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Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Thursday he “never had an issue” with quarterback Lamar Jackson but acknowledged he “didn’t have as good a relationship as I could’ve” and could have coached him better during a disappointing season that ended short of the playoffs.

During a nearly 45-minute appearance on the “Ryan Ripken Show,” Monken made his first public comments since the Ravens’ loss Sunday to the Pittsburgh Steelers and coach John Harbaugh’s firing two days later.

Monken indicated he would not be returning to Baltimore, saying: “At the end of the day, it was a great three-year run,” and, “I wish them nothing but the best.” (A team spokesperson said the Ravens haven’t announced further changes to the team’s coaching staff.)

Monken said he had “no idea” what happened in Harbaugh’s meeting Tuesday with owner Steve Bisciotti. But Monken pushed back on reports there was a disconnect between him and Jackson, who had an injury-plagued 2025, and that Harbaugh had lost the team.

“Lamar and I, to me, had a good relationship,” Monken said. “Could it have been better? Of course. Lamar and I never had an issue. I don’t know where that comes from. I never saw Lamar and Coach Harbaugh not have a great relationship. I never saw that. I never saw Coach Harbaugh and any of our players not have a great relationship. Never. Not one time. So any of that would be news to me.”

Monken also expressed his frustration over players criticizing the offense this season to reporters.

“I don’t know why that would happen, other than trying to exonerate themselves from owning why we’re not being successful,” he said. “And, listen, we’re in a business where we’re expected to excel every week. So there’s going to be high stress. There’s going to be frustration. There’s going to be times where they look at me and they’re like, ‘Why don’t we call this? Why don’t we run this? Why don’t we use this player more?’ That comes with the territory. I mean, no shit, you know?

“And I get it. I’m not mad at anybody. But the media acts like that’s something that’s, like, 'Ooooh, the players are frustrated with the play-calling.’ Well, no shit. My wife is. So I don’t even understand it. ... ‘This skill player wants the ball more.’ Well, no shit, you know? ‘They want to run the ball more.’ Well, no shit. OK, you’re running it more. ‘We’re too conservative.’ It’s play to play, drive to drive. It’s, ‘Hey, he’s in his bag.’ The next one, ‘He’s too trick-dicky.’ I mean, it is what it is. But they act like it’s a big deal."

The Ravens, who had the NFL’s best offense last year and one of the best in 2023, struggled with injuries and inconsistency this season. Monken said he wished that players, given the team’s track record, were more trusting of coaches’ plans.

“And that’s what I tell the guys: ‘Guys, we’ve been here two years together. We’re on our third year. Do you not believe in what we do? Do you not believe that we do some good shit around here?’” he said. “Like, that we’ve got good players, we’ve got good coaches, but it’s real easy — and we’re not the only place. We only feel it because it’s here. Every team goes through it. The Eagles are going through it. Everybody goes through it week to week, and all you can do is fight to get better and, when you screw shit up, you fight like hell to fix it. And that’s all I’ve ever done."

Here are other highlights from Monken’s interview:

On reports that Harbaugh’s message had gotten stale: “You’re going to tell me that John Harbaugh’s message after 18 years [as] a head coach, the best I’ve been around besides Kirby Smart ... all of a sudden, the message isn’t clear? He’s the best, to me, of motivating and directing and keeping a team moving in a certain direction. And I’m not saying that. He may never hire me again. He might think I’m just some clown that should be working at IHOP. I’m just saying that I think it’s an easy cop-out.

“Instead of saying, you know what, ‘I’ve got to coach better, I’ve got to frickin’ play better. That’s what I’m paid to do,’ — that’s a fact. I mean, that kind of stuff. And then it just gets out there, and anonymous stuff and whatever. I’m not anonymous. I’m telling you exactly the way I feel. And I don’t blame guys for being disappointed. I don’t blame them for whatever is on their heart. But let’s not go too far, man. We all have a job to do, they pay us a lot of money, and you’re expected to do it. And, when you don’t, then own it.”

On the Ravens’ run-heavy game plan against Pittsburgh: “We tried to play conservative to start to get it to the fourth quarter, because we’ve gone over there before and we’ve turned it over. We’ve given ourselves no frickin’ chance. So then let’s open it up a little bit, we get in the game, let’s get it to the fourth quarter, let’s try and win it down the stretch. That was the plan. Pretty much, we stuck to that. And I’m proud of that.”

On the 2023 AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs: “I wish I would’ve called it better. Wish I would’ve had a better plan. Wish I would’ve trusted the run game better. Wish I would’ve put us in a better position. ... I’ll always remember the Chiefs game, and that will be one that I’ll have to live with forever because you only get so many opportunities. And, when you feel directly a part of why we didn’t get it done, that stings. But I don’t let it haunt me. I just won’t ever forget it. And I try to feed off of that and say, ‘How do we get better and not have it happen again?’”

On the future: “I’m going to go somewhere; we’re going to be damn good on offense. ‘Harbs’ is going to go somewhere, gonna win a bunch of games. Lamar is going to come back next year and have a hell of a year. That’s what’s going to happen. And at times you fall short.”