With the return of linebackers Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware, the Ravens had all but one of the cornerstones of their defense on the field yesterday.

End Michael McCrary continues to rehabilitate his surgically repaired knee, and is not expected to take part in team drills until the start of training camp July 26.

McCrary underwent season-ending knee surgery in November, ending a streak of 73 consecutive starts. He was at practice and participated in some individual drills yesterday, but mostly he worked off to the side with the Ravens' trainers.

"I think I'm back on schedule," McCrary said. "I'm just looking forward to getting where I left off before I got injured last year. Last year heading into the season, I thought I was in the best shape I'd been in years, physically and mentally. It was just a freak accident.

"There is no rush coming back, so I'll be 100 percent by the time the season starts. Right now I'm just running, training and rehabbing my knee."

McCrary recorded 7 1/2 sacks and 64 tackles in 10 games last year. He originally hurt the knee the first week of the season, but McCrary fought through the injury, forgoing practice most days.

"Right now, the schedule is to be full go before training camp," Ravens coach Brian Billick said of McCrary.

A break for the better?

There is a positive to take from Gary Baxter's broken right hand.

Now, said the second-year cornerback who broke his hand on the final day of passing camp last week, he can work on his coverage skills more.

"I've just got to make my adjustments," said Baxter, who participated in most drills. "All it does now is limit me from pressing. I've got to use my feet a little bit more. I hate to break my hand, but it is a good thing for me to work my feet more because I'm not always going to get my hands on the wide-outs."

More troubling are the menial off-field tasks.

"Off the field, we're talking about a different subject," Baxter said. "It is hard for me to get dressed."

Blake's fake handoff

The Ravens released quarterback Jeff Blake on Thursday, then re-signed him shortly thereafter to a contract that will pay him the same amount of money.

Blake, who signed a one-year contract for the veteran minimum of $750,000 earlier this off-season, would have had that entire amount count against the Ravens' salary cap under his old deal.

The NFL has created an exception where veterans signed for the minimum count for $450,000 against the team's salary cap, but Blake said there was a loophole in the original contract that would have forced the Ravens to take the entire hit.

He said he did not have a problem signing the new deal.

"It was an administrative transaction per management counsel," said Ozzie Newsome, senior vice president of football operations.

Extra points

With the expected departure of free-agent defensive end Rob Burnett to either the New England Patriots or the Miami Dolphins, kicker Matt Stover will be the only Raven to have been with the team before it moved from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1996. "It's fun knowing that you can look back and go, 'Wow, I've made it a long way, and I've got a Super Bowl ring from it, too,' " Stover said. "It is just a privilege to know that I'm still around." ... Lewis will appear on ESPN's The Life tonight at 8:30. The show will present a look at the day-to-day life of the linebacker.