Today’s practice was open to the M&T Bank Stadium suite holders and their affiliated friends and family along with the member stations on the Ravens Radio Network. The players missing in action today included: Jared Gaither (ankle); Haloti Ngata (knee); Demetrius Williams (foot); P.J. Daniels (cramps); Ed Reed (undisclosed); Terrell Suggs (protest) Cory Ross (arm), Samari Rolle (bereavement), Kelly Gregg (leg) Willis McGahee (leg) and Daniel Wilcox (toe). Also missing from full team activities were UDFA WR Patrick Carter, rookie RB Allen Patrick and rookie OT David Hale. Dan Cody (knee) didn’t participate in full team activities.
The Ravens are very thin at the moment at running back with McGahee, Daniels, Ross and Patrick all down. That left a very heavy workload for Ray Rice whose work ethic and performance are deserving of some rest. Until the backs step up and recover, little will change. Even Le’Ron McClain had some carries today as a single setback.
The team is also very thin at offensive tackle. Besides Gaither and Hale, OT Adam Terry went down and was carted off the field. There has been no confirmation as of this writing as to what part of Terry’s legs are injured but most signs point to a recurring injury of his surgically repaired ankle.
The vibe at McDaniel College was somber and save Corey Ivy and Ray Lewis, there was very little chatter and smack energy going on. Perhaps the two-a-days are beginning to grip the players’ bodies. Another thought is that once again as we’ve been so accustomed to, the defense is dominating the offense. Cam Cameron’s unit is struggling to protect the quarterback. Look for HELP WANTED ads soon from the Ravens if things don’t improve. It’s early but if this team takes the field against the Patriots and they are dominated at the line of scrimmage when on offense, it could be a season long concern that becomes a severe drag on the entire team.
Defenders seemed to get to Kyle Boller, Troy Smith and Joe Flacco almost at will. The offensive tackles trying to stop Antwan Barnes was akin to a traffic cop on the Autobahn. The defense despite their dominance said very little and the feeling here is that they are concerned too about the offense.
Screen passes and short drops to go with successful draw plays might help slow down opposing pass rushes. Therefore given the O-Line woes it was no small coincidence to see Cam Cameron working with the offense to try and develop the team’s screens. They practiced screens to the backs as well as screens to Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton to put their change of direction skills to use.
During the opening scrimmaging sessions (the team did not do any live scrimmaging this morning) Troy Smith got things started sailing a pass to Mark Clayton down the left sideline. Clayton had beaten his man but Smith failed to deliver an accurate throw about 20 yards down field. The pair did connect as Smith’s sequence ended on an 11 yard crossing route.
Boller took over and missed on a toss to Marcus Smith. He then followed that with a swing pass to Le’Ron McClain for 5 yards. Boller then found Justin Harper on a drag route from right to left for a 7 yard pick up.
Flacco stepped in and his first pass intended for Ernie Wheelwright along the right hash about 10 yards down field was picked off by LB Brendon Ayanbadejo who took it in for the score. Flacco followed up the miscue with a long pass down the sideline to Ray Rice. The pass was incomplete.
The full team scrimmaging then included some situational plays. The offense practiced getting out of trouble deep in their own territory placing the ball at the 1. Ray Rice did a nice job of getting the ball to the 4 or 5 yard line on a few carries to provide some breathing space. It was during this sequence that Adam Terry went down and was carted off the field. On the play during which Terry was injured, Dwan Edwards ran by Todd Heap towards the Ray Rice who had not yet emerged from the end zone. Since this wasn’t live contact scrimmaging Edwards cruised past Rice but was quick to shout back at the Ravens’ TE, “That’s a safety Heap!â€
The quarterbacks then took turns in the red zone with some situational plays. There appeared to be an emphasis on screens and draws during the simulated play which was full contact but no tackling. Here’s how that played out:
Situational Red Zone Offense, Sequence 1
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Play
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Comments
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BOLLER
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1-10-20
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Boller to McClain, 5 yards
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2-05-15
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Boller to Mason, 5 yards
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1-10-10
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Rice run (draw) TD
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3-G-5
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Boller to Figurs, 3 yards
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SMITH
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1-10-20
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Rice run, 5 yards
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2-05-15
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Fumbled snap, no gain
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1-10-10
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Rice 10 yard run, TD
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3-G-5
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Smith to Harper left corner incomplete
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FLACCO
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1-10-20
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Flacco pass to Willis, 5 yards
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2-05-15
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Flacco to McClain, incomplete
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1-10-10
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McClain run (draw), TD
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3-G-05
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Flacco to Willis, incomplete (Prude)
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Situational Red Zone Offense, Sequence 2
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Play
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Comments
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SMITH
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1-10-20
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Screen right to Rice, 5 yards
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2-05-15
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Screen left to Rice, 10 yards
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1-10-10
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Smith to Figurs, TD
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2-G-4
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Smith to Heap, incomplete off fingers
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BOLLER
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1-10-20
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Screen to McClain nearly intercepted by Ivy
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2-05-15
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Busted play, Boller keeps around right end, no gain
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1-10-10
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Rice run, 2 yards
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2-G-4
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Rice run, 2 yards
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OTHER OBSERVATIONS
Offense/Defense: Flacco’s performance on the day was probably the weakest of the three QB’s. That said he normally lined up with the weakest collection of talent around him, particularly at offensive line. Edgar Jones looked like Michael Strahan when taking on the likes of UDFA T Sean Dumford while Joe Reitz made Gary Stills look like Reggie White. Stills just barreled right over Reitz on one play to get to the rookie QB. The Flacco-led unit was generally the worst during red zone situational plays. Justin Harper’s drop of a perfectly placed pass certainly didn’t help Flacco’s cause. Oniel Cousins provided perhaps the only decent tackle play of the morning session but even then, he had his share of problems. He did a nice job of switching up with Marshal Yanda post snap to pick up a blitzing Corey Ivy. Yanda took the stunting Edwards on the play. Edwards did knock Yanda back into the pocket but it did not affect the throw…Troy Smith looked decisive and well-timed on a quarterback draw for a nice gain. On the play Smith showed a nice burst. Later in practice, Smith lined up as a receiver providing still more evidence that Smith could see playing time in a “Slash†kind of role even if he isn’t the opening day starter. Smith erred a bit later leading the overworked Ray Rice on a pass right into two oncoming LB’s. The play under live conditions had all the making of a big turnover. Rice had another very productive day at camp, showing an ability to bounce outside after a play is seemingly stopped…Derrick Mason left the field limping after a collision with Haruki Nakamura. He seemed to be fine later after the morning session.
Special Teams: Jerry Rosburg conducted a drill today which simulated a kickoff while isolating some one on one battles. The blocker on the receiving team was asked to drop back post kick as he normally would. A member of the kick team would streak down the field to pursue the ball carrier. The object of the blocker was to keep the returner clean.
This drill is something new to Ravens’ fans and it turned out to be quite a crowd pleaser. The biggest hit delivered by the kickoff team came from Derrick Martin who flattened Matt Willis; Prescott Burgess who nailed Edgar Jones and made the tackle; and Nick Greisen who leveled Marcus Smith…Matt Stover was 2 of 4 on field goal attempts connecting from 20 and 50 yards while missing from 31 and 40. Piotr Czech hit all 4 of his kicks from 20, 29, 41 and 51. The unit also practiced fake field goals featuring passes from Sam Koch. Koch connected with TE’s Heap and Adam Bergen on separate fakes although the connection with Heap would have been negated by a sack courtesy of Fabian Washington under game conditions.
NOTABLES AND QUOTABLES: When commenting on various defensive players, Rex Ryan described Haruki Nakamura as instinctive and with a nose for the ball. He compared Nakamura to Will Demps, “only faster.â€â€¦Trevor Pryce is in very good shape, the best of his career according to the Ravens’ DL. Pryce trained with the Denver Nuggets strength and conditioning coach…Haloti Ngata walked with little noticeable limp. He is wearing a knee brace on his right leg and compared the injury to that of his rookie season. That MCL sprain sidelined Ngata for a couple of weeks. According to the promising DT, “I’ll be back sooner than you guys think.â€â€¦Kelly Gregg was seen posing for a photo shoot and said he was doing fine. He was walking without support other than heavily wrapped ankles.
Photo by Sabina Moran
