The Ravens concluded another day of passing camp this afternoon. Here are some news and notes from today:
- John Harbaugh did not speak much to the media today. He is going to have his coordinators speak with the media on a regular basis to allow media and fans to hear different voices and to give his coaches exposure.
- The Ravens announced that the quarterbacks, rookies, and select veterans will report to training camp on July 21. July 22 will be the start of practice with two a days and then the rest of the team will report on the 23rd. The Ravens will have an administrative day on July 24th which will be closed to the public. The Ravens will put out a more detailed schedule later as it relates to the training camp.
- Joe Flacco returned to the Ravens today to practice. Joe had to miss the last passing camp because of his class had not graduated from school. The Ravens also rearranged the time of their rookie camp due to Flacco not being able to be here. It is jokingly referred to it as Camp Flacco.
- Dan Cody has looked good so far this season and was at practice today. Look for Dan to play more of a defensive end this season than as a linebacker. Dan could be the guy who comes in as the third down defensive end. Coaches still rave about what Dan can do for this defense, he just has to prove that he can stay healthy and contribute to the team.
- I continue to be impressed with what I have seen from Troy Smith. I still feel like he will be the guy under center to start the season for the Ravens. Troy continues to make solid throws and shows an ability to get out of the pocket and make things happen with his feet. Kyle Boller started out looking like today was going to be a strong day for him, but then some of the same issues you have seen with Kyle came out again.
- Chris Chester did not get a ringing endorsement from Cam Cameron today. Here is what Cam had to say when he was asked about Jason playing center “We’ll keep in there, without question. Now, he can play guard as well, which is a plus. Chris Chester can play center as well and now Marshal Yanda has moved where he can play tackle, but he can also play guard. We had to develop a third center, so we said, ‘Marshal, you’re the guy,’ and he looked at me like I was from another planet. So we worked on his snapping for two weeks, and then we threw him in there and never looked back.”
- Cam Cameron also addressed the tackle position:” Adam Terry will be a right tackle for us, and Jared Gaither is a left tackle for us. Mike Kracalik has played left tackle for us. Right now we’re going to do everything we can to get Adam settled at right tackle. It could be a situation where he’d move over there.But right now he’d be at right tackle and Jared at left tackle.”
- Rex Ryan referred to his new guys Haruki Nakamura and Tom Zbikowski as the mixed martial arts safeties, “we might not be able to cover anybody, but we’re going to beat up somebody.” Zbikowski has boxed while Nakamura is “skilled in martial arts”.
- Still no word on the future of Jonathan Ogden. Everyone here is under the assumption that Ogden is not coming back this year. Cam Cameron said today “you have a lot of respect for the guy, and you enjoy watching him play. But the bottom line is you’ve got to move on.” Ogden is supposed to be in town next week for a golf tournament, so maybe then he will announce his retirement.
- Joe Flacco said while he could not be here for the passing camps, he would go out with his dad and his brother and had them stand in places where the routes would go and then would go through his drop backs and throw to them. Joe said his dad is getting a little old, so he would just place his dad in an area.
- The Ravens will have another passing camp next week which will be the last time these guys will be together as a team before training camp. The Ravens will have a rookie camp later this month before they move onto training camp.