Baltimore Ravens: Failed Conditioning Tests and Injuries

The Baltimore Ravens held their first practice this morning and there is already plenty of news coming out of the Under Armour Performance Center.

The Ravens took the field at 9 a.m. this morning and the day began with the chatter that newcomers Mike Wallace and Jerraud Powers both failed the team’s conditioning test. Neither will be able to practice until they pass the test.

The team announced that they expect both to pass in the upcoming days. However, it is interesting to note that the team announced that Wallace failed, but no mention of Powers.

This is discouraging news for the new weapon on offense. His game is built on speed and not being able to pass the conditioning test must be a concern for the Ravens. He is expected to be the go-to guy on the receiving corps as Steve Smith and Breshad Perriman return to health from their injuries.

This is not the first time a veteran has failed to pass the team’s conditioning test. Lardarius Webb did the same last season. Haloti Ngata has also failed in the past. And if you’re concerned that a speedster like Wallace should not be falling this test, Jacoby Jones did not pass a conditioning test while he was here too.

You can make an argument that Jones and Wallace are the same type of player. There is a cliche in football: lazy workouts equal lazy route running. They run fast and can stretch the field, but struggle running the intermediate routes.

This might be an anomaly midway through the season, but if Wallace is not producing, this will come back to haunt him.

Jerraud Powers

While the national media has criticized solely Wallace for failing the test, Powers not passing the test is a concern as well. Baltimore plans to use Powers at multiple positions in the secondary and he likely has the upper hand at the nickel corner job.

The Ravens are known for having a difficult conditioning test and that might be the reasoning for both newcomers failing. However, Harbaugh applauded recently signed inside linebacker Kavell Conner for passing the workout without any knowledge of the test. That was a shot at his veterans for not being prepared.

Injured Running Backs

The biggest scare of the morning is when running back Kenneth Dixon injured his left knee during practice and had to be helped off the field by Justin Forsett. The good news is John Harbaugh said he should be fine.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com is reporting that Dixon suffered a minor MCL sprain, but it is expected that he should miss just a day or two of practice. Then again, we heard the same thing about Perriman last summer and he did not play a single down for the Ravens last season.

Baltimore also placed running back Lorenzo Taliaferro on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.

Taliaferro is still not 100 percent from the foot injury that cost him the 2015 season and the team will ease him back into the mix. He was the last player to make our recent 53-man prediction, but not being able to get on the field will hurt his chances of making this team.

Next: Pre-Training Camp Roster Prediction

While today was not filled with the best news, the Ravens are still relatively healthy. That never seemed to be the case last season. We will continue to update you as the Baltimore Ravens progress through training camp.