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For Baltimore Ravens' rookies, let the games begin
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Tom Zbikowski is a rookie safety for the Baltimore Ravens.
Westminster (Map, News) - With 19 rookies reporting to Ravens’ training camp Monday, the players know not all of them will be with the team when it ends on Aug. 15.
As the players will put their friendships aside as they battle each other to make the 53-man roster. The rookies have formed close bonds as they participated in offseason mini camps, but now they have to prove their talent against established players.
“You definitely get close because regardless of where you come from, it’s pretty much the same situation,” Tom Zbikowski, a rookie safety said. “A lot of guys were captains or two- and three-year starters. Now you've got to do what you've got to do to make the team and get better.”
Rookie offensive tackle Oniel Cousins said the rookies have to stick together as they go through their first professional training camp, but also remember they have a job to do.
“You've got to come to work, and every day you've got to be ready to go,” Cousins said. “We're all competing, but at the end of the day, we're all grownups and we're going to be friends.”
But Cousins does have a mean streak. He made his biggest impact during offseason mini camps by instigating two fights with teammates.
But since the team's last offseason voluntary workout, which included a scuffle between Cousins and linebacker Dan Cody, the third-round pick out of the University of Texas-El Paso has refocused.
But when Cousins, a defensive lineman during his first two seasons as a Miner, reported to his first training camp at McDaniel College on Monday, he said emphasized getting back to the basics and learning his playbook.
“We had our break and I tried to stay on top of my game and stress a lot of things about me getting better,” he said. “I’ve been on top of my studying and my workout and technique and staying in shape.”
eric.detweiler@baltimoreexaminer.com
