Since the Ravens drafted wide receiver Breshad Perriman with the No. 26 pick, his hands have attracted plenty of attention.

Analysts dogged him during the pre-draft process for a lack of consistency catching the football, and reporters have questioned the young receiver about his hands since his first day in Baltimore.

The topic popped up again during Tuesday's minicamp practice when Perriman allowed four passes to slip through his hands. A pair of the drops came during individual drills, and the others were tough opportunities during 11-on-11 drills.  One of the drops came after he ran by cornerback Jimmy Smith down the sideline with a chance for a deep connection. 

"I don't really make excuses for it," Perriman said after practice. "They should have been caught, but that's something that won't happen too often."

The first-round pick attributed the miscues to "getting too tired and really not focusing" during the hot afternoon practice.

The good news for Perriman, however, was he didn't let the drops ruin his practice. Those plays came early in the day, but he then bounced back to make a handful of tough grabs during the highly competitive full-team drills.

"It's really all mental," Perriman said. "I talk to myself, tell myself the things that I need to do to complete those passes and just try to step it up a notch more."

All eyes have been on Perriman during the offseason, and he's mostly shown good hands during the six practice sessions open to the media during Organized Team Activities and minicamps. He has dropped some passes, but his tough catches far outnumber the negatives.

"I feel like I'm doing good. I feel like I've got a lot of work to do, though," Perriman said. "I'm not nearly satisfied with how I'm playing. I feel like I'm doing a good job at the same time, but I'm striving for more. I expect more from myself."

The Ravens have big expectations for Perriman, who is the first offensive player they have drafted in the first round since Michael Oher in 2009. His big-play potential is evident from the offseason practices, as he's shown an ability to beat cornerbacks off the line of scrimmage and get over the top for deep completions.

"Breshad is doing a really good job and working to put it all together, and that's the challenge for every rookie, but he has all the talent in the world," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "He's very determined, he's very talented, and he's going to do really well."

Perriman is in the midst of tight competition for a starting role alongside veteran Steve Smith Sr. The Ravens have a deep group of young receivers, and Perriman is fighting for snaps with Marlon Brown and Kamar Aiken, among others.

"It's a goal of mine [to start Week 1], but at the same time, it's not really on my mind," Perriman said. "I'm just really trying to focus on getting better every day, just going out there, take it day by day and see how it plays out."