Archives for September 26, 2013

‘”He’s productive,” Marrone said of Branch. “He’s very difficult to move. He’s a big-bodied guy. He might get upset with me saying that, but he’s big-bodied in a good way. And he can cause problems. Hard to move, frees up linebackers, has a pretty good pass rush for a big guy. We’ve been very happy with that acquisition.”‘

‘They’re allowing 155 yards a game rushing, which is worse than last year’s yield and tied for 30th in the league. The Bills have finished 28th or worse against the run the last four seasons, and they haven’t finished above 21st in overall run defense or average per rush since 2004.’

‘”He’s working extremely hard to get back,” Bills coach Doug Marrone said. “Again, I keep going back to that same statement I’ve said, and this is the truth: It’s a condition that we haven’t been able to get over this one last hurdle, and I think when we get over the one last hurdle he’ll be ready to go.”‘

‘Candelario was executive director of West Side Community Services for 18 years and is now executive director at the Belle Center. She is also on the board of the West Buffalo Charter School.’

‘”I felt like it was a message to me that I couldn’t play corner, but talking to coach Pettine, that wasn’t the case at all,” Williams said Wednesday. “The message was this would be the best position for you and for the team. They know I can play cornerback, or else they wouldn’t have put me in there Sunday.”‘

‘Those who did not practice were defensive linemen Mario Williams (ankle) and Kyle Williams (Achilles), defensive backs Leodis McKelvin (hamstring), Stephon Gilmore (wrist) and Ron Brooks (ankle), wide receivers Stevie Johnson (hamstring) and Marquise Goodwin (hand), offensive guard Kraig Urbik (knee), and kicker Dustin Hopkins (groin). Those who worked only in individual drills were defensive tackle Marcel Dareus (ankle) and safety Jairus Byrd (plantar fasciitis).’

‘”He’s not the same EJ from college; he improved his game,” Elam said. “He’s making better decisions, faster decisions than he did in college. He’s got more knowledge.”‘

‘”He took his game to another level,” Elam said. “He’s not the same E.J. from college.”‘

Rookie first-round picks Elam, Manuel to renew college rivalry Sunday (Baltimore Sun)

Texans’ Whitney Mercilus fined $15,000 for hit on Joe Flacco (Baltimore Sun)

Ravens QB Joe Flacco says Ray Lewis should know better (Baltimore Sun)

Ravens RB Ray Rice practices Wednesday, plans to play Sunday (Baltimore Sun)

Marlon Brown didn’t practice due to neck injury, Rice, Canty limited (Baltimore Sun)

Jacoby Jones makes first public comments since incident: ‘I take responsibility’ (Baltimore Sun)

Ravens impressed by development of Bills rookie QB Manuel (Carroll County Times)

Rice and Canty return to practice (Carroll County Times)

Smith making name for himself on Ravens defense (AP)

Ravens ‘very hopeful’ Rice will play against Bills (The Sports Xchange)

Ravens say Lewis wrong about leadership void (The Sports Xchange)

Can the Ravens protect Flacco from Mario Williams? (CSN Baltimore)

Elam & Manuel will put friendship on hold Sunday (CSN Baltimore)

Rice, Canty both optimistic about playing Sunday (CSN Baltimore)

Ihedigbo asserts himself in Ravens secondary (CSN Baltimore)

Ravens hold the line in red zone (CSN Baltimore)

9/25: Who’s Practicing, Who’s Not (BaltimoreRavens.com)

Joe Flacco On Leadership Criticism: Ray Knows Better (BaltimoreRavens.com)

Ravens Overcoming Significant Injuries (BaltimoreRavens.com)

Chemistry Building Between Dallas Clark, Joe Flacco (BaltimoreRavens.com)

Late For Work 9/25: Joe Flacco Reveals Baby Pics, Why He Skipped Birth (BaltimoreRavens.com)

Ravens Celebrate O.J. Brigance’s Birthday, Book Release Coming (BaltimoreRavens.com)

Week 4 At Buffalo Bills: Wednesday Transcripts (BaltimoreRavens.com)

Week 4 At Bills: Ravens Conference Call w/ Buffalo Media (BaltimoreRavens.com)

Game notes (BaltimoreRavens.com)

‘He says he’s learned a lot from the mistakes made.’

‘”Some of the mistakes we made were terrible, myself included,” center Eric Wood said. “We obviously have to bounce back, but that was a game we kind of threw away.”‘

‘The Bills were without five players that had not been on last week’s report during the first practice of this week. Cornerback Leodis McKelvin (hamstring), wide receiver Stevie Johnson (hamstring), rush linebacker Mario Williams (ankle), defensive tackle Kyle Williams (ankle) and guard Kraig Urbik (knee) all did not participate.’

‘The back end, what we’re doing is obviously Leodis is in the mix still. It’s day to day. While he’s not out there we’re going through different combinations being obviously ready for him to come back, different combinations of players, different combinations of schematics, man, zone, matchup’s, things like that. Seeing what the best thing for us, so it gives us the best opportunity to be successful. So that process is really going to be day to day as we go and practice and evaluate it afterwards. The great thing about it is we do have a lot of flexibility with Aaron (Williams). We’ve got Jimmy (Leonhard), (Da’Norris) Searcy and Duke (Williams) back there. We have the corners and Aaron can go back and forth and Leodis is still in the mix. It’s exciting because people are going to have an opportunity and see what they can do.’

‘Yeah, definitely when they’re bringing the house at you, it’s definitely a tough thing to deal with, but none the less you have to deal with it and I think it’s just a part of maturing in the position and understanding that that’s what the Jets are going to do every time we play them, and I’m sure a lot more teams are going to try to amp it up a little bit too. I think the biggest thing to do is showing them that you can handle it and that’s when they will stop doing the blitzes.’

‘It’s kind of been like a roller coaster. Hasn’t been consistent and that’s what you really want. We just have to take what they give us and don’t force it. That was really my big improvement from Week One to Week Two is that I went back to just being patient and not looking for that big run and just letting it happen. Freddy (Jackson) on his play he just did a great job of just keeping his legs alive, he continued to play through the whistle and those guys stopped or thought they had him stuffed and he just kept it alive and he was able to see a seam and get a big run. The biggest thing for us is just don’t force it, just let it happen.’