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It was a fairly quiet day in Westminster today.
Today was a "30-plus" day for the Ravens, meaning that all players 30 and over were invited to take the morning practice off. The afternoon session was strictly a special teams practice, so guys like Derrick Mason, Trevor Pryce, and Ray Lewis had the entire day away from the practice fields.
The morning session did have a few notes worthy of passing along, though. Here they are:
Play of the day: During 11-on-11 drills late in the morning session, linebacker Antwan Barnes batted a Marc Bulger pass up in the air. Defensive tackle Lamar Divens, all 343 pounds of him, dove onto the turf and snatched the loose ball just before it hit the ground. Divens' fellow defensive players celebrated the interception by smacking the third-year pro on the helmet and jumping on top of him.
Workout plan of the day: Barnes had an opportunity for an easy interception mid-way through practice, but the ball bounced right off his hands. The linebacker clapped his hands in frustration, then dropped to the turf. With the rest of his teammates watching on, Barnes doled out his own punishment - pumping out 10 push-ups right in the middle of the field.
Quote of the day: "Ellerbe can't cover me!" - Ray Rice
Rice sprinted past Dannell Ellerbe in 7-on-7 drills, getting up the seam past the second-year linebacker and bringing in a Joe Flacco for a touchdown. He shouted the above quote towards the assembled media behind the end zone.
Notable: Four players who qualified for the morning off because they were over 30 participated anyway: tight end Todd Heap, kicker Shayne Graham, quarterback Marc Bulger and cornerback Walt Harris.
Heap just returned to practice yesterday after missing the first few days of camp with a tonsil infection, so Harbaugh joked that he didn't qualify for the time off. "You have to actually put in three days before you get an over 30 day," Harbaugh said. "We've added that to the rulebook now."
- Linebacker Jameel McClain had "a couple" sacks today, by his estimation. He continues to get the majority of the snaps with the first-team at inside linebacker, with Tavares Gooden and Dannell Ellerbe rotating in.
- Donte' Stallworth kept his positive camp going, making a few nice grabs along the sideline during 11-on-11 drills. He has looked really smooth thus far, especially for a guy who hasn't practiced at full speed in quite some time, and his speed is still there.
- Shayne Graham handled all the kicking duties today, and went 11-of-12. He missed wide right from 53 yards out, but converted on a 53-yarder as well. Billy Cundiff got the day off after taking all the kicks yesterday, going 8-of-9 during the morning practice.
