Receivers

Question marks abound as the Ravens' wide receivers cleared out their lockers Monday. Derrick Mason doesn't know whether he is going to retire (again), Kelley Washington doesn't know whether he'll go elsewhere in free agency and Demetrius Williams doesn't know whether the team wants him back. But the receivers have a sense of how everything is going to play out in the end. "In the position that we're in, we're probably going to end up having to find a guy that is going to be able to come in and be a straight playmaker," wide receiver Mark Clayton said.

When Tony Romo escapes pressure, darts away from an opponent, and finds a receiver for a gain, the Ravens see similarities between the Dallas Cowboys quarterback and the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger. “This guy is very elusive, he's athletic. It's the same thing with Roethlisberger,” said defensive coordinator Dean Pees, who referenced a play in the Cowboys' 27-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks where Romo spun out of a collapsing pocket and found wide receiver Miles Austin downfield for a 20-yard gain.

PITTSBURGH -- To understand how unsettled the Ravens' receiving corps suddenly has become, all you needed to do was catch a glimpse of the team's practices last week.Wide receiver Michael Jackson, limited by a shoulder injury, was a bystander. Except for Wednesday, when he practiced before his ankle injury flared up, slot receiver Jermaine Lewis also sat out. Meanwhile, the remaining three receivers -- Derrick Alexander, Ryan Yarborough and James Roe -- looked like chess pieces.Alexander, who always works as a wide-out, ran some plays out of the slot.

PITTSBURGH -- To understand how unsettled the Ravens' receiving corps suddenly has become, all you needed to do was catch a glimpse of the team's practices last week.Wide receiver Michael Jackson, limited by a shoulder injury, was a bystander. Except for Wednesday, when he practiced before his ankle injury flared up, slot receiver Jermaine Lewis also sat out. Meanwhile, the remaining three receivers -- Derrick Alexander, Ryan Yarborough and James Roe -- looked like chess pieces.Alexander, who always works as wide receiver, ran some plays out of the slot.

The Westminster High School football team put up some gaudy offensive numbers in 2012. During a 12-1 season, the Owls won a second consecutive county championship, became the third Carroll County team in five years to record an undefeated regular season, then rolled past Montgomery County powers Blake and Sherwood to earn the Class 4A North Region title. And two of the team's unsung heroes can definitely do the math. Drew Titus and Dan Johnson both plan to major in engineering.

Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb was back in Baltimore on Friday to take a physical and officially sign his new five-year, $50 million extension. Webb, who was a restricted free agent, is now under contract through the 2017 season. The Ravens gave him a lucrative contract because they feel he can become one of the NFL's top cornerbacks. But according to stats from Pro Football Focus, Webb might already be there. As my colleague Jeff Zrebiec mentioned last week when he broke the news of Webb's extension , Webb did not allow a touchdown pass all season and quarterbacks had a rating of just 55.6 when throwing in Webb's direction, according to Pro Football Focus, an NFL statistics and analysis website.

1 The Ravens' cornerbacks couldn't handle the Jaguars' receivers, allowing 253 passing yards and two touchdowns, including a 78-yarder by Fred Taylor.2 Four of the Ravens' five turnovers contributed to 24 Jaguars points, turning the game into a blowout.3 The Ravens' receivers, including Michael Jackson and rookie Patrick Johnson, dropped too many passes.Pub Date: 11/02/98

Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver A.J. Green, who has six touchdowns in nine games, is clearly on the minds of the Ravens defensive backs who will be tasked with shutting him down this week. I chatted with Ed Reed, Bernard Pollard and Haruki Nakamura at the Castle on Wednesday, and each raved about the rookie. Green's status is up in the air for Sunday's game at M&T Bank Stadium after he suffered a knee injury in last weekend's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But if Green plays Sunday, and Bengals coach Marvin Lewis seemed optimistic that he will, the Ravens will face the type of tall wide receiver that has victimized them in the past (though it's not like they are the only defense that has had trouble with lanky receivers with sub-4.5 speed)

When the government turned on the Global Positioning System satellite network in 1980, a nearly 20-year clock started ticking.At exactly 6:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Aug. 21, 1999, the clock starts over at zero. And that could cause problems for some commercial GPS users.GPS began as a tool to help the military. A ring of orbiting satellites shoot back readings to receivers, giving location in latitude and longitude. Just like the Internet, GPS now is used by millions, including farmers, truck drivers and surveyors.

At last week's season-ending news conference, Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome made the team's offseason needs clear: offensive line help, a pass rusher and another wide receiver. It sounds like the Ravens might be able to take care of a couple of those needs in April's NFL draft. According to Ravens director of college scouting Joe Hortiz, the strongest positions in this year's draft are quarterbacks, defensive linemen and wide receivers. Obviously, the Ravens aren't in the market for a QB, but they can nab a receiver and a pass rusher in the first couple days of the draft -- maybe one as early as the 29th overall pick.  The Ravens could use a defensive end-linebacker hybrid to pair with star outside linebacker Terrell Suggs.