The Baltimore Ravens won’t have their full complement of OTA practices this year as the league has decided to take away their scheduled practices for next week as punishment for their most recent CBA violation.
The Ravens had been under investigation for allegedly using full pads during their rookie minicamp a few weeks ago and that violated the league’s collective bargaining agreement as players are not allowed to practice in full pads until training camp begins.
The Ravens reportedly thought the rules for rookie minicamps were different from the ones associated with OTA’s, but quickly halted their padded session once they were notified of their violation by NFLPA representative and current tight end Ben Watson.
The Ravens released a statement on Thursday after the league handed down their punishment.
“We made a mistake and we are sorry for that. We accept the NFL discipline.”
In addition to losing a week’s worth of OTA practices, the league also decided to fine the Ravens organization in addition to head coach John Harbaugh.
This is certainly quite comical when you consider how long Harbaugh has been the Ravens head coach. Additionally, this wasn’t the first time the Ravens have gotten in trouble with the league regarding offseason practice violations as they were also forced to cancel their final week of OTA practices back in 2010 due to their violation of CBA rules regarding the intensity and tempo of drills conducted earlier that offseason as well as the length of time they required certain players to be at the team facility.
