Ravens' Rookies, Minus Kindle Hit Practice Field Today

The Baltimore Ravens open their 2010 season this morning with the rookies and select veterans hitting the practice field at McDaniel College in Westminster for two-a-day practices. Second round draft pick, Sergio Kindle, will not be among the players on the field, as he remains in Texas after a freak accident that had him fall down two flights of stairs and fracture his skull. He is stable and on the road to recovery but his injury is not one that works well with the type of contact that a football player must withstand. To expect any significant contribution from Kindle in 2010 is beginning to look like a far-fetched fantasy at this point.

However, the rest of the team's first year players will be out there in front of what should be 10,000 fans, although the team's new autograph policy has some people rumbling about the rules for getting player's signatures. Only kids between the ages of six through 15 will be allowed to get only one autograph, leaving the big kids and little ones out of the mix. This writer doesn't see this as a problem, as while I've never totally bought into wanting another person's signature on anything other than a check, this should be for the kids and not the ones who try to get the players to sign and then put out on the open market for sale.

Either way, football season begins in Baltimore today, and with the usual current state of the Orioles, it couldn't come early enough for true Ravens' fans. More to follow at the break between the morning and afternoon practices as Baltimore Beatdown enjoys media credentials and access to the sidelines, player interviews and team hotel.