Ravens left tackle Bryant McKinnie’s return to the practice field didn’t last long.
A day after being deemed “too heavy” to participate in Thursday’s official start of training camp, McKinnie made it on the field Friday but couldn’t finish the Ravens’ second full-squad workout.
“He worked very hard, he competed. He did not make it through the whole practice, as you saw,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s carrying a little too much weight right now, so, with this heat out here, it made it tough for him to finish. I know he’s been working really hard to get some of the weight off.”
McKinnie, who has battled weight and conditioning issues throughout his career, spent the second half of practice on the sidelines, drinking fluids and occasionally dropping down to one knee to rest. Several times, a Ravens trainer sprayed water on the back of McKinnie’s head and neck to cool him off.
“He’s going to have to tough it out,” Harbaugh said. “He’s going to have to fight through that and get in the kind of shape we need him in and that he wants to be in.”
McKinnie, who is listed at 6-foot-8 and 352 pounds, wasn’t available to speak to reporters following the practice. His conditioning and practice habits were the primary reasons he spent much of last season on the bench with Michael Oher making all 16 regular-season starts at left tackle. However, McKinnie, 33, was inserted into the starting lineup in the playoffs and played extremely well during the Ravens’ Super Bowl run.