Offseason deemed a success

Although it might have ended a week earlier than expected because of a violation of the league's practice rules, the Ravens' offseason was deemed a success by those at 1 Winning Drive.

And it'd be hard to argue with them.

Within the last few months, the Ravens acquired Anquan Boldin and Donte' Stallworth and resigned Derrick Mason, turning the wide receiver position from a weakness into a clear strength.

They added two young, athletic tight ends to back up Todd Heap and give Joe Flacco a couple additional targets in the passing game.

They bolstered both the interior and exterior of the defensive line, and have taken steps to improve a pass rush that struggled throughout much of last year.

And they capped it all off with a month of minicamps that were smoothly run, for the most part well-attended, and allowed both veterans and rookies to get into the flow of practice as the team works toward training camp.

"I think we got as much done as we possibly could have," head coach John Harbaugh said. "And we'll always say that more guys could have been here, or we could've been more correct on certain defenses, or run certain routes better, or made certain throws better, but that's part of the process.

"You're never going to be perfect, but we're always chasing that. And I think as a team, we worked really hard. Not just during the OTAs, but from March 15th until today and I'm proud of the way they worked. I think we maxed out our offseason, and now it's time to get away a little bit."

While the Ravens' rookies still have a week of workouts left, the veterans will head home and get some time away before training camp kicks off on July 26.

Some, like Boldin and Stallworth, have said that they intend to stick around Ravens headquarters for parts of the next month and a half, looking to get in some extra work with their teammates.

Flacco will be gracious enough to return to Owings Mills on a few occasions to get some work in with his receivers, as he looks to continue what he considers a strong couple months of workouts.

"I think we worked hard," Flacco said. "We worked hard and we did a good job. We're going to come into training camp ready to go, as long as people go home and they know what to do.

"We've got a great team, so everybody is going to come back in shape and we'll hit the ground running. That's what our goal is; to hit the ground running and make sure we can improve before game one."

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