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As defensive coordinator Greg Mattison walked to the podium to meet with reporters this afternoon, linebacker Ray Lewis walked by and shouted a few sarcastic words of advice.
"Keep your composure," Lewis said to Mattison. "Don't go off."
Lewis has done enough "going off" for both of them.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley was here today, and he had a brief talk with the team at the end of practice and broke down the huddle. He also hung around after practice for a few minutes to chat with head coach John Harbaugh and team president Dick Cass.
There weren't any surprises out at practice today; offensive tackle Jared Gaither, defensive tackle Terrence Cody and wide receiver Donte' Stallworth all missed practice, but that's to be expected, as all three have been ruled out for Monday's game against the Jets.
One thing that was a little surprising was seeing who was back deep returning punts this afternoon. Joining Chris Carr and Tom Zbikowski in the punt return department was cornerback Lardarius Webb, who is still recovering from knee surgery and appears unlikely to play against the Jets.
While I wouldn't expect Webb to be returning punts in a game any time soon, the fact that he is healthy enough to be tossed into that mix in practice is a positive sign.
Mattison had good things to say today about how Webb has been coming along, making it seem as if the second-year cornerback could be returning sooner rather than later.
"It's interesting - I was watching practice yesterday and they [scout team players] had these yellow shirts on out there and I kept looking at the new guys," Mattison said. "You can't see their faces, and this guy with dreads kept making plays. And honestly, I walked over to John and I was sitting there watching this and I said, 'I wonder who this guy is.' Then I said, 'Oh, that's Lardarius.'
"He's a lot closer. He's worked extremely hard, and another tribute to [secondary coach] Chuck [Pagano]. He's worked really hard with him after practice on some of the things he has to work on to catch up, and we're excited about him coming back."
Harbaugh had said earlier in the week that "wasn't anticipating" Webb being able to play against the Jets, but it sounds like there's still a possibility the cornerback could suit up on Monday night.
A more likely scenario, however, is Webb sits out the Jets game but is able to return to game action in the next week or two.
