The Ravens' offseason schedule is coming into clearer focus, and plenty of veteran leadership is expected to be in attendance for the voluntary sessions.
The NFL has released the dates for every team's upcoming workouts, Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and minicamps over the next few months.
The offseason program will officially begin for the Ravens on April 15 when the team holds voluntary workouts, which mostly consists of strength and conditioning work.
OTAs will take place May 21-23, May 29-31, and June 4-7. Each team is able to hold 10 days of OTAs, where players and coaches are able to get on the practice field for non-contact drills during that time.
A three-day mandatory minicamp will be held June 11-13.
Most of the younger players attend all of the workouts and OTA's, while veteran attendance is typically varied.
The Ravens expect to have strong participation from their team leaders, as players like Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and Elvis Dumervil have already said they plan to attend workouts throughout the offseason.
"It's always good to come back here and work with your teammates, start to push them to get that motivation to getting back to where we were last year," Flacco said after signing his new contract last month.
"As much as people might want to sit at home all offseason, it gets pretty boring after about a month. It's good to be around your guys and just have that locker room camaraderie and get out there and run a couple of routes and get everybody going."
Rice plans to be back in Baltimore along with Flacco.
"Joe and I going into Year 6, we're going to be the older guys," Rice said. "I'm excited to take a different road and be a leader. That's what I'm excited to do, actually be around for the offseason, get with the team, be here for OTAs and be here as much as possible. When you're here, you're here. I feel like the only way you get better is when you're around your guys."
Dumervil told reporters during his introductory press conference that he plans to attend all of the workouts so that he can get to know his new teammates and learn Baltimore's defense.
"I'll be attending everything," Dumervil said. "As much as I can do, the better."
A common theme from the Ravens this offseason has been avoiding a Super Bowl hangover, and Flacco said he's taking it upon himself to start the work early to keep his teammates from falling into the trap of complacency.
"That felt really, really good to hold that trophy up, and we are going to have to work hard to get back to that point," he said. "We all know how good it tastes. We just have to get revved back up and go after it again."
