Ravens 1-on-1 Interviews: Aug. 3rd

After this morning's tough practice, I was able to get three guys to stop by long enough to ask them a few questions about camp so far. Let's get right to them:

Marcus Smith:

BB:  Marcus, Bruce Raffel, Baltimore Beatodwn.

MS:  Yeah, how you doing?

BB:  Great. I’ve seen you spent some time on standing on the sidelines. I know you said the other day that your fluids were out of whack, but you look better today.

MS:  Definitely I feel better today. I put it back in and I’m back up to my normal weight, around 218, so it definitely helps, going into practice that I was back to my regular body weight and had my fluids back into me.

BB:  You’re looking really ripped this year. What’s the difference between you walking into camp last year vs. this year, not just mentally, but physically as well. You look like you really built yourself up.

MS:   I’m just working out, knowing that the off season isn’t a time to slack off. It’s a time to step up your workouts, to intensify it, to be more specific, so if I’m doing just pull-ups, pushups to work on my upper body and then running hills for my lower body. That’s basically all I did during the six weeks that I was done, and that helped my body to tone down and put the size on it that I wanted back on.

BB:  Do you think that all the comments about the lack of a receiving corps motivated you to do this or is it just the way you prepare yourself?

MS:  I didn’t even know about Derrick Mason retiring until two weeks before we returned so I was doing what I was doing, just knowing I was coming into another year and I expected myself to be able to contribute as a starter, not as a second guy, not as a third guy. Yeah, maybe I’m not starting, but I consider myself a starter, so I definitely look at it like that. That’s how I went into my off season workouts.

BB:  Well I think the opportunity is there for you and I think you’re looking good out there, so best of luck.

MS:  Thank you, I appreciate it.

(More interviews after the "Jump")

 Tavares Gooden:

 BB:  TGood, Bruce Raffel, Baltimore Beatdown, you’re looking really lean out there. Your speed seems to be up. Did you put on weight this year?

TG:  I think I was usually 228. So I went from that to 233 to 240, in that range.

BB:  But it all looks to be all muscle, your speed seems to be up there. Do you think that’s a real advantage in there?

TG:  Yes, just that and being able to take more of the pounding and coming on blitzes being able to knock some of those offensive linemen back. Speed is always important as you’re running from point A to  point B, speed always take over everything. If you can get there and deliver that blow, it’s better than being 250 pounds and not having that speed.

BB:  Not playing much last year and now coming in here as a front runner to play next to Ray Lewis, how motivated are you to be prepared for that?

TG:  Oh, it’s always a great feeling, to start I’ve been playing football since I can remember, just now it’s all mental and basically it’s a pride thing, everybody from University of Miami is family, you love to be out there on the field and knowing that Ray;s there. Playing with one of the great linebackers, that’s motivation of its own, cause Iknow everybody whose played next to him over the 14 years that he’s been playing has been great next to him and I look forward to him teaching me those thing a and showing me the ropes also.

BB:  Did all you guys from the "U" work out together in the off season as you are rumored to do every year?

TG:  Oh yeah, we get together in Miami, a lot of guys, Winslow, Shockey, Frank Gore, endless guys go down to work out. We take pride in that, we kick one-on-ones and we know all of us guys who came out of that school ended up making a big impact in the league. We stay humble and go down there and we work and that’s why we’re successful because we have that University of Miami family and that tradition.

BB:  Feel good to be part of that group now?

TG:  Oh yeah, I couldn’t wait. As a freshman you’re coming out and you don’t know who’s going to the NFL. They tell you 90% of the guys in the room won’t be in the league. You just try to improve your game each year and hope you’re just one of the guys and god wiling, which he helped me out as I’ve been blessed to play there.  I beat the odds so I’m another one of those guys to play for the "U."

BB:  And I think you’ll be in this league for a long time.

TG:  Thank you.

BB:  Good luck to you. Take care.

Prescott Burgess

BB: Hey Prescott. Listen, I've been seeing some real pops out there from you. You've been getting some real good looks at people, squaring them up and putting them down hard. What do you see as the difference between last year and this year in that?

PB: You know I've dedicated myself in the weight room. One thing that everybody says I was lacking is the strength for my size, so I think I've got that down now. I like the way I'm playing right now. I feel good coming into this camp and I feel it's paying off from the workouts in the off season.

BB: Is there a change in your weight, because I don't know if you lost fat or just put muscle on?

PB: You're right, I lost a lot of fat and put a lot of muscle on. I feel great, last year I was trying to get to the linebackers size, but I was putting on the wrong kind of weight and this year I changed my whole diet. I stopped eating greasy foods and all the bad things that I thought I could do my first two years in the league. It wasn't the right way to go, I got hurt the first two seasons, but it's something I had to learn from. I think I learned and I think it's paid off.

BB: I think it's the combination of that and your comfort level. You know this system, who's next to you and you know where to go.

PB: I feel real comfortable that they can throw me in there with anything and I know what to do. I just try to go hard each play that they put me in.

BB: I saw that hit yesterday on Edgar (Jones). I think that was the hardest hit at camp. Do you hear the fans when you make a hit like that?

PB: To tell you the truth, I ain't hear nothing. I was just worrying about getting to the next play. That's just one thing, I try to block out everything and just play football, that's about it.

BB: Well the fans really loved it and gave you a good applause.

PB: That's why there out here. I'm here to show the fans that I can play for this defense and I think it's paying off.

BB: I think we'll be seeing a lot of you this year. Thanks.

PB: Yes sir, thank you.