The Ravens have a new head coach and new quarterback and a new left tackle, but it remains to be seen if there will be any new results.
Head coach John Harbaugh holds his first training camp with the Ravens beginning Monday at McDaniel College with hopes of reversing the fortunes of a franchise that went 5-11 last season, missed the playoffs for the third time in four years and has not won in the playoffs in seven years.
Harbaugh, who spent the previous nine seasons as the special teams coordinator/secondary coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, believes the mindset of his players has changed dramatically since he became the franchise’s third head coach in January. Since April, the Ravens have held six offseason workout sessions, which Harbaugh used to introduce himself and to help the players get acclimated to new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron‘s offensive system.
Among the other changes Harbaugh has implemented include reshuffling locker assignments, and requiring veterans to stay at the team hotel for all of training camp instead of letting them to go home after the first week.
“Where we?ve come from and where we are now is really night and day,” Harbaugh said. “And it?s really that way with any football team when you start building a foundation every year. You start from the beginning, and you try to build a foundation. It?s especiallytrue when you?ve got a new program you?re putting in. Our guys have done a really, really good job of adapting and making this program their own.”
Two of the biggest question marks surrounding the Ravens in 2008 can be directly attributed to quarterback Steve McNair and left tackle Jonathan Ogden?s retirements. First-round pick Joe Flacco, who agreed in principle to a five-year, $30 million deal on Wednesday, is expected to challenge Kyle Boller and Troy Smith for the starting quarterback job during training camp.
“It?s obviously different than being in college, when you?re the starting quarterback and you know everything that?s going on,” Flacco said. “You know your team and things like that. When you?re the rookie and not familiar with running the offense, you try and go out there and act like you are. It?s obviously different, but it?s something I?m adjusting to and all of us are adjusting to. It?s something that, as time goes on, we?ll all get better at.”
One of the other young players to watch during training camp will be Jared Gaither, who is set to replace Ogden at left tackle. The 6-foot-9, 350-pound Gaither joined the Ravens as a fifth-round pick in the 2007 supplemental draft last July out of Maryland.
“I had to [grow] quick when I got drafted in the supplemental,” Gaither said. “Since then it?s just been about finding things out. I was getting ready then, and I have to be ready now.”
