Ravens Training Camp Notes – 8/8

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Many Ravens players did not take to the field on a beautiful August afternoon in Owings Mills at the Under Armour Performance Center.

The headliner was Brent Urban suffering a torn biceps, confirmed by Coach John Harbaugh that it is a 12-14 week setback. No word yet on whether he, or Elam, will be placed on the lone spot of the IR with eligibility to return.

Steve Smith was given the day off for a family emergency.

Marshal Yanda and Jimmy Smith got the veteran Saturday off

Kelchi Osemele was held out as a precaution from being stepped on in yesterdays practice.

DeAngelo Tyson is dealing with a minor knee issue.

Breshad Perriman is close to returning, and coach said he doesn’t necessarily need to return to practice by Tuesday, in order to play in the teams first preseason game on August 13th.

Kamar Aiken was feeling fatigued and had the day off.

Robert Myers and John Urschel both missed another day after suffering concussions.

Maxx Williams left practice early after getting poked in the eye.

After dealing with tendonitis earlier in the week, Elvis Dumervil was a full go.

With the top four receivers sitting this one out, it was a day that the fringe receivers could have stepped up and made the coaches take notice. This wouldn’t be the case. Michael Campanaro was solid making catch after catch. But nothing fancy. Jeremy Butler was decent as well. The rest of the WR group did not impress. DeAndre Carter and Aldrick Robinson missed catchable balls. Robinson cleary heard footsteps on one over the middle as he short armed one. Darren Waller coughed up the football on one occasion, untouched.

If I had to give you a WR depth chart for now, it would go: Smith, Aiken, Brown (slot), Perriman, Campanaro (slot), Butler, Waller, and the rest.

Sticking with the offense, it was a rough one for Matt Schaub. Terrell Suggs was heckiling him from the sidelines. “You’re guys are in purple,” he would yell across the field after another poor pass.

With Marshal Yanda off today, we saw Ryan Jensen and Jah Reid rotating in at right guard.

Nick Boyle got plenty of play with Maxx Willimas missing most of the day. Boyle looked real good in his blocking, and especially in pass blocking drills, going one on one with a pass rusher. The first rep in this drill was rookie Za’Darius Smith, against Crockett Gillmore. Smith put on a swim move and beat Gillmore like he was standing still. Smith would go against Boyle and Boyle stood him up, much to Smith’s dismay. After some jarring back and forth, Boyle and Smith wanted another crack at each other. Smith won the second battle. More on Smith later in the coaches quotes.

Elsewhere on defense, Arthur Brown may have been impressing the coaches of late. Something he needed after a poor showing on Monday. Brown saw himself taking second team reps today, and Zach Orr was on the third team more often.

It was not a good day for Asa Jackson. He was beaten on a route by Jeremy Butler early, and came to the sidelines with an apparent cramp. The rest of practice he seemed a bit off. Head down, wandering about, not himself.

C.J. Mosley jumped an out route run by Gillmore to pick of Joe Flacco.

Overall, the defense won the day, easily, given the lack of depth and the mistakes made by the offense.

Quotes

Coach Harbaugh on rookies Carl Davis and Za’Darius Smith.

“Carl’s looked good…he’s in the process of sharpening up his edges a little bit…he’s a talented guy and he really works hard. Za’Darius, he might be a little more sharpened up right now. He’s pretty tough.”

Both men had great practices. If I’m reading between the lines, coach might be propasing that Davis is a raw talent that needs some work, and Smith is already polished, ready to roll. We’ll see as camp continues.

Crokett Gillmore on his view of Maxx Willams, who is where he was just a year ago. 

“Maxx is doing a great job. Came in very in shape, very ready to play Raven football. He’s definitely a Raven. No real issues. He’s on time, he does what he’s supposed to do, he keeps his mouth shut.”