Ray Rice -- News Conference was Horrendous Mistake ... Blames Ravens

Ray Rice says the disastrous news conference he and Janay held together in May was a "horrendous mistake" ... but he's pointing the finger at the Baltimore Ravens.

Ray broke his silence with Matt Lauer during a stand-up interview in his kitchen for the "Today" show ... and said of the P.R. debacle, "I made a tremendous mistake not apologizing to my wife."

Ray and Janay also took heat over the May 23rd event because Janay APOLOGIZED for her role in the elevator incident.

"When we was going in, we were given what to speak about. It wasn't truly coming from us," Ray says.

So, who told them what to say? Janay claims the Ravens "gave us a general script" going in to the news conference that day ... and Ray and Janay did what they were told thinking the team would have their back.

During the interview, Ray also told Matt he had never laid a finger on Janay before the elevator attack.