Cary Williams

Despite Ravens coach John Harbaugh's admission that Cary Williams hasn't been cleared to play, rookie Jimmy Smith said he thinks Williams will start Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. The absence of Williams, who suffered a concussion in last Saturday's win against the Cleveland Browns, would pave the way for Smith, the organization's first-round pick in April, to make his second start in the last three games. But Smith said starting in place of Williams isn't on his mind. “I didn't even think about it, and I don't think that's even going to be the case,” Smith said after Friday's practice.

Until Sunday, Sam Koch had never thrown a pass in any football game he ever played — not in the NFL, not college, not high school. So when the Ravens punter threw — and completed — that first pass out of punt formation, it was one for the books. Koch's 13-yard pass play with gunner Cary Williams did not tilt the balance of the Ravens' 26-10 romp over the Miami Dolphins, but it set new standards for punters. First of all, the Ravens didn't call for a fake.

The Ravens locker room, even on the quietest of days, is a churning, bubbling storm of music and voices. Most of the time, it feels as chaotic as a busy train station, as crowded and lively as a food market. A high-stakes game of bean bag toss in the middle of the room fuels perpetual shouting and arguing. Terrell Suggs' frequently leaves movies blaring on the Blu-ray player set up in his locker, but he ignores the dialogue to rib his teammates, or the media, with his booming voice. Terrence Cody has music thumping from his iPod speakers so frequently, his teammates dubbed the area surrounding his locker as "Patterson Park," and Cody responded by writing those words on a piece of athletic tape, then slapping it on the wall above his locker.

While much of the focus in the offseason and preseason was on the negotiations for a long-term deal between the Ravens and quarterback Joe Flacco, cornerback Cary Williams also took a risk and declined a three-year, $15 million extension. But Williams said he never viewed his decision as a risk. “I just left it in God's hands,” he said after Friday's practice. “At the end of the day, I knew that God had brought me this far, and all of that hard work and preparation was going to come into play, and I just continued to keep my head down, continued to do what I'm normally doing, and I felt success would be there.

For much of the first three weeks, opposing quarterbacks had found Ravens' cornerback Cary Williams. They watched where he lined up and often threw in that direction. But with the Ravens' holding onto a precarious six-point lead late in the third quarter Thursday, Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden lost sight of Williams and the result was the game's decisive play. Williams stepped in front of wide receiver Travis Benjamin in the flat and took the ball back 63 yards for a touchdown, his first career interception helping the Ravens turn aside the pesky Browns, 23-16, before an announced 70,944 in a game played in a steady rain storm.

When the Ravens get together Thursday for their first full-team practice of training camp, Cary Williams knows exactly where he's going to be, and it's certainly not on the sideline with his helmet in hand.    “I plan on just going right out there with the guys,” said Williams who started all 18 games for the Ravens at cornerback last year and was one of the team's most pleasant surprises. “I don't expect to take any days off unless they tell me that's what I need to do. As far as I'm concerned, I'm full go.” Williams' status for training camp was initially in doubt after the 27-year-old underwent surgery in February to repair a torn labrum in his right hip, an injury that he sustained in a Week 10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks but played through for the rest of the season.

Jimmy Smith is fully aware of the expectation that in his second full season with the Ravens and in the NFL, he should be poised to emerge as a starting cornerback. And perhaps because of that sentiment, Smith shrugged off that expectation. “I'm making strides,” he said with a smile after Tuesday's practice at the team's training facility in Owings Mills. “I'm still a young player, but I'm gearing towards that.” There may be some within the organization who are not as patient.

One of the areas that the Ravens struggled in with regards to Sunday night's 31-30 win against the New England Patriots was pass defense, and no one appeared to have a tougher outing than cornerback Cary Williams. On New England's first series of the third quarter, quarterback Tom Brady threw to a receiver in Williams' direction four of five times, and Brandon Lloyd caught three balls for 30 yards and Wes Welker caught one pass for 11 yards. Brady went back to Williams three more times in the second half, connecting with Lloyd for 13 yards and Welker for seven before misfiring on another pass to Lloyd.

As you come to grips to life without Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach , consider the following statement: Before this offseason, no NFL team had lost more than five Super Bowl starters from its roster before the following season. As the Ravens start their mandatory minicamp this afternoon, they will be without nine players that started on Feb. 3 when the Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31, to win Super Bowl XLVII. That list includes Leach (released Tuesday), wide receiver Anquan Boldin (traded to San Francisco)

In a transformation hard to imagine six years ago, Cary Williams will arrive at the Ravens' training camp next month as a soft-spoken cornerback whose biggest statements have come on the practice field. That was not the case in his two seasons at Fordham, where he routinely lashed out at perceived injustices and railed about limited playing time, ultimately talking his way off the team. In the Ravens' locker room so far this summer, he has rarely spoken and then only in a quiet voice more suitable for church.