Ray Rice looks ‘very good’ at Baltimore Ravens camp
The offseason was a nightmare for Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice as he was embroiled in controversy after video leaked of him dragging his unconscious fiancee out of an Atlantic City casino elevator that resulted in a two-game suspension.
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With the punishment settled and Rice moving forward from the “lowest point of his life” he is focused on improving on the terrible season he had on the field last year when he battled a hip injury throughout the season.
Rice was limited to 660 yards, snapping his streak of four straight 1,100-yard seasons, and four touchdowns as the Ravens could not run the football to save their season.
A slimmer and healthier Rice has looked tremendous in the opening days of training camp according to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh who has seen the burst that made the former Rutgers star such an exceptional running back over the last four seasons.
"“Ray has looked really good,” Harbaugh said, via CSN Baltimore. “Comparisons to years in the past — we’ll find all that out during the season. But he’s in tremendous shape. I’ve seen him make a good lateral cut. He’s got really good burst, acceleration is there, vision is there. He’s been very patient with the zone runs. Ray looks really good.”"
Rice will miss the first two games of the season as he serves his suspension so Bernard Pierce will assume the starting duties in his absence, but when Rice returns, he should be well-rested and if he doesn’t have that burst in September, he could be looking for a new job come 2015.
After a tumultuous 2013 season that was made even worse with his off-the-field incident, Rice very much needs a dynamite season on the field this year to justify the Ravens keeping him on the roster.