steven jackson

Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine told Sports Illustrated¿s Don Banks that his organization has discussed signing former Ravens running back Ray Rice.

The NFL had the Ravens and teams with a similar free-agent philosophy in mind when the league shifted a key date this year. Instead of having the compensatory draft pick formula count against teams when they signed unrestricted free agents prior to June 1, the league moved the date up to Tuesday.

The Ravens' organizational focus is on next month's draft, but they are still trying to plug some holes with some veteran free agents.

When the Baltimore Ravens visit Houston on Sunday, the Texans will rely heavily on running back Arian Foster, who has run for over 100 yards in seven of 11 games this season and averages 102.5 yards per game.

Jeff Zrebiec breaks down what to look for when the Ravens play the Falcons on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.

¿They¿ve got four running backs that can start for anybody in the league,¿ Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees said.

The Falcons have posted a single road victory since the start of the 2013 season, good for a .091 road win percentage in that stretch, including five straight losses outside the Georgia Dome.

There remains a shroud of mystery about the Ravens' running game as they face the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.

Veteran running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery broke his silence Friday, one week after parting ways with the Ravens' coaching staff.

Wilbert Montgomery, the Ravens' running backs coach for the previous six seasons, will not return next year after the team had its worst rushing season in franchise history.

Michael Huff spent his final season with the Oakland Raiders last year primarily lining up at cornerback, forced to cover some of the top receivers in the game.

This week, I exchanged emails with Matt Lund, who blogs about the Ravens for Baltimore Sports Report.

As far as former Pro Bowl rush linebacker Terrell Suggs is concerned, there's no reason to overreact to a lackluster outing during a 27-23 win over the 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.

The Falcons ended the first half with a 20-7 lead in the Ravens¿ preseason home opener in front of an announced 70,527 at M&T Bank Stadium. But the Ravens came back in the second half to beat the Falcons, 27-23.

The Ravens came into Thursday night's preseason game knowing that their revamped defense would be challenged by an Atlanta Falcons offense that ranked sixth in scoring a season ago.

Now that we know that Tavon is heading to St. Louis, let¿s take a look at how he will fit with the Rams.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh rattled off plenty of positives about his running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery on Wednesday morning. Then Harbaugh stopped himself to add one more. "At one time, he was the fastest human being in the world, did you know that? He was, a long time ago."

Every morning, Monday through Friday, blogger Matt Vensel will hook you up with reading material -- mostly on the Ravens but with some other Baltimore sports stuff, too -- to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday.

Every morning, Monday through Friday, blogger Matt Vensel will hook you up with reading material -- mostly on the Ravens but with some other Baltimore sports stuff, too -- to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday.

With most of their projected starters not even suiting up for the game, the Ravens were beaten, 31-17, by the St. Louis Rams in their preseason finale last night. Here are five players who impressed and five who disappointed.

Ravens to face another challenging running back in 49ers' Gore

Grumpy Ravens coach John Harbaugh on Monday had to answer a few questions about the use of Ray Rice in Sunday's 22-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Based on the line of questioning from reporters, I'm guessing at least one of those guys has Rice, who had 27 rushing yards on a season-low five carries, on their fantasy team.

Last week, we looked at the biggest surprises of the 2011 fantasy football campaign. This time around, we will hand out dishonors to the disappointing (non-injured) players who have torpedoed our seasons so far. Try not to cuss too much in the comments section below after receiving this list, OK?

Unit has yet to surrender 54 rushing yards to opponent

Former All-Pro center Andre Gurode needed a few weeks to adjust to playing guard for the first time since 2004