Over the past few days of practice, though, Flacco has gotten visibly angry at himself with a few choice curse words. He has tossed five to six interceptions with strong safety Dawan Landry swooping in on a regular basis to pick off the football.
Flacco has thrown off his back foot and off-balance at times, a departure from his usually sound fundamentals and mechanics.
The Ravens aren’t worried, though, about Flacco following a strong rookie season where he helped lead the team to the AFC championship game.
"Well, it’s training camp," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "I think the point is that we’re throwing a lot of stuff at him. We don’t build our installs around building a guy’s confidence. We just try to throw everything at guys from Day One, and we don’t care how good a side looks or how bad a side looks or if a guy has a good day or a bad day.
"We think it all makes him better because we’re going to try to improve from one day to the next. So, we want to put as much pressure on Joe as we can just like all the guys. If he throws picks, he’s going to learn from them. If he makes good throws, the defense is going to learn from that. So, we just challenge him every day."
Meanwhile, Landry, who has recovered from offseason neck surgery, has been extremely impressive with his range and instincts.
Down to 208 pounds, Landry’s increased quickness and speed has been on full display.
"I can’t believe how fast he’s playing," Harbaugh said. "Dawan is playing incredibly quick. He’s covering a lot of ground out there. It’s a credit to how hard he works, and I’m excited to see what kind of season he has."
INJURY UPDATES: Wide receivers Mark Clayton and Demetrius Williams both suffered hamstring injuries.
Clayton tweaked his left hamstring. And Williams tweaked his right hamstring.
Neither injury appears to be especially serious.
“[Clayton] tweaked his hamstring a little bit, so we’re going to be very careful with that and give him time to come back and be 100 percent in the next couple of days," Harbaugh said. "He hasn’t missed a rep from the beginning, so he’s got a lot of good work under his belt.”
Outside linebacker Antwan Barnes was decked by tight end Todd Heap and an offensive lineman on a double-team block in the red zone, suffering a minor concussion.
Barnes was down on the ground for a few minutes while trainers attended to him.
“He got dinged a little bit, probably a minor concussion of some kind, Harbaugh said. “So, he should be OK.”
Outside linebacker Terrell Suggs hurt his left foot.
Rookie tight end Davon Drew injured his right foot.
Wide receiver Kelley Washington had a strong practice as he was activated from the non-football injury list after dealing with flu symptoms for the past few days.
Fullback Le’Ron McClain appeared to injure his right foot or ankle, but eventually jogged it off and resumed practicing.
Defensive tackle Lamar Divens wasn’t at practice. Divens began camp on the physically unable to perform list with hip flexor issues.
Wide receiver Marcus Smith, who has been dealing with cramping, didn’t practice along with wide receivers Biren Ealy and Thomas White for undisclosed reasons.
Also not practicing: tight end L.J. Smith (hamstring), wide receiver Yamon Figurs (foot surgery), offensive tackle Adam Terry (arthroscopic knee surgery) and cornerback Samari Rolle (groin and neck),
DEFINING SAUNDERS’ ROLE: Former Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Al Saunders has been attending practices and meetings, and an offensive consultant role has been discussed.
Nothing has been finalized as far as a formal arrangement, according to Harbaugh.
“Al, right now, is a visiting coach and that’s where it stands right now,” Harbaugh said. “We’re thinking about him being involved in some sort of consultant-type basis, but he’s in a state of his career where he needs to decide how he wants to fit that in.”
QUICK HITS: Linebacker Prescott Burgess flattened tight end Edgar Jones during the morning practice. … Harbaugh gave several veterans the day off as part of the 30-and-over club, including middle linebacker Ray Lewis, free safety Ed Reed, defensive end Trevor Pryce, nose guard Kelly Gregg and center Matt Birk. … Chris Chester and David Hale took Birk’s snaps. Haruki Nakamura took Reed’s place, Jameel McClain ran with the first-team defense at middle linebacker. Justin Bannan as well as 360-pound Brandon McKinney filled in for Gregg with Dwan Edwards playing for Pryce. Williams said he isn’t bothered that Derrick Mason’s return will affect his playing time. “No, not at all,” he said. “It’s something for me to keep working hard on. Derrick’s going to help us all elevate our play, and we’re excited by it.” … Rookie cornerback Lardarius Webb intercepted a deflected Troy Smith pass. … Offensive tackle Joe Reitz (shoulder) has been activated from the physically unable to perform list as well as linebacker Jason Phillips (lateral meniscus).
