josh bynes

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Tandon Doss got the start in Sunday's 26-23 win over the Miami Dolphins and he played a career-high 50 snaps in the victory.

uarterback Joe Flacco, who threw a career-high five interceptions against the Buffalo Bills, has traditionally responded to poor performances.

Ravens running back Ray Rice received a heavy workload in Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

With Ray Rice parked on the sideline in street clothes after suffering a hip injury last weekend, Bernard Pierce made his first NFL start Sunday against the Houston Texans. Predictably, it was his busiest afternoon to date. Here is a deeper look at that and other observations from the NFL's official snap counts.

A collection of what other media outlets are saying as the Ravens prepare for Sunday's game against the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium.

Brandon Weeden was under heavy duress throughout the game, sacked five times as the Ravens delivered a dozen quarterback hits. Weeden didn't finish the game, leaving in the fourth quarter with a thumb injury as he was replaced by backup Jason Campbell for the final series.

The Ravens are well-rested, motivated and ticked off, not a good combination if you are a Browns team that is looking for its first win in the series since 2007. Cleveland is an improving team and they will pose problems for the Ravens in several areas.

The Ravens have built a thorough scouting report on Cleveland Browns running back Trent Richardson, including the obvious knowledge that he's far too strong to simply arm tackle and expect to bring him down.

During a blowout loss, Jim Caldwell tried to get Joe Flacco into a rhythm with new targets, running the shotgun on 62 of 87 snaps while mixing in 24 no-huddle plays.

Veteran linebacker, who signed as free agent, has milder personality than former Raven

The Baltimore Ravens' season-opening 49-27 loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday night featured a team-wide breakdown as the reigning Super Bowl champions were outplayed in every facet. But one group that took the loss particularly hard was the Ravens' defensive backs, who were badly victimized on Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning's record night.

We knew the Ravens would be in the nickel a lot against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. They probably had to use it even more than expected as the Broncos went three-wide on more than 75 percent of their plays. As a result, Jimmy Smith, Corey Graham and Lardarius Webb played significant snaps.

That the Denver Broncos named Ronnie Hillman as their starting running back over Knowshon Moreno and rookie Montee Ball for Thursday night¿s game against the Ravens was a big deal to fantasy football aficionados. But defensive coordinator Dean Pees didn't know and, with all due respect to the three main candidates to carry the ball for the Broncos, he didn't really seem to care when asked about it on Monday.

The Ravens¿ starting offense and defense in the preseason finale against the St. Louis Rams on Thursday looked nothing like the units that will be on the field next week in the regular-season opener against the Denver Broncos.

When the Ravens wrap up the preseason tonight against the St. Louis Rams, most, if not all, of their defensive starters won't play a single snap.

The Ravens have a new cast of characters on their coverage teams in 2013, but in last week's preseason loss, their punt coverage team experienced the kind of breakdown that plagued them during the playoffs in 2012.

The Ravens' front office has earned plenty of praise for their decisions during the draft but it is also in the minutes after the final pick has been made, a period that assistant general manager Eric DeCosta equated to a "feeding frenzy," where the organization has historically done some of its best work.

Especially since the 6-foot-1, 335-pound third-round draft pick recorded his first NFL sack against elusive Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, a former top overall pick of the draft and Heisman Trophy winner who won a national championship at Auburn.

While Ravens weak-side linebacker Jameel McClain is likely to start season on PUP list, head coach John Harbaugh is still optimistic that he'll play during the 2013 season

Limited for most of training camp, top cornerback Lardarius Webb and Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda are in line to play Thursday against the Carolina Panthers.

Saturday¿s outdoor practice started at 2:45 p.m. and ended at 5:20. The sun was out for most of the workout with temperatures hovering in the high 70¿s. Players were in full pads after having Friday off from practice following Thursday¿s 27-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

The Ravens reported no serious injuries with outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil suffering a slight groin injury and rookie safety Matt Elam tweaked his ankle, according to coach John Harbaugh.

Daryl Smith will start for the Baltimore Ravens at middle linebacker tonight. With the regular season just three weeks away, Smith appears to have that starting spot locked up. The team's other starting inside linebacker spot? Well, that one is another story.

With as many as six new defensive starters from the team that won Super Bowl XLVII in February, it was probably inevitable that the Ravens would deal with some communication issues, especially this early in training camp. However, a few too many surfaced in the Ravens' preseason-opening 44-16 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. This week, we exchanged emails with with Andrew Hanes, who blogs about the Ravens for Raven Nation Army.

Sunday's open practice at M&T Bank Stadium started at 5:00 p.m. and ended around 7:15. Approximately 2,500 fans attended. It was partially cloudy and temperatures were in the mid 80s. Players wore full pads for the second straight practice.

The second-round draft pick out of Kansas State is bespectacled, soft-spoken and cultivates a professorial look off the field as he frequently wears a tie, slacks and dress shoes. When he has the time, Brown, 23, can be found playing the piano or whipping up his favorite meal of salmon and sweet potatoes.

Matt Vensel recaps Baltimore Ravens training camp for August 10, 2013.

The Ravens defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Thursday night's preseason opener. While many of the starters only played a quarter, they were in there long enough to make a few observations about when and how certain players were being used and what formations the Ravens were lining them up in.

Most of the Ravens' position battles won't be decided until much later in the preseason, but the starting lineups for Thursday's opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers included no significant surprises.

Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb looks so much more comfortable than he did two weeks ago. You can see the difference when he participates in individual position drills early in every practice.

Two weeks into Ravens training camp, there doesn't appear to be much clarity at the inside linebacker position.

Hilton was one of three rookies to make the Colts' roster after being drafted in the 15th round as a 6-foot-6, 218-pounder out of Jackson State. The Colts had lost the Super Bowl to the Cleveland Browns 27-0 in the year prior.

Anticipating the snap count, Ravens inside linebacker Josh Bynes adeptly timed up his blitz to sack backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor on Sunday during an open practice at the Naval Academy.

The Ravens' first official depth chart lists Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata as the starting nose guard.

As the Baltimore Ravens look to fill the void left by Ray Lewis' retirement and choose another starter to replace free-agent departure Dannell Ellerbe, we could see the Ravens do things a little differently when it comes to their inside linebackers this season.