Rob Long: A Need To Worry About The Ravens?
As reports from 1 Winning Drive came out about the "no shows" for the team's OTAs, names like Ray Lewis, Ray Rice, Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed made chills go through your body.
Imagine if the Baltimore Ravens had to go through a season without those guys. Suggs is already expected to miss significant time, if not the entire season. Lewis is going into his 17th season. That is considered to be borrowed time by NFL standards.
Ray Rice and Ed Reed are the two you really worry about, if you're worried at all. Rice is out because the team has placed the Franchise tag on him, to his dismay.
Reed's situation is that he's disgruntled. AGAIN. He feels disrespected and unloved. He, the same guy who hears REEEEEED everytime he makes a play at M&T Bank Stadium. But he's a guy who doesn't usually show to things like this, so why worry. Right?
Look, this is why I'm a little concerned. This comes off the heels of a very disappointing ending to a season that was so promising. You would expect AND want all of the players to be in camp right now. You would expect them to be chomping at the bit to get back now. The fact that they aren't doesn't sit well with some.
We know, it's a business. We get it. But fans don't care about the business. They care about the games and when they see some of the best players not in camp, they wonder if the team can get better that way. They knew Suggs couldn't play, but the "Pollyanna" side of things say you'd like the other stars to shine, even in OTAs.
Rob Long
