Camp

Thumbs up: Right cornerback Chris McAlister made one of the best interceptions of camp, soaring high to pick off a Chris Redman pass on a quick-out pattern to the sideline. No one threw in his direction the rest of the day. Thumbs down: The usually productive two-minute drill turned into a one-minute mess. Quarterbacks Trent Dilfer and Redman combined for 2-for-5 passing, which included drops by Brandon Stokley and Obafemi Ayanbadejo. Numbers crunch: Not only does Ray Lewis appear to be in the best shape of his career, but the All-Pro middle linebacker can prove it, too. At 260 pounds, he has 7 percent body fat. Official ruling: Qadry Ismail nearly had the catch of the day, pulling down a ball while backpedaling into the end zone.

The Ravens will hold their first full-team practice of training camp on Thursday, July 26. Each day leading up to the official start of camp, The Sun will examine several key position battles that will be decided during preseason. THIRD WIDE RECEIVER The competitors : Jacoby Jones, Tandon Doss, LaQuan Williams Breaking it down : The Ravens have 11 receivers on their roster and only three of them - Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith, and LaQuan Williams - have caught a pass from Joe Flacco in a regular-season game so there are obviously a lot of questions about this relatively inexperienced group.

A perfect shiny summer day and a crowd of jittery children in clusters on the corner, about to board a yellow bus, their backpacks in a pile, their mothers giving urgent last-minute reassurances, and I stop and stare at this Large Life Event. Kids from nice homes being abandoned by their mothers in broad daylight and sent off to summer camp and God Knows What. The sweet fragility of the kids, especially the gawky boy with glasses. And the elaborate cool of the college kids in charge.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The stability of the Orioles starting rotation - in which four pitchers essentially had spots locked up  - and a Grapefruit League schedule that included a heavy dose of American League East opponents was possibly the best thing that could have happened to Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman. In Gausman's first spring camp, he's had a chance to compile innings in major league games because the Orioles didn't want to pitch their established starters against division competition.

For the third straight summer, the Ravens can only guess at the training camp availability of Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed. Coach John Harbaugh said Friday that a surgical procedure Reed had last week gives him "the best chance to get back for most of training camp." According to sources, Dr. Marc Philippon performed the surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip last week in Vail, Colo., and found a floating fragment of bone. Philippon was the surgeon who operated on Alex Rodriguez a year ago when the New York Yankees slugger had a hip injury.

It's a mystery whether cornerbacks Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb will be among the participants Tuesday when the Ravens open training camp with practices in the morning and afternoon. Both players are recovering from knee surgery, and coach John Harbaugh hinted that the duo could begin camp on the team's physically-unable-to-perform list. "I expect there to be a few guys on PUP that we'll be cautious with," Harbaugh said Monday afternoon. "The two corners would be off the top of my head.

As the Ravens rookies reported to training camp Monday, all the attention was directed at the one who wasn't at McDaniel College. Sergio Kindle was ruled out of training camp with a fractured skull, Ravens coach John Harbaugh announced. The Ravens' top pick in the 2010 draft, Kindle has some swelling but remains in stable condition at an Austin, Texas, hospital after falling down two flights of stairs Thursday night. "I know one thing: we're going to be very careful with that," Harbaugh said.

Roger Goodell brought a message of hope, reassurance and good will to Westminster on Wednesday. Solutions were in short supply for the NFL commissioner, though. In a 12-minute, 30-second session with reporters at the Ravens' training camp, Goodell spoke of the daunting tasks in front of him: a new collective bargaining agreement to head off a lockout next summer; the raging debate over concussions; and a rookie wage scale that could bring sanity to the draft. But perhaps the most intriguing and yet dangerous issue on Goodell's plate is pushing through his mandate for an 18-game regular season.

The first full day of training camp is tomorrow and the two top battles are at defensive end and cornerback. At the end, it will be third-year player Arthur Jones against second-year player Pernell McPhee. Jones is a bigger body and better at stopping the run, but McPhee is a better pass rusher registering six sacks as a rookie last season. McPhee, though, will be slowed by the knee injury and Jones had a strong offseason. He has improved his physical conditioning and appears to have the lead over McPhee as far as replacing former starter Cory Redding, now with the Indianapolis Colts.