Dust Not Settled Yet

 The Ravens finalized their eight-man practice squad with the signing of tight end Isaac Smolko.

But even though the team made the appropriate roster moves last weekend by trimming 22 players to get the active list down to 53 and rounding out the developmental unit, the Ravens may not be finished tinkering just yet.

Head coach John Harbaugh said he believes general manager Ozzie Newsome could make additional roster changes, perhaps as soon as this week.

“As Ozzie says, ‘The dust has not settled on all of that,’” Harbaugh admitted Monday in his first public comments since the roster was released on Saturday. “In the next couple weeks, that’s going to shake itself out, because people do have to put their best team together. Everybody’s still going to do that. We think we kept the 53 best guys, at this time, that we could with an eye toward the future.

“We were disappointed to lose some guys. Hopefully people will get claimed, but we understand that they’re good players and we lost them.”

The Ravens tight end Davon Drew, a fifth-round draft pick, when he was claimed by the Miami Dolphins. Drew would likely have made the practice squad, but his absence opened a spot for Smolko.

The Penn State product appeared in six contests in 2007 for the Jacksonville Jaguars, before spending the majority of last season on Baltimore’s practice squad.

Receiver Yamon Figurs was also claimed by the Detroit Lions, and rookie running back Cedric Peerman went to the Cleveland Browns.

Smolko joins receivers Justin Harper and Eron Riley, safety K.J. Gerard, offensive linemen Joe Reitz, Stefan Rodgers and Bryan Mattison, and linebacker Williams VanDeSteeg.

Harbaugh said that each player has a chance to contribute this year, but they all could use some seasoning before becoming one of the vaunted 53.

“Justin’s going to be a great player in this league, and he shows flashes of it every single day,” explained Harbaugh. “He’s just not catching the ball consistently enough to make our team yet. He’s in a developmental-type situation right now, and Eron Riley is another guy. You can go right down the line – Bryan Mattison, Joe Reitz, all those guys are in that same boat right now.

“[Harper is] going to have to work really hard every single day, but he’s got talent, and we’ll see how he does.”

Regarding the active roster’s current state, Harbaugh all but ruled out a return for former Ravens right tackle Willie Anderson, especially after trading safety Derrick Martin to the Green Bay Packers for lineman Tony Moll, who has started 11 games at right guard and seven games at right tackle.

Anderson retired this offseason after starting 14 contests in 2008, but still has two years left on his original Ravens contract.

“Willie’s whole thing is physical. It was physical last spring,” Harbaugh said. “He has a tremendous desire to play. We still talk to Willie all the time, just like you talk to all the guys all the time. You have relationships in the league. He’s not physically in a situation where he feels right to play right now, but we’ll leave the door open to anybody that can make our team better.

“Tony Moll makes us better. We needed a guy right now that we felt could make us better right now if we could find that guy. Derrick Martin played so well that he’s going to go up to Green Bay and be their third safety. So that was kind of a win-win trade for both teams.”

There are also several recent reports linking the Ravens to receiver David Tyree, but Harbaugh believes he can win with the quartet of Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, Kelley Washington and Demetrius Williams.

In addition, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is known for his innovative use of his players’ talents.

“We can play with four, because with our offense, we can put any number of players out there that we want,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a little more difficult on defense. The team puts four wide receivers out there, or five wide receivers, you’ve got to be able to match.

“On offense, we can put one wide receiver out there if we want, if we need to, and we’ve got some flexibility with our players and guys we can put on the field.”