Ravens coach says players learn endurance practicing amid high heat index
BALTIMORE -- Any bump or bruise in Ravens Camp will be scrutinized after all the injuries the team suffered a year ago.
On Thursday, Rookie Starting Center Tyler Linderbaum limped off with a foot injury but head coach John Harbaugh says Linderbaum is OK.
Linderbaum will get an MRI to make sure.
Football players are a tough breed. They wear safety pads during practice under the blazing sun with the August heat index hovering around 100 degrees.
Team medical staff called a time-out midway through for a cooling-off period—an extra caution for player safety.
Just as they've done careful research to help lessen the likelihood of injuries, practice in the heat is closely monitored too.
Practicing in the heat helps the players challenge themselves and get stronger, Harbaugh said.
"The fact that we know that the guys have a baseline level of conditioning, to put them out here on a day like that, we feel secure in doing that," Harbaugh said. "And then, you just get stronger. You build calluses. You callus up. You callus up psychologically. You callus up with your ability to process oxygen through your lungs and your muscles. All of those things in this heat."
