Ravens notes: Harbaugh embraces QB battle

the past few days in training camp with the Baltimore Ravens...

Ravens second-round pick Ray Rice spent all week fielding punts and looked pretty good for a novice. Rice didn't return punts while at Rutgers. Baltimore already has a solid return specialist in Yamon Figurs and is probably looking for secondary options in case of injury.

Terrell Suggs' delayed arrival to training camp could provide an opportunity for Dan Cody to make an impact with the first team. The oft-injured outside linebacker played just two career games in three seasons, so Cody is eager to prove himself in the NFL. Suggs is unhappy that he was given the franchise tag this year and is expected to miss a large chunk of training camp.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is embracing his team's three-way quarterback battle between Troy Smith, Kyle Boller and Joe Flacco. Baltimore's situation is viewed by most outsiders as daunting, but Harbaugh described it this week as "fun."

And on the subject of quarterbacks, they all improved as the first week of training camp went on. The first practice was below average. There were a lot of bad throws and interceptions (three by Troy Smith), some fumbled snaps and a couple of miscommunications at the line of scrimmage. But by the third and fourth practices this week, many of the minor details were ironed out.