SETTING THE SCENE: Saturday's outdoor practice started at 2:30 p.m. and ended around 5. It was sunny and temperatures were in the low 80s. Players were in full pads.
WRATH OF JOHN: Coach John Harbaugh was on the war path after his patience wore out midway through the practice. He appeared to chew out rookie nose tackle Brandon Williams then rookie fullback Kyle Juszczyk. He yanked rookie wide receiver Aaron Mellette out of a team drill because Mellette was being "lazy and lackadaisical." Harbaugh also blew up on Asa Jackson after the cornerback jumped into a skirmish between outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw and tight end Billy Bajema. Harbaugh told Jackson to get his "squirrelly [expletive] out of there" and told him that if he ever did it again, "your [expletive] is cut."
PICK FOUR: The defense ended practice with a dominant showing in an 11-on-11 drill in which the offense started in the shadow of the uprights and had to drive the ball the length of the field. The first-teamers went first and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs jumped in front of a swing pass thrown by quarterback Joe Flacco and ran it into the end zone. The first-team offense stayed on the field but not for long, as Flacco underthrew wide receiver Torrey Smith and was picked off by cornerback Jimmy Smith. Second-team quarterback Tyrod Taylor then got intercepted by safety Omar Brown, who returned it for another touchdown. This prompted Suggs to loudly heckle offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell from the opposite sideline and beg Caldwell to let third-string QB Caleb Hanie throw the ball. Later, the starting offense got one more crack at the defense, but Flacco sailed a pass over the head of wide receiver Tandon Doss and into the hands of safety Michael Huff.
GETTING HANDSY: The secondary was also very active in the blitz period. The offense converted four of 10 third-down plays, but three of Flacco's passes were knocked down by defensive backs and another was batted at the line of scrimmage. On one of those incompletions, cornerback Corey Graham snuffed out a wide receiver screen and nearly intercepted the lateral pass.
LEACH MAKES AN IMPACT: Fullback Vonta Leach wasn't on the roster the last time the Ravens did their goal-line drill, but on Saturday, he made sure everyone knew he was in the house. After the offense scored once on five snaps with Juszczyk as the lead blocker, Leach came in and started cracking helmets. He knocked back inside linebacker Josh Bynes with a block that Bynes wanted no part of. He later landed a helmet-to-helmet hit on Brynden Trawick, leaving the rookie safety woozy. The offense scored on nine of 11 goal-line plays with Leach on the field.
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OVER THE TOP: The struggles of cornerback Chykie Brown, who was called for two pass interference penalties in Thursday's preseason game, carried into Saturday's practice. He got beat over the top for touchdowns by wide receivers Marlon Brown and Mellette and he allowed another touchdown to rookie Marcus Rivers, who pushed off of Brown to make a diving catch.
WEBB MATCHES UP: Lardarius Webb continues to take baby steps on his way back to game action. On Saturday, he lined up as an outside cornerback against Torrey Smith in the red-zone period. He stuck with Smith and even picked off one pass that was tipped by another defender.
SCREEN TEST: Early in practice, the offense practiced various screen plays, something they should excel at because athleticism is a common trait among starting offensive linemen not named Bryant McKinnie and Ray Rice is a great receiver. Perhaps we will see them more often this year.
INJURY REPORT: Running back Bernard Pierce (left knee) and wide receiver Deonte Thompson (left ankle) did not practice after getting hurt Thursday. Defensive end Marcus Spears and inside linebacker Bryan Hall did not practice for undisclosed reasons. Wide receiver David Reed, cornerback Chris Johnson and Omar Brown returned to practice after being sidelined for a few days, but Reed did not do much and Johnson wore a red non-contact jersey. Tight end Ed Dickson (right hamstring tear), guard Marshal Yanda (shoulder) and inside linebacker Jameel McClain (bruised spine) remained sidelined.
OVERHEARD: "That lucky bastard!" — Jacoby Jones to Smith after Smith snatched a Flacco fastball with one hand for a touchdown.
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