Makeup of stadium practice uncertain
Humphrey tries to keep up with peers; Flacco glad to be back; Guard Lee signed
The Ravens’ open practice at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday night was canceled because of inclement weather and heavy rain forecast for the evening, and it is uncertain whether the stadium practice will be rescheduled for a later time in the preseason.
“We have not yet discussed with the football staff the possibility of rescheduling a stadium practice for another date,” a team spokesman said.
The team made the announcement almost six hours before the practice was scheduled to begin as the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch through Sunday for the Baltimore region.
The flash flood watch is in effect for Baltimore and surrounding Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Harford and Carroll counties until 2 a.m. today. Those areas could experience “scattered incidents of flooding,” the weather service statement says.
The stadium practice could be rescheduled for a Saturday or Sunday, which are the days the stadium practices have usually been held. But the team is not scheduled to practice next Sunday and Saturday, Aug. 4, is probably out of the picture as several team officials are expected to attend former linebacker Hall of Fame induction ceremony that evening.
Sunday, Aug. 5, might not be viable because the Ravens are set to host the Los Angeles Rams the following Monday and Tuesday. The last day of training camp is Tuesday, Aug. 14.
The team will resume its normal schedule today with an 11:35 a.m. practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills. Cornering the market: As part of a rookie cornerback class in 2017 that proved itself in the NFL, is hoping to keep pace with his peers.
The Buffalo Bills’ the New Orleans Saints’ and the Los Angeles Chargers’
were ranked by Pro Football Focus as the top 10 rookies after the end of the regular season. Humphrey, the Tennessee Titans’ and the San Francisco 49ers’
were among the honorable mentions, and Humphrey — the 16th overall pick who ranked second on the Ravens in pass breakups with 11 and intercepted a pair of passes — said he wants to continue his growth.
“I felt like a lot of rookie cornerbacks had a really good year,” he said. “So I kind of want to go down in history, and people are looking 10 years from now, and we’re still in the league, and they’re like, ‘Man, we can’t even figure out who’s the best corner in that class.’ So definitely, I’m trying to raise the bar and get up there like those guys.” Happy to be back: As a veteran,
has enjoyed a not-as-taxing start to training camp thanks to coach
adjusted practices for a select group of players. But it’s still better than a year ago when the quarterback missed the entire preseason because of a back injury.
Flacco was expected to miss a week or two of training camp, but lingering soreness kept him off the practice field until Sept. 2. Flacco has not blamed the injury for one of his worst seasons in the NFL, but he acknowledged Friday that he is thrilled to be healthy for the preseason.
“I always value being on the field,” he said. “It’s fun. This is what I love to do. So any chance you get out there to get better and work with your guys, that’s huge. I really missed it last year. You’re not going to be able to tell from my reactions and my facial expressions, but I don’t like not being out there. That’s not something that I’m very used to.” Like Flacco, cornerback has been given a certain amount of latitude on the practice field. But his activity in individual drills and even a few full-team exercises after tearing his left Achilles tendon on Dec. 3 has been an encouraging sign for team officials, who initially thought they would have to open the regular season without Smith. “Jimmy is coming off an Achilles during the season, a tough injury, and did a great job rehabbing it,” Harbaugh said. “He looks pretty darn good out there. We’re still going to take our time, but boy, it’s very good to see — positive development.” … The team announced Saturday its signing of free-agent guard Undrafted from Illinois State in 2017, the 6-foot-6, 313-pound Lee spent stints with the New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals before joining the Chicago Bears’ practice squad Sept. 3. He was promoted to the active roster Dec. 5 and was released May 14. Lee fortifies an offensive line that has practiced without six-time Pro Bowl right guard (shoulder – physically-unable-to-perform list), guard
(undisclosed) and rookie offensive tackle (unspecified). Extra points: