Russell Street Report Street Talk Solid Turnout for Ravens OTA’s, 3 MIA’s

The Ravens wrapped up day two of their three-day voluntary OTA hitting the rain soaked fields outside at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills.

“We’ve had five weeks of preparing for these practices,” head coach John Harbaugh remarked about how the first OTA of the offseason has progressed.

“We’ve had phase one and then phase two and I think the league and the union have done a really good job setting up a structure where you build the guys into these types of practices and now we’re at the OTA’s which is the best part of the offseason.”

The team will gather once again tomorrow before the players will have the weekend off. Football activities will resume again next week.

Per collective bargaining agreement rules the OTA’s are purely voluntary however the Ravens had just three no-shows: Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and Chris Canty.

The team did welcome back some key players from injuries including running back Bernard Pierce who had rotator cuff surgery earlier this offseason.

“Maybe a little bit ahead of schedule – maybe,” Harbaugh said. “[It’s] just the fact that we really didn’t expect him to do that at this point, so he’s really working hard.”

Pierce was on the field today doing individual drills and catching some passes.

Wide receiver Aaron Mellette who showed promise last preseason before suffering a knee injury was back on the field in limited fashion.

He’s been on and off,” Harbaugh said. “[The knee has] been flaring up and swelling up when he works doing different things. He was out there today and looked good and we’ll see how he responds tomorrow. We had some issues.”

Absent from practice due to injury reasons were offensive lineman Jah Reid (calf strain), defensive tackle Terrence Cody (hip surgery) and wide receiver Michael Campanaro (hamstring).

For Terrence Cody, the set back could prove critical for the former Alabama football player who was re-signed to the Ravens earlier this offseason. Cody, underwent surgery once again this time to clean out his hip.

“He’s got a chance to be back for training camp. He’s rehabbing every day doing a good job with that,” Harbaugh said.

Rookie wide receiver Michael Campanaro was also sidelined on Thursday as the seventh round draft pick is still ailing from an injured hamstring.

He’s working hard to get back. Hopefully he’ll be back next week as soon as possible,” Harbaugh said. “I’m on him pretty hard about it. Local boy. He needs to be out there.”

What statement best describes your feeling about Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and Chris Canty sitting out OTA's?

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