Baltimore Ravens Studying Sleep Patterns

According to the Baltimore Ravens' official website, the Baltimore Ravens are considering making changes to the team's schedule to benefit the performance of the players. The team is considering rescheduling the start of practice from 8:15 to 9:00. Another change that could be made is rescheduling the off-day, coming off of west-coast games, from Tuesday to Monday.

From BaltimoreRavens.com: The studies show that getting between four to five hours of uninterrupted sleep a night will provide about 80 percent restoration, allowing a person to do "well enough" the next day. But the Ravens aren't looking for their players to simply perform "well enough." They want peak performance, which requires sleeping about 8 to 10 hours a night for most players

Currently, the Ravens leave on Friday afternoons when playing a Sunday game on the West Coast. Flying out two days in advance gives the players an opportunity to adjust to the new time zone. For games in the Eastern time zone, the team leaves just one day early.

In addition to flying out West a day early, the team is also considering getting the players gradually acclimated to the time change. For example, they could start Wednesday morning meetings at 8:15, Thursday at 9:15 and then Friday at 10:15, slowly changing the players' schedules so that they're on West Coast time when they leave on Friday.

It is uncertain at this point if these possible changes will affect Baltimore's performance throughout the year, but it is definitely looking like the front-office and staff are doing everything they can to give Ravens' players every competitive edge they can.

The entire story can be found here.