Mandatory minicamp began Tuesday afternoon as the entire Ravens roster was at the Under Armour Performance Center for the first time this offseason.
It was a perfect mid-70s day as the Ravens took the field for the two-and-a-half hour practice.
“We’re loving every minute of it and the guys are working really hard,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “The guys are in great shape and we just have to build a winning football team, a team that plays winning football.”
Here were some of the notes from Tuesday’s practice:
- Wide receiver Kamar Aiken
continues to show people why he was the team’s leading receiver last year. He consistently makes contested catches all over the field. He hauled in an outstretched catch down the sideline and came back later to snag a touchdown in red-zone drills.
- Rookie Keenan Reynolds looks natural catching punts. He shows no hesitation lining up underneath them, and he knows what to do when he gets the ball in his hands.
- Some of the young receivers made notable big plays. Jeremy Butler made a name for himself in last year’s training camp and had a nice one-handed snag over the middle. Rookie Chris Moore showed off his big-play ability by blowing by rookie cornerback Maurice Canady and drawing a pass interference call. Kaelin Clay hauled in a long touchdown catch over the middle.
- Joe Flacco wasn’t practicing, but he kept a close eye on the action. He watched a portion of practice with Owner Steve Bisciotti on his golf cart off to the side of the field. Flacco then popped up and lightly jogged to the sideline, where he watched the rest of practice.
- Canady came up with a nice play during full-team drills when he picked off quarterback Jerrod Johnson and returned it for a touchdown. The seventh-round pick has his work cut out for him if he’s going to make the 53-man roster, but more plays like that will go a long way in earning a spot.
- Safety Eric Weddle clearly has a nose for the football and his instincts always seem to put him around the ball. He did have a miscue, however, when he was in perfect position to intercept a pass and let it bounce off his hands. Some of his teammates chided him about the play as he ran back to the line of scrimmage.
- Rookie linebacker Kamalei Correa is lining up all over the field. The coaches are giving him a look at inside linebacker and edge rusher, and he’s getting plenty of reps with the first-team offense.
- Second-year tight end Maxx Williams had perhaps the play of the day with a leaping, juggling catch in red-zone drills. He barely got both feet in as he tumbled to the turf and completed the catch.
- An entertaining portion of practice was watching reporters dodge field-goal attempts from Justin Tucker as they bounced off the wall of the team’s indoor fieldhouse.
