During training camp practices the Ravens will often engage in live scrimmaging while simulating various down and distance situations. The actual results of the plays will usually change the down and distance as they do during real games.
However there are times when the coaching staff will force a particular down and distance situation regardless of a play’s outcome, based upon the things they are looking to practice.
The “drive” flips from the first to the second team offenses and defenses and as time permits, the third-string players will also get a chance to compete.
During the days of Brian Billick, such scrimmaging regularly featured the first team offense going against the second team defense. Likewise, the first team defense went up against the second team offense.
Billick would almost always shout before scrimmaging, “Take care of each other”. He was borderline paranoid about camp injuries and he didn’t want all of his first stringers on the field together, hence the flip-flopping of 1st v. 2nd.
John Harbaugh apparently doesn’t harbor such paranoia and therefore, the 1’s compete against the 1’s. Here are a few sequences from yesterday:
As you can see the day was dominated by defense, accentuated by a rather flat offense.
