Written by Jeff Zrebiec at Baltimore Sun.com
Ravens coach John Harbaugh just spoke for a little over an hour at the NFL owners meetings. At least half, if not more, of his talk was about potential rule changes and the need to simplify things for both the officials and fans. We’ll have plenty on that later.
But first, several quick hits from his talk:
Harbaugh said that director of security Darren Sanders, team chaplain Johnny Shelton and director of player engagement Harry Swayne have spent some time over the past couple of days with the family of late cornerback Tray Walker, who died last Friday a day after his motorbike collided with an SUV. Harbaugh acknowledged that this is uncharted territory for the Ravens, but he did say that he has gathered advice from others, including Los Angeles Rams coach Jeff Fisher. Fisher spoke to Harbaugh about how the Rams dealt with the shooting of wide receiver Stedman Bailey this past year. Harbaugh said that team owner Steve Bisciotti will charter a plane in Baltimore and give players, their families and other organization members an opportunity to travel to Walker’s funeral Saturday in South Florida.
In other matters, the Ravens have gotten good injury news on tight end Crockett Gillmore. It was originally feared that Gillmore would need both shoulders surgically repaired because of torn labrums. However, Harbaugh said that Gillmore now only needs surgery on one shoulder and he expects the starting tight end to be ready for organized team activities. Harbaugh also said that quarterback Joe Flacco continues to do well in rehab and the team is hopeful he’ll be ready for the start of training camp. Wide receiverBreshad Perriman, who missed his entire rookie season because of a knee injury, is also coming along and the hope is that he’s ready for OTAs. Harbaugh also said that he has exchanged text messages with Terrell Suggs, who has given good reports about his Achilles.
