The Ravens held Day 2 of mandatory minicamp practice Wednesday, and the defense was the story of the day.
The defense was stellar throughout the afternoon, getting the better of the offense on a number of occasions. Intensity was ramped up during the hot, two-hour practice, as things got chippy between the two sides of the ball on a couple of occasions.
Here's a look at some of the key highlights from Wednesday:
- Rookie safety Matt Elam came up with a nice interception of quarterback Joe Flacco to start off 11-on-11 drills. Elam covered a good bit of ground over the middle of the field to roam into the deep secondary and pull down the interception. After the play, Elam was so excited that he jumped up to celebrate and forgot NFL and college rules are different. He thought he was down when he went to the ground, but his teammates helped him out and told him to the return the ball. Elam took off upfield before being touched down. The defense all swarmed the rookie coming over to the sidelines after the play.
- Practice was chippy at times, as offensive lineman Jah Reid and outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw got into a tussle after a play. Later in practice, a number of the defensive players were yelling at Reid. Between plays Upshaw and Jameel McClain started to walk over to the offensive side of the field to have a word with him. Other than the yelling back and forth, the situation didn't escalate past the initial scuffle.
- Wednesday's practice included a lot of work from the shotgun, pass-heavy offense. The Ravens showed a formidable pass rush with players like Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, Courtney Upshaw and Pernell McPhee sacking Flacco or forcing quick throws on several occasions.
- Dumervil has fit right into the defense. He always seems to be around the ball, whether he's rushing the passer or even dropping back into coverage. Having him and Suggs come off the edges will be a scary sight for opposing quarterbacks.
- Defensive lineman Chris Canty showed off his athleticism with a nice interception on Tyrod Taylor. The 6-foot-7, 317-pounder lept up and caught the pass from Taylor at the line of scrimmage. He made an attempt to return the ball for a touchdown, but was touched down before making it to the end zone.
- Kicker Justin Tucker is as solid as they come. He worked off to the side during individual drills, kicking on a skinny goal post. Even on smaller goal posts, Tucker was drilling the ball right down the middle.
- Rookie wide receiver Aaron Mellette is coming along, but is clearly still early in his development. He flashed with a nice touchdown grab down the middle of the field on a pass from Taylor, but he also dropped an easy ball over the middle of the field earlier in the day.
- Jacoby Jones can still fly. All that dancing didn't slow him down at all.
- The Ravens have an eclectic mix of music during practice. Drake, AC/DC and Frank Sinatra were all included in today's playlist.
