RECAP OF OTA'S

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Camp Notes - RECAP OF OTA'S

Posted On: 5/31/07

Written By:

Tony Lombardi

In training camp like weather, the Ravens took the practice field this morning at One Winning Drive. The offense opened up with Kyle Boller running with the first unit filling in for the absent Steve McNair. To get the blood flowing the unit ran through a few running plays emphasizing the hard count and executing it successfully to the delight of Brian Billick.

Among the missing in action for the voluntary OTA’s: QB’s Steve McNair (trial proceedings) and Drew Olson (NFL Europe); WR’s Derrick Mason and Clarence Moore (in attendance but did not participate); RB’s Willis McGahee, P.J. Daniels (in attendance but did not participate) and Mike Anderson; OL Jonathan Ogden; DB David Pittman (flu and pink eye); LB’s Jim Cottrell (NFL Europe), Ray Lewis, Dan Cody (knee) and Dennis Haley (wife’s pregnancy); DL Trevor Pryce.

NFL Network’s Charlie Casserly was seen at practice chatting with Ozzie Newsome for what could be an upcoming feature on the network. USA Today’s Jason Bell was also on hand as were Art Modell and Steve Bisciotti (fresh off a golfing trip to Ireland).

As the offense loosened up, Brian Billick was once again very hands on. After Mike Johnson praised Devard Darling for improved route running, Billick as he has throughout OTA’s stressed the importance of the receivers to separate after their break and to position themselves to extend their reach towards the sidelines where the quarterback are instructed to deliver the 12 yard out. He reminded them not to look for the ball to be delivered behind them, “Which you’re not going to do here, right quarterback?” Immediately after the instruction, Yamon Figurs ran a perfect route with full sideline extension to which Billick exclaimed, “Perfect! [That] can’t be stopped.”

Per usual the team broke out into one on one drills with the WR’s going up against CB’s. Here’s a snapshot of what happened:

WR	CB	Advantage	Comments
Clayton	Prude	Prude
Bryant	Rolle	Bryant
Darling	Oglesby	Oglesby
Figurs	Ross	Figurs	Ross falls after Figurs' quick break to end zone
Williams	Maze	Maze	Finnerty's pass thrown behind open WR
Clayton	Prude	Prude	Excellent technique and great close to bat pass down
Willis	Gaston	Willis	Touchdown
Darling	Oglesby	Darling	Quick cut from Darling brings praise from Mike Johnson and leaves Oglesby on ground
Bryant	Ross	Ross	Bryant and Troy Smith not on same page
Williams	Maze	Williams	Williams flattens cross route sharply creating separation
Clayton	Prude	Clayton	Great fingertip catch along sidelines of nicely thrown pass by Finnerty. Prude and Clayton both get props from Mike Johnson
Linson	Gaston	Linson

The offense soon thereafter ran through a few more running plays with various combinations at offensive line. Jason Brown was in attendance but not a participant in these drills although he did participate earlier in technique drills under the tutelage of Chris Foerster. A sampling of the combinations from today:

Left Tackle	Left Guard	Center	Right Guard	Right Tackle
Yanda	Rimpf	Ndukwe	Pino	Terry
Kracalik	Vincent	Flynn	Chester	Terry
Kracalik	Vincent	Chester	Grubbs	Yanda
Yanda	Rimpf	Flynn	Pino	Terry

For the first time in the 2007 OTA’s the offense and defense competed in full 11 on 11 drills dominated to no one’s surprise by the defense. On the first play Kyle Boller was forced to eat the ball, essentially the equivalent of a sack. Boller then hit Cory Ross on a swing pass to the left which was stopped by Dawan Landry for no gain. The third play called for a screen left and the sloppy execution that resulted in a 3 yard loss (tackle by Landry) left a livid Brian Billick barking, “Don’t leave the huddle if you don’t know the play.”

Boller followed that up with a short pass to Greg Pruitt, Jr. and then Cullen Finnerty followed up a few inconsequential plays led by Troy Smith with a nice 15 yard completion to Demetrius Williams.

Special teams then took the field with B.J. Sams, Cory Ross and Yamon Figurs alternating on punt returns. Sams and Ross handled their few chances flawlessly. Figurs dropped one of his chances but quickly recovered but not before Billick took notice.

“Don’t put that ball on the ground Yo!”

Linebackers coach Jeff Fitzgerald per his usual self was active while critiquing and praising the individual performances of his unit. Fitzgerald is likable, intense and dedicated and while those qualities are desirable for a coach who might be considered for a coordinator’s position in the future, one has to question if Fitzgerald’s excitability will be a detriment to his career possibilities. If he’s that excitable in practice, what might happen during the heat of the moment as a coordinator in a regular season game? That is certainly a question that the Ravens and Fitzgerald will have to address if and when Rex Ryan moves on.

Later in practice the team returned to 7 on 7 drills and this time, Troy Smith stepped up and looked impressive while finding a small open window to deliver a crisp pass to Daniel Wilcox hitting the tight end in full stride. The throw inspired props from offensive coordinator Rick Neuheisel and Billick who exclaimed, “We can do something with that!”

On the very next play Smith rolled to his left, squared up and fired a bullet to Yamon Figurs on a comeback route. Figurs dropped the throw. The drops didn’t stop there when Smith hit a streaking Mark Clayton in stride from left to right in the seam on the left hash 20 yards downfield. Clayton was unable to hang on.

Other observations: There seems to be a bit of a buzz on the team about Antwan Barnes and word is the players are referring to him as “The Natural.” He has an explosive burst and could be very productive as a situational pass rusher and a special teams player in ’07…Demetrius Williams and Mark Clayton look very polished and both, particularly Clayton, are running razor sharp routes…Jarret Johnson looks much leaner this season. He expects that to help him be more effective in ’07 when he’ll see fewer snaps with his hand in the dirt and more from a traditional upright linebacker’s position…Dan Cody worked out with team trainer Bill Tessendorf in the sand pit. One team official said that Cody is experiencing a little discomfort in his knee as scar tissue breaks down. The club has been very pleased with Cody’s offseason and OTA efforts to date…Backup punter Brendan Carney was a Jeckle & Hyde today, following up one shanked punt with a bomb…Demetrius Williams ran a bit as a gunner on punt teams today and made what may have been the play of the day when he dove to kill a punt on the one much to the delight of Special Teams Coach Frank Gansz, Jr…Players who have missed prior OTA’s but made it to practice today were: Ed Reed, Samari Rolle, Chris McAlister, Kelly Gregg and Mike Flynn…Mandatory OTA’s run from June 5-7, each day will be open to the media.

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Posted On: 5/31/07

Written By:

Tony Lombardi

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