EdTheMythicalOne

See West, Terrance.

 

And the need to draft one is there, except there's also about a half dozen other positions that will require our attention, and we have a finite number of quality draft picks.

Right, they just picked up West a couple of weeks ago and they still have Magee on the practice squad if anything else goes wrong. Forsett has never been "the man" for any team and this broken arm is a fluke injury. The offensive line and playcalling has been suspect this year but his numbers weren't really all that bad this season.

I don't think Allen did anything amazing. His rushing average isn't all that great. The catches out of the backfield were good, but that is supposedly what he's known for.

As far as drafting a RB, no need to grab one in the first round unless we're looking at another Todd Gurley. Just grab somebody in the 3rd or 4th round and take your chances. You still have Forsett, Taliafero, and Allen next season. There are plenty of other glaring needs for this team. Franchise WR, Franchise LT, possibly a starting G, a starting C, Both outside linebacker spots since Suggs and Dumervil are getting old, and yes, we still need help at corner and safety.

It bothers me so much that when we have a 3rd or 4th down and say 5 to get a 1st down, we throw it 2 yards and get a net gain of maybe 3 and have to punt. Same on the Goal to Go situation today, we threw it short on 3rd down, I think it was, and only gain a few yards on the play after the tackle, OUTSIDE of the end zone and are forced to kick a short F.G. Someone here posted once, that it's the receivers job to run past the sticks or into the end zone. I don't know if that's true or it's the QB's job to throw it the full distance or more, but that really gets my day going when that happens, I hate that! Maybe it's on the coaches to straighten that out, who knows, but I wish they'd stop it! Good win today, you Ravens are warriors and I hope those that are injured will have some peace and rest up and heal and be back as soon as possible, next year is it for a bunch of guys, now.

The play calling on offense has really been suspect this year. We're predictable at times, we try to get too cute some times, and when we find something that is working we for some reason abandon it and go to something else that fails. The Rams had no answer to the quick screens and quick outs to Allen. We ran it about three times in fairly short periods of time and Allen made the first guy miss every single time and picked up 7 yards or so. You find something working that well I would say you run it over and over again until the other team proves they will and can defend it. They start putting a man on Allen and then that opens up something for another player.

I can't really say the same for the defense. The players aren't getting home enough on the pass rush and I doubt any of our coverage schemes call for leaving a receiver to be open 40+ yards down the field. To me that's blown coverage.

Why can't Justin Tucker make a 50 yard field goal in Baltimore?

And one other thing that pisses me off now. And I have no clue how our offense is going to function but you never know... If that flag is thrown against Jacksonville at the end of the game...were 4-6.... That just feels like a world of a difference from 3-7 to me

That win we should have had against Jacksonville and being 4-6 makes a whole world of difference. I don't think the Ravens could win the division since the Bengals are 8-2 and the Steelers are 6-4. But....the wildcard implications are huge. Consider this...

In the AFC East New England is running the table at 9-0. But second place is the Bills at 5-4, and the Jets are 5-5. In the AFC South the Colts and Texans are tied for first with 5-5 records and the Jaguars are next at 4-6 (Should be 3-7 which again, makes a huge difference for them). In the AFC West the Broncos are up top at 8-2, but in second place is the Chiefs at 5-5 and Oakland is 4-6.

So at 4-6 you could say the Ravens still had a fairly legitimate shot of making it as a Wild Card team. But with so many injuries now and being at 3-7, it doesn't seem very likely anymore.

I was at that game and watching it, I was under the opinion that Flacco's turnovers were costing us the game, but once I found out about the injury I have so much respect for him. They announced that he had an ankle injury to play of his mobility, but he was playing through it to get the win. On a 2-7 team, You have to have respect for that. This is our QB. You have to get the right talent and coaching around him, look at what he is doing with nothing. 

Flacco's turnovers were costing us the game. The leg injury didn't happen until the very final drive a few plays before the game winning field goal. I admire him trying to finish out the game, but let's not say that he was playing the whole came like this and that was why he was throwing the ball all over the place. He's had games like this before where he throws the ball nowhere near anybody and then throws idiotic interceptions. I am not saying everything is his fault. He's had his receivers drop easy passes on him and not contest throws and give up picks as well.

I actually put A LOT of blame on the coaching staff. We're supposed to have all of this talent. So either we do have this talent and the coaching staff isn't making the most of it, or the players we have really aren't all that talented and we have to question the people that put this team together. Ozzie has been the most soild part of this organization and we've had a revolving door of offensive and defensive coordinators. Somebody is losing their job this year and I don't think it is John Harbaugh. He'll get some slack because of his track record and the injuries. Some coaches are gonna lose their jobs though.

I know the Ravens said they wouldn't "give up" this season before the Rams game, but now with Flacco out for the year, Forsett out for the year, Osemele banged up, Monroe banged up, Zuttah out for the year, Steve Smith Sr. out for the year...you might as well rest all of your banged up starters and let the backups and guys with potential futures play.

I think the next few games with Matt Schaub at the helm could be pretty ugly. He looked pretty good in pre season, but he's coming off of a couple of bad seasons. He's also not going to have a great supporting cast around him. Back up offensive line, back up running backs, back up wideouts...it isn't looking good.

This at least gives you a chance to get another long look at Buck Allen and the newly acquired Terrence West. The Ravens apparently wanted West in the draft but Cleveland snagged him before their pick. West played his college days at Towson for those that don't know.

Time to just let the O-line rest. Let Hurts play LT, Jensen in at LG, and Urschel play C. Yanda and Wagner stay put. I expect the Ravens to make some moves because everyone they now have as backups are rookies.

I think the defense played pretty well. The penalties were ridiculous today as well, but they stopped Gurley who had been running over most of the league. It was also against Case Keenum.

Injuries have put a damper on things for sure, including the TE's. However, the TE's are our strength going forward to help produce with this struggling WR group. Agree about using Juice more also. We need to compensate by including these other options more.  

Steve Smith is the main weapon on this team as he's caught 36 passes.. It probably shouldn't be a shock to see that Justin Forsett is #2 in receptions on the team with 23 in a Trestman offense. Trailing him is Kamar Aiken with 18, then it is a tie between Gilmore & Juice for fourth with 13 a piece. Maxx Williams comes next with 12. The problem is that Aiken is extremely streaky and when he's cold, he's awful. Marlon Brown hasn't stepped up unfortunately. I want to see more of Ross though, he was making plays. Givens might help out with speed, but speed will only do so much. If you can't get the ball in the hands with the guy with the speed (either he can't get open or he can't catch) then it doesn't really matter. 

I think having a healthy Gimore back will help, but maybe they should start going with a lot of twin TE formations to get Maxx and Crocket on the field at the same time. Slot out Juice more out of the back field and force somebody to go out to cover him.

One of the main problems with this offense has been the play calling and the bone headed decisions of Flacco at times. They get way too predictable at times and Flacco has to know when to tuck and run and make use of his legs or to throw the ball away. I know he knows better.

No it isn't. Here are a couple quotes directly from the NFL rulebook:

 

Illegal contact beyond five-yard zone:

 

"A defender MAY USE HIS HANDS or arms only to defend or protect himself against impending contact caused by a receiver."

 

"A defender CANNOT INITIATE contact with a recevier"

 

The receiver clearly initiated the contact. It wasn't close or questionable at all. The Ravens did get the benefit of a lot of nit-picking calls, but by rule, Will Hill's int was 100% clean.

 

http://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/2015-nfl-rulebook

(section 4, article 3)

I see a lot of people don't like it when you tell it like it is.

The refs had been calling close plays ALL DAY LONG. Whether it is right or not, that is how it was. As a player, you have to understand what is going on. Why don't we take a look at this:

http://russellstreetreport.com/2015/09/22/ruling-on-the-field/analyzing-will-hill-holding-call/

This is an article that actually thinks it should have been a no-call. It states that some of the rules were questionable as it was hard to tell who actually initiated contact and to see if the TE was attempting to evade or not. But what is included are some videos of the play in question. The very  top one, the first part of that video shows the whole play.

Keep these things in mind:

1) The refs had been calling holding penalities on the secondaries all game long on both teams. They were calling a "tight" game so to speak.

2) The play is happening in real time, not slow motion.

3) Penalties are not reviewable.

4) You can't tell if Hill put his hands on Rivera first or the other way around, but what you can see clearly is that Hill has his arm fully extended first.

5) After the initial contact, which isn't where the call was made in my opinion, the players bounce off each other. Rivera (The TE) turns in, which I would assume is how the pattern was called. Right after he turns, Hill hits him again and the players jostle. Rivera is knocked off his route and Hill is able to sneak in under and get the pass.

So in summation the first part of that play probably would not have gotten the flag. Two guys bump into each other. It is what happened right after that where I think the penalty was called.

I am not sure how much of a revelation of an article you can post when the problems with this team are glaringly obvious.

Carson Palmer with his set of receivers is extremely dangerous. He's not very mobile so IF we could get to the QB and hurry him and actually, I dunno, hit the guy and sack him it might help. Of course our secondary has been atrocious again. Jimmy Smith isn't 100%, Webb isn't 100%, Arrington hasn't impressed me, Wright is a new addition and got torched. The safties should be better, but too many times they are not on the right page and give up deep WIDE open plays at the worst times. In the fourth quarter when you have a lead, there is no reason in the world why a guy should get behind you 40 yards deep down the field.

On offense, anybody not named Steve Smith can't catch. Flacco is making it hard for anyone to defend his "elite" status when he's making throws college players would get benched for. Sure, let's throw the ball 45 yards down the field, off my back foot, and across the field. That should work. It made me wonder if somebody covering the Ravens should have a weekly, "What was I thinking" column. Each week they sit down with a player who made a impact play, whether it was good or bad, and let us get inside the mind of a pro football player. I sit at home and smack my head at times, "What was he THINKING?!" We could find out with a column like this. Maybe there was some "football" reason Joe is attempting these passes that the fans at home would not have any possible way of knowing.

Perhaps the offensive game plan would be more successful if Trestman relies more heavily on our TE's. We are struggling with the WR's and the TE group has a lot of potential. At this point, why not see what happens with more plays to the TE's, they are a key to our future success.

Kinda hard to do that when the TE's have been banged up all year. Maxx Williams has been slowed by his ribs, Gilmore missed a couple of games so far, and Nick Boyle is a blocking TE. What I have seen them do and I want to see more of is using Juzczyck as a receiver more often. He catches darn near everything. He might not have speed, but if you need a few tough yards he can get them. He's not just a blocker back there at FB. The guy is a legit TE that is in the body of a full back. If he was 6'4'' he'd be a TE.

After watching Lewis play this year, perhaps its a good thing we get to see someone different. Did I miss something on Terrance Brookes as to why he wont be starting beside Will Hill instead of Trawick?

He's had thumb surgery. The reason why hasn't been reported yet.

"His backup,Terrence Brooks, is also dealing with an injury of his own. Brooks has been ruled out after reportedly having surgery on his thumb. He also missed last week’s game."

That is from this article here on this site: http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Whos-Playing-Whos-Not-vs-Cardinals/03a98cf7-e992-40d0-a3d9-b5bcb8a0ef83

My take is this; The Ravens might not be as terrible as they looked on offense against Denver and not as horrible as they looked on defense against the Raiders. They are somewhere in the middle and hopefully they find that consistency going forward. There are tons of things to chip away at negatively, but I want to focus on some positives going forward.

Hurst looked much better at LT against the Raiders. He's a solid backup until Monroe comes back. Wagner looked better at RT too, so maybe he's just shaking off the rust. Rest of the O-line is solid as ever.

Joe has shown that when given the time he can hit his targets, and the targets showed that if they get a good ball they can tack on additonal yards. Would like to see better decisions from Joe at times and to see him stop throwing off the back leg. If that is his option, tuck it and run it for a couple yards, check down, or chuck it out of bounds rather than severely underthrowing guys and possibly turning the ball over.

Steve Smith is still a beast. Good to know. Aiken fumbled the ball on his first catch but was good after. Gillmore is as much of a stud as I have been saying he was all along. Disappeared when they doubled him, but that opened up Smith and Aiken. Perriman should be back eventually.

Justin Tucker is still the man. There isn't a kicker in the league I'd want over him.

Defensively speaking...At least Mosley is still all over the field making plays. Will Hill made a great play earlier in the game. Just need to find more consistency in the secondary and dial up a pass rush. Easy for me to say, right?

Here's my take on the 2 losses. It's never easy to start the season with a new offensive coordinator, season ending injury to your team leader and possibly best pass rusher in Ravens history against 2 quality teams that have a lot of weapons. We lost 2 close games. Simple as that. It wasn't like the Ravens got blown out. We will regroup and hopefully bounce back next weekend against Cinci for our first home game and beat the Steelers on the road on TNF. In the words of Aaron Rodgers, "RELAX!!!!" It's 2 games! The Dallas Cowboys went 0-2 in 93 and went on to win the division, claim home field advantage and win the Superbowl! Pats were 2-2 last season and won the Superbowl. All this talk about Dean Pees being fired is ridiculous. He's a phenomenal defensive coordinator! Bounce back, Ravens!!!!

Sometimes is isn't about the loss, but how you lose those games. The game in Denver could have been won because the defense did a great job, but the offense failed to do anything at all. Joe Flacco threw some poor balls in that game and the O-line wasn't up to snuff. The Raiders game should have been a win because the offense was clicking all day long. The defense played like a leaking sieve. So 0-2 isn't the end of the world, but the team has looked wildly erratic and could have easily been 2-0.

There have been a few bone-headed blunders the Ravens have been making that cost them yardage and downs. Jernigan's penalty stopped the Ravens from possibly containing the Raiders and getting a punt and good field position into letting the Raiders march back down the field for points. Good teams don't make those mistakes. The defense looked horrible and I am sure they aren't as bad as they looked. No pass rush and a confused secondary that also is still dealing with lingering health issues because there is no way I believe Jimmy Smith is as healthy as he says he is; even though he's saying he's not 100%, I think he's about 80%. He can't cut and move on that foot yet. Webb is also not healthy. Whether he's got lingering back issues or the multiple knee injuries he's had are catching up to him, he's now serviceable instead of rock steady. Hopefully they get healthy soon and get things figured out. Team has too much talent to look as bad as they did against the Raiders.

Hill can disagree all he wants, but he clearly put his hands on the guy well past 5 yards and that is a penalty. The officials had been calling close stuff all day so why wouldn't they call something in that situation. The defense looked atrocious all day long. Jimmy Smith is clearly not 100% and is susceptible to anything deep and caused him to have to turn his hips right now. Normally he would be a lot better than he is right now, so I know the foot is still a problem. Webb looked okay, but he's far from the form when he looked like the #1 CB on the team a few years ago. The safeties as a whole played miserable. They blew coverage all day long and it looked like the secondary was never on the same page. Of course the D-Line got absolutely no pressure. Dumervil can be game planned against when Suggs isn't on the field. Upshaw did nothing as a rusher, Jernigan wasn't a force, Carl Davis I don't even think was mentioned, and Z. Smith was a non-factor. I don't know what the problem is when you have some maulers up front like we do in Williams and Canty who is adept at taking on blocks. This should free up the other guys, but they aren't stepping up. I am not really expecting much out of Babin, but he can't be worse than what I've been seeing so far.

I've been saying it all along since the Ravens drafted this guy that he would be much better than anyone gave him credit for. His whole, "I'm just a blocker" mentality is a great approach for a team like the Ravens, but I knew better and anyone paying attention to what I've been saying should've known better. The guy lettered in 4 sports in high school (wrestling, basketball, track and field, football), and has played WR before. He also switched back and forth between DE & TE in college. Sure he's not exactly blazing, but he's just fast enough and after the catch he's a load to bring down. At 6'7'' he's a great target and he busted his butt all off season to get stronger. Hard worker. The only thing that stopped him is when they doubled him and that left Steve Smith Sr. open and also paved the way for Aiken to get some catches. "Maxximum Overdrive" Williams seemed to suffer from turbo lag against the Raiders.

Myers has an opportunity in the near future with the Ravens trying to sign both Osemele and Yanda and with the thought that they might not be able to get both of them. Time for him to put in the hard work. Size will only get you so far and I don't recall him being that spectacular in pre-season work.

Steve Smith, Crockett Gilmore, and Kamar Aiken all had pretty good days. I give credit to the O-Line keeping Flacco upright and giving him time to find his receivers. Forsett; when the team did run, also had a pretty good day. It just goes to show you how good the offense can be even without our #1 pick on the field as long as the line can protect Flacco.

We're not the only team losing key players in the pre season. Green Bay just lost Jordy Nelson for the whole season. The Steelers lost Pouncey to a broken ankle and will probably miss quite a bit of time. Injuires are a part of the game and let's just be thankful that these injuries for the most part have been more of the "nicks and bangs" than of the IR type. It is worrisome for sure, but these guys need some reps to knock off the off season rust and get used to game speed again. I think 4 pre season games is just right. You have to remember that you have a roster of about 90 guys that trims down to 75, and then down to your final 53. Practice only tells you so much. There have been guys the Ravens are jazzing about in practice but I have yet to seen show up in any game time. This is a time for those guys that normally wouldn't get the reps to get them, get a chance to make the team, and then get a chance to make a living. I just don't see how they get that opportunity in only two games.

Suggs hit the QB as a RB on the play like he should have and if you look Suggs actually hits him at the waist, not at the knee. His helmet goes right into Bradford's hips. The wrap up of his arms is around the knees and people, that is just anatomy. Your arms are lower on your body than your head. It isn't like he launched himself helmet first into Bradford's knees. Then I would call that a dirty play.

I mentioned in another thread that MaGee and Toussaint are in a battle for the 3rd RB slot. Since they both aren't really serious running threats (at least haven't shown to be so far) the deciding factor might be special teams. Toussaint had a couple of tackles against the Eagles on the coverage unit. If I am Magee I am trying to tell the coaches I can return kicks because also in another thread I have suggested that Carter won't make the roster and Jackson isn't really showing much and he's had durability issues in the past too. I think they need to look outside of the organization and perhaps some decent options become available after first cuts.

Daniel Brown made a nice play but he will need more opportunities. I think Tom Nelson has had some pretty solid games so far and should be in the mix for the last WR spot. When I was making up a roster I was doing it just to see how the Ravens could stack certain positions. If they want, they can carry 7 WRs. Steve Smith, Perriman, Aiken, Brown, Campanaro (if healthy), then for 6 & 7 you have Waller/Butler/Carter/Nelson/ Daniel Brown. I think Waller makes it and that last spot may come down to WR/ST player and Nelson is a former safety so could be on the coverage unit.

To me Arthur Brown hasn't been tremendously impressive. He's made two flash plays and then disappears. Nobody on defense really looked that good except Melvin. I am surprised Carl Davis didn't get a mention for stock falling as he was non existent in this game. The tight ends as a whole didn't do much. Williams had a couple catches and I think Crockett has one and they were solid plays. I don't think Boyle had any touches.

I think Tom Nelson should get a mention here. As a converted SS to WR he is showing he can be a steady and reliable target. Almost every time a pass went to another WR and they didn't make a play, the next pass went to Nelson and he did make the catch. He might now wow, but the first thing you want in your WR is the ability to actually catch the ball. Also, as a safety you have to think he'd be a ST guy. Didn't really get a chance on the returns, but I think he will play on the coverage unit. Deandre Carter is showing he doesn't belong on this team. The only returns he's had a chance on he's messed up and as soon as there is a body near him he can't make a catch. Renner looks like he is the PS QB and possibly the emergency 3rd QB. If Flacco does go down for a long period of time Schaub would get the call and perhaps the Ravens look for a veteran back up at that point. At RB I see Forsett and Taliafero...after that it is between Toussaint and McGee. I have seen nothing from Toussaint that makes me think he should be handed the job so it really is a battle for that 3rd RB spot. The only thing I did see from Toussaint was that he was making tackles on ST. I could see that swinging the pendulum in his favor. I am surprised to see Carl Davis not getting a mention here. He was raved about in the first game, but as I pointed out, his name wasn't getting called until he was going up against the backups on the Saints. I don't think he was mentioned at all against the Eagles. Then again, most of our D-line was not a factor. Bilukidi made a couple plays. Pre season is what it is. You can't really take too much from it other than just how guys are playing. Right now we got a lot of guys that really just aren't playing well on a fundamental level.

James Hurst has a concussion in camp and now he gets one the first time he plays in a pre season game...that's not looking good. Joe was really off. The first INT he threw was a deep pass try to Kamar Aiken who really didn't play the ball, one DB tipped it and there was a second DB back there to catch it. Stuff happens. The second INT was all on Joe. Wide open guy and he just threw it to some point on the field where nobody but an Eagles player was. Whatever the reason for that play, this is the time to make those mistakes and clean them up. Flacco has a track record and you can count on him for the regular season. Schaub has a track record too, but because of his most recent history you like to see him performing better. He was great in the first game, not so much this time around...but I don't really blame him for all of that. Patchwork O-line and receivers with questionable hands. One things I am seeing is that our special teams right now looks absolutely terrible on both sides. Nothing in the return game and our coverage units are shaky. Now, that might clear up a little bit once you get some bubble players off the roster and get your better talent on the coverage units...but I think we need to look for at least a back up returner to Asa Jackson. Between Campanaro and Carter I just don't think that #2 returner is on our team...and Asa may not even be a good #1 option.

I am hearing a number of excuses...which is not something I typically hear from the Ravens. The radio had nothing to do with the team failing to tackle. There is no game plan that can save you when you simply can't cover people or tackle them. And while some of the penalties were ridiculous, there were some pretty clear ones like when Suggs essentially clotheslined the TE coming over the middle. I don't know how you think you will get away with that one. The Ravens came out flat on offense and defense. I have a feeling if this was a regular season game the outcome would be different because there would be a game plan in effect and guys would have shaken off the pre-season rust. But yeah, the Ravens were just simply outplayed. It happens. Time to learn what you can from it and move on.

What I saw: Injuries decimated O-line and could have accounted for poor pass protection and inconsistent results on offense. Guys that normally would be sitting are playing and playing out of position. This is the NFL though and you got to be ready to seize your moments. Nobody did that against the Eagles. The front three on defense were virtually invisible all night. Flashes from some players but overall inconsistent play. Cassius Vaughn at least is in position to make plays, but isn't a playmaker. Deandre Carter is JAG. Can't make crucial catches and isn't making a name for himself as a returner. Asa Jackson looks to be winning the starting returner job...and after him I think we better be looking for outside help. Tom Nelson probably won't make the team and he was 3rd string? Probably would have seen Camp if he was playing.

I am not one to make excuses, but there is a simple fact to point out here. In the pre-season you run vanilla offenses and defenses because you don't want to give anything away. That's all fine and good when your base vanilla plays are in a traditional offense, but the Eagles run a read option offense as their base. We were constantly getting fooled and gashed on the option run plays. Part of that was because of simply not game planning specifically to stop that. More critically, and the important thing and probably the more worrying thing is; failure to execute. Okay, so you aren't specifically playing against this style of offense. That doesn't excuse the lack of fundamentals in tackling and just playing football. I also won't say the refs cost us that game, but they were terrible. You still have to line up and play football and tackle and cover and execute on offense.

if the LOS is on the 20 yard line and the QB drops back to the endzone and throws it to the 30 yard line , he gets credited for a 10 yard pass but the ball traveled at least 30 yards.

 

if the balls is on the opponents goal line and the QB drops back to his own 50 yard line and then completes a pass into the endzone , he gets credited for less then a yard passing but the ball clearly traveled over 50 yards.

 

they are clearly 2 different things and you where clearly talking about how far the ball traveled in the air and not how many yards gained from scrimmage.

I was talking about how many yards the play earned from the pass from Schaub. I was merely pointing out that he gets credit for a 45 yard TD pass, but about half of that was YAC from Camp. You don't factor into the stats how many yards behind the line of scrimmage he got or that he was throwing it across the field. That's not how football works. I "THOUGHT" most people would understand this but I see I have to spell everything out for some people. It shouldn't be news to anyone that Matt Schaub's arm strength wasn't exactly elite even in his prime. It isn't beyond believable that at age 34 he's probably lost a little bit on his ball too. Case in point was a deep ball attempt he actually tried in the same game and it looked bad. He didn't attempt and long throws against the Eagles either. Flacco looked bad too. Renner was the only one who looked decent, but he was going up against 3rd string and bubble roster players. Everything with a grain of salt. I am not actually looking at pure statistics in the pre-season, but just at how guys play. Schaub so far looks like he is making some pretty good decisisons with the ball and that is what you really want in a back up. His arm looks like it can still play in the NFL, but I still want Joe Flacco for the whole season.

I'm sure Perriman isn't happy about missing time as well. At this point I think we all know this isn't a bruise and there was a report at one time that said it was a bruise/strain. I know from personal experience that strains can bruise and depending on how bad they are; grade 1 minor, grade 2 intermediate, and grade 3 severe, they can take a long time to heal. Grade 3 is about as bad as you can get before you tear something. I was unfortunate enough to get a grade 2 strain of my left quad and my entire thigh turned Ravens colors and it took me about two months to get back to running again. I certainly hope it isn't anything serious for him. I am just curious though, does anybody look at him and think he looks much older than what he should? They said the same thing about the NBA player Greg Oden. Guy was 21 and people said he looked 41 and then he promptly blows out a knee.