He finished fourth on the Ravens with 33 catches, which was a pleasant surprise. In his three seasons at Rutgers, he caught a total of 37 passes.
In Monday's practice, Rice made a leaping catch in the end zone and held on to the ball while falling down.
"Catching is nothing but a confidence thing," said Rice, who led his high school team in receiving. "As long as you don't forget that you're a running back after the catch, you'll be all right. It's different when a receiver catches it. I'm not going to go down after I catch it."
Accepting challenges has become a positive trend for Rice. In January, coach John Harbaugh told his rookies the biggest improvement in a player's career is from the first year to the second.
"And Ray has taken that to heart," Harbaugh said.
Last season, Rice finished as the Ravens' third-leading rusher (454 yards) after missing the final three games with a leg injury.
He contributed immediately with 64 rushing yards against the Cincinnati Bengals in the season opener. He showed his versatility in the middle of the season with 101 total yards against the Oakland Raiders. Then, a week later, he rushed for 154 yards at Cleveland, which included a 60-yard run that set up the go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter.
Now, after improving his strength by lifting this offseason, Rice intends to raise his game.
"I took it serious because I know how it's going to help my season," he said. "I was always a weight-room type of a guy. But there's a difference between training for the [scouting] combine and training for the NFL. I had the whole offseason to train to be a prime-time athlete."
Rookie runners
The Ravens' Ray Rice finished seventh among rookie running backs in 2008:
Rookie, team Att. Yds. TDs
Slaton, Hou. 268 1,282 9
Forte, Chi. 316 1,238 8
C.Johnson, Tenn. 251 1,228 9
Stewart, Car. 184 836 10
McFadden, Oak. 113 499 4
Choice, Dallas 92 472 2
Rice, Ravens 107 454 0
Backs side by side
2008 statistic Rice McGahee McClain
Games 13 13 16
Carries 107 170 232
Rushing yards 454 671 902
Rushing avg. 4.2 3.9 3.9
Longest run 60 77 82
Rushing TDs 0 7 10
Rushing 1st downs 19 34 51
Receptions 33 24 19
Receiving yards 273 173 123
Receiving avg. 8.3 7.2 6.5
Longest reception 40 35 25
Receiving TDs 0 0 1
Receiving 1st downs 12 8 7
Today:
Practices at 8:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.
