John Harbaugh fined, Ravens lose OTA week for practice rules violation

The Baltimore Ravens will lose a week of OTA practice and head coach John Harbaugh was fined after holding rookie practices in full pads.

In the current state of the NFL, practices are watched very closely by the league as part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement. There are certain camps where players aren’t allowed to be in pads or in contact drills, something worked out by the player’s union as part of their push for player safety.

The Baltimore Ravens are finding out first hand what happens when you violate those rules, as the team was fined and will lose a week of their OTA’s this summer (being held June 1st until the 3rd) while head coach John Harbaugh was also fined by the league.

The fines and punishment come after it was reported that the Ravens put their rookies and first year players in pads for several minutes during a recent practice. The NFL believes the team and John Harbaugh knew that was against the rules, but did so anyway.

It’s the second time since John Harbaugh became the head coach in Baltimore that the team has lost practices based on rules violations. Several players complained in 2010 that they were kept in meetings and on the field for too long, resulting in the team losing two days of OTA practices.

Two years ago, the Seattle Seahawks were fined $200,000 and lost practices for similar violations to what the Ravens are believed to have done this year. Head coach Pete Carroll was also fined $100,000. The NFL didn’t realize the exact fines for Baltimore, though it is believed to be near that same amount for both the team and John Harbaugh.

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