OFFENSE Joe Flacco had a rough day on Wednesday seemingly rattled by Chuck Pagano’s aggressive blitz packages. The Ravens’ QB was handicapped in part by a few things: 1) A patchwork offensive line missing starters Birk, Grubbs & Yanda; 2) A less than impressive trio of receivers running with the first team (Boldin, Justin Harper & Brandon Jones); and the fact that the offense was practicing pass plays almost exclusively and Pagano’s unit knew it. That said, Flacco still struggled during 6 on 7 drills (as opposed to the more common … Continue reading →

During practice on Wednesday (the team wore shells and shorts) it became clear that Joe Flacco is trying to perfect the back shoulder pass to well covered receivers. So far so good and that was evident later in practice and during the one-on-one drills when corners line up against wide receivers. Flacco connected with Torrey Smith on one such beauty for a score beating UDFA Talmadge Jackson…Later during the one-on-ones former Terp LaQuan Williams juked Ed Reed badly on a post corner for a score. A large portion of Wednesday’s … Continue reading →

Today by most counts 27 Ravens (in one case a Ravens wannabe) gathered at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University for informal workouts shepherded by Derrick Mason. Today was the first of three consecutive days of workouts, none of which is open to the public and only this one to the media. It’s often difficult to determine if success or failure in these workouts projects similarly to the playing field during live scrimmaging and more importantly during games. Some guys can look like future Hall of Famers without the threat … Continue reading →

The more you observe OTA’s the more you are reminded that such activities are nothing more than dress rehearsals – the sound checks for a concert called training camp. Cam Cameron put it all into perspective a couple of weeks ago when he cautioned the media, “It’s easy to get excited about [practice performances] when there’s no threat of contact.” That said the OTA’s are a nice way to keep tabs on the players and observe their individual progress as they ready for the heat and physicality that goes hand-in-hand … Continue reading →

MORE NOTES & OBSERVATIONS: Marcus Smith is trying to work his way back into shape after his season ending knee injury during the preseason last year. He seems a little thick at the moment and still struggles with consistency when catching the football…On the other hand, Justin Harper has shown marked improvement with his hands and has consistently caught everything thrown his way…David Reed has impressed the coaches and scouts early during OTA’s this offseason but he didn’t get many reps on Tuesday. Reed adjusts well to balls in flight … Continue reading →

I have been covering the Ravens since the 2003 season. Never have I witnessed the enthusiasm nor felt the contagious electricity that hovered over Ravens’ headquarters like I did this weekend during the team’s mandatory mini-camp. There is a buzz in the air. The team feels it. They live it and breathe it. By his own admission Ray Lewis said, “The energy is freakin’ incredible!” Yet he is quick to remind the media and his teammates not to get carried away and to maintain focus. The pieces are there yet … Continue reading →

It was a tough morning for all receivers not named Derrick Mason and Demetrius Williams. The group as a whole dropped every pass in sight. In turn, the quarterbacks lacked touch and timing, as balls sailed high and wide. The defense was able to take advantage and get off the field.   Here are other key observations and notes from today’s morning session:   ·         Formations and Fronts: The defense set up in its sub packages during 11-on-11 drills. At times the nickel package consisted of just two linemen – … Continue reading →

  Camp Notes   The “Over-30 Club” crowd was out of action and thus missed the full-hitting practice. It was a day for the offense to practice its spread attack, while the defense primarily stayed in a base alignment. Here are other key observations and notes from Thursday’s morning session:   ·        Formations and Fronts: Play-fakes were in full effect, as the offense tried to bait the defense out of position. In most instances, the defenders were not fooled and did a nice job of sticking with their assignments.   One … Continue reading →

The two-minute offense and defense was the area of focus for the afternoon session. The offense was efficient and able to move the chains. The defense had trouble covering quick-hitting pass plays, although there were a few stretches in which it created coverage sacks. Here are other key observations and notes from Wednesday’s afternoon session:   ·        Formations and Fronts: The option was installed and executed from the shotgun set. Quarterback Troy Smith led the play, as it took on different forms, including a play-action, option, shovel pass. Smith usually ran … Continue reading →

It was another hot practice in Westminster this morning. Speaking of heat the offense got off to a hot start. Early on in practice, the team went 11 on 11, live on the line, tag on the receivers. The offense was in hurry up mode with Joe Flacco and Troy Smith splitting time.   The mixing and matching of parts on defense has happened for years but now your seeing that with the offense.   One of the Ravens’ four wide receiver sets had RB Ray Rice split out wide … Continue reading →

The offense carried its momentum from a strong showing in a preseason battle against the Washington Redskins into today’s morning practice. The quarterbacks were accurate and connected on several big strikes downfield. The receivers showed the ability to defeat press coverage and were able to gain separation. Here are other key observations and notes from today’s morning session:   ·         Formations and Fronts: The offense primarily operated from the gun, and aired it early and often during 11-on-11 drills. The formation of choice was a three-wide, one tight and one … Continue reading →

The Ravens practice their 2 minute offense on Tuesday winding the clock down to 1:30 and placing the ball at their own 35 yard line. The first team offense led by Joe Flacco took on the first team defense followed by the two 2’s. Here’s how it played out: 1-10-35                 Flacco screen pass to Rice, no gain (R. Lewis) 2-10-35                 Flacco pass to LJ Smith, 5 yards 3-05-40                Flacco incomplete to K. Washington (Foxworth) (0:48 remaining) 4-05-40                Flacco incomplete to Mason (Carr) TURNOVER ON DOWNS 1-10-35                 Smith incomplete to Figurs … Continue reading →

Camp Notes   The afternoon session was short and sweet, as the team tried to avoid the sweltering heat. The team practiced in shells and overall, the contact was at a minimum.    Here are other key observations and notes from today’s afternoon session:   ·      Formations and Fronts: The defense brought the heat, and the offense tried to counter during 11-on-11 drills. Specifically, the defense loaded the box, sometimes with eight defenders up front, leaving corners on an island. The wideouts had to break open against single coverage.   First, … Continue reading →

The team practiced in shells and shorts today and for the most part it was a rather uneventful practice dominated again by the defense. Among those who sat out the morning session included: Terrell Suggs; Todd Heap; Jared Gaither; Stefan Rodgers; Mark Clayton; Demetrius Williams; Biren Ealy; Thomas White; Lamar Divens; and Samari Rolle (PUP). Joe Flacco has had several up and down days during camp and today was no exception. Early on during the practice he hit Kelley Washington perfectly in stride on a deep in route along the … Continue reading →

  Camp Notes   Here are general observations from today’s morning session   Offense   - The overall focus of the offensive attack was executing roll-out pass plays to the right side. The results were mixed, with the best plays coming from the backs when they caught the ball in stride, and had enough space to turn upfield. One of the featured plays was an out completion to tight end L.J. Smith, who started off the left side of the line and motioned to the right.   -Flacco showed off … Continue reading →

During Saturday morning’s practice and as they do often throughout training camp, the Ravens simulated game situations with a variety of down and distance scenarios. Cam Cameron put his unit through the paces of 3rd and 4 and 3rd and 7 conversion opportunities alternating quarterbacks as well as first and second team squads. Here’s how it played out: 3rd & 4 FLACCO Flacco to Heap in right flat, first down Flacco to Marcus Smith, incomplete (sloppy route) Flacco sacked by William VanDeSteeg Flacco to Heap, short left hash area, poor … Continue reading →

It was over 30 day at Westminster today meaning that the veterans age 30 or older did not participate. Others not participating included: Terrell Suggs (heel); Mark Clayton (hamstring); WR Biren Ealy; WR Thomas White; Edgar Jones (thigh); Ben Grubbs (ankle); and Oniel Cousins (ankle). Tavares Gooden returned to practice after sitting out for precautionary reasons (sports hernia) as did Jared Gaither (trapezius). GENERAL OBSERVATIONS OFFENSE: Joe Flacco had a poor outing overall today but managed to sprinkle in a few gems. However judging from the second year QB’s obvious … Continue reading →

The defense set the tone early during 11-on-11 drills by repeatedly stuffing the run. In vintage fashion, Ray Lewis came swooping in through an open gap up the gut, and crunched the ball carrier. The offensive line, which worked with a patchwork group, was unable to get any movement in the running game and it struggled to handle the blitz. Meanwhile, the secondary took away the deep passes, forcing the Baltimore quarterbacks to dump the ball off underneath.   Here are other key observations and notes from today’s morning session: … Continue reading →

The emphasis of today’s practice revolved around the hurry-up attack and how to defense it. The tempo was fast-paced and scattered at times. That said, players on both sides of the ball responded well, as there were not too many penalties nor blown assignments. Here are other key observations and notes from today’s morning session:   ·      Formations and Fronts: After showing vanilla looks through its base packages, the defense finally unveiled some intricate packages.   The dime package was a 1-4-6 look. In this package, Haloti Ngata was the lone … Continue reading →

Rookie Focus Michael Oher continues to play well holding his own against nearly all challenges both in pass protection and run blocking. With the team’s depth chart taking a hit due to Adam Terry’s season ending knee surgery, I have to wonder how many are now challenging this first round pick and suggesting that the team should have opted for Hakeem Nicks or Kenny Britt…Paul Kruger batted down a Troy Smith pass and exhibited toughness in special teams drills. He’s a high energy player who needs to develop some moves … Continue reading →