NOTEBOOK: Chester Feeling Fine

A healthy Chris Chester took a full practice load this week with the expectation of stepping back into the starting lineup Saturday against the Washington Redskins.

After spraining his right foot vesus the Philadelphia Eagles in the Ravens' preseason opener, Chester had been limited to bystander status for the past week, including Sunday's matchup with the New York Giants. Finally suiting up on Tuesday, Chester got through Thursday feeling fit.

"The foot feels good," he said. "There haven't been any problems with putting weight on it, and I think I'm moving around pretty well."

Pulling double-duty as Baltimore's starting right guard and second-team center, the 2006 third-round draft pick is going to need all of his strength.

Chester will be blocking for quarterback Steve McNair for what could turn out to be one quarter or an entire half, and then see time snapping to backup Kyle Boller into the second half.

For Chester, who originally was a tight end at the University of Oklahoma before moving to the offensive line as a senior, changing positions hasn't been a difficult experience.

"I think [I'm doing] pretty well," he said. "You can kind of get twisted up and confused when you go from guard to center and playing both of those positions. But, I think I've done a pretty good job of staying focused."

Head coach Brian Billick would agree. Since the Ravens selected Chester in the draft, Billick and the coaching team have plugged him in at both guard spots, where he earned two starts each at the right and left side. The Ravens would also like to see Chester develop into the successor of 10-year veteran Mike Flynn.

"We forget how little he had actually played on the interior line – both center and guard from before," Billick stated. "He just gets better and better for us, and I feel very comfortable with him both at center and at guard."

At this point, the 6-foot-3, 305-pounder doesn't have a preference of where he ends up as long as the Ravens are moving the football.

"I do what they tell me to do," he said.

School Daze

As the summer wanes, many Ravens are doing their part to help ease the transition back to school for local students.

On Monday, Ravens safety Ed Reed and cornerback Corey Ivy distributed school supplies to students at Booker T. Washington Middle School. Reed has an ongoing relationship with the school, where he implemented the L.O.R.D.S. (Leadership, Order, Respect, Discipline, Success) program that rewards students who achieve certain academic and behavioral goals.

Tuesday evening, Ray Lewis did his part by hosting the annual Back to School Backpack event at Morning Star Baptist Church in Baltimore.

Lewis was joined by 14-year-old actor Nathan Corbett from HBO's "The Wire," and Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. The trio spoke to the students prior to distribution, touching on education, self esteem and the community. Each child who attended received a backpack stocked with various school supplies.

Crossover Sport

With the Minnesota Twins in town to take on the Baltimore Orioles for a four-game stretch, the Ravens had a special visitor to practice Thursday. Twins catcher Joe Mauer, one of the top players in all of Major League Baseball, watched the team work out and then ate lunch with Terrell Suggs, an old friend.

The duo played football together growing up in St. Paul, Minn. at the Jimmy Lee Rec Center, where Suggs was the center to Mauer's quarterback.

"He was such a good athlete," said Suggs. "I remember playing against him in basketball and he would score like 40 points when we were kids."

Notable

Safety Gerome Sapp has been playing up in the second level of the defense, and sometimes at the line of scrimmage, in certain packages in the Ravens' diverse defense. Linebacker Bart Scott is more than willing to help Sapp with the transition, although Scott says his teammate is doing just fine. "If he does need any help, I'll teach him how to read the triangle," Scott said. "It's uncharacteristic for those guys to read from the guard to the back to the other guard. That is something that a safety's eyes aren't trained for."…Defensive tackle Atiyyah Ellison was all smiles this week as he and his wife, Jessica, welcomed their a 9-pound, 2-ounce baby to the family late Monday night at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. Braylon Ellison is the couple's second child.