Bryant Mckinnie

A half hour into the first full-squad practice of training camp, there is no sign of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata or offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie. Of course, we will let you know if that should change. And we'll try to get an explanation from Ravens head coach John Harbaugh when practice wraps up around 5 p.m. Also missing from practice were the few players on the physical unable to perform list, including defensive end Pernell McPhee, wide receiver David Reed, offensive tackle Jah Reid and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs.

The Ravens made a risky move to bolster their offensive line  Tuesday, signing offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie to a two-year deal. The 6-foot-8, 350-plus-pound lineman was technically a Pro Bowl player for the Vikings in 2009 even though he didn't bother showing up for any of the Pro Bowl practices and was kicked off the NFC squad. The talent is there for McKinnie to be the Ravens' short-term answer at right tackle -- or maybe even left tackle -- but there are a few reasons why the soon-to-be 32-year-old was still on the free agent market.

Maybe I should have left the tea-leaf reading to somebody else -- or at least waited until later in the week. After I wrote twice this morning that Bryant McKinnie would likely start for the Ravens at left tackle Monday night, McKinnie tweeted this afternoon that he was gone . He later confirmed to my colleague, Aaron Wilson, that the Ravens had released him, only to change his tune about 20 minutes later, saying it wasn't over yet ...

The Ravens' giant offensive left tackle Bryant McKinnie proved Tuesday that he is the biggest drama queen in the country. Team officials and McKinnie finally agreed on restructuring a new one-year deal still worth about about $3.2 million, but with more incentives. The Ravens were smart in making the move, but they shouldn't have waited until the week before the regular season began to start negotiating. It didn't make much sense, and I hope they don't continue the practice.

OK, so now that the Ravens have re-signed left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie to a two-year contract, the real drama begins. We're starting the official McKinnie Watch here. When will he report to training camp? How much will he weigh? When will he be in condition to play his first game? Will his annual visit to coach John Harbaugh's doghouse last 16 games like last season, or will McKinnie not dog it this season? With McKinnie, there is always theater. Just about everybody around town wanted the Ravens to upgrade at the tackle position in the offseason, but when that didn't happen in the NFL draft , the Ravens had virtually no choice but to bring back the often-disgruntled giant left tackle.

When Bryant McKinnie reported to Ravens training camp on July 30, the thought was that it wouldn't be too long before the 11-year veteran regained his role as the starting left tackle. But two games into the preseason, Michael Oher is still the starting left tackle, rookie Kelechi Osemele is the starting right tackle, and McKinnie is anchoring the left side of the second offensive line. If McKinnie is supposed to frustrated at the delay, that's news to him. “I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do,” he said after the team's 27-12 loss to the Detroit Lions Friday night at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

For once, the Ravens got a bit of good news on the health front as left tackle Bryant McKinnie and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata practiced Friday for the first time at training camp. Both players were removed from the team's physically-unable-to-perform list after passing their conditioning tests. They participated in individual drills, but watched full-team exercises from the sidelines - something they will do again during Saturday's practice at M&T Bank Stadium. “It means a lot,” coach John Harbaugh said after Friday's session at the Ravens' training complex in Owings Mills.

Bryant McKinnie's continued absence due to personal reasons may have forced the Ravens offense to shift Michael Oher from right to left tackle and rotate rookies Kelechi Osemele and Jack Cornell and Cord Howard at right tackle, but offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said he's not worried about not having McKinnie in camp. In fact, Cameron said McKinnie's absence has opened the door for others along the offensive line to get reps in training camp that they might not have gotten. “You just let it play out,” Cameron said.

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. On Tuesday, someone from the Bovada sportsbook sent me over some interesting Ravens prop bets. Now I'm not encouraging gambling, but it is fun to talk about over/unders.

Each day this week, Baltimore Sun reporter and blogger Matt Vensel will break down a key matchup from Sunday's Super Bowl. Today, he looks at the battle between the Ravens and 49ers pass rusher Aldon Smith. The Ravens offensive line was dented by pass rushers and pinged by critiques from armchair quarterbacks during the regular season, but that all changed four weeks ago when the team inserted Bryant McKinnie back into the starting lineup. The lethargic left tackle made his first start of the season in the wild-card win over the Indianapolis Colts, and the revamped line got the job done in wins in Denver and New England, too. Their performance in the victory over the Broncos stood out the most, as McKinnie and the Ravens steered sack specialist Von Miller and teammate Elvis Dumervil clear of quarterback Joe Flacco during regulation play.