Ray Rice’s Burst Is Back, Can’t Miss Plays Of Training Camp

Jul 24, 2014; Owings Mills, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) runs with the ball during practice at Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Happy game day eve, and welcome to Lunchtime Links, where we round up all the latest Ravens news from around the web for your convenient consumption.  On today’s links we find out that Ray Rice’s burst is back, take a look at some depth chart observations and progress reports for the rookies, and watch all the can’t miss plays of training camp.

Ray Rice has his burst back

Ray Rice was hampered by injuries last season and couldn’t shake defenders as a result.  Now slimmed down and healthy, Rice is looking like his old self.  Which is great news for the Ravens.  John Harbaugh has taken note and heaped praise on Rice following Monday’s practice.

“Ray has looked really good,” Harbaugh said.  Comparisons to years in the past — we’ll find all that out during the season. But he’s in tremendous shape. I’ve seen him make a good lateral cut. He’s got really good burst, acceleration is there, vision is there. He’s been very patient with the zone runs. Ray looks really good.”

Initial depth chart observations

The first depth chart of the season is out, and Aaron Wilson has a few observations to make.  Among the most interesting is Haloti Ngata taking over the three technique DT spot vacated by the departure of Arthur Jones.  Taking over for Ngata at the nose is Brandon Williams.  Terrence Brooks has failed to take advantage of his opportunities so far, and the depth chart reflects this as he is playing behind Darian Stewart for the time being.

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Asa Jackson and Chykie Brown are still running as the backups at LCB and RCB, respectively.  So far their jobs haven’t been seriously challenged, despite Brown’s lackluster play and the emergence of Tramain Jacobs.  This is a fluid situation, however, as Dean Pees has made very clear in his statements.

Ravens rookie progress report

Jason Marcum has tracked the progress of each notable Ravens rookie and put it together for us.  Aside from the obvious solid play from C.J. Mosley, we have some surprises.  None of which is bigger than Timmy Jernigan, who has made the transition to the pros seamlessly so far and is already listed as the backup to Haloti Ngata at DT.  Part of this is due to Terrence Cody’s injury, but continued solid play will most likely keep him locked in.

Can’t miss plays of training camp

A lot of folks skip paying much attention to training camp, but don’t sleep on the fact that there are a ton of great plays taking place every day.  The Raven’s official site has conveniently put them all together in a must watch video for our enjoyment.  Even if you aren’t one to really pay much attention to training camp, I would highly recommend checking it out.