SB Nation - Justin Harper

Ravens Roster Cuts + Other Moves

Bruce Raffel — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:03:25 -0000

Keep it here for the list of players being released or moved in other ways by the Baltimore Ravens as the team gets down to the maximum of 53 players by this afternoon's deadlines. So far, this is what we have heard:

Waived: Graham Gano, Justin Harper, Yamon Figurs, Evan Olglesby, Will Johnson, Jayson Foster, Jason Cook, Robby Felix, William VanDeSteeg have been waived.

Also waived with the announcement of the 53 man roster were: Nader Abdallah, Ernie Wheelwright, Eron Riley, K.J. Gerard, Tony Fein, Isaac Smolko, Tre Stallings, Stefan Rodgers, Cedric Peerman AND Devon Drew!

LB Jason Phillips has been placed on Injured Reserve, thereby ending his 2009 season but allows the Ravens to keep his rights and gives him his full salary. This is what I predicted in my earlier posting today.

Derrick Martin has been traded to the Green Bay Packers for what was thought be an undisclosed late round 2010 draft pick, but turned out to be offensive guard/tackle Tony Moll, who was added to the 53 man roster.

We will add more names as they are released by the team or when they list their final 53 players.

(See the first comment below for the full list of the 53 players on the Ravens roster, as posted, thank you very much, by Mr MaLoR.)

Reportedly, the tem is interested in adding a player or two and the names that have come up are former Jacksonville Jaguars (and Ravens) OT Tony Pashos and recently released NY Giant WR David Tyree.

See the entire story and recently updated roster on by clicking on BaltimoreRavens.com.

Ravens 53 Man Roster: My Picks

Bruce Raffel — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:00:24 -0000

Here are my picks for what the Ravens will end up doing later today when they announce the 53 man roster that they will be trimming down to when they release 22 guys to get down to the NFL max.

Offense

QB: Joe Flacco, Troy Smith, John Beck

WR: Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, Demetrius Williams, Kelley Washington, Justin Harper

RB: Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, LeRon McClain, Jalen Parmele

TE: Todd Heap, L.J. Smith, Davon Drew, Edgar Jones

OL: Matt Birk, Ben Grubbs, Jared Gaither, Chris Chester, Marshal Yanda, Michael Oher, David Hale, Oniel Cousins

Defense

DB: Ed Reed, Dawan Landry, Fabian Washington, Domonique Foxworth, Haruki Nakamura, Tom Zbikowski, Chris Carr, Lardarius Webb, Frank Walker, Derrick Martin

LB: Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Jarret Johnson, Tavares Gooden, Jameel McClain, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Paul Kruger, Prescott Burgess, Antwan Barnes

DL: Haloti Ngata, Trevor Pryce, Justin Bannan, Kelly Gregg, Dwan Edwards, Brandon McKinney

Specialists

P: Sam Koch

PK: Steven Hauschka

LS: Matt Katula

That’s only 52 guys and my final spot is a tough one to decide upon. I am looking at one of the following guys:

Yamon Figurs, Jason Cook, Jason Phillips, Joe Reitz, Kelly Talavou

Figurs still has the speed and with Webb looking a bit shaky on returns, Yamon gives us another option behind Chris Carr. Jason Cook gives us another fullback along with LeRon McClain. Jason Phillips was a 4^th round draft pick in 2009 and Ozzie doesn’t like to release draft picks. Perhaps Phillips will be IR’d to keep our hands on him (I expect the Ravens to IR undrafted rookie LB Dannell Ellerbe as well). Joe Reitz gives us more depth on the offensive line as well as Kelly Tavalou does the same for the defensive line.

I don’t want to take the easy way out by only selecting 52 players, so I will have to go out on a limb and make my selection and therefore the 53^rd spot on the Baltimore Ravens roster goes to Yamon Figurs.

The other players I was undecided about go onto our Practice Squad, where we can have up to eight players. Of course, I would expect the team to peruse other teams’ cuts to add a player or two to either our roster or Practice Squad, and vice versa for the rest of the league. However, in advance of that info, my Practice Squad would look like this:

Cook, Reitz, Talavou, Foster, Riley, Peerman, Smolko, Stallings

Additionally, as I stated earlier, the team would place both Dannell Ellerbe and Jason Phillips on Injured Reserve (IR), which would end their 2009 seasons, but ensure the team retains their rights while giving the players their full 2009 salaries, which do count against the team’s salary cap. However, being rookies, that should not be much of an issue.

Your thoughts and comments on those last few slots?

Ravens Dominate Again: Finish Pre-Season 4-0

Bruce Raffel — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:14:41 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

3 months ago: Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh greets quarterback John Beck (12) as he comes back to the sideline after a first half touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons during their exhibition NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Browse more photos »

The Baltimore Ravens completed their 2009 exhibition season 4-0, by dominating the Atlanta Falcons with their reserves most of the game 20-3. Last time the Ravens went undefeated in pre-season was before the 2000 Super Bowl season.

To many of the fans, this was an incredibly meaningless and boring game. However, to the knowledgable fan, this was as important a game as there was for the team as a whole. While most of the starters were on the sidelines, the reserves were fighting for their NFL careers, hoping to make that one last impression that would convince the team's Front Office that they deserve a spot on the Ravens roster.

The Ravens must cut 22 of their 75 players to get down to the NFL maximum of 53 players by tomorrow afternoon. Almost one-third of this roster will be looking for either new teams or new jobs by late Saturday. Can you imagine the stress and fear going through some of the players on the so-called "bubble?" One moment, they are on the world's stage, being treated like royalty with a big salary, great benefits and teammates and the next moment they are returning to the factories and local supermarkets in their hometowns looking for a full time job that many of them are not even qualified to do.

This is the toughest time of the year for the Front Office personnel. Telling a player that his dream job is being ripped from his heart has to be one depressing deed to complete, much less 22 times in one afternoon. I feel for Head Coach John Harbugh and his staff on the tough decisions, much less the notification of the unlucky players. On the other hand, there will be a few surprises so the fear and disappointment of one player could be muted by the joy and aspirations of another who gets told he did indeed make the squad.

However, that's all happening tomorrow. Today is a time to exalt the efforts that the team made in their victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Our second team offense moved down the field and scored on its first possession against the Falcons' first team defense. Our deeper reserves bullied and pushed the Falcons' reserves all over the field and while it was not exactly pretty nor efficient at times, the final score showed the complete domination on both sides of the ball.

Third string QB John Beck played his most minutes and best of the pre-season, with the time to get into a rhythm, hitting on 16 of 28 passes for 232 yards, two TD's and no interceptions, with a 108.0 QB rating. The running backs did their part and there is going to be a tough decision as it appears that only one out of Jalen Parmale, Cedric Peerman and FB Jason Cook is going to make the squad.

At wide receiver, Justin Harper continues to frustrate both the team and himself, dropping two long balls after getting open on deep routes. At the same time, Eron Riley caught the passes thrown in his direction, a long ball plus a TD reception, but even that might not be enough to secure a spot for him. Little guys Jayson Foster and Yamon Figurs didn't do anything to help their causes either.

At linebacker, there are so many decisions to make and to me theyare all easy as the entire group deserves to stay on the team. That won't happen and while Jameel McClain and Tavares Gooden are locks, Antwan Barnes, Prescott Burgess, Danell Ellerbe, Jason Phillips and William VanDeSteeg are probably fighting for just two remaining spots between them. Since we didn't see the rookie Ellerbe in the game, I am hoping the team retains their rights to him by placing him on Injured Reserve to secure him for next year.

The defensive backs did relatively nothing to change the coaches opinions about their roles on the team. Evan Oglesby had a nice hit but still figures to be a long shot, and Frank Walker was,..well Frank Walker. Two penalties on one play epitomizes his style of play, which is grab and hold and hope the refs don't flag him, which they usually do. For wahtever reason, the team seems to like him but he has done nothing to prove his value to the fans this pre-season.

Once again, another great win despite the meaningless part of pre-season being wins and losses. The coaches now have to seclude themselves in the headquarters to make their final decisions by tomorrow afternoon. Post your thoughts here on what you saw and what you think will happen tomorrow when roster cuts are announced.

Until then, bring on the Kansas City Chiefs!

Ravens Recent Injuries Create Opportunities

Bruce Raffel — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:25:01 -0000

The Baltimore Ravens are not unlike most any other NFL teams in that they've had their share of injuries in Training Camp as well as pre-season. Luckily, other than Adam Terry and Marcus Smith, both looked at being reserves anyway, the team has escaped the devastating loss that could drastically affect a team's season.

After the game Monday night against the New York Jets, a couple of other injuries came out to the public. Tight end L.J. Smith has a bum hamstring and DT Kelly Gregg injured his shoulder. There is every reason to believe that both guys will return by the time the regular season begins in a little over two weeks. We've already been informed that wide receiver Mark Clayton has returned to the practice field and will be ready for the home opener on September 13th against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Clayton's absence in practice and the exhibition games has opened the doors for Kelley Washington and Justin Harper, both who have had their share of success. Washington looks to be the guy willing to go over the middle and his enthusiastic approach to the game is contagious and refreshing. Harper, who looks to be the guy who will make the deep acrobatic catch one moment and then miss a pass that hits him in the numbers the next one, has made great strides this year compared to last year when he was ignored on the Practice Squad.

With Clayton's return, the depth chart just got a little deeper and it may be hard to find significant playing time for all of the receivers, which is a nice problem to have for this team, since it has been widely criticized for the lack of a star receiver. Derrick Mason is still the go-to guy for QB Joe Flacco and this team will remain a run-first offense no matter who is playing wideout here. However, if teams decide to stack the box to stop the run and force us to pass, then they will be quickly burned by the strong arm of our second year QB, who has the cunning Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron in his helmet radio not afraid to light it up if the opportunity arises.

L.J. Smith's injury leaves Todd Heap as the only other proven tight end on the roster. Rookie Davon Drew has had a great opportunity the entire camp and pre-season but just hasn't earned the right to get the chances he could have. The team also has converted linebacker Edgar Jones, but his pass catching abilities have been less than promising and Isaac Smolko, from Penn State on the roster. Smolko has actually looked good but was so far down the depth chart that he might have been forgotten up until now. Many radio callers are saying that the team should bring back former Raven Daniel Wilcox, who was a fan favorite but couldn't stay healthy last year. I say put both Drew and Smolko in there for a majority of the last two pre-season games after Heap gets his reps and let's see if they sink or swim.

Kelly Gregg's injury is no big deal to the defensive line, as he missed a huge portion of last season and we didn't miss a beat with Justin Bannan in his place. We now have a healthy Dwan Edwards as well as a plethora of others to man the d-line in so many combinations. Brandon McKinney and Kelly Talavou are just two names who contributed last year but are not exactly household names on this star-studded defense. However, both could probably start on many other NFL teams.

All in all, the injuries are just a part of the game. The team's mantra has always been "next man up," and will continue to be that way, as this team is deeper at most positions than it has ever seemed to be. While they are thin on the offensive line, their starters are as good as any other team and should be a major strength, providing they stay healthy. So for now, the team will reload and play out the final two exhibition games, giving some of the reserves the chance they need to earn a roster spot before the final cuts are announced over the next two weeks.

Ravens Hold Off Jets, 24-23

Bruce Raffel — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:03:33 -0000

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Jets, 24-23, when the Jets were unable to convert what would have been the game winning two point conversion at the end of the game. While the score was close at final whistle, the Ravens jumped out to 14-0 and 21-7 leads in the first half. Both Ray Lewis and Ed Reed left early in the first half, when the Ravens scored on the Jets first pass attempt which was intercepted by DT Haloti Ngata and returned 25 yards for the score. Baltimore could have easily scored again the same way when Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez hit Ray Lewis in the stomach for what would have been a 50 yard TD return on the next series, but Ray could not hold onto it after reading Sanchez' eyes and running to the spot.

Later in the first quarter, the Ravens scored again for a 14-0 lead after a long pass to Derrick Mason set up a three yard run by Ray Rice off of a great fake by Joe Flacco. Flacco only finished 8-18 for 120 yards, but had two nice longer throws, 43 yards to Derrick Mason and 22 to Kelley Washington. The team was much more balanced between rushing and passing attempts this week, with the team running the ball 25 times and throwing it 27 times. Last game against he Redskins, the Ravens threw it 54 times while only running it 25 times.

The Jets' Sanchez looked totally confused the first few series as he made it a requirement to try to keep his eyes on both Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, leaving the rest of the defense to rush, harrass and frustrate him into ineffectiveness. He did, however, throw his first NFL TD pass with five minutes left in the second quarter and both Reed and Lewis on the sidelines, watching.

Ravens standouts for the game included reserve linebacker Jameel McClain, who led the team with ten tackles plus an interception return for a TD in the second quarter, covering 16 yards. Second year linebacker, Tavares Gooden, who started alongside Ray, had a solid game with five tackles and a sack and rookie LB Paul Kruger had five tackles starting in place of the still-injured Terrell Suggs.

Mostly because of the Ravens disruptive pass rush, the starting secondary looked solid in the first half, but the reserves did not fare as well. Both Frank Walker and Evan Olglesby were picked on repeatedly by the Jets reserve quarterbacks, Kellen Clemens and Erik Ainge. Walker continue to grab and hold and while he might be the team's most physical corner, he needs to, as Derrick Mason yelled at him in training camp, "practice good habits, Frank!"

Flacco might have only been sacked once in his stint, but he was pressured and hit hard too many times. Rookie Michael Oher seemed to do his job great, but the left side of the offensive line looked like it was collapsing or getting overstacked by the Jets' pass rush way too often. Troy Smith, who looked great in the first exhibition game, looked abysmal last night other than the 51 yard bomb he completed to WR Justin Harper and should have had two interceptions. The first was overturned by a defensive penalty but he came right back and threw another three plays later.

The placekicker competition continues to lean towards second year pro Steven Hauschka over the rookie Graham Gano, as Hauschka hit his only field goal attempt of the game while Gano missed his attempt and second of the pre-season.

All in all, it was a win, although certainly not the dominating victory that they had against Washington. At the same time, Jets' Head Coach Rex Ryan could have easily gone for the game tying extra point and sent the game into an unnecessary overtime. Instead, he went for the win against his former team which resulted in the incompletion and the victory for the Ravens.

The Baltimore Ravens next travel to Carolina to play the Panthers in their third pre-season game Saturday evening.

NOTE: In my haste to get to the stadium, I neglected to post an "Open Thread" on the game and plan to do so for the remainder of the pre-season as well as the entire regular (and hopefully post-) season.

Ravens Training Camp: Friday AM Edition

Bruce Raffel — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:00:59 -0000

The Baltimore Ravens have three more days of camp remaining up at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland before they head back to Owings Mills for the rest of the pre- and regular season. Today and Saturday are open to the public, but Sunday is closed to both the fans and media as it is a walk-thru for the exhibition game against the New York Jets on Monday Night.

Injury update: Guard Chris Chester is in shorts and his jersey but not practicing due to a right calf strain that is not serious but wrapped. Ed Reed is practicing and without the red (no contact) jersey.

QB Joe Flacco sets up behind his starting offensive line (from left to right): Jared Gaither, Ben Grubbs, Matt Birk, Marshall Yanda and rookie Michael Oher. If they stay healthy, that's a pretty impressive group which should protect our prized QB quite well.

Ray Rice lines up behind LeRon McClain in the backfield. In passing formations, Todd Heap is joined by WR's Derrick Mason, Demetrius Williams and Kelley Washington in three-wide sets.

Flacco pump fakes as D-Mase puts a double-move on Domonique Foxworth, leading to a long sideline completion. Then Joe throws a bullet to the sidelines that Mason makes a fingertip catch and tiptoes to stay in bounds.

Today's field goal competition continues to be neck and neck. Steven Hauschka hits from 35, 45 and 50 yards, but is wide right from 41 and short from 54. Similarly, Graham Gano is good from 35, 41, 45 and 50 but is wide right on his 54 yard attempt, although is definitely was long enough where Hauschka's was short.

After Justin Harper catches a short 5 yard TD reception, CB Chris Carr lightly bumps Derrick Mason, who falls to the ground feigning injury, screaming "Trainer, trainer!" Carr and Reed help him up, all three laughing but for a moment, it was not funny at all!

The kickers are practicing free kicks (Hauschka good from 60 yards!) as well as onsides kicks.

Long after practice is over and most players have finished interviews, autographs and headed to the locker room, Flacco is still on the field playing catch with a couple of little kids with lacrosse sticks. Finally, with fans still waiting and chanting his name, he begins to stroll over to the stands to sign autographs as the fans erupt with cheers.

Ravens Training Camp: Tuesday AM Edition

Bruce Raffel — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:13:32 -0000

No afternoon practice today, nor will there be any morning practice on Wednesday as well. However, the offense turned up the heat today and made some real nice progress in the air game, with QB Joe Flacco seeming real interested in developing a connection with veteran wide receiver Kelley Washington.

Flacco throws a bomb that traveled over 50 yards in the air before Washington ran under it and reached out before falling to the ground to haul in the deep pass amid cheers from another huge crown in attendance. Joe also hit Todd Heap over the middle for a 20 yard TD and even Troy Smith got in on the TD action with a 20 yarder down the sidelines to a wide open Justin Harper.

It was nice to see safety Ed Reed in full pads and without the red (no contact) jersey. Tavares Gooden and Paul Kruger were running with Reed, Ray Lewis and the first team defense. Gooden looks like he'll be taking Bart Scott's position and Kruger is filling in for the injured Terrell Suggs.

In 11-on-11 drills today, Ray Rice looks explosive as he burst up the middle, while DT Justin Bannan collapsed the 2nd team offensive line to meet the running back in the backfield for a loss.

One of the funnier plays of the morning had Flacco rolling out looking for someone to throw it to before winging it out of bounds, but into a kneeling Ray Lewis' arms on the sidelines, drawing laughter from the players as well as the fans!

After an incomplete pass to L.J. Smith, DT Kelly Gregg rags on him, saying "way to go, LJ, stop thinking about Kendra," referring to Smith's former teammate on the Philadelphia Eagles, Hank Baskett, who is married to the former Playboy Playmate and Hugh Hefner's old girlfriend, Kendra Wilkinson.

Gee, have you seen this before? Troy Smith's overthrown pass was picked off by centerfielder Ed Reed and taken down the left sideline for a TD!

Flacco throws a bullet over the middle complete to Kelley Washington in traffic - again! On a simple screen play, it's interesting how the two lead blockers both blocked Ray Lewis, leaving T-Gooden and Dawan Landry unblocked to tackle the running back.

Field goal time: Steven Hauschka hit consecutively from 47, 34 and 36 yards, but missed from 47 and hit the crossbar (no good) from 51 yards. Similarly, Graham Gano hit from 46, 38, 36, but also missed from 47 and 51 yards. No clear cut difference between the two today, although Gano's leg has more distance on his kicks.

Flacco hits L.J. Smith in the corner of the end zone over Dawan Landry for a TD, with Smith tiptoeing to stay in bounds and then leaping over the rope and into the crowd of fans. He then hit LJ again over the middle for another 15 yard TD pass. The Ravens next surprisingly lined up four wide with Derrick Mason, Kelley Washington and Justin Harper on one side and Ray Rice on the other, before Joe hits Kelley for a nice five yard TD pass over the middle - again!

Finally the defense gets some revenge as Domonique Foxworth jumps in front of a Flacco pass to Harper and then fakes a lateral to Ed Reed, prompting Reed to jokingly yell, "you should have given it to me!"

LeRon McClain is on the sidelines, first on his knees and then laying on his back, complaining of a hard shot to his stomach. Later, Willis McGahee, Ray Rice and Derrick Mason gather around and give him a raft of stuff, teasing him.

Defensive lineman William VanDeSteeg (who?) drops back into coverage against RB Matt Lawrence and picks off a Troy Smith pass. Later, during punt coverage drills, Head Coach John Harbaugh is giving pointers to the players, including Special Teams' ace Kelley Washington.

The heat is oppressive and the players are glad when practice ends, as they head over to the throng of fans to sign autographs before getting a well deserved afternoon off.

Ravens Training Camp: Monday AM Edition

Bruce Raffel — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:55:12 -0000

Well it's great to be back in sweltering Westminster, Maryland, watching our Baltimore Ravens prepare for their second pre season contest as well as the 2009 regular season, and hopefully beyond! After a week in sunny Negril, Jamaica, the return to the typical dog days of summer here in Baltimore is a huge difference. The players are sweating and probably losing lots of weight out there, and the training staff is all over the place with fluids and towels for them.

It is another "plus-30" day, meaning the players over the age of 30 have the day off again. Of course, as always, there's Matt Birk in shorts, mentoring the "kids" on his offensive line. There are a few new faces to me in camp. In addition to the signing of QB Cleo Lemon, the team has brought back previously released QB Drew Willy, giving the team five QB's in camp. Injured thrid stringer John Beck is here and is dressed and participating, so I wonder why there are so many of them? The is a new wide receiver, Bradon Godfrey (6'3", 197 lbs.), an undrafted rookie out of Utah, who played there with Ravens second round pick, Paul Kruger, albeit on the other side of the ball. Godfrey has a jersey with a number, but no name on the back yet.

In 11-on-11 drils, Troy Smith goes right for the new guy, Godfrey, but Lardarius Webb breaks up the pass. Safety Tom Zbikowski bangs Justin Harper on a crossing pattern. On the very next play, Harper beats the cornerback but drops a ball that hits him right in the hands for waht should have been an easy catch. Justin's drops on easy passes is getting to be a concern, although he seems to make the difficult catches that impress everyone. He'll need to be more consistent though, in order to move up the depth chart.

Joe Flacco throws a sweet long bomb to Kelley Washington for what appears to be a 75 yard TD reception. The offense then puts a little wrinkle into their formation with RT Michael Oher in motion over next to LT Jared Gaither. However, rather than running the ball, Flacco throws a quick hit to J. Harper with Oher rushing over to lead the blocking. Yes, Oher is as fast as they say he is!

Troy Smith his the new guy, Godfrey over the middle. Troy is taking charge out there, yelling at Godfrey for inadvertantly going in motion causing a procedure penalty, but then patiently explains the play to him afterwards.

Smith's 10 yard pass to Eron Riley is completed but then he is pancaked by safety Dawan Landry. Kelley Washington continues to impress, with a short five yard sideline catch, where he is quickly tackled by Frank Walker and Domonique Foxworth. On two successive plays, Flacco hits Washington in the numbers over the middle but Kelley bobbles and drops it and then comes right back for a completion in the same area on the next play. Washington then makes a great diving sideline grab, tiptoe-ing out of bounds for a first down. He plays to the applauding fans by posing and signaling a first down before giving the fans a smile and a "thumbs-up!"

It's field goal time now. Steven Hauschka lines up for a 35 yarder, but the fake is on and holder/punter Sam Koch hits Edgar Jones for a TD pass. Hauschka then proceeds to hit from 35 and 41 yards, but surprisingly misses from 46, 52 and 58 yards, hitting the crossbar on the last attempt. In his turn, Graham Gano splits the uprights from 35, 41, 46, 52 and 58 yards. The final kick hit the left upright and went through, but would have been good from much longer as it hit halfway up on the upright.

Troy throws compete to Bradon Godfrey on the sideline, prompting Frank Walker to yell at the ref, " you gotta call that," referring to Bradon alledgedly pushing off. WR Eron Riley goes up real high to snag a sideline pass before falling out of bounds. John Beck gets in on the action, hitting rookie TE Davon Drew over the middle behind defenders for a nice gain. Drew has a great opportunity on this team and needs to step up and make himself shine during camp, which he just has not done so far. Cleo Lemon hits Godfrey for a short gain and it seems like the QB's are noticing that he holds onto the ball real well and are making the effort to get the ball to him.

Kelley Washington again makes a reception over the middle, beating Lardarius Webb. Webb gets yelled at by the coaches, "Webb, don't let him do that!"

Smith sets up in the pocket, looks right and then calmly throws complete to his left to Ernie Wheelwright. It's comforting to see a confident backup to Flacco, if indeed he is needed to step up.

Back to 11-on-11 drills, where Haloti Ngata rushes Flacco and knocks down a pass, then getting in Joe's grill before Flacco playfully pushes him away.

Good news! T-Sizzle is on rthe sidlines in shorts and a t-shirt, but no boot on his foot and seems to be walking, at least, without any limp. In his absence as well as the other "plus-30" guys, rookie Paul Kruger is running with the first team and looking good.

Wiilis McGahee makes a nice run as the practice comes to a close. He puts his shoulder into LB Prescott Brugess who tackles him but afterwards is laying on the sidelines favoring his wrapped left thigh. He gets up and seems to be be fine, though.

Filling WR Marcus Smith's Spot

Mr MaLoR — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:02:33 -0000

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Thursday night, second year WR Marcus Smith came off the field limping after making a very impressive tackle on a special teams play. At the time, most of us were probably unsure of how serious the injury was, just thinking that it was a sprain or that the player landed on it the wrong way. However, after the game Coach Harbaugh stated that it is a pretty serious injury and further reports have given clues that Smith could be missing the whole season if his ACL is as messed up as we think.

Now, where does this injury leave us? Baltimore was very excited to see a guy like Smith step up and improve what many around the league think is one of the weakest WR groups in the NFL. He was having a great start to the pre-season and looked to be a guy we could count on as our 4th or even 3rd WR at times. Here are a few possibilities.

Stick With Our Current Group: With Smith's injury, this leaves Kelly Washington and Demtrius Williams fighting for the 3rd and 4th spots. This injury moves guys like Justin Harper up the depth chart just slightly and may even give guys like Jason Foster or Eron Riley a chance.

Acquire Yet Another Free Agent: There is still some talent out there in the Free Agent pool. We have debated for a while now of the guys out there that could possibly come in here and help us out. Here are a few of the Free Agent WR that seem to stand out.

What is the best decision for the Ravens at the moment?

Ravens Training Camp: Saturday Edition

Bruce Raffel — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:20:11 -0000

Sorry for the lateness in posting my notes and photos on yesterday's practice session, the only one session this day due to placekicker Graham Gano hitting a 36 yarder that Head Coach John Harbaugh said would eliminate the PM session if he made it. He split the uprights and the players had off until they practice today at 2:30pm (no am session today). However, Gano had his roughest day kicking prior to the all important kick. He missed three of five attempts, either wide or on his two 53 yard attempts, one landing short and the other hit the crossbar and bounced back onto the field.

Saturday was also another "plus-30" day, giving the veterans over the age of 30 off for the day. That didn't stop center Matt Birk, who was out there in shorts walking through drills as he is still picking up the playbook and is such a great mentor to the young offensive line.

Tackle Oniel Cousins, who limped off the field on Friday, was there in shorts with his ankle in a brace, but not practicing. He said, "it's sore." Guard Ben Grubbs in dressed the same way, but Marshall Yanda is practicing hard. His amazing recovery is truly a welcome sight based on the recent injuries on the line to Terry, Cousins and Grubbs.

In 11-on-11 drills, Flacco is flushed out of the pocket twice in a row, but then completes a sweet 17 yard sideline pass to Marcus Smith. Next he sees his receivers covered and "hoofs" it 30 yards down the sidelines for a TD. However, Flacco then targeted Smith on the opposite sideline but CB Frank Walker read his eyes and picked it off.

On passing drills with WR's 1-on-1 with DB's, the receivers are either dropping everything or the QB's overthrowing them, while the better passes are being broken up by the DB's, or in Domonique Foxworth's case, intercepting it. Finally Ernie Wheelwright grabs one over the middle but they return to poor form when one clanks off of Todd Heap's hands. Granted these are tough passes that the DB's know are coming and then Foxworth picks off another one, his second of the morning.

Justin Harper had a great day today. He catches two in a row, although the first one was a long toss that was out of bounds despite another one-handed grab. Harper also seems to catch the balls with his arms more than his hands. Meanwhile Ray Rice drops an easy one, earning groans from the fans. But Harper makes the fans happy with a short stop and catch then run for a nice TD.

Back to 11-on-11 drils. Flacco zips a rocket to Marcus Smith 20 yards over the middle but Lardarius Webb knocks it away before Smith can secure it. Joe then hits Demetrius Williams over the middle for a nice gain in traffic. Troy Smith gets in the action with a sharp 15 yard sideline pass to Wheelwright who tiptoes out of bounds.

Offense now going no-huddle and when Flacco hits Rice for a nice swing pass out of the backfield. The nice thing about the play was how Marcus Smith drew the DB's away by going long, opening the field for Rice's gain.

The next passing drill has the receivers going against both the LB's and DB's. Flacco's pass is picked by Chris Carr, who laterals to Haruki Nakamura, who weaves his way downfield like Ed Reed does. Webb breaks up two straight passes, both intended for Wheelwright from Troy. Flacco throws a bullet that Smith catches while sliding on his knees.

FIGHT!!! In the trenches, something happens and a scuffle breaks out. All the players gather around and start pushing and grabbing like a rugby scrum until it settles down and they break it up. Reportedly it was between OL Joe Reitz and rookie Paul Kruger, but according to Coach Harbaugh, it wasn't really anything.

Troy Smith hits a couple of nice ones to L.J. Smith and another one handed grab by Justin Harper! Flacco splits defenders to put one into Marcus Smith in stride. Smith throws a short swing pass to Rice, who fakes rookie LB Jason Phillips into twisitng his ankle on a great move (Phillips is okay). Smith double pumps to Harper, whose move beats both Evan Olglesby and K.J. Gerard for a long, sweet 70 yard TD pass that Justin celebrates with a pretty lame dance in the end zone. If he plans on getting there during the season, he better come up with a different routine!

Flacco hits Kelley Washingotn underneath to beat the blitz for a big gain. Lardarius Webb blitzes again and the play is held up for what would have been an easy sack, if of course, Webb could have brought the much bigger Flacco down.

On one of the final plays, LB's Tony Fein and Prescott Burgess meet RB Cedric Peerman in the backfield, slamming him to the ground.