Baltimore Ravens Training Camp News and Notes: August 12

ANNAPOLIS, Md.—The Baltimore Ravens held their last public practice of the preseason on a beautiful 83 degree day at the United States Naval Academy in front of 20,335 fans. Eight days ago at M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens' open practice drew a similar crowd of over 20,000 people.

Head coach John Harbaugh was very excited about the day. Among his first words to the media after practice were: "Has this been unbelievable or what?"

It was understandable that Harbaugh was pleased with his team's effort today and throughout camp as a whole. He talked about how he's thankful for the talented coaching staff he has and said they prepare the players well. "...we practice game-like situations all the time. You saw it out here today – a lot of game situations. So, the guys are competitive. They want to win the situation. We were going 'ones' against 'ones' the whole practice, and it was really competitive."

When the team moved to 11-on-11 drills, LaQuan Williams continued his campaign for major playing time this season with four sure-handed touchdown catches in traffic. His third was a pass from Tyrod Taylor in which Williams had to turn his body to reach back and fight off the defender to catch the pass.

After practice, Williams talked about how wide receivers coach Jim Hostler and Anquan Boldin have helped him progress: "Just work hard, try to stand out, make plays. That's what I come in to do."

Harbaugh agreed Williams had a good practice. "I told him the last couple of days he forgot to bring his hands to practice. Today he remembered his hands, and he had a nice day."

When asked if he talks trash to defensive backs after he catches a touchdown, Williams noted, "Us pushing each other makes the game much, much easier."

The Ravens had 10 wide receivers active for practice today, making it one of the toughest groups to narrow down.

On the other side of the field, Billy Cundiff made a 60-yard field goal, which Justin Tucker followed with a 65-yard field goal. Although both kickers kicked with the aid of a tee and didn't face a rush on those kicks, it shows each kicker is of starting caliber.

Joe Flacco continued to show his progression as a top-tier NFL quarterback when he fired a 15-yard pass to Boldin over the middle. Boldin is healthy this season and continues to show he's playing at a very high level.

Tyrod Taylor also had a impressive pass, when he threw a beautiful deep ball to Deonte Thompson for a 40-yard touchdown, beating cornerback Jordan Mabin's tight coverage.

Thompson mentioned how, like Williams, Hostler and Boldin have helped him out a lot in acclimating to the NFL game. Thompson said every day he tries to find something to get better at. He also talked about how Boldin has been instrumental in helping him learn how to run routes well, read defenses and get off of jams.

As a whole, Thompson praised the Ravens organization:

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I wouldn't [want to] be anywhere else but here. This is a family atmosphere. Coming in, you'd think guys would be big-headed, but everybody is humble and treats you like a brother, no matter who you are."

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During the third/fourth-and-short series between the first-team offense and the first-team defense, the defense held their ground. On the last play between those two units, Ray Rice took a toss sweep to the right, cut it back and was met by Haloti Ngata.

Vonta Leach got a bit of revenge when the second-team offense took the field. On a pass attempt from Taylor to tight end Billy Bajema, safety Sean Considine broke up the pass, but seemed to make contact early. The official didn't throw a flag, so Leach took the official's flag and threw it himself.

Toward the end of practice during two-minute team drills, Flacco hit Williams to start the session, beating Lardarius Webb. When Flacco came back to Williams a couple of plays later, Webb broke up the pass. Flacco looked comfortably in control in the hurry-up offense.

The second-team defense flexed their muscle, covering well and keeping constant pressure on Taylor. Bryan Hall and Chavis Williams were among those who registered sacks.

The exclamation point came when linebacker Jameel McClain intercepted a Hail Mary pass attempt by Taylor of more than 50 yards.

The Ravens return to Owings Mills tomorrow, where they will practice for three days, have a walk-through on Thursday and then host the Detroit Lions on Friday night at 8:00. That game will be aired nationally on FOX. Former Ravens head coach Brian Billick will be doing the color commentary.

Notes

• Matt Birk, Dannell Ellerbe, Arthur Jones, Bernard Pierce, Jimmy Smith and Courtney Upshaw were all full participants.
• Justin Tucker hit a 65-yard field goal off a tee.
• LaQuan Williams and Deonte Thompson continued to have strong camps as they both made multiple tough touchdown receptions.
• Christian Thompson had one interception and dropped another in the end zone.
• Owner Steve Bisciotti and Kevin Plank (Under Armour Founder/CEO) were in attendance.