OWINGS MILLS — The fallout hasn’t stopped in the wake of the Baltimore Ravens’ dispute with the officials regarding a pair of controversial calls during a loss Sunday to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh could be fined by the league for making contact with an official while demonstrating where outside linebacker Terrell Suggs hit Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer during a questionable roughing-the-passer penalty.
While gesturing, Harbaugh’s hand hit line judge Ron Marinucci in the chest with no penalty assessed.
An NFL spokesman didn’t return an e-mail to 24×7 seeking comment on whether Harbaugh will be fined for his actions.
“I was a little animated in describing the strike zone, and I think he understood the emotions of it,” Harbaugh said during his Monday press conference. “I’ll make sure that I let him know that I think I was over the line in my animation without question, and that’s never something you want to do.
Meanwhile, former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira weighed in on the officiating flap and said he believes they made an error in judgment.
"While referees are instructed to err on the side of safety when it comes to protecting the quarterback, I feel the call was incorrect," Pereira said on FOX. "Suggs made a form tackle on Palmer. And while he did land on top of him, he did not appear to unnecessarily or violently throw the quarterback down and land on top of him with most or all of his weight, which is what the rule states. I can see why the referee made the call that he did, but to me, it was a normal tackle and not a foul."
Harbaugh reiterated his stance that he feels that All-Pro middle linebacker Ray Lewis, who was flagged for tripping Palmer when he appeared to be blocked into the quarterback, and Suggs didn’t deserve to be penalized.
Both penalties led to Bengals field goals.
“You try to coach your guys to do things, from a technique standpoint, correctly,” Harbaugh said. “There’s no corrections that you can make in those two penalties. Those guys did exactly what they were asked to do within the rules of the game. I thought they did it perfectly.
"Ray got cut, he was going 100 miles an hour, he got cut, he was rolling on the ground, his legs were on the ground when Carson tripped. What am I going to tell Ray as a coach? Terrell wrapped up the quarterback and tackled him. That’s what we coach our guys to do. They did exactly what we coach them to do, and you just move on from there. You can’t control the rest of it.”
The Ravens plan to submit film of those calls in an effort to gain clarity on what happened.
“I think the league does a good job,” Harbaugh said. “I think they work really hard to make us understand what the officials are looking at and all that stuff. They do the best they can with it. It’s a tough job. It’s not easy. We just move on. It’s not something that we’re going to sit there and worry about. They’ll do the best they can to get better, and we’ll do the best we can to get better.”
Suggs, who was flagged last year for grazing the leg of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during a regular-season loss, said he has no intentions of changing his approach to the game.
“Absolutely,” Suggs said after the game. “The NFL are going to do their best to protect the guys that pay their bills, which is the quarterbacks. Maybe if it was a lesser quarterback, that call don’t get thrown.
“I’m not going to change the way I play. I’m a physical player, and I was already engaged in him. If I had to do the play again, I would do it again.”
INJURY UPDATES: Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice practiced Monday after leaving the game with a minor ankle injury and returning after a brief stint on the sidelines.
"He’s got a little ankle [injury]," Harbaugh said of Rice, who rushed for 87 yards on 16 carries. "He was out there, so he looked OK."
Inside linebacker Tavares Gooden underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam Monday on his injured left shoulder, but no information was revealed about his prognosis.
Gooden got injured covering a punt and his left arm was in a sling after the game.
The injury is believed to be fairly serious.
"We’ll see," Harbaugh said. "He’s got the MRI, so I don’t know until that comes back. Wednesday, we’ll just kind of see where he’s at. Tavares’ looks a little more serious because he had to get an MRI. Hopefully, that will come back not too major."
WILLIAMS RETURNS: Cornerback Cary Williams has been reinstated by the NFL and rejoins the roster after serving a two-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
The Ravens have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to make a corresponding roster move to clear a spot for Williams.
"Get him into meetings and get him back on track," Harbaugh said. "He went through all the training camp and the whole offseason, so I don’t think it will be too much. But it was good to see his face sitting in the room there."
NO NEWS ON KINDLE: The Ravens are negotiating with injured rookie outside linebacker Sergio Kindle, but no deal has been finalized.
The second-round draft pick is expected to receive a one-year deal that offers the Ravens some protection in case he’s unable to play football again.
"I have not heard," Harbaugh said. "I don’t know. I hope so. That would be great."
PROGRESS: Harbaugh was generally pleased with the work of safety Tom Zbikowski on punt returns after a disastrous debut against the New York Jets where he was nearly tackled for a safety.
Zbikowski had a 20-yard return against the Bengals, but made another poor decision when he ran laterally again as he did against the Jets near the Ravens’ goal line.
"I thought Zbikowski looked better on all but one,” Harbaugh said. “The one that was kicked over in the left corner, he tried to bring back into the middle. That was a flashback. I didn’t like that one at all. If he just goes straight up the field, he’s got 15 yards where he’s not going to get touched. But the rest of them were good. He took the ball north and south and made some plays.”
