Defensive Tackle

Atiyyah Ellison was an early free-agent pickup for the Ravens last season, and the defensive tackle was on the team's active roster in December before being placed on injured reserve with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Ellison was the first player to report to Ravens training camp on Sunday. What drove you to report to training camp at 9:30 a.m. when you didn't have to be there until 4 p.m.? My son [who will be 2 on Aug. 23] actually woke me up at 7, so I was up anyway. So I figured I may as well just come and get my stuff so I wouldn't have to worry about it. Describe your comfort level at your first training camp in defensive coordinator Rex Ryan's system.

Kelly Gregg is as good at brushing off compliments as he is shrugging off opposing offensive linemen. After a stellar performance in the Ravens' 22-3 victory over the St. Louis Rams yesterday in which the defensive tackle compiled seven tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery, Gregg was more than willing to share the credit with his defensive teammates. "Luckily, I had a chance to make a few plays, and I made them," he said. "I missed a couple tackles, but I'm part of a whole `D' line. We try to make plays and not just be robots out there."

Dwan Edwards' season of career highs continues to unfold. Having already recorded a personal best in starts (four) as well as his first sack and interception, the Ravens defensive tackle said he has gained exponentially from his time filling in for injured starter Trevor Pryce. "It's just more experience, more reps," Edwards said yesterday after practice at the Ravens' training facility in Owings Mills. "That's really what I need to get better as a player - to get out there and play." Edwards could get another chance to improve on those numbers.

The Ravens' reward for a miserable season comes at the NFL draft in April. But their players want satisfaction now. Losing nine straight games - a painful stretch of 76 days without a win - has pushed them to the limits of desperation in today's finale against the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers (10-5). "You want to get a victory any way you can," wide receiver Derrick Mason said. "I might even go up to the scoreboard and change it." Mason was laughing, but the Ravens are dealing with serious business come 4:15 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium.

Going into training camp with the Ravens last month, defensive tackle Dwan Edwards was admittedly a little restless. His playing time had not significantly increased in his first three seasons, and his production, if anything, had dropped the past two years. "Definitely I get impatient. A player wants to play. I'm harder on myself than any coach can be on me," Edwards said this week. "I put a lot on my shoulders. I just use it as motivation when I'm not playing. I think it's going to pay off for me this year."

Defensive end Fernando Smith would not wish last year on any football player.He was stuck in Jacksonville, unhappy, not playing as much as he wanted and still hurting from a hernia he suffered the year before. He was thinking about retiring at the end of the season.He signed with the Jaguars in August 1998 after being released by Minnesota. He ended up with 26 tackles and two sacks in limited playing time. After the season, Smith left the Jaguars, signed with the Ravens and has added quality depth to the defensive line.

Team owner Art Modell met with several members of his front office for nearly 90 minutes yesterday to discuss possibly re-signing key members of the Ravens who will be free agents at the end of the season. Twenty Ravens are playing in the last year of their contracts, including such prominent players as defensive end Rob Burnett, defensive tackle Larry Webster and place-kicker Matt Stover.Team president David Modell, vice president of player personnel Ozzie Newsome and coach Brian Billick also were in attendance.

Ravens defensive tackle Tony Siragusa already has life after football planned.Siragusa estimates he has a minimum of two more good years of football left before he joins the media in a full-time capacity. He is doing that part-time now with his one-hour radio show, as well as a short segment on a Ravens pre-game television show.Siragusa said he expects to hook up with a major network to broadcast games in the future. For the present, Siragusa, 32, is again battling a nagging injury, this time to his thigh, and is listed as probable for Sunday's game against the Browns in Cleveland.

Former county high school football stars are having their ups and downs on the college scene, but two of the most successful Division I college players this season are both Hammond graduates.Ron Gamble has started 22 consecutive games for Connecticut.After three seasons at defensive end, the 6-foot-2, 277-pound senior moved to defensive tackle this season and now has 17 tackles and one sack for the Huskies, who are 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Atlantic 10.Another former Bear playing well is Tim Spruill, a 5-10, 175-pound junior cornerback at Virginia.

Ravens starting defensive tackle Tony Siragusa is listed as questionable for tomorrow's game against the Cleveland Browns, but there is a strong possibility he will not play because of a recurring knee problem.Siragusa had been expected to practice yesterday, but missed his second consecutive workout after his left knee tightened up.He was sent for an MRI, but team officials did not reveal the results. Team doctor Claude T. Moorman also did not return phone calls yesterday.Ravens coach Brian Billick said a decision on Siragusa will be made at game time tomorrow, but the Ravens decided to activate second-year reserve defensive tackle Martin Chase yesterday for the first time this season.

Each Wednesday we'll bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player to help you learn a little more about the team. Today's guest is defensive tackle Kelly Gregg, who is tied for fourth on the team in tackles with nine and is part of a defense that ranks first in the NFL against the run. Gregg chatted about playing in his first regular-season game in more than a year, matching up against one of the toughest offensive lines in NFL history and "noodling." Question: The season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept.

SAN DIEGO - - Nose tackle Jamal Williams was placed on injured reserve Saturday, which means the San Diego Chargers will be without two starting defensive linemen against the Ravens. Williams suffered an elbow injury during Monday night's victory over the Oakland Raiders and had been listed as questionable on the team's injury report. The move ends Williams' season. He will join defensive end Travis Johnson (groin) on the sideline, leaving San Diego with only one defensive tackle (Ogemdi Nwagbuo)

Imagine Jarret Johnson's consternation the day the Ravens made him a linebacker. He had just spent the offseason bulking up to 280 pounds to win a job at defensive tackle. The team had just lost Anthony Weaver to free agency. A starting position was on the line in the summer of 2006. Then, at the start of camp, the Ravens told him he was a linebacker. "I freaked. I was like, 'Are you serious?' " Johnson remembers. As improbable as a move from defensive tackle to linebacker was, it was the best thing that ever happened to Johnson's blue-collar career.

Ravens Man indicted in gun sale to McNair's mistress A convicted felon accused of selling the gun used to kill former NFL quarterback Steve McNair has been indicted on a firearm charge. A federal grand jury in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday charged Adrian J. Gilliam Jr. with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Gilliam, of La Vergne, Tenn., is accused of selling a loaded 9 mm pistol to McNair's mistress, Sahel Kazemi, for $100 two days before McNair was shot. Laurel Park Heros Reward main attraction in Saturday's Mister Diz Heros Reward, who in his last start became the 19th Maryland-bred millionaire with a second-place finish in the Grade III Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park, returns home to headline the $50,000 Mister Diz Stakes at Laurel Park, a 5 1/2-furlong turf test Saturday.

At times during training camp at McDaniel College in Westminster, the Ravens' first defense has featured Kelly Gregg and Haloti Ngata at defensive tackle. And Justin Bannan and Dwan Edwards. And Brandon McKinney and Kelly Talavou. The ever-changing personnel is a hallmark of the Ravens' wildly unpredictable defense. But perhaps more pointedly, it's a testament to the kind of depth the unit enjoys when it comes to plugging the interior of the defensive line. Gregg and Ngata are the expected starters, but Bannan made 15 regular-season and three playoff starts alongside Ngata last year when Gregg and Edwards were lost for the season because of injuries.

FIRST MELEE:: Nine days into training camp, the Ravens got into their first scuffle. After offensive tackle Joe Reitz got tangled up with a defensive lineman, the offense and defense both converged into a mob. There was some shoving, but no punches were thrown. FRUSTRATED FLACCO:: In the first couple of team drills, Joe Flacco got pressured and couldn't find an open receiver, which led to his scrambling more than throwing. Later, he overthrew an open Demetrius Williams in the end zone.

SACK-HAPPY DEFENSE: : The absence of left tackle Jared Gaither and left guard Ben Grubbs was telling as the pass rush flooded the pocket early and often. Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and linebacker William VanDeSteeg each recorded sacks, and strong safety Dawan Landry touched quarterback Joe Flacco in the end zone for a safety. RARE OCCURRENCE: : After catching a slant pass from Flacco, wide receiver Demetrius Williams was stripped of the football, leading to a huge scrum. After a lengthy delay, linebacker Antwan Barnes emerged with the ball, which is believed to be the defense's first recovered fumble of training camp.

Depth at the defensive tackle position might have some observers thinking that Brandon McKinney is on the outside looking in. But McKinney, who was signed by the Ravens on Oct. 8 after he was released by the San Diego Chargers, said he is eager to become a major contributor now that he has been a part of the defense for almost 10 months. The Ravens signed McKinney to a three-year deal in February. "That makes me want to come out and work harder and work on my technique and get the defense down pat," he said.

Two players among four missing at sea nfl The Coast Guard searched off Florida's Gulf Coast yesterday for a fishing boat carrying NFL players Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper and two other men missing more than a day in choppy seas. Smith, a defensive end for the Detroit Lions, and Cooper, an Oakland Raiders linebacker, were on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass for a fishing trip Saturday morning and did not return as expected, the Coast Guard said. Crews used a helicopter and an 87-foot ship to search a 750-square-mile area west of Clearwater Pass, but poor weather made the search difficult.

Every NFL team should have a Jarret Johnson. Every good team does. That's a dedicated tough guy, physical and smart, selfless and committed. A guy you can always count on to do the dirty work. That was Johnson's profile on the Ravens before he became one of the defense's biggest playmakers this season. The sixth-year veteran from Alabama - where he was the university's only two-time captain - has finally found his niche in Baltimore's tenacious defense. "I think he's having the best year of his career," outside linebackers coach Mike Pettine said.