7:23 p.m. — The Ravens have waived former Terps receiver Isaiah Williams.
6:44 p.m. — Defensive back Derrick Martin made the defensive play of the afternoon, picking off a pass from John Beck during 7-on-7 drills.
Only two offensive linemen practiced today, Robby Felix and Bryan Mattison (the defensive coordinator’s son). Offensive line coach John Matsko really worked the two linemen hard.
Newly-signed Jayson Foster jumped right in, snagging a pass after signing with the team today. Foster’s signing was such a secret that many of the assistant coaches had to ask his name on the field. He wore No. 18 today—with no name on the back.
Though Marshal Yanda is sporting a bulky brace on his knee, he was moving around fairly well on the sideline today. He wasn’t as active as Ben Grubbs or Adam Terry in his running, but it was good seeing him moving around after the horrific knee injury he suffered in Indianapolis last season.
6:23 p.m. — The afternoon practice was pretty uneventful and similar to the morning workout. It lasted about an hour and 15 minutes, though rookies stuck around for a little longer to work with special teams coach Jerry Rosburg.
The most exciting moments came from 7-on-7 drills when Joe Flacco connected on a 15-yard fade route to Demetrius Williams over defensive back Frank Walker. With Williams now the projected No. 2 receiver, it was nice to see him making a play after spending a large portion of last season on injured reserve.
More to come in just a few moments. Time to make my last Ravens Report of the day.
3:31 p.m. — The Ravens have just signed diminutive WR (hey, he’s 5-foot-7) Jayson Foster. Foster went to Georgia Southern and here’s his mini bio. He spent time in Denver and Pittsburgh and we’re still researching him. Even the PR folks in Westminster don’t know much about him. More to come…
2:52 p.m. — If you’re following WNST on Twitter, you just saw that free agent wide receiver Robert Ferguson told Glenn Clark he wants to play for the Ravens. Ferguson will join Drew on the Comcast Morning Show on Wednesday at 9:40 a.m.
We give live “Tweets” from the field at McDaniel College throughout the morning and afternoon practices. You can follow it here.
2:45 p.m. — We have less than an hour to go until the players are back out on the field for the afternoon workout.
Veterans will be reporting tomorrow and are scheduled to take their physicals at 3:00 p.m. If you’re planning on attending training camp tomorrow, remember it will only be rookies, quarterbacks, and select veterans. The remaining veterans will not be practicing on Wednesday.
1:48 p.m. — A name to keep an eye on during training camp is Jameel McClain. The Syracuse linebacker came to Baltimore as a rookie free agent last season and really impressed coaches, earning a roster spot and playing time in the second-rated defense in the NFL. His two safeties—a blocked punt and a sack of JaMarcus Russell—was a franchise record.
McClain has been moved to the inside linebacker position and will compete with Tavares Gooden. While Gooden is the favorite to start next to Ray Lewis, McClain’s endless motor will make it nearly impossible to keep him off the field.
“The guys that work hard at this program are the guys that do the best and are [guys] who can have a chance to play,” Mattison said. “That’s a real endorsement to our personnel people. They saw some great things in him, and he just proved it throughout the year. And I think he’s going to take off from here.”
1:42 p.m. — We heard from new defensive coordinator Greg Mattison after this morning’s practice. He is pleased with the mix of experience and youth in his defense. His top priority is to get the defense to play at the same high level the fans have come to expect every season.
He mentioned the “Raven” mentality and bar that has been set over the past decade.
Mattison also touched on the health of a secondary that had several players recovering from injuries dating back to last season. He thought several of the players looked bigger and healthy.
12:18 p.m. — McGahee looks trimmer and feels healthy entering the preseason. He emphasized to reporters that his placement on the PUP list is strictly precautionary. The running back simply doesn’t want a repeat of last season.
When asked whether he lost weight, McGahee jokingly said “no comment.” You can check out this interview in the WNST audio vault.
12:02 p.m. — John Harbaugh spoke to the media after the morning practice, describing the first workout as “good” and “crisp.”
Harbaugh talked about the improved strength and size of receiver Demetrius Williams. It was Williams’ goal to become stronger and build muscle mass around the joints. Harbaugh was pleased with how Williams looked in the morning. With Derrick Mason currently retired, Williams is the project No. 2 receiver behind Mark Clayton.
The Ravens coach said the placement of McGahee on the PUP list is strickly a precautionary move after the running back underwent knee surgery in the offseason.
11:54 a.m. — The morning practice was very brief, lasting only 1 hour and 15 minutes. Players were dressed in shorts, and there was no full-speed contact.
The player who drew the loudest applause from the crowd was wide receiver Mark Clayton who caught a long touchdown pass during offensive drills. Rookie running back Cedric Peerman also grabbed a nifty one-handed catch.
Quarterback Joe Flacco looked pretty sharp in his first training camp workout, but the keystone moment for the former Delaware Blue Hen was actually an incomplete pass to running back Matt Lawrence who ran the incorrect pattern. The second-year quarterback corrected his teammate, ran the play again, and completed the pass to Lawrence. It was a simple example of the leadership Flacco has with this offense.
Veteran Kelly Gregg was back on the field and looks to be in great shape. The nose tackle’s surgically-repaired knee was only wrapped in an ace bandage, a good sign for Greg Mattison’s defense.
11:43 a.m. — To clarify the PUP list a bit more, this list is referred to as the active PUP list. These players are eligible to practice any time, and John Harbaugh even said some of them could be ready to go as early as tomorrow. The purpose of this list is to keep these players eligible for the reserve PUP list—the one where players do not count against the 53-man roster but must miss the first six weeks of the regular season.
PUP list players still count against the 80-man training camp roster, so there is no added roster flexibility in regards to the preseason.
11:21 a.m. — The Ravens initial PUP’ers are Willis McGahee, Lamar Divens, Davon Drew, Yamon Figurs, Ben Grubbs, Adam Terry, Jason Phillips, Samari Rolle, Lou Saucedo, Marshal Yanda and Joe Reitz.
Definition of “physically unable to perform”: This List designates players with serious injuries that will keep them from being able to start a season on the 53-man protected list but may be able to return to the roster during the regular season. The players must be placed on this roster at or before the league-wide 65-man summer roster cutdown to be eligible for this designation, and they must stay on this list for at least the first six weeks of the regular season. After this time teams have 3 weeks to evaluate such players after which each such player must be placed on the 53-man roster, season-ending Injured Reserve (IR) or waivers.
