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Today kicked off the start of the three-day joint practice session with the Philadelphia Eagles. Today's festivites were rather uneventful, but football happened, and that's fantastic news.
While none of the Beatdown staff were in attendance, we can certainly bring you all of the news from delegates of both the Baltimore and Philadelphia media that were present.
Reports From Bleeding Green Nation
our lovely sister blog
Per BaltimoreRavens.com's Garrett Downing, the altercation took place when Eagles LB Brandon Graham took down Ravens FB Kyle Juszczyk. This was a big deal because of the previously agreeed upon terms that the teams wouldn't tackle. Thankfully, the skirmish extinguished itself. The climax of the scuffle amounted to a few angry words from the mouth of Ravens receiver Steve Smith.
- Eagles rookie CB Eric Rowe made a nice play on Steve Smith when Rowe knocked an apparent touchdown out of Smith's hands. On the flip side, Ravens receiver Kamar Aiken "outmuscled" Rowe for a touchdown.
- A few Eagles secondary players had a nice day feasting on Ravens quarterbacks. Bleeding Green's Brandon Lee Gowton says that both Walter Thurmond and Brandon Graham had nice interceptions. Gowton believes it was Flacco that threw the aforementioned picks, but because of the Ravens pesky hard-to-read black jerseys that the quarterbacks wear, he was unsure. My money is on Matt Schaub being the guy who was responsible.
- The Eagles apparently accommodated the Ravens by slowing down the practice tempo and not practicing with music.
- Kyle Arrington had a nice tip at the LOS against Eagles QB Sam Bradford. However, Kyle would later be burned by Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews.
- Concerns for the Ravens offensive line? Bleeding Green reports that "the Eagles "pass rush" did a nice job of getting "pressure" on Flacco." While contact was limited, this may be of concern for the unit that is supposed to be one of the best in the league.
- Ravens LB Arthur Brown got juked out by Eagles backup halfback Kenjon Barner. It was pretty sweet, but disappointing that it happened to Brown, who desperately needs to show up.
- Brown wasn't the only linebacker to have a bad day. Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil, the starters, were reportedly "burned" in one-on-one pass coverage by Eagles players Trey Burton and Eric Tomlinson. Another unnamed linebacker gave Burton a high-five after a one-handed grab.
“It’s definitely more competitive,” - Ravens LB Elvis Dumervil on scrimmaging with the Eagles
Notes From Baltimore Ravens Staff Writer, Garrett Downing
- The Eagles do things differently than the Ravens. While the Ravens run through calisthenics exercises individually, the Philadelphia squad opts to do them as a team. This wasn't the only difference seperating the two teams, as the Ravens took to the field a full 40 minutes before the Eagles. The length of practice, 2 hours and 20 minutes, was a little shorter than the Ravens are used to. But the heat in South Philadelphia made up for the shorter practice, as it was a blistering 90 plus degrees at the Eagles facility.
- The Eagles defensive unit came out aggressive, their strategy was to force the ball out of the opposition's hands, as after every catch "the defensive backs would try to poke out the football." This aggressive tactic worked when rookie TE Nick Boyle lost the ball and fumbled "about 30 yards downfield". I'm not sure how someone could fumble back that far, but apparently Boyle did. Coach Harbaugh didn't let the rookie off easy either, as he called out Boyle after practice, saying he needs to "do a better job protecting the ball".
- Coach Harbaugh, known for his many varying personal mantras, was sporting a new T-shirt with a new mantra today. “Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable,” read the shirt.
- WR Breshad Perriman (knee), OG Kelechi Osemele (foot), CB Lardarius Webb (hamstring), and Jah Reid (undisclosed) were all held out of today's practice. Perriman was present on the sidelines for some of practice, something he doesn't always do back in Baltimore. Safety Matt Elam, potentially out for the year with a torn biceps, also supported the team alongside Perriman from the sidelines.
- Good news as rookie TE Maxx Williams returned to the practice field after missing just a couple of days. OG John Urschel was back too after a scary concussion incident last week, but was held out of contact drills today.
- The practice injuries were very few and far between today. RT Ricky Wagner was "dinged up" during practice. James Hurst took his spot on the field. Wagner's injury seems to be minor, considering that he "stayed on the field for the rest of the day, but didn’t get back in the drills."
"Today's my wife's birthday, so I'm not at home, I'm over here doing this [expletive] and missing my wife's birthday. That's my honest opinion. I'd rather be at home singing happy birthday to my wife."
Until then, see you Ravens (and Eagles) faithful tomorrow!