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Setting the scene: The Ravens returned from Tuesday's day off under clear, warm conditions around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Practice ended with a talk from former coach Brian Billick around 11:15 a.m. Players wore just jerseys and shorts after three straight days of full pads.
Will Hill leads strong effort from starters: Safety Will Hill put together one of the best sequences of training camp late Wednesday when he forced four incompletions in a matter of minutes against the first-team offense. He and C.J. Mosley forced Crockett Gillmore into a leaping grab in which he couldn't complete the catching act, and then Hill went off on his own. First, he broke up a pass to Steve Smith Sr. in the left side of the end zone. On the next play, he leapt to knock down a pass intended for Michael Campanaro on the other side of the end zone. And to complete the trifecta, he jumped a slow-developing route from tight end Nick Boyle over the middle to knock down another.
Flacco strong early: Every quarterback was picked off once on Wednesday, but Joe Flacco started out hot in the first set of seven-on-seven drills near the red zone, completing his first five passes against the second-team defense. The series began with a fade to running back Justin Forsett, who was open in the seam after beating inside linebacker Arthur Brown with a double-move. Flacco hooked up with Smith, Darren Waller, and Campanaro during that stretch, as well, a rare spell of success for the offense early Wednesday.
Reserve defensive backs come up big: Quinton Pointer and Tramain Jacobs each came away with interceptions during full-team drills. Pointer intercepted a pass thrown by backup quarterback Matt Schaub in the flat on the first play of a two-minute drill, while Jacobs ended a drive led by backup quarterback Bryn Renner with a pick-six in the flat. Safety Anthony Levine also picked off Flacco mid-practice.
Tucker making music: The opera-singing kicker made music of a different kind Wednesday after putting on quite a show in Monday's open practice. Tucker clanked a 44-yarder off the upright early, and then in an end-of-game situation, rang a 62-yard kick off the crossbar. His roster spot, however, does not appear to be in jeopardy.
Get down, big man: In a drill that called for defensive players to pounce on fumbles and catch deflected passes, 6-foot-1, 335-pound nose tackle Brandon Williams mistimed his jump and dropped a potential interception, resulting in some playful ribbing from teammates and fans. But Williams went back in line and tried again, this time successfully catching the ball. Williams pointed to the now-cheering fans and then broke out into an end zone dance.
Baltimore Ravens Insider
Catch of the day: Ravens undrafted rookie Daniel Brown used his 6-foot-5 height to create one of his personal highlights of training camp. During red-zone drills, Brown went up with one hand and tipped a high pass to himself and over the outstretched arms of cornerback Kyle Arrington. Brown also made sure that he got both feet in bounds in the corner of the end zone.
Injury report: Outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil returned after missing every practice since Friday with tendinitis in his right Achilles. Wide receivers Breshad Perriman (knee) and Marlon Brown (back) remain out, as do cornerbacks Tray Walker (hamstring) and Chris Greenwood, while outside linebacker Zach Thompson missed practice after leaving partially through Monday's open practice. Center-guard Ryan Jensen left practice with foot soreness.
Overheard: "Nobody runs a fade to a 5-foot-8 receiver." – Terrell Suggs to the sideline official after he rightfully flagged cornerback Lardarius Webb for pass interference against Campanaro in a late-game situation on the sideline during the middle of practice. Suggs and the defense told the referee the play was designed only to draw a penalty and they might have been right.