OWINGS MILLS — Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Lee Evans returned to practice from a nagging left ankle injury that sidelined him Wednesday and said he intends to play Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
Evans is no longer wearing the protective boot he donned Wednesday.
"Absolutely, I plan on playing on Sunday," Evans said. "But we’ll have to see. You got to take it day by day and see what happens."
Evans said he’s been wearing the boot to rest the ankle.
"That’s more like active rest," Evans said. "It’s just a way of resting it and still be a little active as well. It’s part of treatment."
Meanwhile, cornerbacks Chris Carr (left hamstring) and Jimmy Smith (high-ankle sprain) and offensive guard Ben Grubbs (toe) didn’t practice.
Smith is out for at least a few weeks. Grubbs’ toe is swollen. If he can’t go, he would be replaced by former Pro Bowl centerAndre Gurode.
Titans defensive end William Hayes (shoulder), safety Chris Hope (shoulder) and wide receiver Damian Williams (hamstring) didn’t practice.
Veteran wide receiver Nate Washington was limited in practice for non-injury reasons.
Defensive ends Derrick Morgan (knee) and Jason Jones (knee) and running back Javon Ringer (back) participated fully.
STEELERS COMPLAINING: Special-teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg said he was unaware of the Pittsburgh Steelers griping about punter Sam Koch scoring on a two-point conversion.
Now that he knows, Rosburg says he doesn’t care how the Steelers feel about the score that occurred in the third quarter of the Ravens’ 35-7 victory Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
"I wasn’t aware that they complained about it," Rosburg said. "Is that right? I guess it’s not my job to try and make them happy. We were trying to win the game. That’s what we’re trying to do. We were trying to score as many points as we can and win the game. That’s why we ran it. I wanted to run it in the first and second touchdown, too."
Meanwhile, the Steelers’ defense accused the Ravens’ offensive line of illegal chop blocks.
The Ravens rushed for 170 yards and allowed just one sack, and they weren’t penalized.
Under NFL rules, the Ravens blocking strategies appear to be legal. The NFL allows linemen to block below the waist as long as the lineman began the play one position over from the defender.
In other words, it’s fine for a guard to block a nose guard who’s locked up with the center. However, it’s not allowed for a tackle to block down on a nose guard who’s grappling with a center.
"You can get hurt from an illegal chop block, but I guess it isn’t an illegal chop block if they don’t call it," nose guard Casey Hampton told Pittsburgh reporters.
Added nose guard Chris Hoke: "Some of the things they were doing were questionable rules wise and dangerous."
Hampton said that Ravens offensive guard Marshal Yanda chopped his legs out from under him on Ray Rice’s 36-yard run to start the game.
"There is really nothing you can do when you are engaged and fighting with a guy and they come chopping at your legs," Hampton said. "If it keeps happening, something is going to have to happen. I can’t keep getting chopped up like that when I am engaged. Hopefully, my knees don’t get blown out."
SPECIAL TEAMS A FOCUS: The Ravens’ kickoff coverage was far from sterling against the Steelers.
The Ravens surrendered 103 yards on three kickoff returns, allowing an average of 34.3 yards per return.
That included a 37-yard return by Steelers kick returner Antonio Brown.
"Well, obviously, we didn’t cover to our standards in the first game," Rosburg said. "We’re looking forward to this week because we think we know a little bit more about how the timing of the kicks fit. I think that we’re going to be playing better this week; we learned a lot in that first game.
"When you look at it realistically, in the preseason we had so many different guys in there we didn’t have many opportunities to cover. This was really the first chance at full speed with the regular lineup in there. We learned a lot by it. I’m looking forward to getting back out there with our guys and having the opportunity to make some tackles inside the 20-yard line instead of inside the 40-yard line."
Rosburg chalked up some of the issues to continuing to adjust to the new kickoff rule where the ball is kicked from the 35-yard line.
The Ravens have also had some personnel changes on the kickoff team, cutting key special-teams contributor Prescott Burgess. He led the Ravens in special-teams tackles over the past two seasons.
"I think what surprised me overall, just looking at the weekend, is that there are teams that are going to be bringing the ball out more, perhaps, than I thought they were," Rosburg said. "Including us, we brought one out that normally we wouldn’t have. But, it was a good decision. It was within the realm of our coaching and we got a good return out of it. So, that’s probably the one thing that I thought was a little bit surprising.
"I really didn’t know how they were going to approach it. You really never know going into it. I don’t think it surprised me necessarily; we were prepared for it. But, having said that, we didn’t do a very good job of defending it."
Rosburg also noted that he didn’t think so many players around the league would bring kickoffs so deep out of the end zone.
"I think it surprised a lot of people," he said. "What will be interesting to find out, as we go down the stretch here, is how many of those kicks will be brought out when the game is tight in the second half when you have a lead. Those things could change the whole scope of the kickoff return."
Sunday against the Titans, the Ravens will square off with return specialist Marc Mariani. He finished second in the NFL in kickoff return yardage, averaging 25.5 yards per return.
He also had a 98-yard return for a touchdown last season against the Denver Broncos.
"He’s a fine returner," Rosburg said. "We’ve watched him, obviously, up until this point. Our veteran players who’ve watched him are saying the same thing: He does everything right.
"He’s got great hands and ball-tracking skills and hands and decision making and vision and ball security. He’s got enough ability to take it all the way. There’s a reason he was in the Pro Bowl. He’s a great player."
Aaron Wilson covers the Baltimore Ravens for the Carroll County Times
