Most NFL teams return to the practice field Wednesday after a long break for Memorial Day, but the Baltimore Ravens will have the week off from organized team activities.
Why? Because they broke NFL rules during rookie minicamp by having their first-year players wear pads during special teams drills. Perhaps Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who was fined for the infraction, should finally take Tom Brady’s advice to “study the rule book.”
“We made a mistake and we are sorry for that,” the Ravens said in a statement. “We accept the NFL discipline.”
Harbaugh said he read the rules “the wrong way,” as NFL players aren’t supposed to wear pads until training camp.
“There’s the CBA the way it’s written word-for-word, we’ve read it all,” Harbaugh said to reporters Thursday. “There are side letters, and there are amendments to side letters. There’s a handbook, and there are things that get added to the handbook regularly that come out in memos. There are things that you look at and you say, ‘I think we’ve got an opportunity here to gain some ground with our rookies.’
“It was a rookie developmental day. It wasn’t the case. It was wrong. I read it the wrong way and it’s on me. Any other details about it — I don’t think anybody wants to hear any of that stuff. I think the bottom line is, it’s on me.”
Thumbnail photo via Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports Images
