OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens’ infamous conditioning test has victimized many players at the start of training camp in the John Harbaugh era, but the entire current roster has now passed.
After sitting out the first full squad workout of the summer, starting right tackle Orlando Brown Jr., offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor, and outside linebacker Shane Ray were all activated from the non-football injury list and practiced Friday upon passing the conditioning test. Brown and Eluemunor — who worked as the starting left guard during spring workouts — were relegated to second-team duties in what appeared to be a temporary punishment for their early-camp conditioning woes.
A failed conditioning test garners much attention in the early days of training camp, but very rarely has fallout lingered beyond some short-term ridicule and embarrassment. Even potential future Hall of Fame safety Earl Thomas found the running test to be intimidating upon reporting for his first camp with the Ravens, a sentiment shared by numerous veteran free agents over the years.
“I feel like I trained pretty well in the offseason,” Thomas said, “but I thought I was going to throw up at the end.”
Center Matt Skura was the only new absence from Friday’s workout as he was excused from the team to attend a funeral, according to head coach John Harbaugh.
With players practicing in helmets, shells, and shorts for the first two days, workouts haven’t varied much from spring organized team activities, but that will change Saturday with pads and full contact being introduced. The threat of contact is frequently a separator between young players who have stood out playing in shorts in the spring and others who haven’t yet been able to use their physicality. As veteran safety Tony Jefferson remarked in the spring, that is when coaches begin finding out who the real players are.
The rookies will also get their first taste of playing at M&T Bank Stadium as the Ravens hold a free and open practice Saturday evening.
“They’re going to put the pads on, and they’re going to be in the stadium,” Harbaugh said. “OK, what is that going to look like? It could be a little off, but I talked to them. I said, ‘Let’s not get caught up in all of that. Let’s just keep it simple, keep it on football, get in our box, and do our job.
“The field will still be the same length and the same width. It’s still a 10-foot free throw. That’s a ‘Hoosiers’ reference. Remember that?”
Jackson adds “muscle, not fat”
Many have commented on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson looking bigger than he did last season when he was listed at 212 pounds as a rookie, but that is by design.
The 22-year-old said he’s gained seven to 10 pounds of muscle this offseason “to put some more meat on” his bones, stressing that it was muscle and not fat and joking that he’d soon look like head strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders. The body change hasn’t seemed to hinder his speed as Jackson has continued blowing past many teammates in practices.
“You take hits. Those guys are big out there,” said Jackson about his reasoning for adding weight. “The league is totally different. Grown men are trying to feed their families. Three-hundred-pounders coming at you running 4.5s. It’s different out there in the league.”
Lewis to begin practicing early next month
Like rookie wide receiver Marquise Brown, fourth-year guard Alex Lewis has been working out individually off to the side, but his practice debut is at least another week or two away after rehabbing from offseason shoulder surgery.
“If everything stays the same, he should be full-go in early August,” Harbaugh said. “When is that, a week and a half, two weeks? He looks good. He’s strong. He’s over 320 pounds. Everything looks stable. He passed his conditioning test. He’s moving well, and we just have to get him to practice now.”
Currently on the physically unable to perform list, Lewis will be competing for the starting left guard spot in the final year of his contract, but injuries have limited him to just 20 games in his first three seasons.
Leach recognized
Retired fullback Vonta Leach played more games with the Houston Texas in his 10-year career, but he chose to officially retire as a Raven because no organization “glorified or embodied” his position in the same way.
The three-time Pro Bowl selection last played in 2013 and was recognized at a Friday press conference that included executive vice president and former general manager Ozzie Newsome and Harbaugh. Leach, 37, was named to two Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl in his three seasons with Baltimore.
“You don’t get a lot of praise unless you really know football,” said Leach about playing the bruising fullback position. “But when the fans yelled my name, ‘Leeeeach!’ no matter what I did on the field, when my name was called, that did something. That was very special to me. As I was walking out there today [at training camp], just when they say my name, they’re always going to stick with me for the rest of my life.”
