Ravens Quarterbacks Look Shaky
Quarterback Joe Flacco confirmed after the Ravens’ second full-squad practice that his back injury will likely keep him out for just a week.
“It’s going to calm down, and I’m going to feel good,” Flacco said.
However, coach John Harbaugh reiterated the door remains open for Colin Kaepernick should the team require more than just a camp arm. For the time being, Harbaugh and his staff remain confident Flacco will be back on the field in the near-term
“We’ll just see how it plays out,” Harbaugh said. “Joe is day-to-day. Do we really need to make that move or not? That’s the decision that has to be made. There are a lot of layers to it just from a football standpoint.”
Without Flacco behind center, the offense has struggled over the past two days of practice, looking disjointed at times.
Ryan Mallett and Dustin Vaughan have taken the majority of snaps and they’ve had several miscues. On the first day of camp, the Ravens resorted to using assistant coach Matt Weiss at quarterback for some of the running backs drills.
The Ravens added another arm today by signing arena league quarterback David Olson. However, that move will have no impact on the potential signing of Kaepernick, who has several close ties to the Ravens.
Kaepernick played for John Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, with the San Francisco 49ers. Kaepernick helped lead the 49ers to the 2013 Super Bowl, where they lost to the Ravens.
Baltimore assistant coach Greg Roman was also the offensive coordinator in San Francisco when Kaepernick was establishing himself as a dominant player. Kaepernick went 25-14 with a 90.6 passer rating under Roman’s tutelage.
Stay tuned.
Quick Hits
— Tight end Crockett Gillmore, who has struggled with injuries throughout his career, hurt his right leg late during practice. Gillmore threw his helmet in frustration. Harbaugh said it was too early to determine the severity of the injury, but Gillmore’s status with the team is becoming problematic.
Gillmore appeared in just five games last season because of a thigh injury and finished with eight receptions and a touchdown. Gillmore also was placed on injured reserve in 2015 and underwent offseason shoulder surgery.
— Kamalei Correa’s hard work in the offseason continues to pay dividends. The second-year player from Boise State had an interception for the second consecutive day. This time, he jumped on an errant pass by quarterback Ryan Mallett. Correa is the favorite to embrace the starting job at weak-side linebacker after an uneven rookie campaign.
“We certainly would have wanted him to play more last year as a second-round pick,” Harbaugh said in the offseason. “He’s a guy that really likes football and he’s a hard-working guy. A lot of times the biggest jump, we’ve talked about, is between the first and second year.”
— Marlon Humphrey continues to make his case for the starting job at cornerback over Brandon Carr. Humphrey has impressed coaches with his athleticism. Today, he got his first interception of camp off Mallett. He picked off another pass later in the day. Humphrey has also shown excellent speed, matching up with receivers looking to stretch the field.
— Harbaugh has been impressed with Matt Skura throughout the offseason workouts and into training camp. After getting snaps at center on the opening day of camp, Skura spent time at right guard the following day with six-time Pro Bowler Marshal Yanda being limited in practice.
— Safety Tony Jefferson is still being limited in team drills after undergoing sports hernia surgery in the offseason. Cornerback Jimmy Smith was able to practice after being hampered by leg cramps the previous day. Smith was beaten by Mike Wallace on a deep pass. Breshad Perriman also ran past Carr to catch a deep pass.
