Wallace fails conditioning test in debut with Ravens
Wide receiver Mike Wallace failed his first conditioning test and will not practice with the Baltimore Ravens until he passes it.
Wallace, 29, hit five of the six benchmarks in the test of stamina and conditioning, and the Ravens are not overly concerned.
NOTES
Wallace signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract after being released by the Minnesota Vikings.
Because of injuries to No. 1 target Steve Smith and 2015 first-round pick Breshad Perriman, the Ravens were thin at wide receiver last season.
Perriman didn’t play at all as a rookie, and Smith ruptured his Achilles in what was supposed to be his final season in the NFL.
PACKERS — The prevailing topic of Pro Bowl running back Eddie Lacy’s physique in the spring continued to carry a lot of weight at the start of Green Bay’s training camp.
Just as in the offseason, Lacy refused to say how much weight he’s dropped after abiding by coach Mike McCarthy’s ultimatum at the end of last season to get in shape.
Lacy said he resumed his workouts with P90X founder Tony Horton in California in the weeks leading up to camp. The fitness guru took Lacy under his wing early in the offseason in the aftermath of the young back’s disappointing third NFL season in 2015 that prompted public criticism from McCarthy for playing overweight.
The Packers list Lacy at 234 pounds, his same listed weight from last season. What his actual weight is, no one is saying.
“I’m tired of talking about it,” said Lacy, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
PATRIOTS — With Tom Brady suspended for the season’s first four weeks after declining to further pursue the appeal of his Deflategate punishment, the 38-year-old quarterback and 24-year-old Jimmy Garoppolo split first-team reps Thursday.
While Bill Belichick was quick to make it clear Garoppolo was his starter, as well as remind all that it is Brady’s job when the veteran returns, the coach wasn’t so interested in mapping out exactly how he will get his young passer ready this summer to make his NFL starting debut opening night in Arizona.
“We’ll do what we think is best,” Belichick said of Garoppolo’s reps moving forward.
STEELERS — Le’Veon Bell believes his surgically repaired right knee feels so good he could play “tomorrow.”
The wait will be considerably longer for the 24-year-old running back, perhaps all the way until October if his appeal for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy is denied.
While Bell apologized for being a distraction as the Steelers reported for training camp, he declined to get into specifics, saying only he was notified in March that he’d been suspended. ESPN.com reported Bell missed a drug test. Bell expects the appeal to be heard in August.
REDSKINS — Rookie wide receiver Josh Doctson, Washington’s firstround draft pick, was placed on the physically unable to perform list, along with four teammates, with a strained Achilles.
Defensive end Junior Galette, who ruptured his Achilles, went to the nonfootball injury list.
Tight end Derek Carrier, linebacker Perry Riley Jr., left guard Shawn Lauvao and wide receiver Reggie Diggs joined Doctson on the active/ physically unable to perform list.
VIKINGS — Minnesota signed coach Mike Zimmer to a long-term contract extension. Terms were not disclosed.
Zimmer, 60, enters his third season guiding the Vikings with an 18-14 record, including an 11-5 mark and an NFC North title last season.
BEARS — First-round draft pick Leonard Floyd left his first training camp practice on a cart, but coach John Fox said that he merely was sick and not injured in any way.