NOTEBOOK: MATTISON TO START FOR RAMS?; LIST OF NOTABLE CUTS

By Joe Platania

OWINGS MILLS -- The Ravens' two-part plan to get their roster down to the NFL-mandated 75-man maximum by 4 p.m. Monday featured a tale of two extremes.

The real drama -- and, to some, shock -- came Sunday, with the contract termination of vested veteran Billy Cundiff, the Ravens' former Pro Bowl placekicker for the better part of the last three years.

Cundiff was part of a nine-player wave that was shown the Under Armour Performance Center door Sunday, and six more were axed in one form or another Monday morning.

The second wave featured no drama or surprises, with the placement of wideout David Reed and linebacker Terrell Suggs on the Physically Unable To Perform reserve list and four others going on season-ending injured reserve.

David Reed

Reed and Suggs are now ineligible to play in the season's first six games, four of which are at home (Cincinnati, New England, Cleveland, Dallas), and two of them within the division.

Once those six weeks are up, the Ravens will then have three weeks to decide whether they want to activate those two players, release them or put them on injured reserve. Reed may have fully recovered from ACL surgery by then, but Suggs' Achilles tendon problem may keep him out for the entire campaign.

Reed, one of the Ravens' two fifth-round picks in 2010, was seen as the team's answer at the return position before a two-fumble, one-penalty game at Seattle last year dropped his stock considerably. Unrestricted free agent signee and wide receiver Jacoby Jones is tentatively penciled in to take over both kick and punt return duties.

Two years ago, injury-riddled free safety Ed Reed was put on PUP at the end of training camp, and it was thought he would go on IR when his six weeks were up. Instead, he returned to the team and picked off eight passes to lead the NFL in that department.

The team's IR list now numbers five; it had six players on it at the end of last year, including linebacker Michael McAdoo (Achilles), who is part of that list for a second straight season.

The four players joining McAdoo on IR include two that were hurt during the training camp/preseason phase, safety Emanuel Cook (broken leg) and defensive tackle Ryan McBean (ankle).

McBean is an unrestricted free-agent signing from the Denver Broncos, who was going to sit out the season's first three games this year because a league-mandated suspension. Cook is a former New York Jets safety, who joined the Ravens last November to bolster their special-teams depth, but he incurred his injury last Thursday night during the 48-17 win against Jacksonville.

Also going on IR are a pair of linebackers brought in to bolster the numbers at that position, ex-Oakland Raiders veteran Darryl Blackstock -- who suffered through groin and ankle problems in camp -- and ex-Canadian Football League standout Stevie Baggs (leg), whose claim to fame was the nickname "Shakespeare," given to him because he makes plays.

A prospective rule change this year could have given the Ravens and all teams the option to bring back one player from the IR list to the active roster during the same season, but the players' union rejected it.

The Ravens must now evaluate their remaining talent after the season's final exhibition contest in St. Louis (7 p.m., Thursday; WBAL-TV, Comcast SportsNet; WIYY-FM) and send 22 more players packing to get to the 53-man active roster limit by 9 p.m. Friday.

Around 1,200 players leaguewide will be without jobs at that point, and they will remain in limbo for 15 hours as teams that want to inquire about their services can do so.

But at noon Saturday, Sept. 1, all clubs can then begin to form their eight-man practice squads; in most cases, teams usually call back players they have cut that have cleared the 15-hour limbo period.

This year, both cutdowns and the practice-squad construction day were moved up 24 hours, because the season-opening prime-time game is being played on Wednesday, Sept. 5, instead of the usual Thursday, because of coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Thursday, Sept. 6, is the day Barack Obama, incumbent president and Democratic nominee, is scheduled to give his acceptance speech, and the NFL ceded the night's spotlight to that event.

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JOEY P'S TRIVIA TIME: Today's question:

Billy Cundiff's release again brought back memories of one of the low points of the Ravens' 2011 season, their loss during the AFC Championship Game.

But today, we recall the Ravens' 35-7 blowout of the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week One. Besides being a big win against a division rival, it also represented the second-most points the Ravens have ever scored during a season-opening game.

Which year did Baltimore score more during Week One?

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of this entry.

***

INFIRMARY: After a previously unscheduled day off Sunday, the Ravens took their lighter roster out to the practice field Monday afternoon for a fully padded practice under sunny skies and with breezy conditions.

It actually seemed like a good day to go swimming, but not even 18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps -- who visited the team Monday -- could find a pool at the UAPC.

Meanwhile, back on the deck, linebacker Sergio Kindle was no longer wearing the red mesh no-contact jersey, but other than that adjustment, no previously injured players returned to the field.

The practice was the first of two consecutive days of workouts remaining before the team takes on the St. Louis Rams during the preseason finale.

The team's current list of injury concerns remains the same as it did for the Saturday practice, minus the players that were placed on either the injured reserve list or the PUP sheet: wideout Tommy Streeter (sprained foot), safety Sean Considine (concussion), linebackers Josh Bynes (cracked vertebrae) and Ricky Brown (unknown), guard Marshal Yanda (leg) and guard/tackle Jah Reid (calf).

***

MATTISON TO START?: Even though the fourth preseason game won't feature many big names or starters on the field for either the Ravens or St. Louis Rams, both teams will certainly have issues to address.

For the Rams, it's their offensive line, a problem that should sound familiar. Not only that, one of the players that could solve that problem has a familiar surname.

Bryan Mattison, the former Ravens backup guard -- he spent most of his time here on the practice squad -- and son of ex-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, was the starter at right guard during the Rams' 20-19 loss at Dallas last week and could take the field first this time around against the Ravens.

The 6-foot-3, 310-pound Mattison would be taking the place of sixth-year guard Harvey Dahl, who is the current dean of the Rams' offensive line. But an infection has sidelined him this summer.

Mattison was waived last year after spending four seasons in Baltimore. He came to the Ravens simultaneously with his father, who began his time here as a position coach before being promoted to coordinator.

Last season, Mattison played in five games with four starts for a Rams team the Ravens blew away, 37-7, during Week Three. St. Louis started 0-6, but won two games during a three-week span, against Cleveland and, surprisingly, New Orleans.

Mattison is part of a Rams offensive line that appears to be in transition. Three years ago, Baylor tackle Jason Smith was the second overall pick in the draft, but he appears to have lost that job to former Clemson standout Barry Richardson.

***

NOTABLE CUTS: With so many players hitting the unemployment line during the weekend, there were bound to be a few familiar names among them.

The Houston Texans waved wideout Bryant Johnson, a former Baltimore City College player who had his best years with the Arizona Cardinals.

The Texans also axed running back Davin Meggett, a Maryland alum who is also the son of former Morgan State and Towson State standout David Meggett, who won a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants.

The Pittsburgh Steelers released former Ravens long snapper Matt Katula, who was the team's longest-tenured player at that position before Morgan Cox came along.

New England cut ex-Baltimore wideout Donte' Stallworth, one of many who couldn't provide the consistent downfield threat the team was looking for -- and found in Torrey Smith.

The Tennessee Titans let go former University of Maryland tight end Joey Haynos, who had moderate success with the Miami Dolphins a few years back.

In a surprise, former Washington 2009 third-round pick and Maryland alum Kevin Barnes was released after winning a cornerback job as a rookie.

The Buffalo Bills released cornerback Prince Miller, who impressed a few observers during the Ravens' camp last year, but has bounced around the league since.

Amid all that sad news, a bright note for an ex-Ravens camp body: kicker Graham Gano, who lost a kicking competition here to Steven Hauschka, won the job in Washington against ex-Arizona kicker Neil Rackers.

That's no small feat, either: Rackers held the single-season record of 40 field goals (2005) before San Francisco's David Akers broke it last year with 44.

***

QUOTE OF THE DAY: It's not uncommon to hear a player compared with some of the game's greats after putting up outstanding rookie numbers.

At the risk of hyperbole, that's exactly what fullback Vonta Leach did when recently hyping teammate Torrey Smith.

"He's got a chance to be one of the great receivers," Leach said of Smith. "He reminds me of a Donald Driver, because he's smooth. He's faster than Andre [Johnson] ... and he reminds me of Kevin Walter, because they both work really hard."

***

JOEY P'S TRIVIA TIME ANSWER: Here's the question we asked you earlier in this entry:

Billy Cundiff's release again brought back memories of one of the low points of the Ravens' 2011 season, their loss during the AFC Championship Game.

But today, we recall the Ravens' 35-7 blowout of the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week One. Besides being a big win against a division rival, it also represented the second-most points the Ravens have ever scored during a season-opening game.

Which year did Baltimore score more during Week One?

ANSWER:

The season-opening win against the Steelers last year was one of only two occasions when the Ravens scored more than 30 points during Week One.

The other took place not too long ago, during the 2009 season opener, when the Ravens opened head coach John Harbaugh's second year with a 38-24 win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The game wasn't supposed to be close, in that the Ravens were coming off an AFC Championship Game appearance and the Chiefs were trying to rebound from a 2-14 season.

But the visitors gave the Ravens all they could handle, taking a 14-10 third-quarter lead thanks to a Brodie Croyle touchdown pass and a blocked punt for a touchdown, one of only two regular-season Sam Koch punts that have been blocked during his career.

The game remained tied at 24 going into the late stages of the fourth quarter, when Joe Flacco faced an all-out blitz, threw off his back foot and managed to find Mark Clayton with a 31-yard touchdown into the stadium's west end zone with 2:06 to play. Willis McGahee capped the scoring with a 1-yard run.

Posted Aug. 27, 2012