BLOG: Ravens Prepare For Texans And Derrick Mason...Again
We all remember where we were last year when the Ravens just barely slipped past the Houston Texans thanks to Josh Wilson's pick six that ended the game with a Ravens' victory. On Sunday, the Ravens will host the Texas Sunday at 4:15 p.m. without Andre Johnson but with the newest member of their offense, Derrick Mason. Before we get to Mason's return to Baltimore (again), here's what some of the current Ravens had to say about last year's fiasco in Houston.
Ed Reed: It was long. Those guys don't give up."
Chris Carr: "We played excellent the first half and were exhausted the second half."
Ray Rice: "Just as fast as we were up... we were down. We were definitely fighting until the end."
In regards to Derrick Mason returning to Baltimore, Ray Lewis summed it up perfectly. "It's not weird at all for us. It doesn't matter. We only care what's going on inside this building." Arthur Jones then told me in the locker room that the Texans are surely going to change things up since Mason knows all to well about Baltimore's offense. But the Ravens are going to change things up on their end defensively with Bernard Pollard and Vonta Leach.
In terms of injuries, Ben Grubbs returned to practice today but joked he was not at liberty to talk about his toe injury. Coach Harbaugh said he's a possibility for this weekend's game. Chris Carr was less optimistic, calling his injury "a very troubling situation." He said he will not return until he is absolutely 100 percent healthy because he is "not going through this again." He also joked that no more cornerbacks can get injured for the remainder of the season since Domonique Foxworth and Jimmy Smith are both out of commission. Tom Zbikowski also returned to practice today but did not participate in contact drills. Zibby said he still feels cloudy and it's hard to concentrate but his headaches aren't as bad. He also said the bye week "absolutely' came at a perfect time for him. He said he spent the week staying away from the television and sitting in a dark room without noise. He added, "it's a head injury, you can't be messin' around."
Dannell Ellerbe also returned to practice as well as David Reed, Haruki Nakamura and WR Lee Evans.
