When Brian Billick was the Ravens head coach he maintained that after 7 seasons or so a coach’s message gets lost – that the message, the coach’s philosophy, doesn’t move men in year 7 like it did in the early years.
Eventually Billick’s belief became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
His message did grow stale albeit bearing a shelf life a bit longer than even he expected. The Super Bowl XXXV winning coach was gone after 9 seasons.
This season is John Harbaugh’s eighth as the Ravens head coach and there’s really no end in sight. Perhaps he’s been more willing to change and that has helped preserve the relevancy of his message. Maybe it’s the consistent winning that inspires players to accept his direction.
Or maybe it’s the attrition that the Ravens roster has experienced over recent years.
Did you know that 17 of the 22 Ravens starters from the Super Bowl 47 are no longer with the club and that just 9 players currently on the 90-man roster (Pitta is on PUP) were on that Super Bowl 53-man squad? (Messrs. Cox, Flacco, Koch, Osemele, J. Smith, Suggs, Tucker, Upshaw and Yanda). Asa Jackson, Lardarius Webb and Jah Reid were all either injured or suspended.
Flushing out the roster with new talent that is less expensive is important when you have a franchise quarterback who commands a high percentage of the team’s cap. It’s a necessary evil to maintain consistent success in the NFL.
CAMP NOTES & MORE OBSERVATIONS
Steve Smith, Sr. was born to be a Raven. His intensity at this stage of his career is amazing and there isn’t a play when he doesn’t give it his all. Hopefully that’s something that will rub off on impressionable young talent.
On one play during full-team scrimmaging Joe Flacco rolled to his left. Smith, hustling from the right side of the field to the left provided and inviting option for Flacco as the QB extended the play. Smith beat Lardarius Webb, caught the pass just yards inside the left sideline then scampered in for the score from 40+ yards out.
Webb could borrow from Smith’s intensity. The oft-injured corner provides it in spurts but seems to coast a bit at times. It could be that he’s on his own plan to get ready for the season and pacing is the recommended course. This is yet another example of why camp and preseason results can be so misleading – the football mirage.
On Wednesday when the 1’s took the field on defense while in the nickel, Kyle Arrington was lined up at corner and Webb in the slot. On two consecutive plays Flacco tested Webb in that alignment with Michael Campanaro running a fade to the left sideline from the left slot. Webb successfully defended the first but was flagged for a PI on the second. The flag raised the ire of Terrell Suggs who shouted at the official, “Nobody runs a fade to a 5-8 receiver!”
Harbaugh was very involved with special teams, particularly when the receiving team tinkered with various stunts up front to put pressure on the punter…Sam Koch consistently sent missiles soaring and also tinkered with end-over-end punts and line drives, both with the intention to get balls to bounce deeper into enemy territory…Lardarius Webb, Asa Jackson, Aldrick Robinson and Campanaro alternated on punt return duties. Campanaro is probably the leader for the job at the moment. It’s quite possible that a return specialist is not yet on the 90-man.
The Ravens have been able to capture more of the Westminster fan spirit in Owings Mills this season as more fans have been invited to practice. Yesterday’s group was quite spirited, particularly after Brandon Williams mistimed his jump during tip drills. “C’mon Brandon” was shouted by many. Williams got back in line and perfectly executed his next attempt and then proceeded into the end zone and capped off the return with a Billy “White Shoes” Johnson celebratory dance to the delight of the fans.
WHO’S HOT…WHO’S NOT
HOT: Look out for Quinton Pointer. He’s played better than Asa Jackson who has struggled often during camp. Pointer had two picks yesterday…DeAndre Carter made some nice catches on short to intermediate throws, successfully toe-tapping the sidelines…Will Hill was a beast in coverage, defending 3 consecutive red zone throws by Flacco. He had 5 total passes defensed during the session…Brent Urban was menacing, batting balls (2) and pressuring the quarterback…Joe Flacco looks strong, confident and accurate.
NOT: Asa Jackson’s technique is sloppy. He is too physically talented to be playing so poorly…Arthur Brown was beaten badly by Justin Forsett on a wheel route. His coverage skills look shaky.
