Ravens running back Ray Rice's recent legal issues haven't kept him from the Ravens' Under Armour Performance Center or from working out.
Wide receiver Jacoby Jones bumped into Rice while in town Thursday to sign his new contract, and was impressed with what he saw.
"I saw Ray [Rice] – he looks like he lost a little bit a weight, like he's ready to roll," Jones said. "He's looking fit."
Rice entered the league in 2008 weighing 207 pounds. His highest weight last year was 217, according to Head Coach John Harbaugh.
It was due to bulking up too much in the weight room last offseason. The weight and hip injury left him less elusive than in previous Pro Bowl years, and Rice ended up rushing for a career-low 3.1 yards per carry.
"Maybe less muscle, more speed," Rice said in December. "It might be something that I want to change up. That will be an offseason study for myself."
Harbaugh said he'd like to see Rice get closer to his rookie weight.
"What the weight ends up being, we'll see, but it's lighter. A lot lighter," he told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine. "To me it's under 210 for sure.
"Ray is pretty consistent. It's not like Ray fluctuated. Ray didn't get fat. Ray just got big and thick. His body fat only went up two pounds from what it was when he was a rookie, so the rest of that weight was all muscle mass. It's just too much muscle mass."
After the season ended and Harbaugh and Rice had time to sit down and evaluate the season, the Ravens threw their support behind the running back for next year.
"Nobody works harder than Ray," Harbaugh said. "I'm very confident that when he says he's going to come back in the best shape of his life and be better than ever, I'm confident that he's going to do exactly that."
