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The Ravens got to practice in 90 degree temperatures and had some ups and downs. Boy is it hot out there today and the Ravens are showing some signs of the exhausting temperatures.
As we reported earlier, Steve Smith and Lardarius Webb got into a bit of a scuffle with each player cussing, screaming and shoving each other over a contested ball. Smith is especially known for going hard in practice and having his own scuffles as a Panther, having punched teammate Ken Lucas and Anthony Bright throughout his career. Webb would be best served to learn how to bob and weave. Immediately after the exchange, Steve Smith caught a pass against Jimmy Smith and Webb followed that up by knocking a pass away from tight end Owen Daniels. Both players look like they will have a few more heated exchanges before the season starts which isn't a terrible thing as it fires the roster up.
After cutting receiver Aaron Mellette and outside linebacker Adrian Hamilton, we reported earlier that the Ravens added another member to the try-outs in defensive tackle Daniel Muir. With Mellette gone, undrafted rookie wide receiver Jeremy Butler has been impressing on the field. Given the success of Marlon Brown last year, there is a precedence for the undrafted rookie not only making the team but seeing playing time. Currently his competition is Michael Campanaro, Deonte Thompson and LaQuan Williams for one of the last receiver positions.
Speaking of wide receivers, they spent more time letting balls hit the turf than anything. Marlon Brown, Torrey Smith, Jace Davis and Jacoby Jones all let passes drop for the second straight day. For a bunch of guys looking to excel in a new offense, they are getting off on the wrong foot. With 32 drops from his targets last season, Flacco would like to see that number go down this year while raising his own stats.
Flacco showed significant improvement today zipping the ball around in full-team seven-on-seven drills. One of his best throws was to Steve Smith who got over the top on safety Matt Elam, the new receiving target that he is building quite the relationship with. Rookie safety Terrence Brooks isn't looking so crisp and while the Ravens would like him to start the season at free safety, he has been practicing with the third team defense. While it is still early in the offseason, it is still a discouraging sign for the young safety to be so far down on the depth chart currently.
Defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore joined the previous list of injured players after tweaking his hamstring yesterday. Lewis-Moore and Brent Urban are currently competing to see who gets the second string job at defensive end, and the injury gave Urban reps today to improve his odds. With Chris Canty possibly being on the chopping block due to his salary, both players would like to remain healthy and on the field to make the case for taking the job over. The other players not practicing for the second straight day were Terrence Cody, Jah Reid, Kamar Aiken and Parker Graham.