Casey Willett's Blog

Ravens notes from 8-19-08

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:20:47 GMT

So the continuing saga that is the Ed Reed injury continues, now that head coach John Harbaugh says he will not say it is definite that Ed Reed will start the season. That is a change from when just over a week earlier he said that he had no reasons to think that Ed would not be ready for the season. I said it two weeks ago and will say it now; this situation is far from over with.

Here are some other notes from today:

- Edgar Jones is now listed as a tight end on the Ravens roster. Edgar played some tight end in high school and even took some reps at tight end during some of the off season camps.

- Dan Wilcox seems very determined to get back onto the football field and help this football team. Dan is going into the final year of his contract and wants to get back on the field and prove that he is a huge asset to the team.

- Dan Cody returned to the football field this afternoon and is hoping to be able to get into a game before the preseason is over with. It is interesting with Dan working his way back onto the field and the team moving Edgar Jones to tight end.

- I mentioned yesterday that LeRon McClain was now sporting the #33. LeRon said that it is the number he has had since high school.

- Mike Preston mentioned it today, very interesting how Ray Lewis is not doing his radio show this year to avoid any issues that might arise with the team. I think whoever talked to Ray about this did a very smart thing.

- Although Coach Harbaugh said today that he has not determined who the starter will be on September 7, I still feel and get a vibe that it will be Troy Smith.

Notes from Ravens morning practice

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:09:17 GMT

Several of the players who have been missing at different times during camp, returned to the football field this morning:

Welcome Back: Haloti Ngata, Todd Heap, Dan Wilcox, Adam Terry, Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, David Pittman, Derrick Mason, and Terrell Suggs all were on the football field this afternoon.

Still missing in action: Kerry Reed, Willis McGahee, Derrick Martin, Dan Cody, Jared Gaither, Lorenzo Williams, Demetrius Williams, Kelly Gregg, and Kelly Talavou

Terrell Suggs walked out onto the field side by side with Ray Lewis, then went over to defensive line and started to stretch with them.

The practice this morning was in soft shells and shorts, so some of these guys will participate a little more than if they were in full pads.

Le’Ron McClain has now switched his jersey number from #37 to number #33.

Ravens Q&A Time

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:24:17 GMT

After last night’s loss to the Vikings, I am sure there are many fans with many questions. So let’s have another questions and answers blog as it relates to the Baltimore Ravens.

Some disturbing pregame images

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:51:49 GMT

I know it is just the preseason, but there are a couple of disturbing things that I just saw before kickoff;

- While the offense was being introduced out of the tunnel, a certain player that really enjoys being the last one out of the tunnel went and sat on the bench. Ray Lewis was introduced out of the tunnel with the rest of his teammates, then walked over to the bench and sat down while the rest of his teammates greeted the offensive players coming out of the tunnel. Was Ray pouting because he did not get picked to play in the reindeer games? I guess this is his silent protest.

- Derrick Mason was introduced out of the tunnel with his fellow offensive teammates. Following that, Derrick was out on the field catching passes listening to his I pod. I like Derrick Mason a lot, but there is no reason that you can give me that he should have been listening to his I pod while out on the field.

- Thought this was all about discipline and team? Well if so, there are two bad examples set tonight.

End of camp thoughts

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:29:27 GMT

So the first John Harbaugh training camp has officially come to end today, and there are more questions than answers twenty something days later.

Here are some of the questions that I have as camp has ended:

- Who is going to be your starting quarterback, and are they truly the best guy for the job? One thing is crystal clear to me, it will not be Joe Flacco.

- What do you do with the running back position with Willis McGahee now on crutches and possibly 2-4 weeks from returning? Ray Rice has had a nice training camp, but he is not ready to be a feature back in the NFL.

- Who is your offensive tackles? With Adam Terry and Jared Gaither working their way back to field, and Mike Kracalik and Oneil Cousins taking snaps along with Chad Slaughter, are the Ravens comfortable with some form of that combination going into the season? To me Adam Terry and Jared Gaither are still very unproven at the NFL level. Who would have thought that maybe in retrospect that we would be looking back wondering if John Welbourne would have helped this team.

- Who is going to be your number three receiver? With Demetrius Williams yet to take a snap on the field at wide receiver and Marcus Smith turning heads with his play at camp, what does that means for Demetrius?

- What will this team do at the tight end position? With Todd Heap nursing a calf injury and Dan Wilcox trying to get back on the field, what does this team do? They lost two tight ends before they ever moved into the Best Western. Heap and Wilcox both battled injuries last year that cost them time as well as battling injuries during camp.

- What is going on with Kelly Gregg? Kelly has not practiced since early in training camp. Kelly was walking around the team hotel this afternoon with his left knee wrapped up pretty heavily. Kelly is hands down one of the best at his position and a huge part of the Ravens defense.

- Who is going to be playing in the secondary? With Chris McAlister, Ed Reed, and Samari Rolle all nursing injuries, some such as Ed’s which are a huge question mark for the season, what does the team do ? Fabian Washington was a nice pick up in the off season, but he will miss week 1 due to his suspension, is Derrick Martin, Ronnie Prude, and Corey Ivy the answers? Tom Zbikowski, Harauki Nakamura, and Jim Leonhard, have all had good camps, but are they ready to step in for Ed Reed with the starters? My guess is that they will have to be.

Here are a couple of things that I saw from camp that were impressive:

- Marcus Smith had a great camp and really turned some heads and opened some eyes. He seemed to step up to the opportunity of Demetrius Williams not practicing and made the most out of his chance.

- Tom Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura both showed that they were not overwhelmed when they ran with the first team defense at safety.

- Brandon Ayanbadejo is a tremendous football player. Brandon has amazing speed and is a very hard hitting and probably underrated defensive player. He will make some plays for this team this year.

- Jarrett Johnson and Justin Bannan look like they could have big years for this defense. They both have had very good training camps and played well in the first preseason game. Justin has been a very solid backup on the interior defensive line and the defense does not miss a beat with him in there. Jarrett is playing with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder after a disappointing year by his standards last season.

- Nick Greisen is a tremendous football player and a huge asset to this football team. He has such an understanding of what Rex Ryan is doing with the defense and is complete control of the defense when he is in the game. He has proven to be a very nice pickup by the Ravens last year that went under the radar.

Thanks to all of the people who gave me nice comments during the coverage of Ravens camp this year. It has been a fun and entertaining camp to cover and I am sure will only get more interesting as the preseason and regular season go along.

Ravens Q&A Time

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:39:51 GMT

So it is time for another installment of questions and answer time as it pertains to the Ravens

Ravens Camp 8-11-08

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:31:56 GMT

It has been news worthy day here at Ravens training camp;

- Prescott Burgess and P.J. Daniels were both place on injured reserve today. Burgess, who missed eight games with a hip injury, is out with a broken wrist. P.J. Daniels is out due to a separated shoulder. P.J. was on 53 man roster all of 2006, but was inactive for every game. He also missed the 2007 season with a hamstring injury.

- The Ravens parted ways today with 2005 5^th round draft pick Justin Green. Justin never scored a touchdown with the Ravens while totaling 4yds rushing in 39 games while having 13 catches for 65 yards.

- Ed Reed discussed his shoulder injury today when he meet with the media and said that there is more to the injury than what is being told. I have said all along that there is more to Ed’s injury than what is being told, and Ed basically said the same thing today. You can listen to the audio in the audio vault on the website

- Willis McGahee is in Florida to have his left knee scoped to “clean it out” as Coach Harbaugh put it and to see exactly what is going on with his knee. There is no word as to when Willis will return to practice.

- The Ravens also added two new players this morning in defensive lineman Darrell Campbell and linebacker Terrence Melton.

- The offensive line took another hit this morning when Mike Kracalik left the field with a trainer while holding his left hand.

- Adam Terry, Haloti Ngata, Dan Cody, Dan Wilcox, and Chris McAlister were all working out on the side today during practice and look like they could be getting closer to returning to practice with the team.

- The Ravens will end training camp as it relates to fans and media on Thursday. Friday is closed to the public and media as it is a walk thru for the players

Ravens Q&A

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:10:10 GMT

Since the Ravens are closed to the public and media for a walk thru/ travel day, I thought today would be another good opportunity for a Ravens questions and answers blog.

Ravens Camp 8/5/08

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:48:51 GMT

So Kyle Boller will be the starting quarterback for the Ravens on Thursday night versus the Patriots. I think it has zero relevance in the race to be the starting quarterback on September 7. I still think that spot will still belong to Troy Smith.

Here are some notes from practice today:

- The Ravens concluded all of their on the field practices for the media and public this afternoon with a special teams practice. The Ravens will hold a walk thru tomorrow morning and then board planes that afternoon headed to New England.

- Adam Terry was on the field this morning and not wearing the walking boot that he has had on for the last week.

- With Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle both out of practice this morning, Fabian Washington and Frank Walker played the corner positions. Once Fabian stopped practicing this morning, Corey Ivy took over for him.

- Jm Leonhard was out there as the other safety along with Dawan Landry in place of Ed Reed. Coach Harbaugh has said that Leonhard, Haruki Nakamura, and Tom Zbikowski will all rotate through that position.

- Bart Scott came out for practice this morning and then went back inside after a brief time and did not return for the rest of practice. Bart missed yesterday afternoon’s practice with a thigh issue.

- Chris McAlister and Mark Clayton joined the walking wounded today at practice.

- Gary Stills missed the morning practice, but returned for the afternoon special teams practice.

Ravens Camp 8/4/08

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:24:47 GMT

4:15

Sorry for no update earlier, as I was having some computer issues this morning.

Here are some notes from the afternoon practice:

- It was an abbreviated practice that lasted just over an hour this afternoon. Sort of a fast paced walk thru this afternoon.

- A couple of players that were present this morning were not apart of the afternoon practice: Bart Scott, Chris McAlister, Gary Still, Fabian Washington, and David Pittman

- Here is the list of other players who did not practice today: Patrick Carter, Ed Reed, Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, Willis McGahee, P.J. Daniels, Dan Cody, Terrell Suggs, Jared Gaither, Adam Terry, Aaron Walker, Daniel Wilcox, Todd Heap, Edgar Jones, Haloti Ngata, and Kelly Gregg.

- Chris McAlister was out for the majority of the afternoon practice while wearing a huge ice packs and wrap on his right knee. No word officially on his injury status.

The Ravens return to the practice field in the morning for an 8:45 a.m. practice then for a 2 p.m. special teams practice. The Ravens will have a walk thru on Wednesday morning that is closed to the public and media, then board planes headed to New England. The Ravens will also be off on Friday after their Thursday night game against the Patriots.

Ravens Q&A Time

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 11:50:03 GMT

Send me any questions you have as it relates to the Ravens, and I will answer them for you.

Ravens Training Camp 8/1/08

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:01:01 GMT

3:30

Mark Clayton has a shoulder sprain that he suffered in the morning practice when he fell on the ground on his elbow and jammed his shoulder back. He is hoping to be back on the field before to long.

Here are some news and notes from the afternoon practice:

- Gary Stills was at the afternoon practice after missing the morning session and both practices yesterday

- Brendon Ayanbadejo was enjoying returning punts this afternoon as the punt team was getting some reps in

- Coach John Harbaugh was not to thrilled during one drill with the effort of the special teams unit and proceeded to sprint down the field with the team on the next drill

- It appears as though the annual King Ugly contest that the Ravens held every year will not be returning. Mike Flynn was always the leader of getting the collections together for the King Ugly. Under Coach Harbaugh that contest seems to have gone away.

- One of the other little things at camp that John Harbaugh has done away with is allowing a company that makes suits to come to camp and take orders from the players. The company has been told they can maybe come to the facility once the team is back at Owings Mills, but not during training camp.

1:05

Just saw Mark Clayton who has his right arm in a sling. There is no word on his injury or status so far. Also saw Kelly Gregg who has a pretty noticeable limp as he was walking through the team hotel.

More as I find out.

12:05

Here are some news and notes from the morning session:

- Willis McGahee dressed, but did not participate in any of the team or individual drills

- Mark Clayton left the field with a trainer early into the morning session and did not return

- Tom Zbikowski started at safety with the first team defense again today

- Yamon Figurs took more reps with the first team offense today

- Troy Smith clearly won the quarterback battle today with several impressive drives down the field

- Haruki Nakamura made some impressive defensive plays in the red zone on Todd Heap. After one of the stops, Cory Ivy ran out onto the field and did a crane kick in front of Haruki. After a second defensive stop, almost all of the defensive secondary players ran onto the field and gave him a high-five.

- The list of players missing practice continues to grow: Patrick Carter, Ed Reed, Samari Rolle, Justin Green, Cory Ross, Dan Cody, Gary Stills, Oniel Cousins, Jared Gaither, Joe Reitz, Adam Terry, Aaron Walker, Daniel Wilcox, Demetrius Williams, Justin Bannan, and Kelly Gregg.

- The Ravens added running back Alex Haynes to the roster today and parted ways with cornerback Anwar Phillips.

Ravens Camp 7/30/08

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:17:00 GMT

5:40

John Welbourne has left the Ravens team hotel and his headed home. John was not very happy when he walked out of the team hotel and seemed upset with the Ravens for the whole situation.

So you can scratch him off your list as potential offensive tackles.

4:00

So as the Ravens continue to search for depth on the offensive line, it looks as though they could be close to adding John Welbourne to the mix. John was a drafted in the 199 draft in the 4^th round by the Philadelphia Eaglers.

Here is an interesting story from Jay Glazer’s blog back in August of 2007. Scroll down to the Worst place on my trip so far. It is a pretty interesting story and something I am sure will be brought up.

John has been in the lobby for about 3 hours and is reading Scar Tissue by Anthony Keids of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Chad Slaughter is still here at the facility and may be joining the Ravens also.

12:30

Chad Slaughter formerly of the Oakland Raiders was here this afternoon for a workout. More news as it comes out, but here is info on Chad.

12:10

Today was a good day to be over the age of 30 if you play for the Ravens. Today was a day off for the over 30 club, except for a couple of members like Gary Stills, and Matt Stover.

Here are some other notes from the morning session:

- Coach Harbaugh, Coach Cameron, and other members of the coaching staff all ran down on the kickoff team coverage towards the end of practice this morning

- Willis McGahee had his left knee wrapped heavily in ice towards the later parts of practice this morning

- Ray Rice continues to impress with every time he touches the football

- The quarterback situation still has no clear cut winner in my opinion

- Dan Cody, Adam Terry, Jared Gaither, Haloti Ngata, and Edgar Jones all missed practice this morning while nursing injuries

- Coach Harbaugh acknowledged that the team is currently in the process of adding a player or two to the roster. This is likely to be at the tacle position.

- Coach Harbaugh said that Ed Reed has missed practice due to dealing with a strength issue in his shoulder. Ed has been on the field running and catching passes almost on a daily basis while at camp. He has not taken part in any drills with the team.

Ravens Camp 7-29-08

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:15:05 GMT

5:20

Dan Cody who was out of the morning practice, was seen at the team hotel with a walking shoe on his right foot. Dan had a slight limp as he walked through the lobby of the hotel.

No word on the amount of time he will miss.

4:25

At afternoon practice, Ozzie Newsome was working the phone a lot. Ozzie was talking on the phone and having conversations with John Harbaugh, and Dick Cass, during and after the practice this afternoon.

- There is no news on Adam Terry as of now. Adam has been around the team hotel for most of the afternoon and said that he has no news on his injury status.

- Trevor Pryce was wearing a brace on his left wrist at the afternoon practice. Trevor missed time last year with a wrist injury.

- Here is more information as it relates to the injury status of Ed Reed: “you’d have to ask John Harbaugh that and Bill Tessendorf. I really don’t know. I know one thing is that Ed is working his tail off out here. He took David Pittman under his wing and he is working just as hard as he can possibly work. But whenever we get him. Ed will be ready. Mentally, in the meeting rooms he’s really taking that leadership over. He’s making all the calls and he’s sharp. It’s just about when he can return due to physical play.”

1:45

Adam Terry was walking around on crutches with his left leg heavily wrapped and putting no weight at all on it.

Patrick Carter (WR, Louisville) was absent from the morning practice, but is walking around the team hotel with his left arm in a sling.

Derrick Mason had his right knee wrapped this afternoon after a morning collision with Haruki Nakamura. Derrick does not expect it is something that will keep him out for a long period of time.

12:15

To say the morning practice was not interesting would be an understatement. Adam Terry went down in the early part of full team contact drills and immediately began to clutch his left leg and ankle area. This has been the same leg that he has had heavily taped during camp. Adam was quickly carted off the field and taken into the training room.

Here are some other notes from the morning session:

- Kelly Gregg was at practice and participating in all of the team drills after being seen at the team hotel late yesterday evening with his left leg heavily wrapped

- Several players were missing from practice this morning: PJ Daniels, Dan Cody,and Aaron Walker. Several of the guys who have not been at practice ths last couple of days were absent again today: Haloti Ngata, Jared Gaither, Dan Wilcox, Demetrius Williams, and Ed Reed

- Here is my take on Ed Reed. I think Ed Reed being out of practice is a reason for concern. Ed has not participated in any team activities since camp has opened. Ed shows no sign of an injury when he walks around at practice or the team hotel goes, he has no taped up leg or arm or anything else. Ed runs drills on the side with some of the other injured players while the team practices. At this point it makes you wonder if it is a neck injury or something related to that since he does nothing related to contact.

- With Adam Terry and Jared Gaither being out, O’Neil Cousins took the snaps at right tackle while Mike Kracalik took the snaps at left tackle. The Ravens only have Joe Reitz, Marshal Yanda, and David Hale, left as tackles

- Right as the offensive line was about to go over to team drills after individual drills, Ben Grubbs pulled the offensive lined together and gave them a pretty good pep talk. It was impressive to see and caught a lot of people’s eye.

- Right as practice was ending and the team was stretching in the individual units, Edgar Jones walked off the field with the team trainers.

When will Suggs show ? No reason to show for fans tomorrow morning

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:46:50 GMT

So today the discussion of when Terrell Suggs will return to camp came up among members of the media. Several people said next week some said the last week of the preseason. So here is my prediction, August 18^th.

I pick that day, because the Ravens will have just finished playing their second preseason game versus the Vikings and will have ended camp that Friday, Aug. 15^th. That is the day that makes sense to me. Suggs would have missed all the fun and not so fun things that comes with training camp, yet be back in time to play in the last two preseason games and be at the facility in Owings Mills everyday.

So there is my prediction Monday Aug 18^th, I think Terrell Suggs will return to the Ravens.

- Tomorrow’s morning session of practice is closed the public, as it will only be open for special invited guest. They will however have an afternoon session starting at 2:45.

Ravens Training Camp 7/28/08

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:42:39 GMT

12:20

So the morning practice went off with out any players having to be carted off the field. This morning also featured an appearance by the new Ravens live mascot. Here are some other news notes from the morning practice:

- Still no official word on Haloti Ngata. Haloti was seen walking out of the team locker room after practice, but was never on the field during the practice.

- Jared Gaither was not at practice but I saw him here at the team hotel with a walking boot on

- Kyle Boller took the first snaps under center today and his first pass was intercepted by Dawan Landry

- During a redzone drill, tackle Mike Kracalik caught a pass on a play. That was of course after he ran the wrong direction the play before.

- One of the highlight throws of the day was a Troy Smith to Ernie Wheelwright completion which appeared as if Chris McAlister was trying to jump the route

- Derrick Mason was doing a lot of trash talking to the defense today. He was yelling to the offense to attack the defense

- Ray Rice and Bart Scott had a head on collision to which neither player gave up much ground. Ray went to the ground after a second player hit him. While lying on the ground Bart Scott walked by and slapped Ray’s helmet off of him.

- Joe Flacco was very good in the team redzone drill, throwing for a touchdown and making a nice handoff to Ray Rice for a diving over the pile touchdown.

- Troy Smith had a middle of the road day. He made a couple of nice throws and a couple of bad throws. All three of the quarterbacks have been about even in the competition so far.

- John Harbaugh helped out on the special teams practice taking on Prescott Burgess and Gary Stills in a blocking drill.

- Ray Rice continues to be very impressive with his runs and explosiveness. He is not afraid of contact or taking on defenders.

7:30

Today will be a day that maybe we will get an idea of what exactly happened to Haloti Ngata and how serious the injury is. I am heading over to the field a little bit earlier this morning as I noticed a bunch of cars with Ravens theme logos on the vehicle.

As I was doing a report with Drew on the Comcast Morning Show, Jared Gaither walked by with a boot/brace on his right leg.

Updates after the morning practice and will hopefully have some news on a shirt that is being worn by players with a picture from the Ali vs Liston fight.

Quick thank you to Bobby from body fx studios for the work he did for me last week. If you are looking for a new tattoo be sure to check them out.

Ravens Camp Day 5

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:11:59 GMT

5:10

The first day of full team practice concluded this afternoon with the team in soft shell shoulder pads. Here are some notes from practice:

- There were several scuffles this afternoon that featured guest appearances from Jason Brown, J’Vonne Parker, Edgar Jones, Mike Kracalik, Joe Reitz, and Gary Stills

- Dan Cody who was banged up this morning but returned for special teams practice this morning was out on the field for practice this afternoon

- P.J. Daniels who left the practice this morning with a injury was at practice this afternoon in shorts and shirt watching practice

- Kyle Boller took the snaps with the first team offense this afternoon

- On one on one drills, Antwan Barnes schooled Mike Kracalik several times with a rip and swim move which lead to Kracalik being very upset

- Other highlight from one on one drills was a strong performance by Jared Gaither against Dan Cody

- Haruki Nakamura had a nice afternoon when he picked off both Joe Flacco and Kyle Boller. While returning one of them one of the coaches yelled out “that is the Bearcat in him.” Referring to Haruki’s days at Cincinnati.

- With no Chris McAlister or Samari Rolle to play in the secondary, Frank Walker and Corey Ivy filled in at that position.

- Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton took turns returning punts in the afternoon practice.

- Adam Terry was favoring his left ankle during practice today, but stayed out for the majority of the plays

- Derrick Martin left practice around 4:25p.m. with the trainers but did not return

- Yamon Figurs also left practice at 4:35 p.m. with the trainers and did not return

- Practice ran for a little over 2 hours this afternoon

- Kyle Boller does some extra running after practice from sideline to sideline after the afternoon practices

- Former Ravens running back Matt Simon was at practice and the team hotel this afternoon

- Several of the Ravens players will board a plane tomorrow morning here in Westminster and head to south Florida to attend the funeral of Samari Rolle’s father. Ozzie Newsome will lead a contingent of players that will include Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Chris McAlister, and a couple other players to attend the funeral. The players will leave tomorrow morning and not return till tomorrow evening. No word yet on when Samari will report to camp.

12:25

It was a hard hitting fast paced first practice for the Ravens here are couple of notes from this morning:

- Kyle Boller had a good morning with several of his passes , but then had a couple of fumbles on the exchange from the center

- Troy Smith took the reps this morning as the first quarterback out with the offense

- Chris McAlister, David Pittman, Dan Wilcox, Demetrius Williams, and Ed Reed all did not participate in practice today

- P.J. Daniels left the field with the trainers after taking a hit during the contact drills and did not return to the field. No official word on his injury status.

- Jim Leonhard and Dawan Landry were the safeties on first team defense with Ed Reed not practicing

- Jonathan Ogden was here at practice along with Mike Flynn, Spencer Folau, and Wally Williams. Ogden even stepped in and showed some technique and gave some pointers to O’Neil Cousins and Jared Gaither

- Ray Rice had a tremendous day running the ball. You see his explosiveness and he can make defenders miss him. Ray Lewis pulled Ray Rice to the side and gave him some pointers about running the ball north and south. One of the defensive coaches went on a very profane tirade at defensive players after a couple of the runs by Ray

- Joe Reitz got his welcome to training camp today when he started a scuffle with the defense which was quickly equaled him being out numbered.

- Sam Koch ran a fake field goal when he was the holder and completed a pass to Todd Heap who was covered by Corey Ivy. Todd tipped the ball in the air and came down with it.

- Yamon Figurs took some reps with the second team offense at wide receiver

- O’Neil Cousins,and Jared Gaither, had rough days at practice. Dan Cody man handled Cousins on 1 on 1 drill.

- The Ravens retrun to the field at 2:45 this afternoon

- The Ravens want everyone to know that there was an issue today with single ticket sales, and the plan is that they will go on sale tomorrow at 11 a.m. through ticketmaster. The Ravens said there are single tickets remaining to all of the home games.

8:05

Today is the day where the full team will practice for the first time for the media and public as the 2008 Ravens. It looks like they will be in full pads when they hit the field this morning. It will be interesting to see how the rookies will act now with the veterans out at practice.

I will be back after practice with a report.

Former Raven Mike Flynn and Jonathan Ogden are here picking up credentials to go watch practice.

Ravens Q&A time

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:55:46 GMT

With today being a day at training camp that is off limits to fans and media, I thought this would be an opportunity for readers to submit questions and I will answer them as they regard the Ravens. This again will be a weekly and sometimes twice a week blog I will have here on the website.

Here are a couple of notes from late yesterday evening:

- Willis McGahee appeared to be in better shape than what he was when he was in town for the mandatory camps.

- Chris McAlister may be the happiest guy to be back at camp. Chris was smiling and joking with the media about how much he loves us, saying hello to everyone that works for the Ravens or the Best Western that was within 100 feet of him.

- Ray Lewis was wearing a new shirt he came up with. Ray usually has shirts that say Team 52 on the front. In the past on the back slogans such as Prayed up have been on there. Yesterday it said T52 on the front and Heart of a Lion on the back.

- As was predicted and I wrote last week, Terrell Suggs did not report to camp yesterday.

- Although it is called an Administrative Day today, the Ravens will have meetings most of the morning than a practice this afternoon. Reminder today is closed to the media.

- People at S.A.F.E. might want to learn what Ravens coaches and players look like. I can not count the amount of times over the last two days that coaches, players, and even veterans reporting have complained about getting interrogated by the security at the team hotel. The fact that someone had to verify John Harbaugh was the coach to let him into the hotel is crazy. Several of the coaches either walk or run from practice back to hotel and a couple of gotten stopped by security asking them for identification.

- John Harbaugh is so much about the team and not letting one person have the spot light, I wonder if he will allow the usual King Ugly contest to take place this year?

- Tomorrow morning will be the first time fans and media will get a chance to see the entire 2008 Ravens team on the field at 8:45 a.m. Of course Terrell Suggs will not be there as well as Samari Rolle as he prepares for his fathers funeral.

- It was funny yesterday to see several of the defensive veteran players walk in and run into Dan Cody and ask him what the practices have been like and have then been hitting and trying to get the details on what to expect. They were reminded that there was only 25 players there so there was not a lot that they could do.

- If I was taking a prediction, I think Dan Wilcox and Demetrius Williams, both start out on the physically unable to perform list (p.u.p.). I don’t think they will stay on it long, but it will allow them a week or so to recover to get back onto the field.

So fire away with any questions you might have.

Ravens Camp Day 3

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:10:50 GMT

5:30

The last day of training camp for the rookies ended with Joe Flacco as the holder for field goals and trying to run trick plays out of it. After practice Patrick Carter practiced with special teams coach Jerry Rosburg on his holding of the ball for field goals.

After practice, several of the Ravens veterans including Todd Heap, Willis McGahee, Jarrett Johnson, and others were talking with one another before they headed off to a team meeting for the first time as a full team this evening. As was expected, Terrell Suggs has not shown up at the Best Western to report for camp.

Part of the talk going into this camp is that the veterans will have to stay at the team hotel during the whole camp. For Tavares Gooden, he has been compared to Ray Lewis in several ways: they both went to Miami, they both wore #52, and now they both will be sharing a hotel room in Westminster.

Do you think he tells Ray to turn the t.v. down at night so he can go to sleep?

Remember that there is nothing here for fans or media tomorrow, so the first chance you will have to see the whole team will be at 8:45 a.m. on Friday.

2:15

Players are starting to come in quickly here as the Ravens veterans have to be in for 3 p.m. practice.

Ed Reed, Ben Grubbs, Justin Bannan, Justin Green, Antwan Barnes, Yamon Figurs, Gary Stills, and Adam Terry are just some of the veterans who have reported here to camp in the last hour.

As for the rookies, qb’s, and injured veterans, are getting ready for an afternoon practice that will start at 3:30 p.m. on the lower fields this afternoon.

More after the afternoon practice.

12:51

So the Ravens need your help. They are having a poll to help determine music that will be played during the pre game music. This week it is the rock version battle. Here are the choices for you to vote for:

Good Charlotte – I Don’t Wanna Be In Love

U2 – Beautiful Day

Foo Fighters – Hero

Linkin Park – Bleed It Out

Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train

Head over to the Ravens website if you want to vote. I would personally vote for Linkin Park. Can you think of any rock songs that would be good intro songs?

Here is a couple I would suggest:

Thousand Foot Krutch – Move (thanks to John Rallo for recommending this song to me)

Saliva – Ladies and Gentlman

As I wrote about on Monday, I did not think that Coach Harbaugh’s name would make it long on the billboard outside, and sure enough it has not. His name has been taken off of the sign out on the street.

Ben Grubbs and Jason Brown have arrived and checked into the team hotel. The vets have physicals starting this afternoon.

12:07

So far only Todd Heap has been the only veteran today seen at the team hotel. Dan Wilcox came in earlier today, but he was here when the rookies, quarterbacks and injured vets reported.

In case of inclement weather this afternoon during or before the 3:30 p.m. workout, the Ravens would likely just use the gym here at McDaniel College to get their work done.

Over 1300 fans attended practice yesterday for the first day. That is still an impressive number figuring that is was mostly rookies here. The rookies have all been very good about signings autographs after practice, although that amount of fans and number of autographs will grow greatly once the veterans are on the field with the team on Friday.

Really appreciate all the kind words and compliments from all of the readers of the blog.

10:57

So the morning session of the practice is over and here are a few of the highlights from this morning:

- Todd Heap was on the field as practices begin, but then walked off with Ozzie Newsome. Veterans do not have to report till today but Todd was here very early. Just so no one worries, Todd walked off with Ozzie just talking to him.

- Kyle Boller took the snaps with the 1^st team when they did team drills as he did yesterday. Troy Smith was next followed by Joe Flacco. All of the quarterbacks had a decent day; no one had an exceptionally good or bad day.

- While doing a drill where the running back throws their shoulder into the goal post padding on a blocking drill, Allen Patrick throw his shoulder into the goal post then fell and took out some equipment. He got up and was ok.

- Ravens offensive line coach John Matsko is an intense coach to watch and was constantly in the ear of O Neil Cousins and David Hale this morning. Matsko was getting onto cousins for constant mistakes and being out of breath. For David Hale, it was much more about him getting his back side beat constantly during drills.

- Coach Harbaugh said he was looking forward to getting back to the team hotel after practice so he could be there when the “varsity” players report to camp.

- Dan Cody was kind enough to join Bob Haynie for a few minutes this morning. Dan is going to see some playing time at defensive end, and looks impressive so far. Dan is very motivated to prove that he is still a good football player and can contribute to this team. Dan’s change of roles is partly due to the fact that it was going to be an up hill battle for him to try and make the team as a backup linebacker and special team’s guy. One of the factors working against Dan is his height when it comes to special teams. Dan will get a lot of extra reps this camp with Terrell Suggs not attending camp. Dan is expected to be a guy that will be a 3^rd down pass rusher.

- Coach Harbaugh had a scare as he was burned while playing corner back by Patrick Carter. A little bit later Marcus Smith turned Mark Carrier so bad when he was playing corner that Mark Carrier came out of his shoe.

7:53 a.m.

Today is the last day of the rookies, quarterbacks, and injured veterans camp here at Westminster. Throughout the day, the veterans of the Ravens will begin to report here to the Best Western in Westminster to begin the full team portion of camp. As I mentioned late last week and has been confirmed through several other sources, Terrell Suggs is not expected here today as well as Samari Rolle who has been given approval from the team to miss due to the death of his father.

Last night NFL Network ran a story on O.J. Brigance of the Ravens. If you did not get a chance to watch it on television last night, here is the video from the NFL website. O.J. is an inspirational person and makes you really think about how precious life is. Having seen and got to know O.J. over the last 3 or 4 years, he is always positive and upbeat, even now here at training camp as he comes passing by the lobby in his motorized wheelchair, he always has a smile on his face and says hello to everyone.

As of right now, the plans are still for practice to get going as planned at 8:45 a.m.

Ravens Camp Day 2

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:19:19 GMT

5:45

So the first day of camp is done as far as on the field goes for the Ravens, this afternoon concluded the first of the two-a-days for the team.

Here are a couple of notes from the afternoon practice:

- Watching Trevor Pryce play cornerback is an interesting thing to watch. He got turned around by Marcus Smith on a play that resulted in Trevor falling to the ground which caused some of Pryce’s defensive teammates to critique his cover skills.

- Dan Cody is getting a lot of work on learning the defensive end position

- The Ravens added another tight end to the roster this afternoon as they signed #84 Adam Bergen 6-4 from Lehigh who has three years of NFL experience

- Although it is early in camp, Haruki Nakamura has made some impressive plays in the secondary. Earlier this morning, Haruki tipped a Troy Smith pass that was intercepted by Tom Zbikowski. This afternoon Haruki made a diving deflection that prevented a catch that would have resulted in a touchdown.

- Joe Flacco shows flashes with some of his throws, just how strong and accurate his arm is.

The Ravens return to practice tomorrow morning when they have an 8:45 a.m. practice. Also tomorrow will be the day when the veterans will report to the team hotel. Samari Rolle will not be reporting as he has been allowed to miss to deal with the passing of his father with a funeral planned for Saturday. As I mentioned last week, I do not expect Terrell Suggs to report to the Westminster facility.

1:49

The Ravens have released cornerback Lenny Walls from the roster. The Ravens this morning added Aaron Walker and could possibly be adding some other players in the next day or so.

Here is what Coach Harbaugh had to say about the first days of camp “It’s not an evaluation time right now. It’s rookie camp. It’s the same thing we did for three days in June. It’s a chance to get these guys re-acclimated and go through the offense for the fifth time, give them a chance to compete come Friday.”

Coach Harbaugh also had a interesting comment about the attitudes of the quarterbacks: “They’re doing a nice job, all three of them. They look fluid. The fact that they’re friends and the fact that they’re good guys taking the attitude that they want to be as good as they can be and help the other guys be as good as they can be, that’s just them being good guys. Make no mistake about it, every one of those three guys wants the job. It’s not really a nice guy contest. We’re all nice guys, but it’s a quarterbacks contest.”

Check back later for a report from the afternoon 3:30 p.m. practice.

8:11

So a quick blog before heading to practice, I was a little late this morning after the top notch SAFE security thought media were not allowed at the team hotel although I have a parking pass and a credential with my name and all camp written on it, but it is what it is.

Its S.A.F.E. management, what can you expect? They even stopped a Ravens employee and questioned if they were suppose to be here.

When the players get ready to walk out of the doors here at the hotel there is a friendly reminder waiting on them. There is a note on the door that reminds players to sign autographs after practice and to show appreciation to the fans who come out to support them during camp. Also on the flyer is a note to tell players to not leave a teammate alone signings autographs.

Well off to watch the first practice of 2008 training camp with rookies and some injured vets. I will be doing updates every hour on the radio, but not on blog till later this afternoon.

11:04

So the first practice under John Harbaugh of the 2008 training camp has concluded. The practices did not run as long today due to the limited number of players available for him to use.

Here are some notes from practice today:

- Troy Smith did not have a very good practice this morning. He was picked off three times during the morning session. Chuck Pagano one of the Ravens coaches, Prescott Burgess, and Tom Zbikowski all intercepted Troy today.

- The Ravens parted ways with quarterback Brad Roach last night and signed Aaron Walker, a tight end.

- Trevor Pryce took his conditioning test today and as was told to us by the staff, he “crushed” it.

- Several of the players were wearing arm and hammer patches on their uniforms today and will during camp. The patch is to signify guys that attended 85% of the voluntary off season workouts.

- Coach Harbaugh pointed out that this is just like the rookie camp that the team had at the Owings Mills facility.

Tune into the Bob Haynie Show to hear audio from Coach Harbaugh, Troy Smith, Kyle Boller, and Joe Flacco.

12:45

News has circulated here at Owings Mills that Samari Rolle’s father passed away last week and will not be here for the begging of camp for the veterans. The funeral for Samari’s father will be on Saturday, and he has been told to take as much time as he needs. No matter what you think of Samari, you have to feel for the guy for everything that he has been through lately.

Here is the ESPN article courtesy of James Walker.