The Baltimore Ravens became the first team to report to training camp and held their first practice on Thursday ahead of their matchup with the Chicago Bears in the Hall of Fame Game in two weeks.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is taking it easy on some of his veteran players in hopes of easing into the grind of camp with an extra exhibition game to play before the start of the regular season. According to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, quarterback Joe Flacco, linebacker Terrell Suggs and safety Eric Weddle are among the group of veterans that won’t participate in a full practice until after the first weekend of camp.
Harbaugh wants the NFL to institute of a week prior to the start of practices that would allow for players to acclimate more seamlessly into the rigors of training camp.
“Acclimation is very important,” Harbaugh said. “If we could get a week instead of two days -- not to push it back so we have a shorter time to get our guys ready for football -- to put in front of training camp where we can get our guys ramped up for the collisions and hard movements, maybe we would avoid some of those first two- to three-day injuries that we get during training camp. That’s our goal this year.”
Veterans are being limited to individual drills and conditioning in the first week in hopes of avoiding serious injuries, such as the knee injuries sustained by tight end Crockett Gillmore and cornerback Maurice Canady on the second day of camp last year.
Training camps typically begin with veterans reporting for camp one day and practices beginning the next. A mandated acclimation period could potentially yield fewer injuries. However, coaches aren’t going to voluntarily give up practice time while their competitors are able to practice. It’s also no guarantee that injuries would be reduced.
But with the Ravens getting an extra week of practice due to their presence in the Hall of Fame game, it gives Harbaugh a chance to ease into a full workload more easily than in most seasons.