Extra weight slowed Ray Rice last season

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice had a forgettable year last season. Rice ran for only 660 yards with four touchdown and two fumbles in 2013, but most concerning may have been his paltry 3.1 yards per rush. In comparison, the workhorse back hasn’t averaged under four yards in any of his previous seasons.

But it appears that it wasn’t just the hip injury he suffered that kept Rice from breaking long runs in 2013. Ravens coach John Harbaugh recently said that Rice will be participating in voluntary OTAs with the team in an effort to lose some of the bulk he added last offseason.

"“It was too big. His high weight was 217 last year. Ray is pretty consistent. It’s not like Ray fluctuated. Ray didn’t get fat. Ray just got big and thick,” Harbaugh said. “You just look at history, and Ray was 207 his rookie year. What the weight ends up being, we’ll see, but it’s lighter. A lot lighter. To me it’s under 210 for sure.”"

Of course Rice is also dealing with the fallout from his domestic violence simple assault charge from earlier this month with his fiancée.