At Ravens Minicamp, It's By No Means All Work And No Play

Remember summer camp?

Canoe races on the lake?

Arts and crafts contests?

Campfire singalongs?

Well, the Ravens aren't doing any of that wussy stuff this week at their summer minicamp at the Castle in Owings Mills, where the theme under coach John Harbaugh is: Merrily preparing for another season of smash-mouth football.

"It's like a different kind of summer camp," said running back Ray Rice. "Like Coach Harbaugh said: 'Where else would you rather be?' You know, we start at 8, done by 12:30, get a lift in ... maybe get a nap in later. And then you're ready to go the next day."

Before the lifting and the nap, though, there are drills.

Passing drills. Defensive drills. Punt coverage drills. Kickoff return drills. All done at full speed - minus the smash-mouth, since no one's wearing pads.

By my calculation, this is the 103rd straight week of minicamp for this team. OK, it's the fourth. But it feels like they hold these things the entire offseason.

And the truth is, there is no offseason in the NFL.

No, here's how it goes in this league now: You get drafted. They hand you a playbook as thick as a NASA flight manual, and you report to a minicamp. Then you never stop training until you blow out a knee or spit up a spleen.

The NFL, which never met an acronym it didn't love, officially calls these minicamps OTAs, for Organized Team Activities. And they're supposed to be voluntary.

But a few weeks ago, at the team's first minicamp, Harbaugh made it clear how he stood on that voluntary business.

"We kind of expect everybody here every day," he told reporters.

This, of course, is like your friendly neighborhood loan shark saying he kind of expects you to pay back the $500 you borrowed, with the vig, on account of you'll be real sorry if you don't.

Which is not to say the Ravens don't have fun at these minicamps, because they clearly do.

Harbaugh views the camps as a great way to prepare for the season and build team unity, so the mood alternates between intense focus and Animal House.

At the end of Tuesday's practice, for instance, the Ravens had kickers Steve Hauschka and Graham Gano kick long field goals while the rest of the players hooted and trash-talked inches from their faces, trying to disrupt their concentration.

Then there was more trash-talking when the offensive coaches were forced to do sprints, the penalty for the defense beating the offense in passing drills.

Second-year wide receiver Marcus Smith ran with the coaches, either to encourage them or embarrass them - no one seemed quite sure.

(If you're scoring at home, wide receivers coach Jim Hostler came in first. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron came in last. Hostler is 42, a fitness freak and built along the lines of a whippet. Cameron is 48, a workaholic and, um, not built like a whippet.)

When practice was over, the Ravens seemed in such a good mood you figured towel-snapping in the locker room was just minutes away.

"We had a good day today," a smiling Harbaugh said. "A lot of laughs, and we got better at the same time ... that's kind of what this is about. Guys are working hard and pushing themselves."

Anyway, the net effect of all this hard work and hijinks, say players and coaches alike, has been to bring the team together as never before.

Now when practices are over and the players roll out of the Castle parking lot in their luxury SUVs, they're not headed off in 60 different directions.

"That's been the part you really get to enjoy," Rice said. "We go out to eat at night, or with the [NBA] playoffs going on, I have a little get-together at the house. Guys will come over and watch the game."

"[Or] we go ... to ESPN Zone to watch the game or whatever," said inside linebacker Jameel McClain. "It definitely builds camaraderie. These are the guys you're going to be around for the whole year."

"I'm not saying it's like college," said Rice, grinning and letting his voice trail off.

Translation: It's like college, only maybe without the keg parties, due to the early hour of practice.

Anyway, if you believe bonding makes a football team better - I kind of think talent's a little more important - here's the good news: Two more minicamps remain on the schedule.

Then training camp begins July 27.

That's a whole lot of bonding.

You hope they're not sick of each other by then.

Hear Kevin Cowherd on Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Fox 1370.