Baltimore Raven’s Offseason Schedule: What You Need To Know

NFL Offseason programs have been announced for each team. Here is what you need to know for the Baltimore Ravens

While free agency and the draft have taken up most of the NFL news, teams will begin to get back to organized football activities sooner than you think. Every NFL team has a nine week program that is voluntary to players. Here is how it is broken down:

Phase One: This is considered the first real start of football activities for NFL teams. This period lasts for a total of two weeks. In this phase, teams are only allowed to strength and conditioning activities as well as physical rehabilitation. It is a good time for players to return the facility and start working out together. Offensive and defensive players can get back together in their respective groups. Really not a whole lot can go on, but it is just the start to the activities.

Phase Two: After the two week period, phase two begins. This is a three week period were teams can begin on the field workouts. These workouts include drills as well as individual player instruction. However, no live contact is supposed to occur. The offense and defense can also not go against each other in any sort of drills. This phase is good for coaches to get back into the routine of drills for their respective positions.

Phase Three: This phase concludes the final four weeks of the nine week program. This is where things start to pick up. During this phase “OTAs” or more commonly known as organized team activities can occur. Each team has 10 days to hold OTAs. During OTAs, teams can begin to do offense vs defense drills such as 7-7, 11-11, etc. However, live contact still should not occur. In phase three, teams have the ability to hold a mandatory mini camp. First year NFL coaches also have the chance to hold a veterans mini-camp if they chose to do so.