Associate special teams coach Jerry Rosburg listed a number of candidates to return kicks and punts in place of departed return specialist Jacoby Jones, and only ruled out a handful of players in the open competition — the offensive linemen.
"We're not going to let any of those guys go out there, but we're going to have a long line and we'll find out who does it best in those camp situations and go from there," Rosburg said.
Jones, who returned one punt and four kickoffs for touchdowns in three years with the Ravens, was released in February and signed with the San Diego Chargers.
Jones' replacement, Rosburg said, won't be named in short order. He said plenty of players will get chances in training camp, with the best of those candidates getting returns in preseason games.
"We'll make the decision based on who's best in preseason," Rosburg said.
Rosburg rattled off several players who have or will get repetitions this summer, including cornerback Asa Jackson, undrafted rookie wide receiver DeAndre Carter, running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, cornerback Lardarius Webb, and even wide receiver Steve Smith, who has fielded punts during OTAs.
Second-year wide receiver Michael Campanaro could also return to that mix when he recovers from a quadriceps injury suffered in the first set of OTAs.
When it comes to veterans like Webb and Smith — both starters at their positions — Rosburg said there's a balance to strike and "you'd rather not have those guys do it on an every-down basis.
"We need a guy to come through for us so that doesn't happen," Rosburg said.