Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith has gotten to know teammate Ray Rice well over the years. And Smith and his wife Chanel have gotten to know the troubled running back and his fiance, Janay Palmer off the field as well.
So after talking to both since they were arrested on Feb. 15 for assault following an incident at an Atlantic City casino, Smith said he was there to support both of them.
“It’s definitely a situation that it’s nothing to be proud of for us or for him,” Smith told Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. “He knows that. But Janay and Ray are great friends of ours. They’re focused on trying to fix it and make things right and we’re going to support them like we have in the past.
“Who are we to judge them? We don’t know what happened and we don’t know what they’re building on. I’ve talked to him and they are in a great space and trying to continue to grow from it. The fact that they are going on, moving on, trying to grow from it, we’re going to support them more than ever because a lot of people are going to turn their backs on them.”
While the Ravens have admitted the alleged video of Rice knocking out Palmer — along with the one that shows him dragging her unconscious body out of an elevator — “doesn’t look good,” they’re taking a patient approach.
Along with the arrest of wide receiver Deonte Thompson on marijuana charges, it hasn’t been a banner offseason for the Ravens.
But the Ravens have stood by troubled players before, and Smith’s backing indicates there’s no reason they won’t stick by Rice now.