Rumors are just that, hints at what could be the truth or just conjecture. Either way, they stir up the pot of controversy and certainly get the sports talk radio humming.

Here's a couple I've heard:

1. Kyle Boller's shoulder is a lot more serious than the Ravens are letting onto. In fact, he may actually miss the ENTIRE 2008 campaign, needing season-ending surgery. The rumor mill continues to peddle that the Ravens don't want to leak this information out to the other teams because they are looking for a seasoned QB and if they appear desperate the asking price will skyrocket. Why oh why didn't they sign Daunte Culpepper when I told them to!

2.  Ed Reed is also in the same boat as Boller. His shoulder will almost certainly keep him on the sideline at the beginning of the regular season and might end up costing Reed the entire season as well. McAlister and Rolle better get welll fast because without Reed to cover their asses, the reserves will be hung out to dry all season by the opposing QB's. Jim Leonard should take Reed's place in the starting lineup and both rookies, Haruki Nakamura and Tom Zbikowski, should see action as well.

3.  Willis McGahee may still be out, but as soon as he begins running on his knee, he will be right back in the mix to play. That could very well indeed happen by the regular season, as McGahee has maintained all along. His injury is such that it has been surgically repaired and now just needs to get better. While he may not be in game shape, he should be able to take more of the load each week. Ray Rice makes a great insurance policy.

4.  Troy Smith may be well enough to take a few snaps in the final preseason game Thursday night. However, Joe Flacco will handle a majority of the game and is every bit in the mix to start the season under center. This will definitely be a heck of a lot clearer by late Thursday night.

Around the League: The Chicago Bears released disgruntled cornerback Ricky Manning, Jr., as he has been complaining about his lack of playing time. Manning is a decent corner and the Ravens would be well served to check him out as their secondary is not only hurting badly, but the reserves leave little to be desired. There's got to be a valuable place in the Ravens secondary for him. Go get him!

That's all for now. Comments?

Rumor is that according to Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, Kyle Boller's injured shoulder will definitely keep him out of Thursday's final preseason contest against the Falcons and could also prevent him from being under consideration to be the Ravens starting QB for the season opener on September 7th versus the Cincinnati Bengals.

All this means is that either Troy Smith wins the QB Derby by default if he plays at the very least half decent this Thursday. Or, perhaps there will be a one week competition between Smith and rookie Joe Flacco for the starting nod. Smith is apparently over the intestinal virus that prevented him from even leaving his hotel room on Sarturday night, and missed the entire exhibition contest in St. Louis. Flacco was thrust into the emergency starting role after Boller could not even lift his arm above his shoulder. Since Smith was named the game's starter earlier in the week, he took all the snaps with the first team, while Flacco was an afterthought. Suddenly, with just a few hours notice, he had to be ready to play all four quarters by default, and although his stats were mediocre at best, he did not embarrass himself at all. He had a miserable first half but settled down in the second half to throw his first professional TD pass in leading the Ravens to their only touchdown of the night in their 24-10 loss. Most of all, he didn't turn the ball over once and just missed a couple of throws that might have made a big difference in the game. Overall, his performance, combined with Smith and Boller's health issues, only put his name back up on the board to still be in contention for the starting QB job.

The Ravens are the only remaining NFL team not to have already named their opening day starter. My thoughts are that if Troy Smith even plays a little bit better than Flacco this Thursday, then he will be in a better overall position to start the season under center. Boller's shoulder may not only take him out of the running for game one, but based on Flacco's progress, it may take him out of the Ravens picture altogether.

Much, much more to follow.

I was out at dinner when my phone alert texted me to let me know that supposedly Ravens starting QB Troy Smith would miss the exhibition game at St. Louis last night due to a stomach illness. Therefore, Joe Flacco would be playing the entire game in his place. The Ravens already know enough about Kyle Boller so he was given the night off. Originally Smith was targeted to go well into the third quarter, as head coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron still haven't seen enough of Smith to make a fair evaluation of who will be this team's starter in game one of the regular season.

Unfortunately, whatever went into Smith's stomach may end up costing him much more than his lunch, or whatever else he lost in the bathroom Saturday night (ewww!). This was Troy's turn to show the coaches that over the course of an entire game, he had what it takes to label him the starter. Last week's starting nod didn't prove anything and it appears the coaching staff is just looking for anything that Smith can show them so they can just hand him the job. Too bad Smith has done absolutely nothing to earn it on his own. Like I said in an earlier post, the winner of this QB Derby will probably end up being the one who sucks the least. It will not bode well for the Ravens if this shuffle extends well into ther regular season.

If it looks like neither of the two "veterans" (Boller & Smith) have anything worthy of helping the team succeed in 2008, then it may come down to just giving rookie Joe Flacco the ball and having him learn on the go. This will not benefit Flacco, as a season of carrying the clipboard on the sideline in his baseball cap rather than under a helmet will prepare him for the physical play and incredible difference in speed of the NFL versus the Division II (uh, I mean College Football Subdivision!) game.

However, time is running out. I bet the Ravens are the only team in the NFL that going into its final preseason game still has no idea of whom who start the game once the hitting and scoring counts. As I said, it just might come down to either Boller or Smith by default and my senses tell me that Boller is more of a known entity and is currently better prepared to lead this team due to Smith's lack of playing time. Perhaps coach Harbaugh will give Smith one more try on Thursday night at home against the Falcons in the Ravens final preseason game to earn the starting position. Perhaps not. This week in practice will tell a lot.

Now that Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has named Troy Smith the starting QB for the third exhibition game this Saturday at the St. Louis Rams, it's time to settle this QB Derby. The debate of whether Smith or Kyle Boller should be under center on opening day, September 7th at home against the Cincinnati Bengals should now end for the good of the team.

Everyone, including the new coaching staff, knows exactly what Boller brings to the team. He will be positively awesome one play, and then postively awful the next. The words, "consistency" and "Boller" have rarely been used in the same sentence over his career. He will be a capable backup, whether it be in Baltimore or another NFL city. However, he had had the chance and has proven he is just not a starting NFL-caliber QB. However, the possibility remains that Troy Smith just might be. The second year pro and Heisman Trophy winner from THE Ohio State University has known and faced down pressure all through his college career. Playing in the Big Ten and especially on the road at the Big House at Michigan, in front of over 100,000 maniacs, will make you battle-tested, and Smith has not only experienced it, he has succeeded as well.

In addition, Smith has the attitude, almost cocky at times, that is needed to gain the respect and confidence of his teammates. Almost to a man, the offense seems to prefer Smith leading this offense over Boller, who has frustrated his teammates as well as the fans over the years. At least Smith gives the Ravens a fighting chance, with his legs as well as his arm. While his passing this preseason has not been very good, Boller's has been just as poor. Giving Smith the reps with the first team and the playing time to practice and improve, will give the coaching staff a much better idea of how long we as fans will have to continue to wait until rookie Joe Flacco takes over as the future of the franchise.

Therefore, since I'm sure Ravens coach John Harbaugh reads this column and listens to my impassioned pleas, make the decision NOW! Name Troy Smith the starter for the season and place him under center for the majority of the next two preseason games. Give him ALL the reps with the first team in practice and commit to him for the first part of the season at a minimum, baring injury, that he will be your starter. This will put the Ravens in the best position to prepare for the season and succeed, beginning with an opening day victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Thank you, thank you very much!

The Baltimore Ravens QB Derby continues this weekend when they visit the St. Louis Rams on Saturday evening for the team's third exhibition game. Ravens coach John Harbaugh has still not named a starter for the game as of the time of this posting. However, based on the recent play of both Smith and Boller, it really doesn't matter who starts and who comes in for the second half. While I realize that the starter plays with the first team offense, but he also plays against the opponents first team defense. Likewise, the backup will play with and against the reserves. Is there an advantage one way or the other?

Neither Smith nor Boller has impressed coach Harbaugh to be a clear cut favorite going into the last part of Training Camp and the exhibition season. The QB Derby probably won't be decided until after the final preseason game, which means the Ravens will basically have one week to give their opening day starter full time reps with the first team, while most NFL clubs have been doing so since Training Camps began. For a Ravens team with one of the poorest records of offensive prowess, having an inexperienced QB get fewer snaps than the other teams' veterans is a scary thought.

My take on the QB Derby? It won't be coming down to who shines over the next two week's worth of exhibition games and practices. Nope, it will unfortunately, end up being decided by who sucks the less. Face it folks, neither of these two guys is the future of this team. It's the rookie from Delaware who should be loving every minute of this, as all it means to him is that most likely by the time the Ravens Bye week rolls around after their ninth game of the season, he has an excellent chance to take the reins from that point onward. If the Ravens continue to shuffle Smith and Boller based on their game-by-game success, er...I mean failure, then there is a statement of non-commitment that will only benefit Flacco in the long run, if not the short.

Look at what we have to expect. Here is a team with a history of poor QB play in their 12 years of existence. Wthout a doubt, their best QB was Vinny Testeverde, and that was over ten years ago. Don't give me the Trent Dilfer argument, as he was there not to win games, but to not lose them. Fortunately, in that magical season of 2000, he got the job done for the part of the season that he started (remember, he wasn't the opening day starter). The Ravens released him after the season and signed Elvis Grbac, who was coming off an All-Pro season and was a great pickup at the time (uh, before he lost his heart to play, cried like a baby and went home to retire). The Ravens still made the playoffs that next season, and there's no way they would have if Dilfer remained the team's QB. Remember, the Ravens lost Jamal Lewis to a season ending injury and had to rely on Grbac''s arm to even make it that far. Not even Dilfer fans could have expected him to carry us to the postseason.

But we digress. Let's face it, the same is true for 2008. How can we blindly expect either Troy Smith or Kyle Boller to lead us to the postseason through a 16 game season against some really tough opponents on our 2008 schedule. Even I had the Ravens missing the playoffs in my game-by-game predictions in earlier posts (although I did blindly have them finishing 10-6!). Even if virtually everything goes right and the QB ends up having a decent season, it will still be a huge surprise if the Ravens finish above .500. All the so-called experts have us remaining at the cellar of the AFC North, although I think the Bengals will steal that position from us, starting with a Ravens win on opening day, no matter who the starting QB is.

Regardless of who opens the season under center, it is almost a certainty that they will not finish the season in the same position. The future of this franchise is based on the strong arm of the young man out of the University of Delaware, who may stand at over six foot five in cleats, but now stands third on the depth chart. Whomever ends up first or second will not really matter in the long run, but it is becoming painfully obvious that the opening day starter will not win the job, but merely survive the loser.

Post Note: Wednesday, August 20th, 2pm: Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh has announced that Troy Smith will start at QB for Saturday's game at the St. Louis Rams. Should we read anything into this? Hmmm...

The Baltimore Ravens fell short of the goal line, when a possible game tying TD drive stalled deep in Vikings territory with seconds remaining as Minnesota won the second exhibition game for both teams 23-15. The score of the game was inconsequential, as the real competition was between Troy Smith and Kyle Boller to see who would grab the lead in the QB Derby.

Unfortunately, it appeared that neither seemed to have the upper hand after last night's contest. Smith was given the starting nod, to run the offense with the first team, and played the entire first half. His performance was lackluster at best, rushing for more yards than he passed for. While his scrambling might have been due to breakdowns in pass protection, he continued to hold onto the ball for longer than needed and relied too much on his legs to get the job done. It is nice to have a QB not afraid to tuck the ball away and scramble for yardage and frustrate defenses. However, he is also frustrating head coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron as their offense was just not in gear last night.

The door was open for Boller to step in and make a statement in the second half. Too bad he played with the same lackluster effort that Smith did in the first half. Smith led the team to an early touchdown early in the half, but then seemed to stagnate the rest of the series they played. Both QB's threw poor interceptions and never looked comfortable in the pocket, regardless of the crumbling pass protection.

Rookie Joe Flacco finished up and although he looked to have more zip on his passes, he seemed a step or two behind the speed of the game that he is unaccustomed to in the NFL. He fumbled when hit, mostly because he held onto the ball too long, as he has done most of Training Camp and the two preseason games. He also threw the game ending interception after throwing an earlier one that luckily was negated due to a defensive penalty.

If there was a bright spot in the game, it was the stellar play of rookie running back Ray Rice, who played a huge chunk of the game and looked great. He scored his first NFL TD on the Ravens initial drive and ran with good speed and power, making some excellent cutback moves to gain additional yardage. While the Ravens will absolutely need a healthy Willis McGahee to be successful, it's good to know that we have an NFL-caliber backup in Rice.

The defense looked average at best, as the Vikings scored the first three times they touched the ball, leading to 17 points. The frustating issue was the  way they scored, with all three drives over 10 plays each, eating up the clock and converting on third down plays over and over again. Mind you, the Ravens were without both starting corners (again!) as well as safety Ed Reed, and middle linebacker Ray Lewis only played the first drive or two of the game. The Ravens scored their final points on an interception return for a TD and the subsequent two-point convewrsion, Regardless, it wasn't the defense this team will need in order to stay competitive this season.

In summary, the team is no closer to seeing a definitive difference in the QB Derby, and it might just have to come down to experience in order to set the lineup and get the gameplan rolling for the opening of the season in just three weeks. If things don't significantly change by the Ravens next preseason game, I expect Harbaugh to name Boller the starter against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 7th. If so, expect Flacco to be on the sideline wearing a baseball cap and holding a clipboard, as his time will probably come later in the season, most likely after the Bye week, which is after the Ravens 9th game. In addition, if Smith is relegated to second string, or even worse, third string, expect his days in Baltimore to be numbered, as the future of this franchise wears number 5, not 10.

Today was Club Seat Season Ticket Holder Day at the Baltimore Ravens Training Camp, up at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. Club Seat Season Ticket Holders received a special invitation and credentials to a small set of bleachers on the 50 yard line at Training Camp, front and center to see the Ravens practice just two days after the opening the exhibition season with a 16-15 victory over the Tom Brady & Randy Moss-less New England Patriots.

I got there extra early, as the only other time I've been to Training Camp earlier this season, I arrived at the beginning of practice, had to park in East Schlabuckyville, walk 20 minutes to the fields and stand ten deep along the edge of the field. This time I arrived almost 45 minutes prior to practice, parked right next to the fields and grabbed a seat at the top of the bleachers on the 50 yard line. The players straggled out, with the rookies trying to impress. The defense ran some drills right in front of me (see photos below). Finally the offense came over from the far field and ran some quick pass patterns, with quarterbacks Kyle Boller, Troy Smith and Joe Flacco each taking turns (more photos below). All the wideouts took their turns as well, including Derrick Mason, who limped off the field Thursday night in the game against the Pats, so it was good to see him back on the field. Yamon Figurs burned the defense and made a couple of over the shoulder grabs on deep passes. He looks to get more reps and perhaps even chances once the games begin in September. Rookie Marcus Smith seemed to have hands of glue, catching everything thrown his way.

It was nice to see Samari Rolle back on the field, although he was taking it easy since his return to camp following the sudden death of his father. Wide receiver Demetrius Williams and tight end Daniel Wilcox ran some individual drills as they return from nagging leg injuries suffered last season.

It was actually a lot more disappointing than I expected, as the Ravens choose to run their full offense vs. defense drills on the far field, away from the bleachers filled with the areas reserves for players' families, VIPS, Club Seat Ticket Holders and the disabled. Those late arriving fans who had to stand along the ropes over at the secondary field were treated to the better views and saw the full team drills, while those of us who arrived early and grabbed the so-called better seats in the covered bleachers ended up SOL.

Check out the photos from the visit below.

The Baltimore Ravens went into Foxboro, Massachusetts and defeated the NewEngland Patriots 16-15 last night, when the Pats failed to make the decisive two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter. Wait, what? This is preseason? Oh, nevermind.

The first game of the exhibition season went okay for the Ravens, who might have won the game but it was the individual position battles that were of more importance for this time in the season. While Kyle Boller started and looked the best of the three Ravens QB's, Troy Smith has already been tabbed to start the next contest. Rookie Joe Flacco had a forgettable debut, with his first two snaps resulting in an interception and fumble. Neither Tom Brady nor Randy Moss saw action for the Patriots.

Disconcerting was the fact that the Ravens could only manage 35 yards rushing the ball, while former Maryland Terrapin star and now New England Patriot LaMont Jordan gained 76 yards in his debut.

There were a few injuries on the Ravens side of the ball, but hopefully they will be found out in the next few days to be minor ones. The Ravens get back on the practice field on Saturday morning and I am planning to be on the sideline checking out the action and you can count on a report with photos on this blog when I return.

Check out the New England Patriots view of the game over at Pats Pulpit.

In other news, the new addition to our family has been delivered as of yesterday afternoon and has been accepted by the rest of the clan, as evidenced by this photo with the smallest of the other four. Here, Scooter (in white) welcomes Murphy.

The Ravens will limp into Foxvboro, Massachusetts to begin their 2008 pre-season schedule against the only undefeated regular season team to ever go 16-0. The Patriots, of course, did not win the ultimate prize, as they were upset by the NY Giants (whom I took on the Money Line, thank you very much) in the Super Bowl only six months ago.

However, this game is not for keeps, unless you are a rookie or journeyman playing for a roster spot. The veterans just want to get some reps in and stay healthy, while the others want to dress to impress the coaches with their play. These players will earn their roster spot based on their pre-season play, while the others are just going through the motions. Unfortunately, some of the Ravens players who need the reps will be standing on the sidelines in street clothes, watching the game due to training camp injuries they received over the past couple of weeks.

The offensive line, which was a problem in 2007 and is totally revamped for 2008, has been hit the hardest by the injury bug so far in camp. Both starting tackles will not reach the field on Thursday night. At least one wideout is out (Detmetrius Williams), our starting RB (McGahee) is having fluid drained from his knee and the team won't risk further injury. Of course, that benefits rookie Ray Rice, who has easily been the most impressive offensive rookie in camp and will get the starting nod.

On defense, there still has been no signs of Terrell Suggs in or around camp, holding out from signing his Franchise Tag until the last possible minute. Don't expect him in camp until the third or fourth pre-season game, if then. Chris McAlister is a little banged up and Samari Rolle just returned to camp from mourning the sudden death of his dad. Ed Reed is battling a sore shoulder, which has opened the door for rookie safety, Haruki Nakamura. On the defensive side of the ball, Nakamura has impressed the coaches the most with his nose for the ball and quick reactions to coverage. 'Ruki will definitely get his share of playing time this Thursday night against the Patriots. How much he faces All-World Tom Brady remains to be seen, as Brady sort of doesn't need too much pre-season time to get into shape. I'm sure his girlfriend, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, keeps him in just fine shape off the field, thank you very much!

It should be interesting to see which QB gets the starting nod for Thursday. Being the first pre-season game, you should not read anything into this decision, as it will just be coach Harbaugh's best guess as to who has had the best camp so far, which by no means has decided the race to open the season. I see it as either Troy Smith or Kyle Boller starting the game and between the two of them, they should play into the third quarter. From that point on, look for the rookie, Joe Flacco, to guide the team the rest of the way. This gives him more reps, but with less pressure as he should be running against the opponents' 3rd and 4th stringers for his first competition. Harbaugh will then ease him into the next few games earlier in the contests to see what he can do against the higher levels of competition. In the meantime, either Boller or Smith will separate themself from the other and end up with the starting nod on opening day, with the other in the unenvious backup position until Flacco is deemed ready. Further down the line into the regular season, the starter's performance will determine at what point Harbaugh grows weary with our lack of offensive success and inserts Flacco into what should hopefully be his spot for the next ten years.

It all begins Thursday night.

Former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick's training camp was widely known as "Camp Creampuff." When John Harbaugh took over this year, the word was that he was going to work the players a lot harder in camp than in the past. The apparent result has been a rash of injuries, most notably to the young offensive linemen, who need the practice as much as anybody. Many media blame Harbaugh's increased tempo and hard hitting for the injuries and are now wondering whether this change is the reason that the players are dropping like flies.

At the same time, the players all seem to disagree with the media's assessment of the situation, and that is good enough for me. Trevor Pryce went as far to say that even Brian Billick's camps were much more physical than his former Denver Broncos coach, Mike Shanahan's camp was. Pryce went on to say that he had trained harder this offseason than ever before, was in the best shape of his life and found the pace of camp fine with him. The players said the number of reps and the pace of drills have increased, but the injuries are more of a fluke problem than one that can be blamed on Harbaugh's intensity.

Give me a break! The injuries are just an unfortunate series of events that have hit the guys who carry the most weight and constantly put the most pressure on their ankles and knees than any other position in football. They are constantly shuffling their feet and repositioning to fend off the rushing defensive linemen, and absorbing an unbelieveable amount of pounding on every snap. Many of the younger players are now getting so many more repetitions than they have ever had in the past as reserves. Some negative thinking radio sports talk hosts feel that the players should be "eased" into the increase in reps, which they say would better condition the players for the more intense days to come. I say this is training camp and the players have been staying in shape all year around and come into camp in good shape. If not, then they are in for a boatload of problems, the least of which will be sitting on the bench due to their lack of preparedness.

However, these injuries cannot and should not be blamed on the so-called tougher camp of new coach John Harbaugh. The Ravens did not seem prepared for the 2007 season, both physically and mentally. The reserves did not seem ready for the large amounts of playing time they received due to injuries to the starters throughout the season. Perhaps the faster pace and increase in repetitions of the drills will give them more experience to be better prepared in case similar things happen again in 2008.

Hopefully, the current rash of injuries will not bleed over into the regular season. So far, it doesn't seem as if any should cause the starters to miss opening day and though the time off of practice certainly won't help, the reserves should benefit from the increase in play during the preseason. We've just learned that newly acquired cornerback Fabian Washington was suspended for the first game of the regular season for a domestic abuse issue prior to coming to the Ravens, but he will continue to be allowed to practice in the meantime. The race for the starting QB position still appears to be very much up in the air, with no clear leader at this point.

The Ravens kick off their preseason schedule at New England next Thursday evening (August 7th). Who lines up behind center to begin the game appears to still be undecided and should not be viewed as anything when that is finally announced. At the same time, the QB situation will be a lot clearer after the game and I fully expect Joe Flacco to be holding the clipboard by the time the regular season gets underway. Veteran Kyle Boller and second year player Troy Smith should end up fighting for the first team snaps. Unfortunately, Boller consistently looks great on one play, then horrible on the next (so what else is new?), while Smith seems more confident but not exactly earning the starting nod.

The next few weeks will unravel all these questions. My recommendations to the fans and especially the overly-dramatic-to-garner-ratings sports talk radio and print media, is to sit back, relax and be patient, as this camp will end up fine and the Ravens will come out of the tunnel on September 7th ready and able to crush the Cincinnati Bengals!