By the end of last season, the Ravens looked more like a MASH unit than a football team.
Linebacker Ray Lewis (hamstring) and safety Ed Reed (ankle) ? the NFL?s 2003 and 2004 defensive players of the year ? played in only six and 10 games, respectively. In addition, guard Keydrick Vinson (thigh) appeared in just nine games, and rookie linebacker Dan Cody missed the whole season with a knee injury suffered at the beginning of training camp.
Those injuries, along with physical setbacks that contributed to sub-par seasons from running back Jamal Lewis and guard Edwin Mulitalo, among others, all played a role in the Ravens? 6-10 season. Lewis dealt with the effects of offseason ankle surgery, while Mulitalo had a hard time recovering from surgeries to fix a torn left tricep and to remove gout from his right knee.
This season appears to be different, as the team is relatively healthy despite Jamal Lewis spending the early part of training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list with a strained hip flexor.
Ray Lewis, who has recovered from surgery to repair a torn hamstring, is excited about the health of the Ravens. However, he?s cautiously optimistic about everyone remaining that way.
“To have [quarterback] Steve [McNair], and to have everyone together and healthy, it?s always exciting,” Lewis said. “But you always have to be ready for that one knock. Who?s going to fall? Who?s going to miss two or three weeks? And that?s always the No. 1 question.”
Reed, who missed the final six games of last season with a high ankle sprain, said the injury was an opportunity for him to learn more about his teammates.
“[Last year] was very frustrating as a whole,” Reed said. “But it was a learning experience ? something you have to go through. You can?t just go straight to the Super Bowl or straight to the playoffs. It?s the growing pains you have to go through to learn about yourself and to learn about your teammates to see how they respond to adversity.”
RAVENS NOTES
» Despite the injuries ? and the death of his father, Moliki ? Mulitalo started 15 games in 2005.
» Cody, a second-round draft selection last year, went on injured reserve Aug. 30, 2005 after he suffered a sprained anterior cruciate ligament on the first day of practice.
