Ravens tight end Gillmore to undergo MRI for hamstring injury

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens tight end Crockett Gillmore will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam for a hamstring injury suffered in the latter half of Friday’s practice.
It’s unclear how Gillmore hurt himself, but he was spotted walking off the field with a member of the  training staff less than an hour before the conclusion of the morning workout. The third-year tight end was limited to 10 games last season as he dealt with back, shoulder, and calf ailments. He underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason, but the 2014 third-round pick returned for spring workouts.
The Ravens are fortunate to have a deep group of tight ends that also includes veterans Benjamin Watson and Dennis Pitta as well as second-year options Maxx Williams, Nick Boyle, Darren Waller, and Daniel Brown. Gillmore emerged as a legitimate threat at the position last year, catching 33 passes for 412 yards and four touchdowns.
“He’s just got to improve on everything, really,” said tight ends coach Richard Angulo about Gillmore’s development. “Execution of the small things. For him and all the other guys, I just want them to be great at all the little things. Stats and touchdowns are just byproducts of what you do with all the details.”
Early rookie standouts
The Ravens have only worked out in helmets, shells, and shorts over their first two days of training camp, but a pair of rookies have turned heads during the non-contact practices.
Wide receiver Chris Moore has shown impressive burst on vertical passes and caught a 60-yard touchdown from quarterback Joe Flacco on a play in which the rookie sprinted past cornerback Jimmy Smith. The fourth-round pick from Cincinnati has already made a number of plays down the field and has taken advantage of the current absences of older receivers on the roster.
“Chris made some plays today,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “We made a little snafu in the secondary there. I was really happy that the offensive took advantage of it, and I was really ticked off that the defense let it happen. Such is the nature of training camp.”
Fourth-round cornerback Tavon Young also shined, intercepting a pass on a deflection in the middle of the field and picking off quarterback Ryan Mallett on a deep sideline pass intended for Kaelin Clay. With veteran slot cornerback Jerraud Powers still needing to pass his conditioning test, Young has receive dmore reps at the nickel spot with the first unit than veteran Kyle Arrington.
Steve Smith still on mend
Veteran wide receiver Steve Smith remains on the active physically unable to perform list and observed a few minutes of Friday’s practice, but it’s unclear when he will be ready to return to the field.
As Bleacher Report’s Dan Pompei noted in an excellent piece about Smith’s horrific injury and the long recovery, the 37-year-old’s right calf is still noticeably smaller than the left one after the muscle atrophied in the injured leg. This certainly isn’t abnormal, but it does illustrate how long and difficult the rehabilitation process has been and how Smith’s return to the practice field isn’t imminent.
Fortunately, Smith has just over six weeks until the season opener against Buffalo and the Ravens aren’t concerned with him returning in time to play in the preseason.
First fight
Running back Buck Allen and linebacker Patrick Onwuasor got into the first fight of the summer as Allen took a couple swings at the Portland State rookie after the two were engaged in an aggressive pass-blocking drill.
Order was quickly restored, but Onwuasor was the defensive player who shoved rookie running back Kenneth Dixon out of bounds on Thursday. Dixon suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain and did not practice on Friday.