It has been a long time since the Ravens spent their days outside of the Westminster limits. Training camp started at McDaniel College on July 27, and the days, weeks and workouts are now blending together for many players, especially for rookies like P.J. Daniels and Cory Ross, who are both roommates and running backs. Fighting the monotony of long summer days becomes a top priority for players trying to make the squad.
“We?re out here every day and everyone is fighting,” Daniels said. “Everyone is going through it. It just brings you together. You just go through the motions, the same old stuff. The running backs try and keep it fun. Coach likes to throw the ball around and get us going before practice.”
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Every day is the same for players: Meet for practice at 8:30 a.m., meet for lunch at the hotel afterwards, team film meetings after that, and practice again at 4 p.m. Ross said that when practice ends in the evening, there?s still much work to be done.
“We try to relax and have some social time, but you have to study the playbook a lot,” Ross said. “There is nothing else we can really do.”
According to Daniels, you have to mix in a little fun at night, too, after studying the playbook.
“After that, you either go to sleep and get your little rest or play some video games ? Madden or NCAA [football],” Daniels said. “We try to have fun.”
With only several days remaining before training camp ends, players are trying to break the repetitiveness of the daily routine. Ravens head coach Brian Billick said after practice Tuesday he could tell that the process is taking its toll on all the players but wants them to remain focused with Thursday?s preseason game against the Eagles closing in.
“It?s getting late in camp,” he said. “They?re tired. They?re probably feeling sorry for themselves. It needs to be a little sharper with the game as imminent as it is.”
On Friday, training camp will break and the players will be released from their Westminster hotel rooms to a new practice facility, the indoor Owings Mills fields, where the practice routine will start all over again.
“It won?t make a difference,” Ross said. “We?ll practice the same way, indoor or outdoor. We do the same drills over there as we do here.”
