Bart Scott

Whenever Bart Scott's name surfaces, Terrell Suggs almost always speaks affectionately about his tutelage under Scott. So it shouldn't be a surprise that the Ravens outside linebacker paid homage to Scott, his former teammate who now plays for the New York Jets by wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with Scott's catchphrase “Can't Wait!” “We all know what it means,” Suggs said, opening his weekly briefing with the media on Wednesday. “I'm personally sending a message to my brother and former mentor, that I also 'can't wait.'” The purple t-shirt featured the words in big white letters with a gold chain wrapped around them.

As the names kept flying off the board and the 2012 draft grew later and later, James Carmon thought back to a phone call that he had gotten earlier in the day. He was stressed and struggling to remain patient, but the words of Ravens offensive line coach Andy Moeller kept reverberating in his head. The Ravens were interested , Moeller told him. At that moment, that's all that mattered. “If I didn't get picked, I already knew that's where I wanted to be,” said Carmon, a 6-foot-6, 330 pound offensive tackle who went to high school at Baltimore's City College before playing college football at Mississippi State.

Last month, Ravens safety Ed Reed made an interesting remark about Jets coach Rex Ryan, saying that he and other unnamed players had hoped Ryan would get the Ravens' head coaching gig in 2008. Recently, in an unfiltered interview with Pro Football Focus, Jets inside linebacker Bart Scott, who followed Ryan to New York in 2009, tried to explain where Reed was coming from when he made those comments about Ryan to ESPN. “I’m sure you guys are into the news and heard what Ed Reed said a couple of weeks ago about how disappointed he was and about how he wanted Rex to get the head job in Baltimore,” Scott said.

The Ravens have lost three starters in free agency, but it's nothing to have major concerns about. Now, if they lose inside linebacker Jameel McClain, it might be time to get a little nervous. The departure of left guard Ben Grubbs to New Orleans was a major loss. He was the Ravens' best offensive lineman and about to enter his peak years in the NFL. But the best teams in the NFL always lose quality players because other teams raid them through free agency, so traditional favorites like the Steelers, Ravens and Colts will lose big-name players occasionally.

Walking the grim city streets after football practice, the youngster glanced over his shoulder. His pulse raced. His pace quickened. His route had landed him on enemy turf, and the Raw Dogs weren't a Detroit gang to mess with. Just a few more blocks, Bart Scott thought. RAVENS@BENGALS Season opener, tomorrow, 7 p.m., ESPN, Ch. 13, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Bengals by 2 1/2

Bart Scott is playing checkers against 13-year-old Ashlee Black. The Ravens' star is bouncing his red pieces across the board, like pebbles skipping over a pond, and the pile of Ashlee's black discs next to Scott keeps growing. "No mercy!" he says with a laugh. That part probably isn't surprising. It doesn't matter whether Scott's on the playing field chasing some unfortunate soul carrying a football, or if he's in his living room playing on his 21-month-old son's miniature basketball set, swatting Bartholomew's shots all over the house, this is how he competes.

As the names kept flying off the board and the 2012 draft grew later and later, James Carmon thought back to a phone call that he had gotten earlier in the day. He was stressed and struggling to remain patient, but the words of Ravens offensive line coach Andy Moeller kept reverberating in his head. The Ravens were interested , Moeller told him. At that moment, that's all that mattered. “If I didn't get picked, I already knew that's where I wanted to be,” said Carmon, a 6-foot-6, 330 pound offensive tackle who went to high school at Baltimore's City College before playing college football at Mississippi State.

Good morning -- Bart Scott -- In the line of Pro Bowl succession, are you sort of like the secretary of agriculture?

Asked about how the Jets preferred him over Ray Lewis, Bart Scott said: "Unbelievable. ... Ray is a great player, and he will go down as one of, if not the, greatest players to play the game. ... It was an honor to play beside him." ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ravensinsider)

In a conference call with the New York media, Jets coach Rex Ryan stepped softly around his choice of Bart Scott over Ray Lewis. He called Lewis the premier middle linebacker in the game but said Scott fit the Jets better. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ravensinsider)

As the Ravens work on their coverage units this week, they might want to heed some advice from former special teams ace Bennie Thompson . Throughout his 11-year career (1989 to 1999), Thompson was one of the NFL's best. He even had his own special fan club in Baltimore from 1996 to 1999. He later was a special teams assistant under former Ravens head coach Brian Billick . Thompson still lives in Baltimore, and watches Ravens games, including that 84-yard punt returned for a touchdown by Cleveland's Josh Cribbs Saturday.

He grew up in South Florida, so naturally, Antwan Barnes had a lot more familiarity with reptiles. Copperheads, cottonmouths and water mocs. Iguanas, 'gators and croc's. When he got to Baltimore as the Ravens' fourth-round draft choice of 2007, though, Barnes kept hearing about a different sort of varmint. Then the Ravens' defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan since has become known for some of the peculiar stuff he comes up with, but one of his sayings in Baltimore became a sort of mammal motto.

The circumstances were slightly different. The 2007 Miami Dolphins were 0-13, not 0-12 like the Indianapolis Colts team that will be at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday. The Ravens were just 4-9 at the time and had dropped seven consecutive games. Today, they are 9-3, and if they win out, they'll win the AFC North and likely earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. But as they prepare for their second December matchup with a winless team in a span of five seasons, at least one Raven couldn't help but remember the embarrassing 22-16 overtime loss to the Dolphins late in the '07 season.

At approximately 1 p.m. on Sunday, Ray Lewis might not shimmy his way out of the tunnel at M&T Bank Stadium. There is a chance a toe injury could sideline Lewis, meaning someone else will have to captain the Ravens' defense, sing the national anthem, conduct the marching band, sell cotton candy and foam fingers, vacuum the place, and turn off the lights when everyone leaves. That might be a slight exaggeration of the linebacker's responsibilities on game day, but Lewis has been the scowling, war-paint-wearing face of everything Baltimore football for the past 16 years.

As great as the Ravens' defense was Sunday night – and it was magnificent in a 34-17 rout of the New York Jets – it was the resourcefulness of quarterback Joe Flacco on third down that helped Baltimore land critical early blows in this bare-knuckle fight. Then it was Flacco's lapse into malaise in the second quarter that allowed the Jets to sneak back into the game. Flacco was masterful on third-and-long in the first quarter, converting three such plays that led to 10 points and a 17-7 Ravens lead.

From great pre-game interviews with Bart Scott and Ray Rice, to perfectly predicting the big first quarter story line of the Baltimore Ravens mauling the New York Jets rookie starting center, NBC's Sunday Night Football crew was textbook in showing how to do a winning telecast. Producer Fred Gaudelli and his crew did so many little things so well that from the pre-game straight through the first half, it seemed as if there was something special happening almost every minute. Little things like the way the cameras zeroed in on an emotional Ray Lewis during Martina McBride's rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” The intensity of the linebacker's facial reaction to the music as he mouthed some of the words perfectly showed viewers the level of emotion on the field without having any announcer sounding as if he was hyping it. As for the announcers, after three weeks of listening to the gas-bag TV gangs from CBS Sports repeatedly getting it wrong in their pre-game predictions, what a pleasure to see and hear play-by-play man Al Michaels and analyst Chris Collinsworth focus our attention in all the right places before and right after the opening kickoff.

Ravens Game stories, features and news about the Ravens. Go to www.baltimoresun.com/ravens Ravens Central blog Mike Preston on Bart Scott and the Ravens. Go to www.baltimoresun.com/ravenscentral Varsity winter preview A look ahead at the high school season. Go to www.baltimoresun.com/winterpreview Barbaro archive Coverage of racehorse Barbaro. Go to www.baltimoresun.com/barbaro

The 36th annual lighting of the Washington Monument is scheduled for tonight in Mount Vernon Place, in the 600 block of N. Charles St. A holiday village with food and crafts vendors will open in the west park about 5:30 p.m., with stage entertainment at 6 p.m. The lights on the monument are scheduled to be turned on just before 7 p.m. by Mayor Sheila Dixon and Bart Scott of the Ravens, with fireworks to follow.

RAVENS RUN OFFENSE VS. JETS RUN DEFENSE: The Jets have spent the days leading up to the game answering questions about what has happened to their run defense. Unable to set the edge and deal with the Oakland Raiders' speed last week, they were gashed for 234 yards on the ground, an average of 7.3 yards per carry by Darren McFadden and company. The Jets currently rank 31st in the NFL in run defense, a surprise considering that they ranked third in the NFL in that category last season, and they boast fast and athletic linebackers in David Harris and Bart Scott.

• Mike Florio and Gregg Rosenthal of NBC Sports' ProFootballTalk both expect the Ravens to top the Jets at M&T Bank Stadium . Florio's take : Last year, the Ravens and Jets found themselves in a Week One defensive struggle. Look for more points this time around. But with the Jets struggling to run and stop the run, the bulk of those points will likely be scored by the home team. Pick: Ravens 24, Jets 16 . Rosenthal's take : We're still learning about these teams.