Coffee Companion (9/25): your daily Ravens fix

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. That way he’ll have an excuse to do the same to start his workday, too.

RUNNING IT BACK

The NFL is investigating Ravens head coach John Harbaugh after he bumped into an official Sunday night. … Wide receiver Torrey Smith was excused Monday to spend time with his family after the death of his brother. … The Ravens are relatively healthy heading into Thursday night’s game against the Cleveland Browns. … Mike Preston evoked the name of Frank Walker while saying that the Ravens secondary could be worse.

RAVENS STUFF, BUT NOT FROM US

This guy says that Joe Flacco earned another “fistful of dollars” by beating the New England Patriots. … Torrey Smith found refuge in a dangerous game. … Cornerback Cary Williams chalked his struggles up to going against a future Hall of Famer on Sunday night. … Browns running back Trent Richardson deserves respect and attention from the Ravens.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden is trying to dial in his long throws. … Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur wants wide receiver Greg Little to stop posing and start catching the football. … It’s hard for the Browns to measure progress in these losses. … Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown is back in the fold for the Browns.

SHAMELESS PLUG(S) OF THE DAY

The Ravens gave Tom Brady an interesting look Sunday night and Haloti Ngata believes they confused Brady late in the game.

AWAY FROM THE GRIDIRON

The Orioles split their doubleheader with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday. … Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen has not won a game since the middle of August. … Left-hander Randy Wolf is sidelined with an injury to his elbow. … The O’s aren’t in the playoffs yet but they have already sold all of their potential postseason tickets.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Have any of you actually stopped watching other NFL games because the replacement officials have performed so poorly?