SNEAK PREVIEW Ray Rice, who has been nicknamed "Rated-R," appears to be in midseason form already. The running back scored his first touchdown of the morning session by catching a long pass from quarterback Joe Flacco and scampering 46 yards down the right sideline. Rice's second score was a bit more traditional, but just as pretty. Taking a handoff from Flacco, Rice barreled through the middle, bounced to his left, and escaped the grasp of strong safety Dawan Landry for a 15-yard touchdown.
MORE COFFEE? Backup quarterback Marc Bulger had a rough morning. His very first pass during a red-zone drill was intercepted by safety Ken Hamlin at the goal line. Another pass to wide receiver David Reed was picked off by safety Haruki Nakamura, and defensive tackle Terrence Cody swatted another Bulger offering out of the air.
"D" IN CONTROL The defense had a pretty good morning. Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and linebacker Jameel McClain teamed up for what would have been a sack of Flacco, defensive tackle Lamar Divens and safety Tom Zbikowski each sacked Troy Smith, and Landry and linebacker Edgar Jones each recovered a fumble.
REED'S RULES Free safety Ed Reed may be a bystander, but he continues to make his presence known with his mouth. After an official did not flag a wide receiver for interfering with a linebacker on Rice's touchdown catch, Reed jokingly told the official that he would not be getting lunch. When the official replied that he was going to go to work and get lunch there, Reed retorted, "It's obvious this is not your job."
TEMPER, TEMPER For the third time in four days, a ruckus broke out. This time, offensive tackle Joe Reitz threw a punch at defensive end Paul Kruger and hip-tossed him to the turf after an exercise in which the offense was backed up to its own 1-yard line. After a multitude of players jumped into the fray, peace was restored.
KICKING SCORE Billy Cundiff was flawless Tuesday morning, converting all seven of his field goals, including a 50-yarder. Shayne Graham had one minor hiccup, pushing a 44-yarder wide right. But he followed that up by booting a 50-yarder cleanly through the uprights.
INJURIES Cornerbacks Chris Carr (lower back) and K.J. Gerard (unspecified), offensive tackle Tony Moll (unspecified) and tight end Davon Drew (hamstring) did not participate. Players who remain on the physically-unable-to-perform list are Reed (hip), center Matt Birk (elbow), cornerback Lardarius Webb (knee), linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo (quad), offensive tackle Oniel Cousins (throat) and running back Matt Lawrence (knee).
OVERHEARD "Somebody owes us some pushups!" — Linebacker-defensive end Terrell Suggs to Nakamura after he dropped a Flacco pass intended for wide receiver Derrick Mason.
NEXT DAY'S SCHEDULE Wednesday morning's practice starts at 8:45 and could run between 2 and 2 1/2 hours. The afternoon session, which involves special teams, begins at 2 p.m. and is slated to run about one hour.
edward.lee@baltsun.com