No Haloti Ngata?

The word out of camp is that a sprained MCL is what sidelined Haloti Ngata, and that Kelly Gregg is favoring what appears to be a knee injury.

So what does it mean when you two defensive tackles have bum wheels ?

A. Shorten training camp.

B. Avoid contact drills as much as possible ?

C. Maybe Brian Billick was onto something with Camp Cream Puff for veterans?

Could be a little of all three. Most players around the league agree that training camp is far to long and far to arduous for a sport they have been playing all of their lives. To an extent, I agree. If you come in camp out of shape as a pro athlete, you deserve to run. If you are a vet in peak physical condition, gimme a lap and go chill.

As for avoiding contact drills, they can inspire animosity and brotherhood simultaneously. Forget about injuries for a second, sometimes you can develop beef with someone you’ve laid out on a crackback trying to rile up your defensive or offensive mates. Considering the wild side of the Ravens’ D, that might not be such a bad idea.

And yes, maybe Brian Billick was right on target when he gave veterans relaxed requirements at training camp. He was criticized, but with the straits becoming more dire by the day because of injuries, maybe they can hire Billick back as an injury management consultant or something.

The Ravens just can’t afford to go into Week 1 with crippled key players. Especially on defense.