Baltimore Ravens Player Organized Workouts

Article first published as Baltimore Ravens Hold Player Organized Workouts on Technorati.

Several Baltimore Ravens players have been participating in a player organized team work out this past week at Towson State University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium.  The practice work out was organized by Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason. The workouts which were scheduled to last three days started on Tuesday. Twenty seven Ravens players attended the first workout. There were several key veteran Ravens players in attendance such as Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, and Derrick Mason.

Some of the rookies taken in this year’s draft also showed up for the workouts such as wide receivers Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss. Derrick Mason commented that the rookie wide receivers still have a lot to learn to compete on the NFL level, but he believes they will excel once the season starts and will help the team. He feels the addition of Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss will only help him and veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin during the regular season.

Some of the veteran defensive players in attendance included cornerbacks Josh Wilson and Domonique Foxworth. Jimmy Smith, who was the Baltimore Ravens number one pick, was not in attendance at the workouts and as a result stirred up some local controversy.

Many people have criticized Jimmy Smith for not being in attendance because they view the player organized workouts as an opportunity for him to show how serious he is about becoming a model player for Ravens. Rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith, who has befriended Jimmy Smith, took up for him tweeting that the workouts were mainly for offensive players and that Jimmy Smith did not miss a thing.

Personally, I do not blame Jimmy Smith for not attending the workouts. The risk of injury is just too great considering that he hasn’t even been paid yet and currently has no injury coverage by the NFL.

Ravens Never Looked Back in Win Over Panthers

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Carolina Panthers just like I anticipated in my previous post. Actually, the Ravens did better than I thought they would scoring 10 more points than I predicted. Joe Flacco set the tone early hitting T.J. Houshmandzadeh for a 56 yard touchdown pass on the second play from scrimmage and the Ravens never looked back after that.

Several Ravens hit career milestones during the game. T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught his 600th career reception. Old reliable Derrick Mason became the 13th play in NFL history to hit the 900 career catch mark. Not to be outdone, a couple of defensive players hit milestones as well. Ed Reed grabbed his 50th career interception and Ray Lewis snatched his 30th career interception which he also ran in for a TD to close out the game.

Final Score: Ravens 37 Panthers 13

Wide Receiver Needed

The Baltimore Ravens have been talking about getting that big star wide receiver for years. In a recent interview Jim Harbaugh expressed interest in Terrell Owens. The Ravens have already signed Dante Stallworth and Derrick Mason has expressed interest in returning if he can get a two year contract.

Ravens Tame the Lions 48 to 3

In one of the biggest blowouts in Baltimore Ravens history, the Ravens show what they can do when both the offense and defense show up at the same time. Ray Rice had a huge day with 166 yards rushing and averaging 12.8 yards per carry. Willis McGahee also contributed with 76 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Derrick Mason had 94 yards receiving and a touchdown as well.

The only scoring the bad news Lions did was a field goal which came on a drive after a bad roughing the passer call against the Ravens. Joe Flacco ended up with 230 yards passing and no interceptions. Overall, it was a great win for the Ravens even though it came against a scrubby team.