The Ravens backed out of a trade for Maxx Crosby in March after the edge rusher failed their physical. The team reportedly was concerned about Crosby’s durability because of a degenerative issue in his knee.
Crosby and the Raiders don’t share those concerns.
He is back with the Raiders and still rehabbing from a January surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Jan. 7. Crosby jogged and stretched with teammates at Wednesday’s OTA before going inside to continue his physical therapy.
Crosby expects to be back soon.
“I’m at the point where I’m almost there, but I forget that I need to relax a little bit, so that’s kind of been the biggest battle right now,” Crosby said, via Ryan McFadden of ESPN.
Crosby played through the left knee injury from Week 7 last season before going on injured reserve on Dec. 27.
“Ultimately, it has probably been the best [rehab] by far, and we’re not even to the finish line,” Crosby said. “It’s been better because I’ve been able to focus on other things. Whether that’s being in the weight room, like I’m moving more weight than I ever have, and doing things in a different way, and being able to get my body the proper rest that it actually needs.
“This has forced me to have to take a step back in certain areas and not run 8,000 yards on the field every single day.”
The Browns added a little extra protection for themselves to complete the Myles Garrett trade to the Rams this week.
While Cleveland received edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick from Los Angeles in exchange for Garrett, the league’s daily transaction wire noted that the final pick was conditional.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the condition on that 2029 third-round pick is that it will become a first-round pick in the event that the Rams trade Garrett to a team in the AFC North.
It doesn’t seem likely that the Rams would even want to trade Garrett at any point in the future.
But just in case they do, the Browns have at least made it unlikely that they’ll ever see Garrett twice a year on the opposing sideline.
Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman is absent from organized team activities, and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said some “personal things” have kept Bateman away.
Bateman, though, has been in the building for much of the offseason.
“Yeah, Bate’s been around,” Doyle said, via video from Giana Han of the Baltimore Banner. “He’s dealing with some personal things, so he hasn’t been here for a little bit. He was here that first week, and we were able to work him in quite a bit. Then, he was here pretty much the whole offseason, every day. He’s an early morning guy, so a lot of times I’d be going to work out, and he’s in there doing stuff by himself at times. I’ve been pleased with him. Obviously, . . . we’re working with the guys who are here, and guys who aren’t, we’re expecting them to be working kind of on their own. But I’m excited for him to get back in here at training camp and keep rolling.”
Bateman dealt with a high right ankle sprain last season, and caught only 19 passes for a career-low 224 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games.
The Colts have announced that Hall of Fame receiver Raymond Berry, who won two NFL titles with the Colts and later coached the Patriots to their first Super Bowl appearance, has died. He was 93.
In 13 NFL seasons after arriving in Baltimore as a 20th-round draft pick in 1954, Berry caught 631 passes for 9,275 yards and 68 touchdowns in 154 regular-season games. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s, the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, and the NFL 100 All-Time Team.
The Colts won the NFL championship in 1958 and 1959. In the epic 1958 title game (known as the Greatest Game Ever Played), Berry caught 12 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown in a 23-17 overtime victory against the Giants.
Berry was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.
Immediately after his playing career ended, Berry went into coaching. After serving as a receivers coach with the Cowboys (1968-69), the University of Arkansas (1970-72), the Lions (1973-75), the Browns (1976-77), and the Patriots (1978-81), he returned to New England as the head coach in 1984.
In his second season, the Patriots advanced to Super Bowl XX against the Bears.
Berry coached the Patriots through 1989, generating a record of 51-41. He worked as quarterbacks coach for the Lions in 1991 and the Broncos in 1992.
Berry is a member of the Baltimore Ravens’ Ring of Honor, along with seven other Baltimore Colts players. His No. 82 was retired by the Colts.
We extend our condolences to Berry’s family, friends, and colleagues.
A report last month indicated that Ravens defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike plans to play this season after missing most of last year with a neck injury, but he has not been taking part in any of the team’s practices this spring.
During a Wednesday press conference, Ravens head coach Jesse Minter was asked about Madubuike’s status and said that he has been with the team during the offseason program. Minter did not provide any specifics about when Madubuike might be ready to make a full return to action.
“I think Nnamdi is here a lot,” Minter said, via a transcript from the team. “He’s working. He’s doing some certain parts of our program. I’ll probably, again, leave that up to him of when it’s really to the point where he may be out there, but he’s definitely getting a lot of work in. He’s trending in a great direction, I would say.”
Madubuike’s return would be a significant development for Minter’s defense, but any plans for him will be written in pencil until there are some surer signs that he’ll be playing this fall.
