After an eventful 12 hours, the Ravens hit the practice field Thursday morning.
Since players reported to Baltimore Wednesday for the start of training camp, quarterback Joe Flacco has been told by doctors to take a week of rest for a back issue and offensive lineman John Urschel has unexpectedly retired at just 26 years old.
But the rest of the team pressed on, and the Ravens practiced for nearly three hours Thursday morning. Head Coach John Harbaugh was particularly impressed with the efficiency of the group on Day 1.
"I thought it was an outstanding first day of training camp," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "We go out today in the first day of training camp, and we probably had four repeat [plays]. That's probably a record for us."
The players weren't in pads because they have a two-day acclimation period before full-contact begins..
Here were some of the news and notes from the day:
- Linebacker C.J. Mosley and right guard Marshal Yanda returned to the field after missing the entire offseason schedule as they recovered from shoulder surgeries. Having them back for the start of training camp is a good sign about where they are in their recoveries. Tight end Benjamin Watson practiced in full-team drills for the first time since tearing his Achilles nearly a year ago.
- Safety Tony Jefferson didn't practice in full-team drills because he's recovering from a sports hernia procedure. Harbaugh joked that Jefferson is "so mad at me" because it was the coach's decision to keep the safety sidelined for team drills at the start of camp. He should be full-go soon.
- Cornerback Jimmy Smith had a scare in practice as he came up gimpy after giving chase to speedster Breshad Perriman. Smith limped off the field met with the training staff, but he was just cramping. Perriman also looked like he was dealing with some cramps later in practice. He talked briefly with a trainer, but stayed on the field until the end of practice.
- Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin got a taste of his first Ravens training camp practice after passing his conditioning test Thursday morning. He needed two times to pass it, Harbaugh said, but he "blew it away" on his second attempt.
- The highlight of practice came late in the session when a pair of recent first-round picks went head-to-head. The entire team watched as Perriman lined up across from cornerback Marlon Humphrey. Perriman ran a go-route and had a step on Humphrey, but the pass was slightly underthrown by quarterback Ryan Mallett and Humphrey broke up the completion. The one-on-one battle in front of the team definitely heightened the competition level. Overall, it was a strong day for Humphrey, who seemed to be in tight coverage no matter who he defended.
- Wide receiver Chris Matthews had two of the nicest receptions on of the day. He made a tough, contested catch against cornerback Sheldon Price and followed it up with a diving touchdown snag in seven-on-seven drills.
- Terrell Suggs was his up to his old tricks on the field, constantly talking trash to his teammates. At one point, he chased quarterback Dustin Vaughan out of the pocket and was actually laughing as he ran him out of bounds. Suggs chided Justin Tucker for missing a field goal and Eric Weddle for dropping an interception. After the missed interception, Suggs shouted, "20 [Ed Reed] would have had it!"
- Maurice Canady was one of the stars of the offseason program, and he hauled in another interception Thursday. He's working at both inside and outside cornerback, and he's going to compete for the starting slot corner job.
- Inside linebacker Kamalei Correa flashed with a pick-six, and he showed off some flare by spinning the ball as he trotted into the end zone.
