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

There's enough media attention on NFL teams on a daily basis as it is, so the Baltimore Ravens may not be too pleased to have even more of a spotlight on them.

From here on out, the Ravens and their AFC North rivals will have cameras following them everywhere as the focus of HBO's hit series Hard Knocks, of which the first episode released Tuesday night. This marks the first time the show has focused on an entire division rather than one team, so they're all trying to navigate the situation together.

Still, it's clear that some members of each team are not a fan of the extra attention. On Tuesday, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken aired out his grievances with appearing on Hard Knocks.

"I think it's a major distraction, so I don't deal with it," Monken said. "I know that's not what they want to hear, but it's hard enough to focus and get ready and then worry about ... I just have to worry about [meeting with the media] once a week. I don't want to worry about it every day of what I say, how I say it, how it's perceived, whatever it is. It's hard enough to win in the NFL then to stay focused.

Monken, now in his second season with the Ravens, is far from the only NFL figure with disdain for the show. It got to a point where the NFL introduced a rule that allowed it to force certain teams to participate if none volunteered.

Additionally, Monken has experience with this kind of show before. When he was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State in 2011, his team appeared on a similar show known as "Depth Chart." Monken was a prominent figure throughout the series, gaining a notoriety for his colorful vocabulary.

Now 13 years later, Monken appears on the granddaddy of sports documentary sereies, and his main goal is just to keep his head down and go about his business.

"What we have to do this week as a coaching staff [is] let our guys get rest, get ready to go for this four-game stretch, analyze who we are, where we want to continue to go, how we've got to continue to get better, [and] who we're playing going to be playing to give us the best chance to win every week," Monken said.

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