OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Veteran quarterback Matt Schaub failed to practice for a second straight day as the Ravens continued preparations for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.
That meant backup Jimmy Clausen received the lion’s share of the practice reps on Thursday as he could face Seattle for the second time this season. Clausen filled in for injured Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in Week 3, a 26-0 loss in which he threw for just 63 yards against the NFL’s fourth-ranked pass defense.
Offensive coordinator Marc Trestman says Schaub continues to prepare mentally in their meeting room, but the Ravens are doing everything they can on the practice field for Clausen to prepare to make the start at M&T Bank Stadium if needed. Of course, Clausen only joined the Ravens on Nov. 24, making his learning curve a challenging one.
“We have a menu of things that we can run,” Trestman said. “Last night, we sat down after practice and went over the things we feel really good about. We’ll continue to pare it down and get to the things that he feels the best with — both running and throwing the football — and that’s what we’ll do on Sunday.
“But we have enough in [the game plan] that we can stretch the field vertically and horizontally. We have a run game in where we have an adequate menu of runs and things that he can do. I think we feel good about that.”
Should Clausen start on Sunday, he would become just the sixth quarterback in NFL history to start two games against the same opponent in a season while playing for two different teams.
“I’ve been through this with Jimmy before in Chicago where we had to get him ready quickly as well,” Trestman said. “I think it’s something that we’ll do well with.”
If Jimmy Clausen starts vs. #Seahawks he’ll join rare list to make 2 starts w/ diff. team vs. 1 team (Via STATS) pic.twitter.com/EIaUL2fLdM
— Tim Booth (@ByTimBooth) December 9, 2015
Offensive line shuffling?
Right tackle Rick Wagner (ankle) returned to practice on Thursday, but the Ravens practiced without either starting tackle a day earlier, leading some to believe whether they might do some shuffling along the offensive line.
James Hurst has started six games in place of left tackle Eugene Monroe this season — including the last two — but Pro Football Focus has graded the second-year lineman 75th out of 76 offensive tackles this season. In the past, Baltimore has used guards Kelechi Osemele and Marshal Yanda at tackle, and offensive line coach Juan Castillo regularly cross-trains his players to be able to play multiple positions in an injury pinch.
“If you’re out here for an entire practice, you see that we move people around,” Trestman said. “Juan does a nice job of giving everybody opportunities to get work at different places because of our injury situation. Everybody has to be ready to do different things. We move people around during practice.”
Pees sounds off
Asked if he could ever recall coaching a defense that hadn’t received an offensive holding call in its favor for 10 consecutive games, defensive coordinator Dean Pees couldn’t help but take the bait despite knowing the NFL’s policy to not criticize officiating.
“Am I allowed to comment on lousy officiating?” said Pees as he laughed. “No, probably not. I don’t even know if I had that [coaching] at Elmwood High School in 1975. Hey, it is what it is. They see what they see. They don’t see what they don’t want to see.”
Injury report
BALTIMORE
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: WR Marlon Brown (back), DE Chris Canty (non-injury), TE Crockett Gillmore (back), OT Eugene Monroe (shoulder), QB Matt Schaub (chest), LB Daryl Smith (non-injury)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: OT Rick Wagner (ankle), DT Brandon Williams (shoulder)
FULL PARTICIPATION: LB Elvis Dumervil (non-injury), TE Maxx Williams (concussion)
SEATTLE
OUT: RB Marshawn Lynch (abdomen)
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: DE Michael Bennett (non-injury), Demarcus Dobbs (concussion), DT Jordan Hill (toe), DE Cliff Avril (non-injury)
