The Ravens held their first open practice of Organized Team Activities (OTAs) Thursday, giving media members their first look at this year's team on the field.
Here are some news and notes from the day:
- The Ravens have excellent attendance. Terrell Suggs is the only player who could practice who didn't, and that's because he was held out by Head Coach John Harbaugh. Suggs has been training at the Under Armour Performance Center.
- The only player that's not at the team facility is guard Marshal Yanda (shoulder surgery). Other players who did not practice because of injury were linebacker C.J. Mosley (shoulder surgery), tight ends Benjamin Watson (Achilles), Maxx Williams (knee) and Darren Waller and undrafted rookie cornerback Carlos Davis (leg).
Wide receiver Breshad Perriman continued his hot start with two more spectacular catches. His first was a long touchdown where he zoomed by cornerback Sheldon Price. Perriman's second play was even better, as he made a twisting sideline re-adjustment to catch a toe-tapping, back-shoulder pass versus top cornerback Jimmy Smith. * Newly-signed cornerback Brandon Carr broke underneath a pass to come up with a pick and take it the other way. The veteran didn't have a big reaction, to which outspoken safety Anthony Levine said, "Spike that [crap]!" * The Ravens' first-team offensive line will change once Yanda is inserted into the mix at right guard, but for now it's Ronnie Stanley at left tackle, Alex Lewis at left guard, Ryan Jensen at center, John Urschel at right guard and James Hurst at right tackle. * It's already apparent the flexibility that the addition of Tony Jefferson gives the Ravens. Jefferson and Weddle can flip-flop on where they play, and Jefferson is active around the line of scrimmage. He came off one blitz and leaped to knock away a pass. An offensive player yelled, "Screw you, Tony!" * Michael Pierce, who the Ravens will rely on more after trading defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, looks really fit for being such a large man. He busted inside to get a sack on one play. *
One of the most impressive plays of the day came from linebacker Boseko Lokombo, who had to split out to the cornerback spot on one play. Lokombo turned his head and made a nice grab on the run for an interception. * Undrafted running back Taquan Mizzell is extremely shifty. He put a spin move on Smith in the open field that drew some gasps from teammates. Safety Lardarius Webb joked with Mizzell that he should knock him out for doing that to his fellow cornerback. Buck Allen also had some shifty moves on one run, and Kenneth Dixon looks fast. * Third-round rookie Tim Williams showed off a bit of his coverage skills, knocking away a pass over the middle. It's good to see from Williams, who is working to grow into more of a complete outside linebacker instead of a pure pass rusher. * First-round rookie cornerback Marlon Humphrey is running with the second-team defense, and very much holding his own. Humphrey wasn't getting pushed around, even by 6-foot-2, 228-pound wide receiver Vince Mayle. Humphrey had a couple pass breakups, and he stays glued to his man. * Second-year cornerback Maurice Canaday made a diving interception in a flow to the outside that would make the highlight reels if there were such a thing for OTAs. Last year's sixth-round pick out of Virginia had a very impressive offseason last season but was moved to injured reserve in early October. * Wide receiver Keenan Reynolds made a spectacular leaping catch over the middle during 11-on-11 work, showing a flash of his improvement this offseason.
