Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh addressed the media Monday to discuss former running back Ray Rice, his contract termination, and his suspension.
Rice was released by the team Monday after video surfaced showing him throwing a jab to his wife's face in a hotel elevator, knocking her unconscious.
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Harbaugh said he saw the video for the first time Monday, and then had a meeting with team president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome.
Harbaugh said, via Pro Football Talk:
It’s something we saw for the first time today, all of us. And it changed things, of course. It made things a little bit different.
Harbaugh said the decision to release Rice came in what was a short meeting, and that he spoke with Rice after the fact.
"(Rice will) do whatever he can going forward, and we'll try to make the best of it," Harbaugh said to start his brief press conference.
"We'll always stand in support of them as a couple. That'll never change."
The 51-year-old coach maintained that he and his wife would offer support to the Rices whenever it was appropriate.
Harbaugh wasn't completely transparent, stating, "I'm not going into all of that," on numerous occasions.
Some have questioned the Ravens' culpability in trying to cover the story up, but Harbaugh maintained he'd only recently learned about the new video.
"I don't know why it's a hard thing to understand, it wasn't made available."
In spite of Baltimore's loss to Cincinnati Sunday, Harbaugh said that Rice's absence wouldn't affect the team.
"We have a football game to play Thursday night... it will not impact us in any way," he said.