Ravens Training Camp Update: Sunday

I think that game showed him that being in the WR hip pocket isn’t enough in the NFL, he’s got to keep his eye on the ball here. In the throws when he was on Bowe and Cassel still found him the ball if Smith just looked back and saw the ball he would have been able to make plays both times IMHO. Give him some time to learn and grow and he’ll be locking people up in no time.

I agree completely. Obviously a key objective this year is to get to the QB more consistently, and big physical CB’s will help us do that. I think we’re best off going into Week 1 with Jimmy & Cary as the starters, Carr at the nickel, Webb at the dime, and Foxworth rotating in when needed. Jimmy can only learn so much from the bench, and the kid has far too much potential to not have him out there.

Also, I don’t think we should underestimate the change in scheme for the Ravens and how it effects what they look for in corners. DeCosta, Newsome, Harbaugh and Pagano have all talked about getting bigger and more physical at corner. That’s not just idle talk…. That’s an indication of the changes their making to their pass-coverage scheme.

Great point. Smith and Williams are really the only corners we have that are capable of playing press coverage well. If we don’t start the personnel to effect press coverage, we’ll be sacrificing some of Pagano’s overall scheme and, likely, some of the pass rushing aggressiveness that he’s promised.

+1 Hawk
I agree 100%.

Also with this more aggressive style we will be playing a lot more press and man coverage which fits right into Jimmy’s skill set. He was drafted to be a physical CB who excels in man coverage. Our D plays directly into his strengths, so I don’t think there is as big of a learning curve as many think. I think it’s just getting used to the speed and size of the NFL, which he can’t do from not playing. Hopefully he gets some good reps in the next few weeks and if he does he will be ready week one.

I can’t see how Bruce can say there’s NFW Jimmy starts Week 1. I think there’s a strong possibility we see him out there. Is it a guarantee? Not at all. But the kid has too much talent to just be riding the bench.

… him saying that he still has some pain I don’t know that I trust him as the starter.

I’m very much on the Smith/Williams-as-starters bandwagon, but I believe Foxworth’s statements about pain in his knee have been blown out of proportion a little bit. In addition to admitting that he had pain in his knee, I believe he also said that he had talked to both Webb and Fabian Washington who told him that it was a normal part of the healing process. I’m not specifically worried about pain in his knee; I’m mostly worried about how he’s played so far, which may or may not be secondary to that knee pain.

I really wonder if we consider putting Webb on him again. Webb has been up and down, but performed very well against Wallace last year. It will be interesting to see who they decide to put on him. Webb has the speed and has shown he could stick with him while Jimmy or Cary have the physical side that could help prevent Wallace from getting up to speed as fast.

I’m not saying Jimmy Smith should not start but what has he done so far to give every body the idea that he should in week one game.

Physically he is the most gifted of any CB on the team. Webb has been up and down, Carr has been battling a hamstring issue, Foxworth is coming off an ACL injury and watching his interview it seems like he even questions it a bit. Nothing bad about Cary I think he should be the other starter and I also agree that Webb could be the one to cover wallace.

blockquote>On how he’s feeling: "I’m getting better. Some days are… Well, through the course of a day, I have some plays where I feel great and some plays that I don’t feel so great. So, I’m trying to ease my way back in."

On whether he knew he was going to be on a pitch count: "Yeah, we talked about that before. I think they wanted to be smart. And, I tried to keep me on a pitch count, I guess, is the best way to describe it, early on in camp. I started out a little too overzealous, and it set me back a little bit. So, we’re trying to be a little smarter this time around."

On whether he feels he will be ready to start by Week 1: "They’ve done it with other players before. This is my first time with an ACL [injury], but it’s not our training staff’s first time and it’s not our coaches’ first time. So, I’m just going to trust in them, and whatever they think is right, I’m going to do."

He did say this, but the two previous quotes don’t lead me to believe he is completely confident and I don’t want that going into week one against our biggest rivel.

I was just impressed with his physical gifts that he showed last game, add into that the improvement in technique he showed and I was quite happy with his develop thus far.

I’m done banging my head against the wall, Evan.