with the 23rd pick, the baltimore ravens select michael. >> if we're the best ravens we can be, people will have a tough time standing in front of us. >> pretty impressive what some of the guys do on our team, the level they do it. how aggressive they are and how high tempo they are at all times. >> when the ravens last took the field seven months ago, they were five minutes away from reaching the super bowl. now they have that foundation. we'll see how much tonight a first glimpse to see what they've done. thanks so much for joining us

for the battle of the beltways, as the ravens play host to the washington redskins. as far as how this thing may play out, john harbaugh. coach, welcome to year number two. >> good to see you, pete. >> tell me a little about what you expect tonight other than the obvious, as far as you don't want anybody to get hurt and you want to win the game. >> we want to see our guys play, progression from practice throughout training camp, we want to get better. there's always going to be a couple guys you weren't sure about, all of a sudden they'll jump out and play great. >> last year with joe flacco, he was a rookie, you wanted to see him as much as possible in game situations. he's still young, how do you handle as far as playing time for him this season. >> we'll kind of see how it goes. this is basically the starters will play a quarter, a quarter and a half, something like that. we'll just see how it goes, how much they need. so he'll play quite a bit, but it won't be too much. >> is there any position in particular that you're looking for to watching tonight.

there are so many great battles for spots throughout. >> you know, people have asked me that a lot and i really can't so. i'm so excited about so many spots. there's not a position that you're not excited to watch and see how guys do. >> one of them of course is kicker, steve hauschka, graham gano, you've been frustrated so far in camp. >> they're doing well. they really are doing well. that's the thing that's exciting about them. to say one guy's ahead of the other guy or that they're even ready to be a kicker in the nfl, you just don't know. i'm sure they're going to do well. >> if there's a game winner, who takes it? >> well, we'll see. steve will get the first shot, and if steve doesn't get enough kicks through the game. if he has a bunch of kicks, then we'll bring graham in and see if he can do it towards the end. >> now, let's head over to my cohort for a look at some of the key battles coming up. >> thanks, pete. you talk about how exciting it is to be out here, 2009 season

is definitely upon us, yet the 53 man roster is still being formed. there are some key battles that we are going to look at. one of those key battles happens to be the wide receiver position. there are two spots, four guys battling for two spots. kelly washington, the veteran of seven years, come from new england, has a ton of experience as a wide receiver and special teams play, they're looking to use hem as well as justin harper. justin harper probably is one of the more talented of the receivers. everyone raves about him. his only problem is his consistency. can he be a consistent wide receiver. if so, he probably will get one of those spots based upon his talents. the other two guys are marcus smith anda mon figure ors. we know yamon's skills as a

returner. but can he take it to the next level as a wide receiver. four guys battling for two spots. let's see who gets the better of it in game one. back to you, pete. >> thanks so much. now, as far as coming up next, we're going to talk a little more on the offense, champion in with cam cameron, second year as the offensive coordinator. ♪

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ravens celebrate count down to kickoff week presented by miller light. welcome back. hope springs eternal. it is the first preseason game of the season, as the ravens get ready to host the washington redskins. last year we saw a whole lot of offense going on, things we had not seen here for quite sometime. the man who put it all together, cam cameron back again. how much of the play book are we going to see tonight? >> well, it's a training camp game and we're just going to continue our installations that we've used the last couple of weeks, but we want to give every guy an opportunity, every guy on offense is going to play, so we really don't need a ton of the offense in right now. we'll keep it as simple as we can. >> you want to see joe flacco completing many passes. talk to me about your relationship with him, now it's grown. he's been here a full year, some of the differences you've seen since the last time we saw

him on the field. >> technically he's sounder than he was a year ago. the important thing is the relationship he has with the rest of the guys on offense. he's a great leader. he's really, his leadership is growing every day. that's still, we're going to see that over the next few years. that's not just this year, but his leadership i think is the most important thing. i think the talent speaks for itself. all great quarterbacks get other guys around him it play at a higher level. >> something that should most certainly help joe out this year, a new right tackle, your first round pick in camp. >> he's similar to ben grubbs a year ago. i don't think he's missed a snap this preseason. again, he's a rookie, he's got a lot to learn. i think the transition from college and the offensive line is equal if not more difficult than a quarterback. the games are so different now, but he's picked things up quickly. we're going to run at him tonight a lot, that's kind of

my plan is just call plays behind him. and at the same time put him in some tough positions from a pass protection standpoint. i want to make it as hard on him as i can. >> are we going to see derrick mason on the field tonight? >> absolutely, everybody on offense, unless the guys are nicked up. >> appreciate it, coach, best of luck. and we'll talk about a rather impressive anniversary. >> i have the honor and privilege of playing in the national football league for some 10 years. 16 years of football, i've seen a ton of great players come on the gridiron from the joe montanas to the reggie whites. come january you have an opportunity to see those great players get their name called to be enshrined into the pro football hall of fame. we now look back on 10 years of ozzie newsom as he reflects on his induction into pro football's hall of fame.

>> started out playing football in junior high, you just want to be on the team, you know, and you get lucky enough it play at a very good high school, and i only played in like four losing games in my three years of high school ball. and win a state championship. and lucky enough, because i don't know if my parents would have been able to pay for me to go to college. i get a scholarship and i play at the university of alabama and play in the orange bowl and the sugar bowl, and then to come in to cleveland, to have your position changed, to have three shots at going to the super bowl and get to the hall of fame. what everybody throughout your whole walk of life can be right there with you to enjoy it all, it's a very, very special thing. and the lead in to the hall of fame is, after your fifth year. i didn't even make the final 25

that first year. so the next year, you know, you make the final 15, and you sat there and on a saturday and you wait. and you don't get the call. and i remember going to the old facility that day and i knew i was going to be nervous. so michael was seven years old, so i went in to try to do some tape work but i knew i wasn't going to be able to do it. so i took michael to work with me, so michael could be a distraction. so he and i were sitting there together and i have it on and so they're starting to read the names. and just as they're reading the names michael goes, dad, i need to go to the bathroom and i go, i don't even hear my name get called. i turn around and look and you know what, my name is just called and i said, michael, i just made it to the hall of fame. and he smiled, but, dad, i need to go to the bathroom. you get around the other hall

of famers and the luncheon is the first thing that you get involved in. and they start then with, which one are you guys going to cry? they start taking bets about who is the most sentimental guys in the group by the time they start reading the speech, they start balk. then you finally get that jacket. you're walking on air at that point. i never will forget, chris bermen had talked to my brother the night before. they tried oh talk to someone that can give them some insight that you hadn't told anybody. >> all american at alabama, but we should say before that a valadictorian in high school. >> so they go, i see them later, were you the valadictorian. no, no, my brother kind of got feeling good, gave some information that wasn't true. i had a choice in the guys to

present me. it came down to hanford dixon who is a close friend and calvin hill. calvin had been there since my rookie year and he had been a mentor of mine. >> we know about the consecutive games, catching a pass, consecutive games starting, the all-time leader as a tight end receiver. but i stand before you to talk about my friend ozzie newsom and the qualities that make him special for me. ozzie is dependability. we all call him the wizards of oz. when he was introduced in cleveland stadium, they would put up the wizard of oz. i heard people in the parade today yell wizard and he would chuckle, almost embarrassed. with his greatness becomes a deep, deep humility. >> calvin really set the stage for me, but the toughest part of the speech was when i had to talk about my mom and my wife.

that's when i lost it a little bit. you are talking about people that have done so much in your life, that they'll never get the credit for. >> the thing about the family is that when they're involved with a professional athlete, there's a lot of sacrificing that goes on. and i've had my brothers and my sisters that sacrificed with me, my wife who is my friend and my companion, but a special lady that is her day, not mine, my mother. >> but i made it through, and then there's a big sigh of relief when it's all said and done. and i never will forget, because that was the year the cleveland browns were coming back. >> we got the great fans here from buffalo and the great fans here from new york.

but i want to give you your official welcome to the dawg town. >> ozzie talked about sacrifice. i can say this, as a general manager for the baltimore ravens and as a former player, it is an honor and a privilege to be a part of what ozzie newsom has put on the field. he's definitely put a lot of hard work and sacrifice into making sure that the best players are fit for the baltimore ravens. >> thanks so much. coming up, no doubt some other valadictorians, the ravens broadcasting, gerry and stan, they're taking the game straight ahead. 

 from tape, to a live lo at ed reed. he's ready to go tonight. ed reed will take the field. last year probably should have been nfl defensive player of the year, instead he wasn't. welcome back to "ravens kick- off." you'll get your takes on the game, coming up in a little bit. gerry and stan, what do you guys think about tonight? >> you're lacking at the area that serves as the primary focus of improvement in this preseason for the ravens offense, the red zone, the 20- yard line and in. for the last five years the ravens have not been able to take the ball from the red zone put it in the end zone more than 50% of the time. the best teams in this league do that 70% of the time, find the end zone in the red zone. as we talked to joe flacco this week, did you get any sense of

reading between the lines of what they're going to try to do differently this year? >> they said score more. but how do you do that? they ran the ball pretty effectively. 20 touchdowns on the ground last year, but they've got to be able to throw the ball down there. the windows are tight, so you need that bigger receiver. the kelley washington, justin harper. you hope they're going to provide that. it's not especially the 80-yard touchdown or the 60-yard touchdown, it's being effective when you get the ball in the scoring area and getting touchdowns and not field goals. that will be the progression of joe flacco. >> how important are joe's adjustments this year in the red zone? >> well, they are key. because he'll know more. he said, do you realize now how little you knew last year? he said, yeah, i couldn't admit last year that i knew that little. >> all right, so there you have. the key progression tore the ravens, red zone, end zone,

then back to you. >> i guess two out of three ain't bad. it's a new season in the nfl, to of course there are new rules. the league office with the emphasis on player safety. >> this year the nfl has taken additional steps to protect defenseless players in the open field. the league has opted to eliminate blindside blocks to the head or neck of an opponent if the player is facing his own end zone and hits the opponent from behind or the side. it has long been against the rules to hit a defenseless receiver helmet to helmet, but for 2009 that rule has been extended to include hitting the receiver with the helmet, shoulder or forearm. the penalty, 15 yards for unnecessary roughness and the potential for additional league discipline. a new rule to help ensure the safety of players in their most vol theyable moments. that's a good call.

>> you like that rule? >> i love that rule. i have gotten laid out, up in buffalo, a guy just came across the field, boom, it was a clean hit. but under today's rules it would have cost him a letter from roger goodell and a fine. it is with players safety. >> thanks so much. coming up on "ravens kick-off," playing like a raven. how does one do that? ♪

♪ tell me who's watching. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ (announcer) it's right here. it's easy.

 are you ready for some football and pizza? mondays, get a large pizza for 9.99 for every ravens touchdown, get a free topping. double the toppings with a ravens win.   welcome back, and now, harbaugh has been saying so much. play like a raven. the organization went ahead and said that must be the theme for this year. so mike will take us through a segment in these count down to kickoff shows, what it means it play like a raven. how do they do that? >> each week we're going to have assistant coach show you drills to help these players on sundays, but more important, it play like ravens. >> was it pretty?

>> no, but it was us. >> this week, we have will montgomery, running back coach. >> today we have high knee action where the running backs have to pick the knees up and get lou the hole cleanly. you know from being offensive linemen, they need oh get their legs up because there's foot traffic there. once they get through the hole, then we have a big ball here, where we roll where they can get the pads down and protect their knees. >> let's see what these guys can do. >> okay, ray, let's go. >> good parallel. get level at the end. >> you talk about these running backs taking hits, it's key, as soon as they come through the holes, to get those pads low. >> without a doubt. you know, defenders, especially

secondary guys, they don't want to take these guys on high, so they try to get down to the knees. this is where the back has to be smart, to understand that he has to get his pad level down to take on the block. and especially this is critical, in short yardage and goal line running. >> all right, i'm going try to embarrass myself here. now, i'm going to go real slow, coach. real slow. >> that's pretty good, mike. that's pretty good. there you go. >> but we'd like for you to have that ball in the other arm so you can take it on. >> i'm not allowed to touch the ball. all right, coach. hope you guys learned something about running here. play like a raven. >> i guess i'm a little disappointed that he didn't go through the gauntlet of the maybe next week, the jugs machine. >> i think the jugs machines will be right in order for him. >> what are you most curious about seeing tonight? >> there's a couple of things out there or a couple of key

interests for me. the offensive line, looking at michael oher, see how he's going to react, and of course gooden, you look at a guy from a very talented individual. can it translate taking over from bart scott. >> they drafted tavares gooden for exactly this reason. he wore 52 at miami, now he's wearing 56. you talk to the coaches, absolutely -- you have to believe so. as far as another thing, i can't wait to see joe flacco. training camps mean absolutely nothing. we're yet to see his progression tonight. >> i like how he's taking over as far as the offense is concerned. it's about just getting and working on your game and your fundamentals. if he can continue to impress or impress himself as well as his teammates, everything else will take care of itself come the regular season. >> albert haynesworth, a

healthy scratch, likewise clinton portis, they will not be on the field tonight. i'm pete gilbert. thanks so much for joining us. get ready for the reseason game. it is the ravens ready to host the washington redskins coming up next on your ravens broadcast station and masn.