Laquan Williams

RED-ZONE SUCCESS The first full-team exercise involved the offense starting from inside the defense's 20-yard line. The first offense fared well, scoring touchdowns on four of nine snaps. The second offense scored twice on 10 snaps, including back-to-back touchdown passes from quarterback Tyrod Taylor to wide receivers LaQuan Williams and Dorian Graham. DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS That didn't mean that the offense had its way with the defense. Cornerback Lardarius Webb and rookie safety Omar Brown each came away with an interception, inside linebacker Ray Lewis and free safety Ed Reed almost got a pick of their own, and inside linebacker Ricky Brown and rookie safety Cyhl Quarles split a sack of Taylor.

Ravens wide receiver LaQuan Williams sat calmly at the Baltimore Convention Center on Saturday as a tattoo artist buzzed at his shoulder, sketching out the latest design on the already well-inked torso. Williams and the artist, who goes by the name Jonny Metropolis, have totaled at least a day together in a similar fashion after getting connected through the photo-sharing service Instagram. On Saturday, Metropolis was working on theatrical masks to represent the good times and the bad times in Williams' life.

LaQuan Williams was deactivated for the first time prior to the Ravens' 24-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns last Sunday, but the rookie wide receiver took the move in stride. Asked if he was surprised to be a healthy scratch, the undrafted free agent from the University of Maryland said, “Kind of, but not really. We needed an extra linebacker, and we were deep at receiver. So that's how it worked out.” Williams has caught four passes for 46 yards thus far and has been targeted 12 times.

Ravens reserve wide receiver LaQuan Williams' spirit brought him to this day, reaching football's ultimate game in just his second NFL season. Unfortunately for Williams, the former University of Maryland and Poly High School standout won't actually be playing against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII at New Orleans' Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Williams was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury suffered in the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.

LaQuan Williams defied the odds when he made the Ravens' active roster in September as an undrafted rookie. He's making sure that accomplishment isn't his only one. The wide receiver caught two passes for 28 yards in the team's 23-20 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night, and both receptions were long enough to gain first downs. It was the first multi-catch game of his young career. “His story … it's a pretty amazing thing,” coach John Harbaugh said during his weekly briefing Monday.

LaQuan Williams followed a still-developing rookie campaign in which he caught four passes for 46 yards with a solid preseason in which he made six grabs for 76 yards and one touchdown and appeared poised to be the Ravens' No. 4 wide receiver. But the former Poly and University of Maryland product has been deactivated for each of the Ravens' first two contests in 2012, forced to watch from the sideline as fellow-second-year veteran Tandon Doss has become the No. 4 wideout. If Williams is disappointed by the inactivity, he's not showing it. “There's no frustration,” he said after Friday's practice.

Ravens wide receiver LaQuan Williams, an undrafted rookie free agent from Maryland, had the first multi-catch game of his career in Sunday night's 23-20 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The second of his two receptions came as the Ravens embarked on their 92-yard, game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. The 13-yard gain moved the chains for a first down. “It's just a great feeling being out there and having a chance to make a play, especially in such a key game,” Williams said before Thursday's practice.

Wide receiver Torrey Smith was sidelined with a sprained right ankle Friday night, thrusting former Maryland teammate LaQuan Williams into the starting lineup for the Ravens' 27-12 preseason loss to the Detroit Lions. Quarterback Joe Flacco made sure Williams made the most of the opportunity. He targeted the second-year wideout a team-high six times, including four looks on the team's second drive of the game. The sequence featured two tries at the end zone, one of which was well within Williams' grasp.

Darron Edwards can clearly see his path to the NFL. The former Dunbar star and Arkansas State cornerback probably won't be a first- or second-day draft choice next month. But after watching his good friend LaQuan Williams go from undrafted wide receiver to integral special teams player for one of the NFL's premier franchises, Edwards has a blueprint to follow.    “Just growing up with LaQuan, me and him have known each other since we were nine or 10 years old, playing at Northwood,” Edwards said of his Pop Warner football days with the Ravens receiver.

Former Ravens defensive tackle and current Poly coach Larry Webster brought more than 60 players from the Engineers' varsity, junior varsity and freshmen squads to Tuesday's practice at the Ravens' training complex in Owings Mills. And while the youngsters were mesmerized by the likes of Ray Rice, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, they also got a chance to meet wide receiver LaQuan Williams, a former Engineer himself. If the student-athletes were excited about Williams, he felt the same way about their visit.

Each Sunday, Ralph Friedgen flips through the NFL games on television, looking for kids he coached at the University of Maryland. Watching them play now brings him back, maybe to a practice where he pulled one of them aside for one-on-one teaching or to quiet moment away from the field. He thinks about how they've grown. Friedgen, who was forced into retirement following the 2010 season, will have three former players in New Orleans for Sunday's Super Bowl: Vernon Davis, a veteran tight end and star for the San Francisco 49ers; wide receiver Torrey Smith, who has become one of the most exciting playmakers for the Ravens; and his teammate and Baltimore native LaQuan Williams, an important special teams player before being sidelined with a hamstring injury late in the season.

Ray Lewis will not play in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals but the Ravens kept alive his hope of returning for the playoffs. The Ravens activated the veteran linebacker from the injured reserve with a designation to return list on Wednesday, a procedural move that makes him eligible to play in the opening round of the playoffs next week against either the Bengals or Indianapolis Colts. To make room for Lewis, the Ravens placed wide receiver LaQuan Williams (Poly, University of Maryland)

It took just three games, but Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones has already surpassed the production that the team got from its No. 3 receiver spot last season. With three catches for 86 yards in the 31-30 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday night, Jones now had seven catches for 153 receiving yards and a touchdown. In 2011, the Ravens got just eight catches for 120 yards and no touchdowns from Lee Evans, whom they acquired from the Buffalo Bills in a late-summer trade, and LaQuan Williams, who subbed while Evans was sidelined with an ankle injury -- and those eight catches came on 38 total targets.

LaQuan Williams followed a still-developing rookie campaign in which he caught four passes for 46 yards with a solid preseason in which he made six grabs for 76 yards and one touchdown and appeared poised to be the Ravens' No. 4 wide receiver. But the former Poly and University of Maryland product has been deactivated for each of the Ravens' first two contests in 2012, forced to watch from the sideline as fellow-second-year veteran Tandon Doss has become the No. 4 wideout. If Williams is disappointed by the inactivity, he's not showing it. “There's no frustration,” he said after Friday's practice.

After an unimpressive rookie campaign that ended with zero catches in just six games, Tandon Doss might be reasonably concerned about his status with the Ravens. But the organization's fourth-round pick in 2011 said he's not in the business of trying to figure out what the coaches think. “I never know,” Doss said after Tuesday's practice at the team's headquarters in Owings Mills. “I don't know what the coaches are thinking. I go with the ones one day, the twos the next day. I've just got to keep doing what I can do.” It's worth noting that when the offense opened Friday night's preseason game against the Detroit Lions in a three-receiver set without Torrey Smith (who was battling a sprained ankle)

Former Ravens defensive tackle and current Poly coach Larry Webster brought more than 60 players from the Engineers' varsity, junior varsity and freshmen squads to Tuesday's practice at the Ravens' training complex in Owings Mills. And while the youngsters were mesmerized by the likes of Ray Rice, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, they also got a chance to meet wide receiver LaQuan Williams, a former Engineer himself. If the student-athletes were excited about Williams, he felt the same way about their visit.

Ravens reserve wide receiver LaQuan Williams' spirit brought him to this day, reaching football's ultimate game in just his second NFL season. Unfortunately for Williams, the former University of Maryland and Poly High School standout won't actually be playing against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII at New Orleans' Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Williams was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury suffered in the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The continued development of second-year wide receiver Torrey Smith has been evident at the team's two organized team activities that were open to media. Tandon Doss, who has buffed up a bit, has also caught my eye. And then there's LaQuan Williams, now in his second NFL season, who continues to exceed expectations. As my colleague Jeff Zrebiec wrote this morning, Williams has really stood out at these offseason workouts . His game appears to be a little more polished, and he still has plenty of athleticism to make impressive catches.

Wide receiver Torrey Smith was sidelined with a sprained right ankle Friday night, thrusting former Maryland teammate LaQuan Williams into the starting lineup for the Ravens' 27-12 preseason loss to the Detroit Lions. Quarterback Joe Flacco made sure Williams made the most of the opportunity. He targeted the second-year wideout a team-high six times, including four looks on the team's second drive of the game. The sequence featured two tries at the end zone, one of which was well within Williams' grasp.

One has been the talk of training camp with his acrobatic catches. Another towers over Ravens defensive backs in practice. One literally turned heads with his speed during spring workouts. And another is just trying to stay healthy long enough to work consistently with quarterback Joe Flacco. Two weeks from today, the Ravens make their final cuts to whittle their roster to 53 players. One of their toughest decisions will be deciding which wide receivers to carry into the regular season.