Anthony Stalter will be on with Rex Snider of WNST Sports Radio in Baltimore today at 3:40PM ET talking about the Ravens’ upcoming season. You can listen live at WNST’s website.
Tag: Baltimore Ravens (Page 15 of 46)
Merry training camp season, everyone. It’s been a long offseason, but football is finally gearing up again and to celebrate I’m rolling out a new series on TSR entitled “2010 NFL Question Marks,” where I discuss one or two of the biggest concerns that teams have heading into the new season. Granted, some teams have more issues than others, but I’ll primarily be focusing on the biggest problem areas. First up is the Baltimore Ravens and their question marks surrounding their secondary.
After dismantling the Patriots in the postseason last year, Raven fans are more excited about the team’s Super Bowl hopes this season than I am about “Shark Week” every year. (I think it goes without saying that sharks are the greatest fish, human and/or breathing organism on the planet. I mean, they’re sharks.)
And who could blame the Baltimore faithful? Joe Flacco is heading into his third season (which is the year when things are supposed to really “click” for players), Ray Rice is on the verge of superstardom and the passing game added a legitimate No. 1 wideout this offseason thanks to Ozzie Newsome’s trade for Anquan Boldin.
But just like all 32 teams at this time of year, the Ravens have some concerns and most of theirs lie within the secondary.
First and foremost, Ed Reed isn’t healthy and that’s a huge problem. At 31, some note that he isn’t as physical as he was earlier in his career, but the guy can still cover ground with the best of them. His ability to read what formation an offense comes out in, bait the quarterback into making a poor throw and then actually make a play on the ball is unrivaled. In fact, I wouldn’t hesitate to say he was the best coverage safety in the league last year, along with Arizona’s Adrian Wilson.
But again, he’s also hurt. The Ravens recently placed him on the active/Physically Unable to Perform list and he’s a candidate to miss the first six weeks of the season as he continues to battle a hip injury. He missed four games last year and the Ravens still made the playoffs, but playing without him isn’t something the team wants to make a habit of.
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Ed Reed (hip) will probably begin the regular season on the PUP list.
• Ed Reed, safety: The Pro Bowl safety is almost a certainty to start training camp on PUP. In fact, it would be surprising to see Reed play in the preseason. He recently said he is 35 percent recovered from offseason hip surgery. The most likely scenario is placing Reed on the Reserve PUP at the start of the regular season, which would mean he misses at least the first six weeks.
Ken Hamlin and Tom Zbikowski will battle for the starting free safety position in training camp and preseason. Hamlin has started in all but two games throughout his career, so he has the leg up on Zbikowski in terms of experience. But Hamlin’s production has decreased over the last couple of years, so it isn’t a foregone conclusion that he’ll win the job.
It’s a little odd that Reed told a local radio station in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago that he would like a new deal in place before returning to the field, even knowing that he’s doubtful to return anytime soon. Granted, he did say he wouldn’t push the issue until he was healthy, but he nevertheless has awful timing.
He still has three years remaining on the six-year, $44.4 million contract extension that he signed in the summer of 2006 – the same deal that included $15 million in guaranteed money. It’s not surprising that Reed wants to cash in one last time, but considering he’s not healthy and was even complementing retirement as recently as April, he’s not in position to be pushing for a new deal.
The Ravens were forced to cancel the final week of OTAs for violating the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s offseason workout rules, the Baltimore Sun reports. But nobody knows who issued the complaint that led to the cancellation.
It was determined that the Ravens violated the rules concerning the intensity and tempo of drills well as the length of time spent by players.
A complaint was received by the NFL Players Association, but it is unknown who issued it. The Ravens were scheduled to have a special teams camp on June 15-16.
Here is the joint statement from the NFL and the union:
“It was determined that the Ravens violated the rules concerning the intensity and tempo of drills conducted on the Club’s organized team activity days (‘OTA days’) and the length of time spent by players at the Club’s facility on such days.
“As a result, the Ravens will forfeit the final week of their off-season program (June 14-18, 2010). Ravens’ players are not permitted to be at the facility on those days, but will be paid for the sessions. The Club cannot reschedule the canceled days.”
A couple of years ago, several Lions players complained to the media about the degree of difficulty of Rod Marinelli’s practices during his first year in Detroit, although the team was never penalized. Players hate OTAs and training camp, so it wouldn’t be shocking to find out that one of the Ravens issued the compliant that led to the cancellation.
Either way, this hardly hurts the Ravens in terms of preparing for the regular season. While it’s always better for players to get as many reps under their belt before the season starts as they can, training camp and preseason is where jobs are won and lost. Plus, unless it’s a new coaching staff or scheme change, OTAs aren’t vital for veterans outside of making sure they’re getting into shape. They’re more beneficial for newcomers and rookies.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
The Ravens announced on Tuesday evening that they’ve hired former Browns’ general manager George Kokinis as their Senior Personnel Assistant. Kokinis was once the Ravens’ director of pro personnel from 2003 to 2008 before he was hired as Cleveland’s GM.
From the Baltimore Sun:
“It’s good to have George back,” general Manager Ozzie Newsome said in a statement. “He will help evaluate college and pro players, plus work with Pat [Moriarty], the Ravens’ vice president of football administration].
“George knows the game, understands what it takes to win, and he will help us find players who will help us win. He has done that before for us.”
There were rumors that Kokinis was escorted from the Browns’ team facility by security after he was fired last November. The team later denied the report, but then released a statement saying that Kokinis was “no longer actively involved with the organization.” Rumors also circulated that current Cleveland head coach Eric Mangini had some involvement with Kokinis’ firing, which is noteworthy considering the two are/were close friends.
Regardless, Kokinis has experience as a scout in the Ravens’ organization. He served as the team’s northeast area scout from 1996 to 1999, so one would think that he would return to a similar role. Under Newsome, Baltimore has had one of the best scouting departments in the NFL and adding Kokinis should only make them stronger.
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