OWINGS MILLS — The Ravens announced the dates for the opening of training camp at the Under Armour Performance Center next month.
The rookies will report to camp on Saturday, July 13th. The veteran players will report one week later on Saturday, July 20th.
With the exception of running back Keaton Mitchell, who is recovering from knee surgery, the Ravens should have their key players ready to practice. Mitchell won’t be available until after the start of the 2024 season.
One of the key training camp battles will be for three starting jobs on the offensive line.
The Ravens lost their starting guards — Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson — to free agency and traded right tackle Morgan Moses and a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft to the Jets in exchange for fourth- and sixth-round selections.
Ben Cleveland and Andrew Voorhees are the early favorites to start at the guard positions. Josh Jones and Sala Aumavae-Laulu are also competing for jobs at guard.
Rookie second-round pick Roger Rosengarten could earn the starting right tackle position, where he earned All-American honors at the University of Washington. He will compete with Pat Mekari and Daniel Faalele for that job.
Mekari can play all five positions on the offensive line so his best value might be in a sixth-man role to provide depth when needed.
“Right now, Pat [Mekari]’s situation is just more of a good quality … I see him in my eyes as a starter, OK?,” Ravens offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris said. “In my eyes, he’s a starter, but he’s in the position where he can play multiple positions, and that’s the role that we’d like to see him in right now. Does that mean … If we have an injury, guess what? You’re starting, Pat.
“But it’s not that he can’t start, it’s just that we see the versatility and the benefit of that opportunity. There are not many guys in the NFL that can play center, both guards and tackle. The last time we had a guy here that could do both was James Hurst, and he played both tackles and both guard positions, and he just retired with a fantastic career. Pat’s having a nice career.”
Ronnie Stanley is entrenched at left tackle and Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum will start at center.
